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Abstract:

For the first time, the article examines the role of V.P. Stavsky, the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers, in the biography of A.P. Platonov during the 1930s. The study of previously known facts about Stavsky’s favorable response to Platonov’s tale “Immortality” (“Bessmertie,” 1936) in a broader context, together with the new materials, allows reconsidering the established notion of an episodic role of Stavsky in the writer’s fate. The support of the Secretary of the Writers’ Union (behind which possibly stood Stalin himself) provided Platonov with an official place among the best Soviet writers in 1936–1937. His work was declared a benchmark for the authors of the literary works collections of the state. His name sounded among the representatives of the new generation of literary leaders of the country. He was entrusted with new projects with the support of the Writers’ Union. At the same time, it was Stavsky’s support that triggered the largest wave of critical attention toward Platonov since the publication of “For Future Use” (“Vprok”), which led to the following persecution of the writer. Most of the archival materials in this article are published for the first time. The article introduces new biographical facts of A. Platonov and V. Stavsky.