Voznesensky Andrei

Voznesensky, Andrei (May 12, 1933, Moscow – June 1, 2010, ibid.), Russian poet.

He graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute (1957). He published his first poems in 1958, and his first collections of poems, Parabola and Mosaic, in 1960. Voznesensky’s poem The Masters (1959) drew attention for the novelty of its artistic imagination.

The Georgian themes appeared in Voznesensky’s poetry beginning in the 1960s. His poems about Georgia—such as “Georgian Birch Trees”, “Tbilisi Bazaars”, “In the Mountains”, and others—are collected in the book Light of Iveria (Tbilisi, 1984). The collection includes the author's own preface.

Voznesensky explained his great interest in Georgia by a genetic connection (his paternal grandfather's father was Georgian). “Georgia stunned me,” the poet recalled regarding his first trip to Georgia. During this period, three poems dedicated to Georgia by Voznesensky were published in Literaturnaya Gazeta. The poem “Praded” (lit. Great-Grandfather) and later the poem Andrei Polisadov recount the story of Voznesensky’s ancestor. The poet expressed his love for the Georgian people in his essay Under a Single Sky .

Voznesensky also translated Georgian poems by G. Abashidze, I. Abashidze, R. Margiani, Sh. Nishnianidze, I. Noneshvili, L. Sturua, and O. Chiladze.

Literary works: Антимиры, М., 1964; Тень звука, М., 1970; Иберский свет, Тб., 1984.