Yevgeni Zamyatin

Yevgeni Ivanovich Zamyatin was born on February 1, 1884, in Lebedyan, Tambov Province, Russia. His father, named Ivan Dmitrievich Zamyatin, was a Russian Orthodox priest and a schoolmaster. His mother, named Maria Aleksandrovna (nee Platonova), was a pianist. Young Zamyatin grew up at the family estate, where he read voraciously, and his mother played his favorite music of Frédéric Chopin.

Young Zamyatin excelled in literature and mathematics. From 1896-1902 he studied at the Voronezh Gymnasium and graduated with the Gold Medal. He studied naval engineering at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute from 1902-1908. While a student he joined the Bolshevik (communist) party. In 1905 Zamyatin participated in the student demonstration against the Tsar Nicholas II and was arrested and exiled. In 1906 he returned from exile and continued his studies in Finland. In 1908 Zamyatin graduated as a naval engineer, and worked at the Department of Naval Architecture of Russian Imperial Navy in St. Petersburg. He was exiled to Nikolaev shipyard in 1911 but was amnestied in 1913. He continued his work and wrote several articles on ship construction. During WWI he was sent to Engand and worked at shipyards of London, Glazgo, Sunderland, and Newcastle upon Tyne in 1916-1917, supervising the construction of icebreakers. There Zamyatin was in charge of design and building of the largest Russian icebreaker "St. Aleksandr Nevsky" (renamed icebreaker "Lenin" after the Russian Revolution of 1917).

Zamyatin's early stories 'Odin' (Alone 1908), 'Devushka' (Maid 1909) were published in magazines, while he lived in St. Petersburg illegally. His first book 'Uezdnoe' (A Provincial Tale 1912) satirized life in a small Russian town. It was praised by Maxim Gorky and other important literary figures. Zamyatin's anti-military story 'Na Kulichkah' (At The World's End 1913) was a satire on Russian military. The book was banned by the Russian military censorship and all copies were destroyed. Zamyatin was brought to trial and exiled to the Northern shipyard of Kem. Later he was acquitted but the book remained under ban. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he returned from England to Russia, and again published his previously banned book 'Na Kulichkah'. Zamyatin called for salvation of culture, freedoms, and human values, because he was shocked by the deterioration of life after the Russian Revolution. From 1919-1925 Zamyatin worked with Maxim Gorky, Alexander Block, and Nikolai Gumilev on the World Literature project, for which he edited Russian translations of such writers, as O. Henry, H. G. Wells, Jack London, and others. In 1921 Zamyatin became associated with the literary group "Serapionovy Bratya" (Serapion Brothers), with such writers, as Mikhail Zoschenko, Konstantin Fedin, Vsevolod Ivanov, Veniamin Kaverin, Yuri Olesha, Nikolai Tikhonov, and others. At that time Zamyatin fearlessly criticized Soviet policy of "Red Terror" and intimidation of intellectuals.

In 1920 Zamyatin wrote his anti-Utopian novel 'My' (We), which was smuggled to Berlin, then to the United States and was first published in English in 1924. 'We' was the very first anti-Utopian novel ever written. In 'We' Zamyatin satirized a totalitarian police-controlled One State (or United State in some translations), where people have numbers rather than names, and every moment of their day is regulated by the Book of Hours. Tamed people live in glass homes and even sex is rationed with pink coupons. The One State is surrounded by a wall of glass and outside is an untamed wilderness of green jungle, where free people live. The main hero, named D-503, is a mathematician who is building a gigantic spaceship for One State, which will serve the plan of enforcing the "Happiness" of One State all-over the Universe. D-503 is oblivious to real human feelings until he falls in love with I-330; she helps him develop a soul and imagination. She also connects him to a pro-freedom group living in the green jungle. Brainwashed D-503 is incapable of building a reliable relationship with I-330, he betrays her love and coldly watches her execution. With other obedient citizens of One State, D-503 is forced to undergo the "rewarding" Great Operation, which destroys the part of the brain which controls creativity, imagination and passion. That turns them back into "happy" members of the perfect society, that is to say, zombies. Zamyatin's manuscript secretly circulated among Russian writers in 1920's and was banned by the Soviet censorship for over 60 years until 1988.

After publication of his novel 'We' abroad Zamyatin was ostracized by pro-Soviet writers. All his writings and theatrical plays were banned. He was deprived of livelihood and suffered from depression. Only in 1931, after the intercession of Maxim Gorky, Zamyatin was given the permission to leave Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin himself. Zamyatin settled in Paris with his wife, Lyudmila Usova. In 1934 Zamyatin was invited to the Union of Writers by its Chairman Maxim Gorky, but he did not go back to Russia. He maintained a modest and secluded life; the rare exceptions were his communication with Ivan Bunin and participation in Anti-Fascist congress in 1935-1936. In Paris Zamyatin wrote a screenplay Anna Karenina and developed his earlier banned play 'Atilla' into the novel 'Bich Bozhy' (Scourge of God 1938) which was published posthumously. He died of a heart attack on March 10, 1937, and was laid to rest in Thiais cemetery, near Paris.

Zamyatin's novel 'We' (1924) preceded and influenced the Brave New World' (1932) by Aldous Huxley, as well, as '1984' (1948) by George Orwell, and 'Farenheit 451' (1953) by Ray Bradbury. Only in 1988, under Mikhail Gorbachev, 'We' was allowed for the first publication in Russia.

"True literature can be created only by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics", wrote Zamyatin.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov