Biography

Vasili Aksyonov was a medical doctor turned writer during the dramatic changes and transformations of Russia and Russian society under the Soviet-communist regime.

He was born Vasili Pavlovich Aksyonov on August 20, 1932 in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia; where his father lived before his imprisonment. Aksyonov's parents spent many years in prisons and exile under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Aksyonov spent part of his childhood in Siberian exile in Magadan with his mother Yevgeniya Ginsburg, an exiled dissident. Aksyonov spent several years of his boyhood in a state home. He graduated from the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute in 1956 and worked as a doctor in residency at the Quarantine Station of Leningrad Sea Port. From 1957-1958 he worked as a Medical Doctor in the village of Voznesenie, Onega, Northern Russia. From 1958-1960 he worked as a Medical Doctor in Moscow.

The "Thaw", that was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev, allowed Aksyonov to have his first short stories published in the magazine 'Yunost' (Youth) in 1956, under then editor-in-chief Valentin Kataev. His 'Kollegi' (Colleagues 1960) and 'Zvezdny Bilet' (Star Ticket 1961) became extremely popular and were made into eponymous films. 'Pora, moy drug, pora' (It's Time, My Friend, It's Time 1963), 'Apelsiny is Marokko' (Oranges from Marocco 1964), and 'Zatovarennaya Bochkotara' (Surplussed Barrelware 1965) became part of the language of youth. Aksyonov's generation was labeled by Soviet propaganda as "Stilyagi" (Fashionable ones) for their festive and stylish way of life; the opposite of the officially controlled Soviet gloom. Literary critic Stanislav Rassadin coined the term "Shestidesyatniki" (People of the 1960's) which embraced such writers as Bella Akhmadulina, Joseph Brodsky, Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, Andrei Voznesensky, Bulat Okudzhava, and others, who emerged during the "Thaw" of 1956-1964.

The dismissal of Nikita Khrushchev was followed by restrictions in all aspects of Soviet life, where KGB, censorship, and official critics were acting as one. Aksyonov fell under suspicion and surveillance by the KGB. His last official publication was 'V Poiskah Zhanra' (In Search of a Genre 1972). His novels 'Ozhog' (The Burn 1976) and 'Ostrov Krym' (The Island of Crimea 1979) were banned. Aksyonov received a personal warning in a face-to-face meeting with two secret service agents. In 1979 Aksyonov organized and published an almanac of prose and poetry titled 'Metropol' which was immediately banned. 'Metropol' included works by Bella Akhmadulina, Fazil Iskander, and other dissident writers of the 60's generation. Official repressions and threats against Aksyonov forced his expatriation in 1980.

During 80s, 90s, and 2000s, Aksyonov continued writing and his works were published in both English and Russian in the USA. He also was a professor of literature in Washington D.C. for 24 years until his retirement. His script about Soviet life under Joseph Stalin was made into a TV series Moscovskaya saga (2004 TV). He was awarded the Open Russia Booker Prize for 2004. His new novel 'Moskva-kva-kva' (2006) was published in the Moscow magazine 'Oktyabr'.

Outside of his writing profession Aksyonov was a co-founder of jazz festivals in Moscow, Russia and in Kazan, Tatarstan. He returned to Russia in the 1990s, and was living in his Moscow apartment with his wife, Maya Zmeul, and had a second home in Biarritz, France. He died of a heart failure on 6 July 2009, in Moscow, Russia.