Maiakovskii marginalia

[Charlotte Douglas]

In the bibliography compiled by L. A. Seleznev, and published in the
sbornik MAIAKOVSKII PRODOLZHAESTSIA (Moscow, 2003),  are listed almost a
hundred items in the emigre press regarding Maiakovsky's death.  The
controversy continued for a year or more.

Charlotte Douglas
New York University
(douglas at nyu.edu)



>Dear colleagues:
>
>In some Russian sources,  I have encountered tantalizingly brief
>references to an
>obituary article about V V Maiakovskii, supposedly published in a Paris
>emigre periodical
>after the poet's suicide in April  1930.  I can't recall the author's
>name, but it might have
>been Levidov.  [  In any case, definitely separate from Jakobson's famous,
>reprinted
>article, "Generation That Squandered Its Poets," which appeared at about
>the same
>time. ]
>
>As I recall, the wording of those tantalizing references tended to be very
>nasty -- i.e.,
>the (Soviet) commentators on Maiakovskii hated what the emigre author
>(Levidov?)
>supposedly had written about the "greatest Soviet poet."
>
>But I've never seen a reprint of the ACTUAL TEXT of this "slanderous"
>Parisian obituary,
>which for  some reason aroused the outrage of the (Soviet)
>Maiakovskii-scholars.
>
>Has the "slanderous" obituary perhaps  been reprinted in recent years, in
>any French or
>English or  Russian (post-Soviet)  publication?   -- If so,  a bibliogr.
>ref. would be much
>appreciated!
>
>Gratefully,
>Steven P Hill (University of Illinois, USA).
>
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