Lyudmila Ulitskaya facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lyudmila Ulitskaya
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In 2023
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| Born | February 21, 1943 Davlekanovo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Genre | Fiction, script writing |
| Literary movement | Aestheticism |
| Notable works | Sonechka "The Big Green Tent" "Jacob's Ladder" The Funeral Party Medea and Her Children Daniel Stein, Interpreter “Just the Plague” |
| Spouse | Andrej Krasulin |
Lyudmila Evgenyevna Ulitskaya (Russian: Людмила Евгеньевна Улицкая) was born on February 21, 1943. She is a very famous Russian writer of novels and short stories. In 2014, she won the important Austrian State Prize for European Literature for all her amazing books. One of her well-known novels is Daniel Stein, Interpreter, published in 2006. This book talks about the Holocaust and how different religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam can find peace together. She also won the 2012 Park Kyong-ni Prize.
Contents
About Lyudmila Ulitskaya
Lyudmila Ulitskaya was born in a town called Davlekanovo in Bashkortostan. When she was nine months old, her family moved to Moscow. In Moscow, her family lived in shared apartments with many other families.
After finishing school, she studied genetics at Moscow State University. She worked at an institute for genetics for two years. But in 1970, she was fired. This happened because she was reading and sharing forbidden books called samizdat literature.
After losing her job, she did not work for about nine years. During this time, she got married and had two children.
Starting Her Writing Career
Ulitskaya began her writing journey in 1979. She started working as a literary helper for a Jewish drama theater. Later, she became the director for the Hebrew Theatre of Moscow.
Her first short story was published in 1990. Her famous novel Sonechka was first shared in a magazine called Novy Mir in 1992. In 1993, she published her first novel in France. Her first novel in Russian came out in 1994.
Until 2022, Ulitskaya spent her time living in both Moscow and Israel. Since 2022, she has been living in Berlin, Germany.
Her Family Life
Lyudmila Ulitskaya's parents were both scientists. Her mother was a biochemist, and her father was an engineer. She was engaged to an American man, but he sadly died in a car accident before they could marry.
She has learned German, French, and English over the years. However, she has said that she does not know any of them perfectly. She often works in Italy, where she owns an apartment.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya has been married three times. Her first husband was Yuri Taits. Her second husband was Mikhail Evgeniev, a geneticist. With Mikhail, she has two sons: Aleksey (born in 1972), who is a businessman, and Pyotr (born in 1975), who is a jazz musician. One of her sons graduated from Columbia University. As of 2024, she is married to the sculptor Andrey Krasulin.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya's Books
Ulitskaya's stories often describe her characters from a fair distance. She focuses on giving clear descriptions of them. She does not use a lot of dialogue in her books.
Her writing is known for being very engaging and hard to put down. Readers often want to keep reading to find out what happens next in her stories.
Important Themes in Her Work
Some of the main ideas in Lyudmila Ulitskaya's books include:
- The importance of being kind and accepting of all religions and races.
- The challenges faced by smart people in Soviet culture.
- How women are creating new roles for themselves in society.
- Making everyday life an interesting topic for literature.
Other Activities and Views
Lyudmila Ulitskaya has also written two movie scripts. These movies were made in the early 1990s: The Liberty Sisters (1990) and A Woman for All (1991).
She often writes articles about social issues. She also helps with projects that make literature more available to everyone. In March 2014, Ulitskaya was an important speaker at an Anti-War demonstration in Moscow.
Her Political Stance
Because Ulitskaya writes about both religion and politics, she has become a key voice in Russian political discussions. In 2011 and 2012, during big protests against the Russian government, she joined a group called the League of Voters. This group worked to fight against election fraud.
Some people in the government saw her as a traitor. State-owned news outlets even said negative things about her. She is strongly against the current Russian leadership. At a press conference for her book The Big Green Tent, she said that Russia was becoming like the time of "Stalin." This made her feel "a whiff of fear."
However, she does not agree with some other anti-government figures. She believes Moscow is not culturally part of Europe.
She also exchanged letters with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian businessman who was in jail. Ulitskaya believes the reasons he was jailed were political and "absurd." Their letters were published in a book with other writers.
On the second day of the Russian war against Ukraine in 2022, a newspaper published a strong statement from Ulitskaya. In it, she said she felt "Pain. Fear. Shame." about the war. She also signed an appeal with other famous writers. This appeal asked all Russian speakers to share the truth about the war inside Russia. Since March 2022, she has been living in Berlin.
Awards and Recognition
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Lyudmila Ulitskaya has won many awards for her writing:
- Penne Prize (1997, Italy)
- Medici Prize (1998, France)
- Giuseppe Acerbi Award (1998, Italy) for Sonechka
- Penne Prize Winner (2000, Moscow) for Medea and Her Children
- Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2003, France)
- Novel of the Year Prize (2004, Russia) for Sincerely yours, Shurik
- Best Writer of the Year Ivanushka Prize (2004, Russia)
- Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2004, France)
- National Order of the Legion of Honour (2004, 2014, France)
- National Literature Prize (2005, China) for Sincerely yours, Shurik
- Penne Prize (2006, Italy) for The Kukotsky Enigma
- National Olympia Prize of Russian Academy of Business (2007, Russia)
- Big Book Award (2007, Russia) for Daniel Stein, Interpreter
- Father Alexander Men Award (2008, Germany-Russia)
- Nominated for the 2009 Man Booker International Prize
- Simone de Beauvoir Prize (2011, France)
- Russian Booker Prize (2011, Russia) for The Kukotsky Enigma
- Pak Kyong-ni Prize (2012, South Korea)
- Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2014, Austria)
- Big Book Award, 3rd place (2016, Russia) for Yakov's Ladder
- Officer of the Legion of Honor
- Siegfried Lenz Prize (2020)
- Prix Formentor (2022)
Online Text
- Kukotsky's Case full text
See also
In Spanish: Liudmila Ulítskaya para niños
