Leonid Martynov

Leonid Nikolayevich Martynov (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Мартынов; 22 May 1905, Omsk – 21 June 1980, Moscow) was a Soviet poet, journalist and translator. Laureate of three Orders of the Red Banner of Labour (1965, 1970, 1975) and a USSR State Prize (1974).

Leonid Martynov in 1963. His hobby was collecting stones

Career

Between 1939 and 1945 he published three books of poetry, but only became better known after the death of Stalin. From 1955, his poems began to be published widely in magazines and in book form.^[1]

His style is of the old school of the 1920s, with many local references to Siberia.^[2][3]

Musical settings

Aleksandr Lokshin set five poems by Martynov in his Ninth Symphony.

References

1. The new Russian poets, 1953-1968: an anthology George Reavey - 1968 -"LEONID MARTYNOV Another poet of an older generation, Leonid Martynov only began to come into his own after the demise of Stalin. His poetic career seems to fall into two very distinct parts: as from 1939 to 1945, when he published three books; and as from 1955 when he becomes increasingly prominent, publishing widely in magazines and in book form."
2. Johannes Holthusen, Twentieth-century Russian literature: a critical 1972 "Leonid Martynov - During the last ten years Leonid Martynov (born 1905 in Omsk) has secured long overdue recognition as one of the typical representatives of the still fruitful tradition of the 1920s. Martynov, whose home Siberia plays a ..."
3. Fifty Soviet poets Vladimir Ognev, Dorian Rottenberg 1969 "Leonid Martynov (b. 1905) is a true virtuoso, a skilled master of language with a sensitive understanding of the secret inner associations of words. Martynov's writing ts distinguished for the peculiar harmonizing of sounds he ..."