Fazil Abdulovich Iskander (Russian: Фази́ль Абду́лович Исканде́р; Abkhazian: Фазиль Абдул-иԥа Искандер; 6 March 1929 – 31 July 2016) was a Soviet and Russian[1] writer and poet known in the former Soviet Union for his descriptions of Caucasian life. He authored various stories, including "Zashita Chika", which features a crafty and likable young boy named "Chik", but is probably best known for the picaresque novel Sandro of Chegem and its sequel The Gospel According to Chegem.
Fazil Abdulovich Iskander was born in 1929 in the cosmopolitan port city of Sukhumi, Georgia (then part of the USSR) to an Iranian father (Abdul Ibragimovich Iskander) and an Abkhazian mother (Leili Khasanovna Iskander).[2] His father was deported to Iran in 1938 and sent to a penal camp where he died in 1957.[3] His father was the victim of Joseph Stalin's deportation policies of the national minorities of the Caucasus.[2] As a result, Fazil and his brother Feredun and his sister Giuli were raised by his mother's Abkhazian family.[2][3] Fazil was only nine years old at that time.[4][5]
Career
The most famous intellectual of Abkhazia,[citation needed] he first became well known in the mid-1960s along with other representatives of the "young prose" movement like Yury Kazakov and Vasily Aksyonov, especially for what is perhaps his best story,[6]Sozvezdie kozlotura (1966), variously translated as "The Goatibex Constellation," "The Constellation of the Goat-Buffalo," and "Constellation of Capritaurus." It is written from the point of view of a young newspaperman who returns to his native Abkhazia, joins the staff of a local newspaper, and is caught up in the publicity campaign for a newly produced farm animal, a cross between a goat and a West Caucasian tur (Capra caucasica); a "remarkable satire of Lysenko's genetics and Khrushchev's agricultural campaigns, it was harshly criticized for showing the Soviet Union in a bad light."[7][8]
He is probably best known in the English speaking world for Sandro of Chegem, a picaresque novel that recounts life in a fictional Abkhaz village from the early years of the 20th century until the 1970s, which evoked praise for the author as "an Abkhazian Mark Twain."[9] Mr. Iskander's humor, like Mark Twain's, has a tendency to sneak up on you instead of hitting you over the head.[9] This rambling, amusing and ironic work has been considered as an example of magic realism, although Iskander himself said he "did not care for Latin American magic realism in general".[10] Five films were made based upon parts of the novel.
On 3 September 2011, a statue of Iskander's literary character Chik was unveiled on Sukhumi's Muhajir Quay.[11]
Family
Iskander had been married to a Russian poet Antonina Mikhailovna Khlebnikova since 1960. In 2011 the couple published a book of poems entitled Snow and Grapes to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.[1] They had one son and one daughter.
"Perhaps the most touching and profound characteristic of childhood is an unquestioning belief in the rule of common sense. The child believes that the world is rational and hence regards everything irrational as some sort of obstacle to be pushed aside. . . . The best people, I think, are those who over the years have managed to retain this childhood faith in the world's rationality. For it is this faith which provides man with passion and zeal in his struggle against the twin follies of cruelty and stupidity." (The Goatibex Constellation)
„all serious Russian and European literature is an endless commentary on the gospel.“
(„Reflections of a Writer“ by Fazil Iskander) [16]
In 2009, Bank of Abkhazia issued a commemorative silver coin from the series "Outstanding Personalities of Abkhazia", dedicated to Fazil Iskander denomination of 10 apsaras.[citation needed]
Already after the writer's death, the Fazil Iskander International Literary Prize was established in Russia in three nominations: prose, poetry and screenplay based on the works of Iskander. The Fazil Iskander International Literary Award is now in its sixth year. [27] was established on August 3, 2016 by the Russian branch of the International Russian PEN Center.
Works
Works in English translation
Forbidden Fruit and Other Stories, Central Books LTD, 1972.
The Goatibex Constellation, Ardis, 1975.
Iskander, Fazil; Lindsey, Byron; Burlingame, Helen (1976). "The Goatibex Constellation". Books Abroad. 50 (4): 905. doi:10.2307/40131179. JSTOR 40131179. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
Contemporary Russian Prose (English and Russian Edition), 1980 ISBN978-0-882-33596-4
Russian writer of Iranian origin hailed in Moscow. 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
Kriza, Elisa. "Blood Carnival and Its Variations in Mexican and Soviet Subversive Satires by René Avilés and Fazil Iskander." Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 58 no. 2, 2021, p. 397-430. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/794578.
^ ab"There's no doubt I'm a Russian writer who praised Abkhazia a lot. Unfortunately, I haven't written anything in the Abkhaz language. The choice of Russian culture was principal to me." It is stifling to live without conscience interview in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, March 4, 2011 (in Russian)
^ abcChristine Rydel. Russian Prose Writers After World War II, Volume 302. p 122. Thomson Gale, 2005 ISBN0787668397
^ abHaber, Erika (2003). The Myth of the Non-Russian: Iskander and Aitmatov's Magical Universe. ISBN9780739105313. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
^"Soviet Literature and Art: Almanac". 1990. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
^"On rabbits and boa constrictors: Fazil Iskander: the 'bard of Abkhazia' who produced tragicomic chronicles of Soviet bureaucracy". NI Syndication Limited.
^Edward J. Brown, Russian Literature Since the Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1982: ISBN0-674-78204-6), p. 331.
^Karen L. Ryan-Hayes, Contemporary Russian Satire: A Genre Study (Cambridge University Press, 2006: ISBN0-521-02626-1), p. 15.
^"Iranian-Russian author Iskander dies at 88". Iran Daily.
^ abJacoby, Susan. "An Abkhazian Mark Twain". The New York Times. 15 May 1983. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
^Haber, Erika (2003). The Myth of the Non-Russian. Lexington Books. ISBN0-7391-0531-0.
^"В Абхазии появился первый памятник литературному герою". Regnum. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
^"Soviet humanist writer Fazil Iskander dead at 87 - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. July 31, 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^Polska, Grupa Wirtualna (July 31, 2016). "Pisarz Fazil Iskander nie żyje". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^"Fazil Iskander passes away". vestnikkavkaza.net. July 31, 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^"Literature and the acceptance of faith for Fazil Iskander and other writers"".
^The Myth of the Non-Russian: Iskander and Aitmatov's Magical Universe, Erika Haber, Lexington Books, UK, 2003. (Page 65: "Iskander was awarded the USSR State Prize in November 1989")
^Remaking Russia: Voices from Within, Edited by Heyward Isham, Intro by Richard Pipes, M.E. Sharp 1995. (Intro, page xviii, "USSR State Prize 1989")
^"Puschkin-Preis 2005 für Boris Paramonow" (in German). Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. 2005-05-26. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^Yeltsin, Boris (2003-12-07). Указ Президента РФ от 7.12.1993 № 2120 (in Russian). Moscow: Официальный сайт Президента Российской Федерации. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^"Winners of the 2013 Russian Federation National Awards announced". Retrieved 29 October 2015.
fazil, iskander, this, name, that, follows, eastern, slavic, naming, conventions, patronymic, abdulovich, family, name, iskander, fazil, abdulovich, iskander, russian, Фази, ль, Абду, лович, Исканде, abkhazian, Фазиль, Абдул, иԥа, Искандер, march, 1929, july, . In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions the patronymic is Abdulovich and the family name is Iskander Fazil Abdulovich Iskander Russian Fazi l Abdu lovich Iskande r Abkhazian Fazil Abdul iԥa Iskander 6 March 1929 31 July 2016 was a Soviet and Russian 1 writer and poet known in the former Soviet Union for his descriptions of Caucasian life He authored various stories including Zashita Chika which features a crafty and likable young boy named Chik but is probably best known for the picaresque novel Sandro of Chegem and its sequel The Gospel According to Chegem Fazil IskanderIskander being awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland 2010BornIskander Fazil AbdulovichFazil Abdulovich Iskander 1929 03 06 6 March 1929Sukhumi SSRA TSFSR USSRDied31 July 2016 2016 07 31 aged 87 Peredelkino RussiaOccupationNovelist essayist poetNationalityRussianGenrememoirs satire parable essays aphorismNotable worksSandro of ChegemNotable awardsUSSR State Prize 1989 Alfred Toepfer foundation s Pushkin Prize 1992 State Prize of the Russian Federation 1993 2013 Triumph Prize Russia 1999 Order For Merit to the Fatherland 1999 2004 2010 Order of Honour and Glory 1st class Abkhazia 2002 Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award 2011 Ivan Bunin literary award 2013RelativesAbdul Ibragimovich Iskander father Leili Khasanovna Iskander mother Feredun Abdulovich Iskander brother Giuli Abdulovna Iskander sister SignatureReverse side of a 10 apsar commemorative coin minted on 6 May 2009 to celebrate Fazil Iskander s 80th birthday Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Career 2 Family 3 Death 4 Quotes 5 Awards and prizes 6 Works 6 1 Works in English translation 6 2 Online 6 3 Further reading 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksBiography EditEarly life Edit Fazil Abdulovich Iskander was born in 1929 in the cosmopolitan port city of Sukhumi Georgia then part of the USSR to an Iranian father Abdul Ibragimovich Iskander and an Abkhazian mother Leili Khasanovna Iskander 2 His father was deported to Iran in 1938 and sent to a penal camp where he died in 1957 3 His father was the victim of Joseph Stalin s deportation policies of the national minorities of the Caucasus 2 As a result Fazil and his brother Feredun and his sister Giuli were raised by his mother s Abkhazian family 2 3 Fazil was only nine years old at that time 4 5 Career Edit The most famous intellectual of Abkhazia citation needed he first became well known in the mid 1960s along with other representatives of the young prose movement like Yury Kazakov and Vasily Aksyonov especially for what is perhaps his best story 6 Sozvezdie kozlotura 1966 variously translated as The Goatibex Constellation The Constellation of the Goat Buffalo and Constellation of Capritaurus It is written from the point of view of a young newspaperman who returns to his native Abkhazia joins the staff of a local newspaper and is caught up in the publicity campaign for a newly produced farm animal a cross between a goat and a West Caucasian tur Capra caucasica a remarkable satire of Lysenko s genetics and Khrushchev s agricultural campaigns it was harshly criticized for showing the Soviet Union in a bad light 7 8 He is probably best known in the English speaking world for Sandro of Chegem a picaresque novel that recounts life in a fictional Abkhaz village from the early years of the 20th century until the 1970s which evoked praise for the author as an Abkhazian Mark Twain 9 Mr Iskander s humor like Mark Twain s has a tendency to sneak up on you instead of hitting you over the head 9 This rambling amusing and ironic work has been considered as an example of magic realism although Iskander himself said he did not care for Latin American magic realism in general 10 Five films were made based upon parts of the novel Iskander distanced himself from the Abkhaz secessionist strivings in the late 1980s and criticised both Georgian and Abkhaz communities of Abkhazia for their ethnic prejudices citation needed He warned that Abkhazia could become a new Nagorno Karabakh citation needed Later Iskander resided in Moscow and was a writer for the newspaper Kultura citation needed On 3 September 2011 a statue of Iskander s literary character Chik was unveiled on Sukhumi s Muhajir Quay 11 Family EditIskander had been married to a Russian poet Antonina Mikhailovna Khlebnikova since 1960 In 2011 the couple published a book of poems entitled Snow and Grapes to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary 1 They had one son and one daughter Death EditIskander died in his home on 31 July 2016 in Peredelkino aged 87 12 13 14 15 Quotes Edit Perhaps the most touching and profound characteristic of childhood is an unquestioning belief in the rule of common sense The child believes that the world is rational and hence regards everything irrational as some sort of obstacle to be pushed aside The best people I think are those who over the years have managed to retain this childhood faith in the world s rationality For it is this faith which provides man with passion and zeal in his struggle against the twin follies of cruelty and stupidity The Goatibex Constellation all serious Russian and European literature is an endless commentary on the gospel Reflections of a Writer by Fazil Iskander 16 Awards and prizes EditUSSR State Prize 1989 for his novel Sandro of Chegem 17 18 Alfred Toepfer foundation s Pushkin Prize 1992 19 State Prize of the Russian Federation in Literature and Arts 1993 2013 20 21 Triumph Prize 1999 22 Order of Honour and Glory 1st class Abkhazia 18 June 2002 23 Order of Merit for the Fatherland 24 2nd class 29 September 2004 3rd class 3 March 1999 4th class 13 March 2009 presented on February 17 2010 25 Honorary Member of Russian Academy of Arts Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award 2011 for the novel Sandro of Chegem 26 Ivan Bunin literary award 2013 In 2009 Bank of Abkhazia issued a commemorative silver coin from the series Outstanding Personalities of Abkhazia dedicated to Fazil Iskander denomination of 10 apsaras citation needed Already after the writer s death the Fazil Iskander International Literary Prize was established in Russia in three nominations prose poetry and screenplay based on the works of Iskander The Fazil Iskander International Literary Award is now in its sixth year 27 was established on August 3 2016 by the Russian branch of the International Russian PEN Center Works EditWorks in English translation Edit Forbidden Fruit and Other Stories Central Books LTD 1972 The Goatibex Constellation Ardis 1975 Iskander Fazil Lindsey Byron Burlingame Helen 1976 The Goatibex Constellation Books Abroad 50 4 905 doi 10 2307 40131179 JSTOR 40131179 Retrieved 2022 09 20 Contemporary Russian Prose English and Russian Edition 1980 ISBN 978 0 882 33596 4 Sandro of Chegem Vintage Books 1983 ISBN 978 0 394 71516 2 The Gospel According to Chegem Vintage Books 1984 ISBN 978 0 394 72377 8 Chik and His Friends Ardis 1985 Bolshoi den bolshogo doma Rasskazy 1986 Iskander Fazil 1988 Fooling with words Index on Censorship 17 5 19 20 doi 10 1080 03064228808534413 S2CID 146216870 Retrieved 2022 09 20 Rabbits and Boa Constrictors Ardis 1989 Co authored with Ronald E Peterson ISBN 978 0 882 33557 5 The Old House Under the Cypress Tree Faber and Faber 1996 The Thirteenth Labour of Hercules Raduga 1997 Rasskazy povestʹ skazka dialog esse stikhi Zerkalo Russian Edition 1999 ISBN 978 5 891 78090 3 Parom Russian Edition 2004 ISBN 978 5 941 17138 5 Kozy i Shekspir Goats and Shakespear Russian Edition 2008 Put iz Variag v Greki The Road from the Varangians to the Greeks Russian Edition 2008 ISBN 978 5 969 10305 4 Zoloto Vil gel ma Povesti Rasskazy Gold of Vilgel m Stories tales 2010 L energia della vergogna Italian Edition 2014 The Mystery of Conscience 2016 ISBN 978 1 329 31637 9 Departures 2016 ISSN 1066 999X Sandro de Cheguem Narrativa Spanish Edition 2017 ISBN 978 8 415 50938 7 Druzia priiateli Detstvo Chika Russian Edition 2018 ISBN 978 5 928 72977 6 Zvezdnyy kamen Russian Edition 2019 ISBN 978 5 969 11841 6 The Commonwealth Reconstructed ISBN 978 5 871 07810 5Online Edit Works by Fazil Iskander on Archive orgFurther reading Edit Russian writer of Iranian origin hailed in Moscow Archived 2015 05 18 at the Wayback Machine Kriza Elisa Blood Carnival and Its Variations in Mexican and Soviet Subversive Satires by Rene Aviles and Fazil Iskander Comparative Literature Studies vol 58 no 2 2021 p 397 430 https www muse jhu edu article 794578 See also Edit Abkhazia portalReferences Edit a b There s no doubt I m a Russian writer who praised Abkhazia a lot Unfortunately I haven t written anything in the Abkhaz language The choice of Russian culture was principal to me It is stifling to live without conscience interview in Rossiyskaya Gazeta March 4 2011 in Russian a b c Christine Rydel Russian Prose Writers After World War II Volume 302 p 122 Thomson Gale 2005 ISBN 0787668397 a b Haber Erika 2003 The Myth of the Non Russian Iskander and Aitmatov s Magical Universe ISBN 9780739105313 Retrieved 24 October 2014 Soviet Literature and Art Almanac 1990 Retrieved 11 May 2015 On rabbits and boa constrictors Fazil Iskander the bard of Abkhazia who produced tragicomic chronicles of Soviet bureaucracy NI Syndication Limited Edward J Brown Russian Literature Since the Revolution Harvard University Press 1982 ISBN 0 674 78204 6 p 331 Karen L Ryan Hayes Contemporary Russian Satire A Genre Study Cambridge University Press 2006 ISBN 0 521 02626 1 p 15 Iranian Russian author Iskander dies at 88 Iran Daily a b Jacoby Susan An Abkhazian Mark Twain The New York Times 15 May 1983 Retrieved 24 June 2009 Haber Erika 2003 The Myth of the Non Russian Lexington Books ISBN 0 7391 0531 0 V Abhazii poyavilsya pervyj pamyatnik literaturnomu geroyu Regnum 4 September 2011 Retrieved 23 September 2011 Abkhaz writer Fazil Iskander dies aged 87 euronews July 31 2016 Retrieved 2016 07 31 Soviet humanist writer Fazil Iskander dead at 87 The Express Tribune The Express Tribune July 31 2016 Retrieved 2016 07 31 Polska Grupa Wirtualna July 31 2016 Pisarz Fazil Iskander nie zyje wiadomosci wp pl in Polish Retrieved 2016 07 31 Fazil Iskander passes away vestnikkavkaza net July 31 2016 Retrieved 2016 07 31 Literature and the acceptance of faith for Fazil Iskander and other writers The Myth of the Non Russian Iskander and Aitmatov s Magical Universe Erika Haber Lexington Books UK 2003 Page 65 Iskander was awarded the USSR State Prize in November 1989 Remaking Russia Voices from Within Edited by Heyward Isham Intro by Richard Pipes M E Sharp 1995 Intro page xviii USSR State Prize 1989 Puschkin Preis 2005 fur Boris Paramonow in German Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F V S 2005 05 26 Retrieved 2009 10 03 Yeltsin Boris 2003 12 07 Ukaz Prezidenta RF ot 7 12 1993 2120 in Russian Moscow Oficialnyj sajt Prezidenta Rossijskoj Federacii Retrieved 2009 10 03 Winners of the 2013 Russian Federation National Awards announced Retrieved 29 October 2015 abkhaz org Fazil Iskander nagrazhden vysshim ordenom Abhazii in Russian Kafkas Vakfi 2002 06 20 Archived from the original on 2012 02 17 Retrieved 2009 10 03 Fazil Iskander Retrieved 29 October 2015 Dmitrij Medvedev nagradil pisatelya Fazilya Iskandera ordenom Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom IV stepeni Fazilya Iskandera nagradili premiej Yasnaya Polyana Fazil Iskander International Literary Prize External links EditFazil Iskander IMDb Books by Fazil Iskander Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fazil Iskander amp oldid 1130464778, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
