Yevtushenko, Yevgeny Aleksandrovich, 1933-, Russian poet, b. Zima. Along with Andrei Voznesensky and several others he helped revive the tradition of Russian lyric poetry. Yevtushenko's first book of poems was published in 1952. He soon became the most popular spokesman of the young generation of poets who refused to adhere to the doctrine of socialist realism. Yevtushenko: Selected Poems (1962) contains four of his most famous poems: "Talk," an indictment of Soviet hypocrisy, "Babi Yar," protesting Soviet anti-Semitism, "Zima Junction," an autobiographical work, and "The Heirs of Stalin," a denunciation of the Soviet system. His long poems include The Bratsk Station (1964-65) and Kazan University (1970). His Collected Poems, 1952-1990 appeared in 1991. The publication in Paris of Yevtushenko's Precocious Autobiography (1963) brought him severe official censure, and he was frequently criticized by the Russian government for his nonconformist attitude. Despite this, he made several reading tours abroad during the Soviet era. He has also written novels, notably Wild Berries (tr. 1984), essays, and the semiautobiographical, post-Soviet work Don't Die Before You're Dead (tr. 1995), an account of the 1991 triumph of Boris Yeltsin (Yevtushenko served in the Soviet parliament from 1988 to 1991). In addition, he is an actor, director, and photographer. His name is sometimes transliterated Evtushenko.

(born July 18, 1933, Zima, Irkutsk oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.) Russian poet. The descendant of Ukrainians exiled to Siberia, he grew up in Moscow and in the small town that is the setting of his first important narrative poem, Zima Junction (1956). He became the spokesman for the post-Stalin generation of Russian poets with his internationally publicized demands for greater artistic freedom, which signaled an easing of Soviet control over artists in the late 1950s and '60s. He revived brash, slangy language and traditions such as love lyrics and personal lyrics, frowned upon under Stalinism. His poem “Baby Yar” (1961) was an attack on lingering Soviet anti-Semitism; his most ambitious cycle of poems is Bratsk Station (1966). He became famous worldwide for his passionate recitations.

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(born July 18, 1933, Zima, Irkutsk oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.) Russian poet. The descendant of Ukrainians exiled to Siberia, he grew up in Moscow and in the small town that is the setting of his first important narrative poem, Zima Junction (1956). He became the spokesman for the post-Stalin generation of Russian poets with his internationally publicized demands for greater artistic freedom, which signaled an easing of Soviet control over artists in the late 1950s and '60s. He revived brash, slangy language and traditions such as love lyrics and personal lyrics, frowned upon under Stalinism. His poem “Baby Yar” (1961) was an attack on lingering Soviet anti-Semitism; his most ambitious cycle of poems is Bratsk Station (1966). He became famous worldwide for his passionate recitations.

Learn more about Yevtushenko, Yevgeny (Aleksandrovich) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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