Biography
Lyudmila Ulitskaya is a Russian writer, screenwriter, the first female writer to receive the Russian Booker Prize (2001). In 2009, she was nominated for the international Booker Prize, twice winner of the Big Book Award. Author of the novels “The Kukotsky Case”, “Daniel Stein, Translator”.
Lyudmila Evgenievna Ulitskaya was born on February 21, 1943 in Bashkiria, where the Ulitskys were evacuated in the last years of the war. The future writer spent her early childhood in the city of Davlekanovo, and at the end of the war the family returned to Moscow.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya in childhood and youth
In the capital, Lyudmila entered Moscow State University at the Faculty of Biology, where she chose one of the most complex and exciting departments - the Department of Genetics. In choosing her future, Lyudmila followed in the footsteps of her parents, who were also involved in scientific activities. Ulitskaya’s mother, Marianna Borisovna Ginzburg, was a biochemist and worked at a pediatric research institute, and her father, Evgeniy Yakovlevich Ulitsky, being a scientist and doctor of technical sciences, published a number of books on mechanics and agriculture.
After graduating from the university, Lyudmila Evgenievna got a job in her profession at the Institute of General Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, but worked there for only two years. In 1970, she quit “voluntarily and compulsorily” - the future writer was caught reading and reprinting samizdat, which was not welcomed in those years.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya in the laboratory
This dismissal, which then seemed like an unfortunate failure, became the first step on Ulitskaya’s path to literary creativity. After a ten-year break, thanks to the help of a friend and acquaintance with Sherling, her new job was the head of the literary department at the Jewish Musical Theater - here Lyudmila’s professional responsibilities included writing plays, dramatizations and reviews of performances.
Literature
In addition to her main job, Ulitskaya translated poetry from Mongolian, which was rare. The work, which requires creative output, the ability to see the world around us in the smallest detail and enormous patience, pushed Lyudmila to think about her own literary activity, and from the late 80s, Ulitskaya’s novels and short stories began to appear in various collections.
Writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya
Even before the world started talking about the “Ulitskaya the Writer” phenomenon, Lyudmila had already become famous as a screenwriter. The films “The Liberty Sisters” and “A Woman for Everyone,” for which she wrote scripts, brought the first whiff of fame, partly paving the way for future prose works. In addition to these two films, Ulitskaya also wrote scripts for the films “Dying is Easy,” “This Queen of Spades,” and “Through Line.”
Lyudmila Ulitskaya and her book “Poor Relatives”
Ulitskaya’s first big book was the collection of short stories “Poor Relatives,” published in 1993 in French. A year later, her story “Sonechka,” written in 1992, was recognized as the best translated book of the year in France. For this work, the writer was awarded the Medici Prize, and in Italy she received the Giuseppe Acerbi Literary Prize. In Russia, the story was published in a collection called “Sonechka and Other Stories.”
Since then, Ulitskaya has published more than a dozen books, including novels, novellas and collections of short stories, which have been translated into 30 languages. In 1996, the family novel “Medea and Her Children” was published, which told about a Tauride family scattered around the world, whose family nest was located in the Crimea.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya and her book “Medea and Her Children”
A year later, the story “Merry Funeral” appeared, which was filmed 10 years later. In the film “From Nowhere with Love, or Merry Funeral” directed by Vladimir Fokin, the main role was played by Alexander Abdulov. For the actor, this work became prophetic, because his hero Alik, a freelance artist from New York, was dying of cancer throughout the story.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya and her book “The Kukotsky Case”
Lyudmila Ulitskaya is the first woman to receive the Russian Booker award (for her novel “The Kukotsky Case,” also filmed as a TV series). This novel was followed by “Sincerely yours Shurik” and “Daniel Stein, translator”. For writing her first work, Ulitskaya received the Book of the Year award. The second work, dedicated to the biography of the Catholic Jew Oswald Rufeisen, brought Ulitskaya the Big Book Prize.
In 2011, the novel “The Green Tent” appeared, and four years later - the parable novel “Jacob’s Ladder,” which also brought Lyudmila the “Big Book” award. In 2021, the collections “A Gift Not Made by Hands” and “A Man with Connections” were published from the pen of Ulitskaya.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya at the presentation of the book “Jacob’s Ladder”
In 2007, Lyudmila Evgenievna founded a foundation in her own name, aimed at supporting humanitarian initiatives. With the assistance of the Foundation, there is a project “Good Books”, the essence of which is that Ulitskaya selects books published in Russia and sends them to various libraries.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya and her book “A Man with Connections”
From the same year to 2010, the writer actively supported the publication of certain books for children aimed at explaining the cultural, ethnic and social differences of different people. This project was carried out with the support of the Institute of Tolerance and two largest Russian publishing houses.
In 2011, the writer gave a lecture on personal and political freedom in Russia at a convention at the London Foreign Policy Center. In 2014, Lyudmila took part in the “Ukraine – Russia: Dialogue” congress, held in Kyiv.
Work as a screenwriter
In 1990, the melodrama “Liberty Sisters” was released, the script for which was written by Lyudmila Evgenievna Ulitskaya. A short biography of the writer clearly demonstrates that she soon quickly went to success.
The film was directed by Vladimir Grammatikov. It was a simple story about two twin sisters who were charmed by a fashionable modernist artist. He uses them as models and brings them together with his friends.
Romantic relationships and frank confessions make their lives unpredictable, and the sisters themselves are put on the brink of life and death.
In 1991, she wrote the script for Anatoly Mateshko’s melodrama “A Woman for Everyone” Lyudmila Evgenievna Ulitskaya. The biography of the main character, as some critics have noted, is somewhat similar to the fate of the writer herself.
The film tells the story of a lonely librarian Anna, played by Larisa Udovichenko. The person closest to her is her neighbor Maria. She is also lonely, but she is not deprived of the attention of men. There are sailor friends who regularly return from voyages, and Nikolai, who cannot leave his old family because of his sick daughter.
Suddenly Maria dies, leaving her with children whom none of her relatives are trying to take away. As a result, they manage to stay in their home, and the main character looks after them. Soon she decides to take them under her guardianship, and in this she is supported by Nikolai, who no longer keeps anything at home. A connection appears between them.
In 1992, Ulitskaya announced herself as a writer. Her story “Sonechka” was published in a thick literary magazine, which was soon recognized as the best translated book in France and received the Medici Prize, which has been recognizing avant-garde writers since 1958.
Personal life
In search of family happiness, Ulitskaya married three times. The first time was at the university for Yuri Taits, who was also a student at that time. As often happens with early marriages, their union, even without any serious problems, did not last long and was filled with disputes about who was more important in the young family.
The second marriage with a doctor of biological sciences, geneticist Mikhail Borisovich Evgeniev, turned out to be longer - Lyudmila lived with him for a little less than 10 years and gave birth to two children from him - Alexei and Peter. The eldest son became a businessman, and the younger son became interested in jazz music, but later changed his profession and now works as a simultaneous translator.
Despite her happy motherhood, Lyudmila’s personal life did not work out in this union. Ulitskaya considers divorce from Mikhail one of the most difficult decisions in life, but at the same time necessary: over the years of marriage, the relationship of the spouses has seriously changed, and at the end of this path Lyudmila felt that they had become strangers. In addition, Mikhail adhered to the traditional family model, in which Lyudmila was assigned the role of a housewife, and she, who felt her calling in something more significant, did not like this.
After a stormy and difficult romance, the writer got married for the third time. This time, Ulitskaya’s husband was the sculptor Andrei Krasulin.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya and her husband Andrey Krasulin
Lyudmila Ulitskaya is one of those people who defeated cancer. In the writer’s family, oncology turned out to be a common disease, and Lyudmila was internally prepared for this diagnosis. Annual medical examination did not help to detect breast cancer at an early stage. When he was discovered, Ulitskaya had been ill for three years. The author expressed her feelings about this in her work “Sacred Garbage,” which was published in 2012.
Lyudmila had the operation done in Israel. She was struck by the attitude towards cancer patients in this country and the well-established system of psychological assistance. The surgery went well and the disease subsided. Later, in her homeland, Lyudmila Ulitskaya joined the board of trustees of the Moscow charitable foundation for hospices “Vera”.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya now
Lyudmila Ulitskaya continues to participate in public events. In 2018, the writer signed a letter to Vladimir Putin with a request to release Memorial human rights activist Oyub Titiev from criminal prosecution. Those who signed the appeal to the President of the Russian Federation included the Mufti of Moscow Ildar Alyautdinov, actresses Liya Akhedzhakova and Chulpan Khamatova, and journalist Leonid Parfenov.
Writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya
Soon followed by an appeal to German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a call to save the “Ukrainian political prisoner,” director Oleg Sentsov, who is serving his sentence in a Russian prison. An earlier appeal to the Russian presidential administration was rejected.
The writer does not stop literary activity. Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s latest works include a story included in the “Book of Gastronomic Stories,” which was created through the efforts of 30 cultural figures from Russia, Georgia, Israel, Ukraine, and Canada. Among the authors are Narine Abgaryan, Vladimir Voinovich, Yuliy Gugolev, Maria Arbatova, Veniamin Smekhov. The book presentation date is May 31, 2021. Proceeds from the sale of the collection went to help patients at oncology hospices.
Social activity
Not only as a writer, but also as a public figure, Lyudmila Evgenievna Ulitskaya is famous today. The writer's biography includes the creation in 2007 of a foundation that bears her name. He is involved in supporting humanitarian initiatives. In particular. The writer herself selects books from Russian publishing houses, as part of the most popular project of the Good Books Foundation, and sends them to Russian libraries for free.
From 2007 to 2010, she implemented another non-standard project aimed at reducing the feeling of mistrust in society towards other peoples and nationalities. “Another, others, about others” - that’s what Lyudmila Ulitskaya called him. In the short biography of the writer, it is designated as a series of books by various authors on cultural anthropology, intended primarily for children.
Ulitskaya still takes a tough position on some socially significant issues today. For example, in April 2014, she took part in the “Ukraine - Russia: Dialogue” congress, which was held in Kyiv. At the same time, the writer has repeatedly criticized the current government, accusing it of politicians turning Russia into a barbaric country.
In the 2021 parliamentary elections, writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya supported the liberal Yabloko party. Her biography began to develop in the political field. She acted as a confidant of this party.
