VOZNESENSKY, ANDREY ANDREYEVICH

born May 12, 1933, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R. Soviet poet who was one of the most prominent of the generation of writers that emerged after the Stalinist era. Voznesensky spent his early childhood in the city of Vladimir. In 1941 he moved with his mother and sister to Kurgan, in the Ural Mountains, while his father assisted in the evacuation of factories from besieged Leningrad. The profound effects of the war on his developing psyche later found vivid expression in his poetry. After the war the family returned to Moscow, and Voznesensky pursued his education. While still a student, he sent some of his own verses to the renowned author Boris Pasternak, who encouraged him and became his model and tutor for the next three years. Voznesensky's first published poems, which appeared in 1958, are experimental works marked by changing metres and rhythms, a distinctive use of assonance and sound associations, and a passionate but intellectually subtle moral fervour. His important early works include Mastera (1959; "The Masters"), Mozaika (1960; "Mosaic"), and Parabola (1960). During the late 1950s and early '60s, Soviet poets staged a creative renaissance. Poetry readings became so popular that they sometimes were held in sports arenas in order to accommodate thousands of listeners. Along with his contemporary Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the charismatic Voznesensky became a star attraction at these events. The readings came to a sudden halt in 1963, however, when Soviet artists and writers working in "excessively experimental" styles were subjected to an official campaign of condemnation. Along with his fellow poets outside the approved socialist-realism school, Voznesensky suffered seven months of official criticism; he was returned to partial favour only after writing an ironic recantation in the government newspaper Pravda. Charges of obscurity, experimentation, and "ideological immaturity" continued to be periodically leveled against Voznesensky and his peers throughout the 1960s and '70s. Despite his occasional outspoken criticisms of the Soviet government, Voznesensky's characteristic poems remained apolitical celebrations of art, freedom, and the unrestrained human spirit. In what is perhaps his best-known poem, "Goya" (1960), the author uses a series of powerful metaphors to express the horrors of war. "Akhillesogo serdtse" ("My Achilles Heart") and "Avtoportret" ("Self-Portrait") tell of his suffering and anger during the 1963 crackdown. His later works include the volumes 40 Lyric Digressions from the Poem "Triangular Pear" (1962), Antimiry (1964; "Antiworlds"), Vypusti ptitsu! (1974; "Let the Bird Free!"), and Soblazn (1978; "Temptation"). Voznesensky's poetic production during the 1970s and '80s resulted in little that was new or distinctive.