Eighty years in service. Jacob Gordin in search of historical truth

ST. PETERSBURG. The anniversary of Jacob Gordin - a writer, historian, editor-in-chief of the legendary "Star" and just a wonderful person.

In his book, Roll Call in the Dark. Joseph Brodsky and his interlocutors, ”Yakov Arkadyevich wrote about a friend that he was a man who lived by his own rules, who did not provoke power, but did not bend in front of it. The same words can rightfully be attributed to him. The lack of specialized education (behind him an incomplete philological faculty, geophysical courses, work in the Arctic) did not prevent Gordin from engaging in literature and serious historical research. Genes also played a role. Mom - Marianna Basina - a famous writer, researcher of the work of Russian classics. Dad - Arkady Gordin - a famous Pushkinist who painstakingly restored Mikhailovskoye after the war with Semyon Geychenko and was expelled from there during the fight against cosmopolitanism. His books about Pushkin became a real guide for guides, as Dovlatov mentions in the Reserve.

Historical journalism is Jacob Gordin’s favorite genre, which he came to forty years ago, shortly after the start of his literary career. Almost two dozen books have been published without speculation, subjective and sinning against the truth of interpretations. Gordin’s position is unchanged: reality does not need to beautified, adjusted to the dogmas of the currently prevailing ideology. Weightedness, objectivity, lack of a hint of the author’s political engagement inspire confidence among readers who sometimes adhere to categorically dissenting views. Whether it concerns the era of Peter I, the uprising of the Decembrists or General Ermolov.

Friendship with Brodsky and “signatory” in defense of the disgraced poet, as well as Galanskov and Ginzburg, cost him bans on publishing. Refusal to withdraw the signature in collective petitions and repentance automatically sent him to the “black list”, so many works came out under that surname at that time. His first documentary study on Pushkin was published in the early 70s in the journal Zvezda. For 24 years, he remains its permanent editor along with prose writer and literary critic Andrei Aryev. A magazine that survived the persecution of 1946, which has survived the blockade and printed over 90 years of many excellent works, may disappear due to a lack of support from the state. Libraries can no longer afford the subscription to the thick literary magazines that the province still needs. If collecting the required amount using crowdfunding does not bring results, one of the best literary publications can be lost forever.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru