Confronting Bodies: Soviet-Russian Government
Date of Action: 1986 - 1999
Specific Location: USSR - Russia
Description of Artwork: The famous Russian poet and writer Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), fatally wounded in a duel by his brother-in-law and rival, left a secret, ciphered journal, which was discovered and smuggled out of the USSR in 1976 by the Russian author Mikhail Armalinsky. There has been a lot of speculation and mystery surrounding this journal. According to legend, Pushkin's will stipulated that the journal not be published until 100 years after his death. Some people claimed that the Journal never existed at all. The Journal does exist and consists of explicit confessions about intimate relationships that Pushkin had with his wife, her two sisters, and other women, which brought him to his tragic end. These astonishing events and reflections reveal an unknown details of Pushkin's life - the life of a nineteenth century Russian Don Juan. See info on Secret Journal at: http://www.mipco.com/english/push.html
Description of Incident: The first Russian edition of Pushkin's Secret Journal was published in 1986 in the USA and it was banned in USSR till 1999. In 2001 it was publised by Moscow academic publisher Ladomir. Secret Journal was considered as a blasphemy because it depicted sexual life of Pushkin who was and is a symbol of Russian culture.
Results of Incident: Now book is published in 24 countries and considered as classic of Erotic literature
Source: M.I.P. Company, Minneapolis Minnesota
http://www.mipco.com
mp@mipco.com
Submitted By: Michael Peltsman