A Question of Return, page 35
Efron, Georgy (1925-43): Tsvetayeva’s and Sergy Efron’s son. After his mother’s death he volunteered for the front in the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). Died from battle injuries in 1943.
Efron, Alya (Ariadna Sergeevna) (1912-75): Tsvetayeva’s and Sergey Efron’s daughter. Lived in exile in Paris between 1922-37. Imprisoned in labour camps and exile between 1939-55.
Fadeyev, Alexander (1901-56): Soviet writer. General Secretary of the Soviet Writers’ Union 1938-44 and 1946-54.
Gurevich, Mulya (1904-52): Alya Efron’s lover. Shot in 1952.
Ivinskaya, Olga (1912-95): Pasternak’s mistress. Imprisoned in labour camps 1949-53 and prison 1960-64.
Klepinin, Nikolai Andreevich (1899-1941): Russian intellectual. Fought in the White Army then moved to the West. Became a spy for the NKVD and returned to Russia in 1937. Shot in 1941.
Klepinina, Antonina (Nina) Nikolaevna (1894-1941): Klepinin’s wife. Shot in 1941.
Korotkov: Captain of the riverboat Kirov.
Korotkova, Marietta Alexeyevna: Korotkov’s wife.
Klyuchev, Kolya: Pavel Laukhin’s cousin.
Laukhin, Art (Artyom Pavlovich): Soviet/Russian poet living in Toronto. Art, to his friends in North America. Tyomka, to his parents and as a child. Tyoma to his Russian friends.
Laukhin, Larissa: Art Laukhin’s sister.
Laukhin, Pavel Nikolayevich: Art Laukhin’s father. Writer of espionage novels and of the journal. Pasha or Pashenka to his wife.
Laukhin, Tatyana: Art Laukhin’s former wife. Also called Tanya.
Laukhin, Varya (Varvara Prokofievna): Pavel Laukhin’s wife. Varya to her husband.
Lezzard, Jean: Art dealer in Toronto. His parents were Russian refugees after the revolution, settled in Paris.
Lyutov, Maxim: Anna Lyutova’s father and Natalya’s first husband.
Lyutova, Natalya: Cornilov’s second wife.
Lyutova, Anna: Natalya Lyutova’s daughter and Cornilov’s step-daughter.
Malgunov, Fedya: Soviet/Russian writer who had defected to the USA in the sixties. Former friend of Art Laukhin. Dead in the early eighties.
Markov, Georgy (1911-91): Soviet writer. First Secretary of the Soviet Writer’s Union 1977-86.
Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich (1890-1960): Soviet poet, novelist, and literary translator.
Pasternak, Zinaida Nikolaevna: Pasternak’s second wife.
Pavliuk: Friend of Pavel Laukhin.
Shnaideman: Friend of Pavel Laukhin.
Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008): Soviet/Russian writer. Lived in USA between 1974-94.
Tsvetayeva, Marina Ivanovna: Russian poet (1892-1941). Went into exile in 1922 and returned to the Soviet Union in 1939.
Tvardovsky, Aleksandr Trifonovich: Soviet/Russian poet (1910-1971). Chief editor of Novy Mir literary magazine from 1950 to 1954 and 1958 to 1970.
Tsiriteli, Davit: Soviet/Georgian writer. Friend of Art Laukhin. Lives in the Soviet Union.
Vronkh, Kyril Innokentyevich: Friend of Art Laukhin. Lives in the Soviet Union.
Volkova, Yevgenya: Acquaintance and love interest of Pavel Laukhin.
Yevtushenko, Yevgeny (b. 1933): Soviet/Russian poet.
Yefremov, Ivan (1908-72): Soviet/Russian writer of popular science fiction and historical novels.
Zhelenin, Victor Efremovich: Former Soviet literary critic, now living in Paris and publisher of émigré magazine Sintesy.
Zhelenin, Miriam Emmanuilovna: Wife of Victor Zhelenin.
Zladsky, Yakov: Soviet/Russian poet living in the USA.
Glossary of Russian Words
bolshie kity: big whales. Russian equivalent of “fat cats” or “big fish”
chastushka: doggerel
chekist: Name generally used for anybody working for the secret police. The Cheka was a secret political police force established in 1917 to combat counter-revolutionaries. In 1922, it became a branch of the NKVD (see below).
Glavlit: Name (abbreviated) of the official state censorship. From Glavnoe Upravlenie po Delam Literatury i Izdatelstv, the Main Directorate for Literary and Publishing Affairs
gostinaya: living room
govnyuk: shithead
literaturnye sanovniki: literary dignitaries (see also sanovnik, below)
mesta polzovaniia: place of use (literally), toilet
Militsya: Short for the Workers’ and Peasants’ Militsiya. The public police force.
NKVD: The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the secret police force during the Soviet era. Had many other different names/abbreviations among which GPU, OGPU and KGB.
poklonitsa: groupie
razvedchik: intelligence agent, spy
sanovnik: dignitary
stolovaya: dinning room
vozhd: leader. Stalin was often referred to as the vozhd
vreditelstvo: wrecking
zakliuchonnyi: inmate
zakuski: Russian hors d’ouevres or canapés
zek: A prisoner, especially an inmate of a forced-labour camp. An abbreviation of zakliuchonnyi (see above).
Robert Carr was born in Bucharest, Romania and fled from the Communist regime at the age of twenty-four. He moved from France to Israel and then settled in Canada. After working as an engineer in the aerospace industry for many years, Carr transitioned to being a full time writer. His first novel, Continuums was published by Mosaic Press in 2008.
Robert Carr, A Question of Return
