David Samoylov

{{Short description|Russian poet}}  '''David Samuilovich Samoylov''' ({{langx|ru|Давид Самуилович Самойлов}}, born '''Kaufman''', ({{langx|ru|Кауфман}}); 1 June 1920 — 23 February 1990) was one of the most notable representatives of the War generation of Russian poets and neo-Acmeist poetry.

==Biography== Samoylov was born in Moscow into an assimilated Jewish family. His father was the head of venereological hospital authority of the Moscow region.<ref>David Samoylov. Memorial Notes</ref>

In 1938—1941 he was a student at MIFLI, the {{interlanguage link|Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature, and History|hy|Մոսկվայի փիլիսոփայության, գրականության և ��ատմության ինստիտուտ|pl|Moskiewski Instytut Filozofii, Literatury i Historii|ru|Московский институт философии, литературы и истории|uk|Московський інститут філософії, літератури та історії}}. He tried to volunteer for the army when the war with Finland broke out, but was refused for health reasons. At the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa he was refused again, this time for being overage. Instead he served in a trench digging brigade. There he contracted the typhoid fever and was evacuated to Samarkand, where he studied at a pedagogical college after his recovery. After that he entered an infantry officers' school, from which he graduated in 1942, and was sent to the Volkhov front. He remained on the active duty until the end of the war and was wounded several times.<ref>Еврейская энциклопедия. Архивировано из первоисточника 24 августа 2011. Проверено 20 января 2010.</ref><ref>Александр Давыдов. Два моих деда.</ref><ref>Казак В. Лексикон русской литературы XX века = Lexikon der russischen Literatur ab 1917. — М.: РИК «Культура», 1996. — 492 с. — 5000 экз. — {{ISBN|5-8334-0019-8}}. — С. 363.</ref><ref>Самойлов Д.С., Чуковская Л.К. Переписка: 1971-1990 / Вступ. статья А.С. Немзера, коммент и подгот. текста Г.И. Медведевой-Самойловой, Е.Ц. Чуковской и Ж.О. Хавкиной. М.: Новое литературное обозрение. 2004.</ref>

During the second half of his life, he moved to Pärnu, known mostly as a resort-town. He continued writing in Pärnu and even published poetry dedicated to Pärnu. He lived in Toominga street.

He has translated literature from Estonian authors such as Lydia Koidula, Jaan Kross, Ellen Niit, Paul-Eerik Rummo and others, as well as from Polish, Czech, Hungarian and other languages as well as running workshops for young writers.

==Death== David died on February 23, 1990, in Tallinn. He was buried in Pärnu (Estonia) at the Forest Cemetery.

==Selected works== * ''When We Were at War'' (Rus. Когда мы были на войне)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.davidsamoilov.ru/ Официальный сайт поэта Давида Самойлова]* [http://stihipoeta.ru/david-samoylov/ David Samoylov poetry] at [http://stihipoeta.ru Stihipoeta.ru] * [https://akbarmuhammad.org/poems/poem285.html David Samoylov. A Soldier Song] * [http://www.polyhymnion.org/lit/samoylov Samoylov in English] * [http://www.polyhymnion.org/lit/samoylov/samojlov.html Samoylov in Italian]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoylov, David}} Category:1920 births Category:1990 deaths Category:Writers from Moscow Category:People from Moskovsky Uyezd Category:Jewish Russian writers Category:Soviet poets Category:Russian male poets Category:Jewish poets Category:20th-century Russian poets Category:20th-century Russian male writers Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Category:People from Pärnu