A poet in Russia is more than a poet: the stadium-filling voice of the Thaw and its contradictions
'No monument stands over Babi Yar' — the opening line of his 1961 poem cracked open the state narrative that buried the Holocaust inside a generic story of Soviet suffering.
A defining poet of the Thaw. 'Babi Yar' (1961) broke the Soviet silence on the Holocaust. His stadium readings drew mass popularity, and his line 'A poet in Russia is more than a poet' declared literature's public mission.
Career Timeline
- 1949First poem published in Sovetsky Sport
- 1952First collection The Prospects of the Future; joins Union of Soviet Writers as youngest member
- 1952–1957Studies at Gorky Literary Institute; expelled for defending Dudintsev's novel
- 1961Publishes 'Babi Yar', breaking Soviet silence on the Holocaust
- 1962Publishes 'The Heirs of Stalin' in Pravda
- 1962Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 'Babi Yar' premieres with Yevtushenko's text
- 1968Publishes 'Tanks Go Through Prague'; banned from performing and travelling abroad
- 1986–1991Secretary of the Board, Union of Soviet Writers
- 1989–1991People's Deputy of the USSR from Kharkiv
- 1991–2017Teaches Russian and European poetry and cinema at the University of Tulsa
Related historical events
Shostakovich and the 13th Symphony 'Babi Yar'
Yevtushenko's 1961 poem 'Babi Yar' struck a deep chord with Shostakovich. Originally conceived as a single-movement vocal-symphonic poem, the work expanded into a five-movement choral symphony incorporating four additional poems: 'Humour,' 'In the Store,' 'Fears,' and 'Career.' The fourth movement, 'Fears,' was written at Shostakovich's direct request. Yevtushenko later recalled his shock when the composer played and sang the complete work for him at the piano: 'If I were able to write music I would have written it exactly the way Shostakovich did. His music made the poem greater, more meaningful and powerful.' Official pressure was relentless: Khrushchev criticized the symphony before the premiere and threatened to block it; conductor Mravinsky and bass soloist Gmyrya both withdrew under Party pressure. Kirill Kondrashin took the baton, with Vitaly Gromadsky as soloist. On December 18, 1962, at the Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, television cameras were noisily dismantled and the choir nearly walked out until Yevtushenko made a desperate appeal. The government box sat empty but the hall was packed. After the final notes, a long, tense silence gave way to a standing ovation and shouts of 'Bravo!' The two artists collaborated again on the cantata 'The Execution of Stepan Razin' (1965), but the 13th Symphony was effectively banned in the Soviet bloc after only a handful of performances. Rostropovich smuggled the original score to the West, where the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy premiered and recorded it in 1970. The collaboration endures as one of the most powerful instances in 20th-century Soviet art of poetry and music together confronting state censorship.