Andrei Platnov, 1899-1951
The picture above, a memorial to the Voronezh writer Andrei Platonov, is one of the most interesting and unusual sights in this city, taking pride and place on Prospect Revolution, the main street. It opened ten years ago, after a period of obscurity during Soviet times. Nowadays in the city of his birth he is not just recognised but celebrated, the monument being just one of the visual signs of remembering one of the greatest writers of 20th century Russia. It is predicted that the 1920s and 30s will, in time, be remembered not as the age of Lenin and Stalin, but as the age of Platonov.
But why did Platonov fall out of favour with the Soviet authorities? At the beginning, shortly after the 1917 Revolution, he was writing for various Communist newspapers in Voronezh and was an active supporter of the Communist Party. However his views changed in the wake of a devastating drought and famine in 1921 and he quit the party. He produced his two major works, the novels ‘Chevengur’ and ‘The Foundation Pit’, between 1926 and 1930. In ‘The Foundation Pit’ a group of workers are attempting to dig a huge pit, the future site of a gigantic House for the Proletariat. They dig daily, but they begin to lose meaning in their work; the enormous pit sucks all their energy. I’m starting to read it in Russian but it’s not an easy book.
By 1931, his work came under sustained attack as anti-communist, and publication became increasingly difficult. He died in 1951. At the time of his death he was a relative unknown. But Voronezh is leading the way in his rehabilitation and has realised his place in the history of Russia and the USSR.
Platonov Street
Posted by therussianenigma 
