The poet who wrote the anthem for Stalin, Brezhnev, and Putin
In 2009, on his deathbed, Mikhalkov told his wife: "Well, that's enough for me. Goodbye." And closed his eyes.
A giant of Soviet children's literature and the poet who wrote the lyrics for the Soviet national anthem in 1944 and 1977 and the Russian national anthem in 2000. His long poem Uncle Styopa was beloved by generations of Soviet children, and he founded and edited the satirical newsreel Fitil for over four decades. As Chairman of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR from 1970 to 1990, he sat at the apex of Soviet literary administration, earning the Hero of Socialist Labour, the Lenin Prize, and three Stalin Prizes. Though criticized for joining campaigns against Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn, he also worked behind the scenes to secure housing, jobs, medical care, and even prison releases for numerous writers.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1935Published the long poem Uncle Styopa
- 1937Joined the Union of Soviet Writers
- 1941–1945Served as war correspondent; took part in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol
- 1944Co-wrote the Soviet national anthem lyrics with El-Registan (Stalin version)
- 1950Joined the CPSU
- 1962–2008Founded and edited the satirical newsreel Fitil
- 1965–1970First Secretary of the Moscow branch and Secretary of the Board, Union of Soviet Writers
- 1970–1990Chairman of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR
- 1977Wrote revised Soviet anthem lyrics, removing the mention of Stalin
- 2000Wrote the lyrics for the Russian Federation national anthem (Putin version)
Related historical events
Leading writers’ organizations and state literary policy
From 1965 to 1970, Mikhalkov was a secretary of the board of the Union of Soviet Writers and first secretary of the Moscow organization of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR; from 1970 to 1990 he chaired the RSFSR writers’ union. These posts, alongside his reputation as a children’s author, made him a senior figure in Soviet literary administration. He also served on the government commission for Stalin Prizes in literature and the arts, and later on the commission for Lenin and State Prizes.
His public role had a dual character: he occupied institutions involved in defining officially acceptable literature, while also intervening in writers’ personal needs. Mikhalkov joined denunciations of Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn and signed the 1973 writers’ open letter condemning Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov. At the same time, according to Viktoria Tokareva’s recollection, he helped writers with housing, employment, medical treatment, and problems involving imprisonment. Rather than reducing him to either bureaucrat or patron, his position is best understood as one in which the authority of official literary organizations coexisted with personal acts of assistance.