1947–1998
The KGB-veteran writer who published Yezhov's case file wrapped in novelistic reconstruction
While still on active duty, writing spy novels under the pseudonym 'Vasily Timofeyev', he unearthed Yezhov's interrogation records before their declassification and reproduced them verbatim in his biography.
A Russian writer who came out of the Soviet state-security service (KGB). Drawing on investigation files before their formal declassification, he wrote the biography Yezhov: The Story of the "Iron" Stalinist People's Commissar (2001, "Special Archive" series). The book was an early publication of Yezhov's interrogation records and trial file, but it splices novelistic reconstructions of the interrogation room between the documents, blurring the line between source and fiction.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1969Graduated from the Moscow Polygraphic Institute
- 1971Graduated from the KGB school
- 1970년대 이후Served as a state-security intelligence officer (colonel); worked as a TASS correspondent in Thailand and India
- 2001Yezhov biography published posthumously
Writing Yezhov and its posthumous publication
Polyansky prepared a book on Yezhov drawing on his career in foreign reporting and state intelligence. A biographical account records that he graduated from the Moscow Polygraphic Institute in 1969, completed KGB training in 1971, and worked as a TASS correspondent in Thailand and India. It says that in 1983 he defended a candidate-of-historical-sciences dissertation on a classified topic at the Red Banner Institute. While in service he began writing books under the pen name Vasily Timofeyev and later served in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. In his spare time and on days off, he researched Yezhov's personal and family history in libraries and archives.
Polyansky died suddenly on 28 September 1998, leaving the Yezhov manuscript unfinished. According to the foreword writer, a colleague, the posthumous edition included final chapters on Yezhov's arrest, investigation, and execution, but retained gaps; Polyansky had not completed important sections on Yezhov's role in preparing and conducting the major political trials of the Great Terror. The book appeared in 2001 as Yezhov: The Story of Stalin's "Iron" People's Commissar. A 2004 review noted its unfinished state while emphasizing its attempt to reconstruct Yezhov's early life.