Voznesensky, Andrey

Voznesensky, Andrey (Andreyevich)

(born May 12, 1933, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R., U.S.S.R.) Russian poet. His childhood experience of World War II was later vividly reflected in poems such as “Goya” (1960), one of his best-known works. He became a protégé of Boris Pasternak and a star attraction at poetry readings until a 1963 Soviet crackdown on “excessively experimental” artists and writers. He later returned to partial favour. His most characteristic poems are apolitical celebrations of art, freedom, and the unrestrained human spirit. His works were collected in the bilingual An Arrow in the Wall (1987) and in On the Edge (1991).