# Julius Telesin

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**Julius Zinovyevich Telesin** (Russian: Юлиус Зиновьевич Телесин, Julius Zinov'evič Telesin; born [April 1](/source/April_1), [1933](/source/1933) in [Moscow](/source/Moscow)) is a Russian-Israeli mathematician, human rights activist, chess player, poet, and translator. He was a notable participant in the Soviet *[samizdat](/source/Samizdat)* culture of the 1960s. He emigrated to Israel where he lived since 1970.[1] He taught mathematics at [the University](/source/Ben-Gurion_University_of_the_Negev) of [Beersheba](/source/Beersheba).[2]

Telesin was born on April 1, 1933 in Moscow. He is the son of Jewish Yiddish-language poet Zyama Telesin (Зяма Телесин / Zinovy Lvovich Telesin; 1907, Kalinkovichi, Minsk province – 1996, Jerusalem).[3] His mother was the poet Rakhil (Rachel) Boymvol.[4]

## 1001 anekdot

Telesin compiled a collection of *1001 Soviet political jokes*[5] published in 1986 in [Tenafly, New Jersey](/source/Tenafly,_New_Jersey) (Hermitage Press). Bruce Friend Adams,[6] who cites it in his study of Soviet and Russian history through jokes, praised it as the most clever and funny presentation of such material:

There are many collections of Soviet anecdotes. The funniest, most clever presentation of a large number of these that I have seen is Iulius Telesin's *1001 Izbrannyi Sovetskii Politicheskii Anekdot*. Telesin arranged 1001 well-chosen anecdotes topically and added humorous rhyming quatrains called *chastushki* (the Russian equivalent of limericks), excerpts from Soviet dissident publications such as the *Khronika tekushchikh sobytii* (*Chronicle of Current Events*) and other snippets to make a very entertaining book.

— Bruce Friend Adams, *Tiny Revolutions in Russia* (Introduction, p. 1)

The book includes jokes involving [Stalin](/source/Joseph_Stalin), [Rabinovich](/source/Russian_jokes#Rabinovich),[7] [Khrushchev](/source/Nikita_Khrushchev), [Chapayev](/source/Vasily_Chapayev), [Petka](/source/Pyotr_Isaev),[8] [Trotsky](/source/Leon_Trotsky), [Kosygin](/source/Alexei_Kosygin), [Mao](/source/Mao_Zedong), [Brezhnev](/source/Leonid_Brezhnev), [Gierek](/source/Edward_Gierek), [Lenin](/source/Vladimir_Lenin), [Dzerzhinsky](/source/Felix_Dzerzhinsky), [Radio Yerevan](/source/Radio_Yerevan), [Carter](/source/Jimmy_Carter), [Vovochka](/source/Little_Johnny), [Molotov](/source/Vyacheslav_Molotov), [Furtseva](/source/Yekaterina_Furtseva), [Chernenko](/source/Konstantin_Chernenko) and many others.

Example (Joke No. 43):

*Why did Lenin wear shoes, and Stalin boots? – Because under Lenin, the filth in Russia only reached the ankles.*

## Selected publications

- *1001 izbrannyj sovetskij političeskij anekdot*. Tenafly, NJ: Hermitage Press, 1986.
- *Samizdat in Brief: An Introductory Article*. 1973.
- Foreword to Peter Reddaway, *Uncensored Russia: Protest and Dissent in the Soviet Union; the Unofficial Moscow Journal, a Chronicle of Current Events*. New York: American Heritage Press, 1972.
- *Detstvo v tyurʹme: memuary Petra Yakira* (*Childhood in Prison: Recollections of [Pyotr Yakir](/source/Pyotr_Yakir)*). London: Macmillan, 1972.
- *Teoriya kombinatsiy* (*Theory of Combinations*). Jerusalem: Ivan Marton, 1992.
- *Shutkovanie nad bezdnoy* (*Joking over the Abyss*). Jerusalem: J. Telesin, 2009.
- *Stishki o suverennoi demokratii* (*Poems about Sovereign Democracy*). Jerusalem: J. Telesin, 2008.

## See also

- [Chastushka](/source/Chastushka)
- [Chronicle of Current Events](/source/Chronicle_of_Current_Events) (*Khroniki tekushchikh sobytii*)
- [Russian jokes](/source/Russian_jokes) / [political jokes](/source/Russian_political_jokes)

## References

1. Leonard Schroeter: *The Last Exodus.* 1979 ([p. 115](https://books.google.de/books?id=LOmBVENjK3sC&pg=PA115))

1. [litmir.org](https://litmir.org/books/dokumentalnye-knigi/biografii-i-memuary/page-120-35003-lyudmila-alekseeva-pokolenie-ottepeli.html) (in Russian)

1. [Телесин Зяма](https://eleven.co.il/article/14070) / Telessin Sjama (Russian: Телесин Зяма, Telesin Zjama); see also: [Benjamin Pinkus, 1948–1967](https://books.google.de/books?id=V7g8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA472)

1. Rina Lapidus: *Jewish Women Writers in the Soviet Union*. 2012, [p. 106](https://books.google.de/books?id=qWWpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106).

1. Russian: *1001 избранный советский политический анекдот* (1001 izbrannyj sovetskij političeskij anekdot)

1. [University of Hawaii library: Bruce Friend Adams, 1946–2008](https://web.archive.org/web/20110716011320/http://library.manoa.hawaii.edu/departments/russian/findingaids/BruceAdamsFindingAid.pdf)

1. A stereotypical Jewish name in Russian jokes; see [Russian jokes (Rabinovich)](/source/Russian_jokes#Rabinovich).

1. See also [Pyotr Isaev](/source/Pyotr_Isaev) ([()ru](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%B2%2C_%D0%9F%D1%91%D1%82%D1%80_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%91%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87)).

## Further reading

- * «НЛО» 2004, №68 ("NLO" 2004 Nr. 68): Писатели-диссиденты: Биобиблиографические статьи (Окончание) // *NLO* 2004, No. 68: "Writers-Dissidents: Bio-bibliographic Articles" [ТЕЛЕСИН ЮЛИУС ЗИНОВЬЕВИЧ](https://web.archive.org/web/20190321180318/http://magazines.russ.ru/nlo/2004/68/dis34-pr.html) (in Russian)
- Boris Mozorov (ed.): *Documents on Soviet Jewish Emigration*. ([Online excerpt](https://books.google.de/books?id=YTN324smKIUC&pg=PT293))
- Bruce Friend Adams: *Tiny Revolutions in Russia: Twentieth-century Soviet and Russian History in Anecdotes*. Routledge Curzon, 2005 ([Online excerpt](https://books.google.de/books?id=gtfQ2FSkYe8C))
- Leonard Schroeter: *The Last Exodus.* 1979 ([Online excerpt](https://books.google.de/books?id=LOmBVENjK3sC))
- Maya Ulanovskaya: *The Family Story*. 2016 ([Online excerpt](https://books.google.de/books?id=irfJDAAAQBAJ))
- Kerstin Armborst: *Ablösung von der Sowjetunion: Die Emigrationsbewegung der Juden und Deutschen vor 1987*. 2001 ([Online excerpt](https://books.google.de/books?id=tgi5kcyud5sC))
- Foreword to: *Uncensored Russia: Protest and Dissent in the Soviet Union*. Edited, translated and commented by Peter Reddaway. New York: American Heritage Press, 1972 ([Slavic Review, Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/uncensored-russia-protest-and-dissent-in-the-soviet-union-the-unofficial-moscow-journal-a-chronicle-of-current-events-edited-translated-and-with-a-commentary-by-peter-reddaway-foreword-by-julius-telesin-new-york-american-heritage-press-1972-499-pp-1000/4DDC25AE9C5E2E645243E1C309EA9E7B))

## External links

- [1001 isbranny sowetski polititscheski anekdot (1)](https://www.lib.ru/ANEKDOTY/anec1001.txt), [(2)](http://knigki.ru/demo/book/9000/index.html), [in Google transliteration](http://lem.freeshell.org/rhumor/texts/1001_pol.trn) (in Russian)
- [Russian Jew Allowed to Leave Ussr; Soviet Jewish Woman Seeks Help to Emigrate](https://www.jta.org/1970/05/08/archive/russian-jew-allowed-to-leave-ussr-soviet-jewish-woman-seeks-help-to-emigrate)
- [Юлиус Телесин](https://eleven.co.il/jewish-literature/in-yiddish/14070/) (in Russian)
- [Телесин Ю. З.](https://oralhistory.ru/tag/Телесин_Ю_З) (in Russian)
- [A Number of Soviet Jews, Including Yosif Kazakov, Have Been Granted Exit Visas](https://www.jta.org/1970/04/28/archive/a-number-of-soviet-jews-including-yosif-kazakov-have-been-granted-exit-visas)
- [Boymvol, Rokhl](https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Boymvol_Rokhl)
- [Миша Мельниченко: Советский анекдот (Указатель сюжетов)](https://royallib.com/read/melnichenko_misha/sovetskiy_anekdot_ukazatel_syugetov.html#0) (in Russian)

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