Poet and writer, born in St Petersburg (then Leningrad), Russia. He studied in Russian secondary schools until 1956, wrote poetry, and was sentenced to a Soviet labour camp for his general refusal to conform. He was expelled from Russia (1972) and emigrated to the USA. He taught at many institutions, notably as poet-in-residence at the University of Michigan (1972). He was named Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress (1991), and is known for his translations, critical works, and his realistic and lyrical poetry, as in To Urania (1988).
Joseph Brodsky (May 24, 1940 – January 28, 1996), born Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (Russian: Ио́сиф Алекса́ндрович Бро́дский) was a poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987) and was chosen Poet Laureate of the United States (1991-1992).
In the Soviet Union
Brodsky was born into a Jewish family in Leningrad, the son of a professional photographer in the Soviet Navy. When he was fifteen, Brodsky left school and tried to enter the School of Submariners (школа подводников) without success.
At the same time, Brodsky engaged in a program of self-education. He learned English and Polish, acquired deep interest in classical philosophy, religion, mythology, English and American poetry.
Brodsky began writing his own poetry and producing literary translations around 1957. The young Brodsky was encouraged and influenced by the poet Anna Akhmatova who called some of his verses "enchanting."
In 1963, he was arrested and in 1964 charged with parasitism ("тунеядство") by the Soviet authorities. Brodsky: Poet translator. Judge: Who recognized you as a poet? Who enrolled you in the ranks of poets? Judge: To become a poet.
For his "parasitism" Brodsky was sentenced to five years of internal exile with obligatory engagement in physical work and served 18 months in Archangelsk region.
In 1964, Leonid Brezhnev came to power. As the Khrushchev Thaw period ended, only four of Brodsky's poems were published in the Soviet Union.
In the United States
On June 4, 1972 Brodsky was exiled from the USSR and became a U.S. citizen in 1980.
He achieved major successes in his career as an English language poet and essayist. In 1978, Brodsky was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Yale University, and on May 23, 1979, he was inducted as a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1981, Brodsky received the John D.
In 1986, his collection of essays Less Than One won the National Book Critic's Award for Criticism.
In 1991, Brodsky became Poet Laureate of the United States.
Brodsky died of a heart attack in his New York City apartment on January 28, 1996 and was buried at Isola di San Michele cemetery in Venice, Italy.
Poets who influenced Brodsky included Osip Mandelstam, W.H.
Ideas
A recurring theme in Brodsky's writing is the relationship between the poet and society. In particular, Brodsky emphasized the power of literature to positively impact its audience and to develop the language and culture in which it is situated. During his term as the Poet Laureate, Brodsky promoted the idea of bringing the Anglo-American poetic heritage to a wider American audience by distributing free poetry anthologies to the public through a government-sponsored program.
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