Trifonov, Iurii

Trifonov, Iurii Valentinovich 

Born Aug. 28, 1925, in Moscow. Soviet Russian writer.

The son of V. A. Trifonov, the Soviet military figure, Trifonov graduated from the M. Gorky Institute of Literature in 1949. He has published his work since 1947, first gaining a reputation with the novel Students (1950; State Prize of the USSR, 1951). In 1963 he published the novel The Quenching of Thirst, which concerns the construction of the Turkmen Canal; a film of the same name was made from the novel in 1965. In his The Fire’s Glow (1965), Trifonov used material from his father’s life to create a documentary narrative about lesser-known events of the Civil War of 1918–20.

Trifonov is the author of the short story collections The Cap With the Big Peak (1969) and Games at Twilight (1970) and the novellas The Exchange (1969), Preliminary Conclusions (1970), A Long Goodbye (1971), and A Different Life (1975). These tales combine painstaking psychological analysis with moral judgment of the heroes, by both the author and the heroes themselves. Scrutinizing the banal details of everyday life and entrenched attitudes, Trifonov exposes their historical roots and examines contemporary manners. His novellas, particularly The House on the Embankment (1976), have met with mixed reviews. The historical novel Impatience (1973) is dedicated to the selfless activity of A. Zheliabov and his comrades, the heroes of the People’s Will. Trifonov’s works have been translated.

Trifonov has been awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and various medals.

WORKS

Rasskazy ipovesti. Moscow, 1971.
Dolgoeproshchanie. Moscow, 1973.

REFERENCES

Rosliakov, V. “Utolennaia zhazhda.” Moskva, 1963, no. 10.
Babaev, E. “Rasskazy romanista.” Novyimir, 1970, no. 9.
Pertsovskii, V. “Ispytanie bytom.” Novyimir, 1974, no. 11.
Dudintsev, V. “Velikii smysl—zhit’.” Literaturnoe obozrenie, 1976, no. 5.
Sozonova, I. “Vnutri kruga.” Literaturnoe obozrenie, 1976, no. 5.
Russkie sovetskie pisateli-prozaiki: Bibliograficheskii ukazatel’, vol. 7, part 2. Moscow, 1972.

L. A. LEVITSKII