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Bulat Okudzhava

ブラート・オクジャヴァ

Bulat Okudzhava

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1924-05-09 （Moscow, Soviet Union）
Died
1997-06-12 （Clamart, France） age 73
Nationality
Soviet Union, Russia
Languages
Russian
Residence History
Moscow (birthplace and main base) → Tbilisi (childhood/University) → Peredelkino (dacha, creative residence) → Paris / Clamart (later life, death)

Career

Occupations
musician, poet, editor, novelist, short story writer, singer-songwriter
Active Years
1946-1997
Affiliations
Molodaya Gvardiya (publisher), Literaturnaya Gazeta (head of poetry section), Communist Party (USSR, until 1990)
Memberships
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (until 1990)
Influenced By
French chansonnier tradition (e.g., Georges Brassens), Armenian poet Vahan Terian (family influence)
Influenced
Sergey Nikitin (musician), Elena Frolova (musician), Galina Khomchik (musician)

Education

Tbilisi State University
Period: 1944-1950
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: Georgia (then Transcaucasian SFSR)
Returned to studies after WWII and graduated; worked as a teacher after graduation.

Awards

Russian Booker Prize (Booker-Open Russia Prize)
1994
Work: The Show Is Over
Organization: Booker-Open Russia committee
Result: 受賞
USSR State Prize
1991
Organization: USSR government
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Show Is Over

1993 novel

A novel portraying lives in late Soviet times with semi-autobiographical elements, addressing social change and individual fate.

memorysocial changeindividual and history

Nocturne: From the Notes of Lt. Amiran Amilakhvari, Retired

1978 novel

Through the protagonist's notes, the novel depicts postwar life and a sense of melancholy.

war and memorynostalgia

The Extraordinary Adventures of Secret Agent Shipov in Pursuit of Count Leo Tolstoy, in the year 1862

1973 novel / satirical adventure

A satirical adventure novel that uses historical figures and events with humor.

humorreinterpretation of history

Sentimental March (song)

1964 author song (bard song)

A representative song with a mellow melody and poetic lyrics; used in the film I Am Twenty.

memorytimechange
Adaptations
  • [film] I Am Twenty / Марлен Хуциев / Marlen Khutsiev (1964)

Bibliography

  • "The Art of Needles and Sins" (story)
  • The Extraordinary Adventures of Secret Agent Shipov...
  • Nocturne
  • A Taste of Liberty
  • Poetry and songs — about 200 songs

Adaptations

  • Songs used in films such as White Sun of the Desert and many others
  • Numerous song covers (Sergey Nikitin, Elena Frolova, etc.)

Translations of Works

  • Nocturne – English translation (Harper and Row, 1978)
  • The Extraordinary Adventures of Secret Agent Shipov... (Abelard-Schuman, 1973)
  • Stories translated in anthologies (e.g., The New Soviet Fiction; Fifty Years of Russian Prose)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
intimate, conversational voiceblend of folk/bard traditions with poetic languageconcise lyrical expression
Recurring Motifs
travel and wanderingmemory and nostalgiawar and lossurban life (e.g., Arbat) and human relationsguitar and song

Legacy

Okudzhava was one of the founders of the author-song (bard) genre and left a wide influence across the Russian-speaking world. His poetry and songs were embraced by both intelligentsia and the general public, cementing their place through numerous covers and film usages. His Peredelkino dacha is a museum, there is a memorial on Arbat Street in Moscow, and minor planet 3149 was named after him.

Museums

  • Okudzhava's dacha museum in Peredelkino Peredelkino (Moscow suburb)

Archives

  • Vagankovo Cemetery (memorial site)

In Popular Culture

  • Numerous covers and re-recordings by various artists
  • Use of songs in films (e.g., I Am Twenty; White Sun of the Desert)
  • Minor planet 3149 Okudzhava

Trivia

  • Authored about 200 songs.
  • Won the Russian Booker Prize in 1994 for The Show Is Over.
  • Awarded the USSR State Prize in 1991.
  • Died in Clamart, France; buried at Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow.
  • His dacha in Peredelkino is open as a museum.