He continued to contribute articles to various Marxist newspapers.Īfter graduating as an engineer for the Imperial Russian Navy, Zamyatin worked professionally at home and abroad. The next year he was tried for maligning the Imperial Russian Military in his story Na Kulichkakh ( At the world's end). His Uyezdnoye ( A Provincial Tale) in 1913, which satirized life in a small Russian town, brought him a degree of fame. He was arrested and exiled a second time in 1911, but amnestied in 1913. However, he escaped and returned to Saint Petersburg where he lived illegally before moving to the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1906 to finish his studies.Īfter returning to Russia, he began to write fiction as a hobby. He was arrested during the Russian Revolution of 1905 and sent into internal exile in Siberia. He studied naval engineering in Saint Petersburg from 1902 until 1908, during which time he joined the Bolsheviks.

For example, he saw the letter 'Л' as having pale, cold, and light blue qualities. He may have had synesthesia since he gave letters and sounds qualities. In a 1922 essay, Zamyatin recalled, 'You will see a very lonely child, without companions of his own age, on his stomach, over a book, or under the piano, on which his mother is playing Chopin.' His father was a Russian Orthodox priest and schoolmaster, and his mother a musician. Zamyatin was born in Lebedyan, Tambov Governorate, 300 km (186 mi) south of Moscow. Due to his use of literature to criticize Soviet society, Zamyatin has been referred to as one of the first Soviet dissidents. The subsequent outrage this sparked within the Party and the Union of Soviet Writers led directly to Zamyatin's successful request for exile from his homeland.

Ultimately, Zamyatin arranged for We to be smuggled to the West for publication.

In 1921, We became the first work banned by the Soviet censorship board. Despite having been a prominent Old Bolshevik, Zamyatin was deeply disturbed by the policies pursued by the CPSU following the October Revolution. He is most famous for his 1921 novel We, a story set in a dystopian future police state. Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (Russian: Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин IPA: January 20 (Julian) / February 1 (Gregorian), 1884 – March 10, 1937) was a Russian author of science fiction and political satire.

Yevgeni zamyatin's we