Eduard Veniaminovich Limonov (real name Savenko; 1943-2020) - Russian writer, poet, publicist, politician and former chairman of the banned in Russia National Bolshevik Party (NBP), ex-chairman of the party and coalition of the same name "Other Russia".
Initiator of a number of opposition projects. Author of the concept, organizer and constant participant of "Strategy-31" - civil protest actions in Moscow in defense of the 31st article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
In March 2009, Limonov intended to become a single opposition candidate in the 2012 presidential elections in Russia. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation refused to register him.
There are many interesting facts in Limonov's biography, which we will discuss in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Eduard Limonov.
Biography of Limonov
Eduard Limonov (Savenko) was born on February 22, 1943 in Dzerzhinsk. He grew up in the family of NKVD Commissar Veniamin Ivanovich and his wife Raisa Fedorovna.
Childhood and youth
Earlier, Edward's childhood was spent in Lugansk, and his school years - in Kharkov, which was associated with the work of his father. In his youth, he closely communicated with the criminal world. According to him, from the age of 15 he participated in robbery and robbed houses.
A few years later, a friend of Limonov was shot for such crimes, in connection with which the future writer decided to leave his "craft". At this time of his biography, he worked as a loader, builder, steelmaker and courier in a bookstore.
In the mid-60s, Eduard Limonov sewed jeans, which earned good money. As you know, at that time the demand for such trousers in the USSR was very high.
In 1965, Limonov met with many professional writers. By that time, the guy had written quite a few poems. After a couple of years, he decided to leave for Moscow, where he continued to make a living by sewing jeans.
In 1968, Edward published 5 samizdat poetry collections and short stories, which attracted the attention of the Soviet government.
An interesting fact is that the head of the KGB Yuri Andropov called him "a convinced anti-Soviet". In 1974 the young writer was forced to leave the country for refusing to cooperate with the special services.
Limonov emigrated to the United States, where he settled in New York. It is curious that here the FBI became interested in his activities, repeatedly summoning him for interrogations. It is worth noting that the Soviet authorities deprived Edward of his citizenship.
Political and literary activities
In the spring of 1976, Limonov handcuffed himself to the New York Times building, demanding the publication of his own articles. His first high-profile book was called "It's Me - Eddie", which quickly gained worldwide popularity.
In this work, the author criticized the American government. After the first literary success, he moved to France, where he collaborated with the publication of the Communist Party "Revolusion". In 1987 he was given a French passport.
Eduard Limonov continued to write books that were published in the USA and France. Another fame was brought to him by the work "The Executioner", published in Israel.
In the early 90s, the man managed to regain Soviet citizenship and return home. In Russia, he began active political activity. He became a member of the LDPR political force of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, but soon left it, accusing its leader of inappropriate rapprochement with the head of state and immense moderation.
During the biography of 1991-1993. Limonov took part in military conflicts in Yugoslavia, Transnistria and Abkhazia, where he fought and was engaged in journalism. Later he formed the National Bolshevik Party, and then opened his own newspaper "Limonka".
Since this publication published "incorrect" articles, a criminal case was opened against Edward. He was the organizer of many anti-government actions, during which prominent officials, including Zyuganov and Chubais, were pelted with eggs and tomatoes.
Limonov called on his compatriots to an armed revolution. In 2000, his supporters carried out a major action against Vladimir Putin, after which the NBP was recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization, and its members were gradually sent to jail.
Eduard Veniaminovich himself was accused of organizing a criminal armed group, and was imprisoned for 4 years.
However, he was released on parole after 3 months. An interesting fact is that during his imprisonment in Butyrka prison, he participated in the elections to the Duma, but could not get enough votes.
By the time of the biography, a new work by Limonov was published - "The Book of the Dead", which became the basis of the literary cycle of the writer, and many expressions from it gained great fame. Then the man met the leader of the rock group "Civil Defense" Yegor Letov, who shared his views.
Wanting to get political support, Eduard Limonov tried to join various liberal parties. He showed his solidarity to the Social Democratic Party of Mikhail Gorbachev and the PARNAS political force, and in 2005 he began to cooperate with Irina Khakamada.
Soon Limonov decides to popularize his ideas, for which he starts a blog on the then well-known Internet site "Live Journal". In subsequent years, he opened up accounts on various social networks, where he posted materials on historical and political topics.
In 2009, as the leader of the Other Russia coalition, Eduard Limonov formed a civic movement in defense of freedom of assembly in Russia “Strategy-31” - Article 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives citizens the right to gather peacefully, without weapons, hold meetings and demonstrations.
This action was supported by many human rights and socio-political organizations. In 2010, Limonov announced the creation of the opposition party "Other Russia", which aimed to overthrow the current government on a "legal" basis.
Then Edward was one of the main leaders of the "March of Dissent". Since the 2010s, he began to have conflicts with the Russian opposition. He also criticized the Ukrainian Euromaidan and the infamous events in Odessa.
Limonov was one of the most ardent supporters of the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation. It is worth noting that he reacted favorably to Putin's policy regarding actions in the Donbass. Some biographers believe that this position of Eduard resonated with the current government.
In particular, the “Strategy-31” actions were no longer prohibited, and Limonov himself began to appear on Russian TV and to be published in the Izvestia newspaper. In 2013, the writer published the collections Sermons. Against power and venal opposition ”and“ Apology of the Chukchi: my books, my wars, my women ”.
In the fall of 2016, Eduard Limonov worked as a columnist for the Russian-language version of the RT TV channel website. In 2016-2017. from under his pen came out 8 works, including "The Great" and "Fresh Press". In subsequent years, dozens of other works were published, including "There Will Be a Gentle Leader" and "Party of the Dead".
Personal life
In the personal biography of Edward, there were many women with whom he lived in both civil and official marriages. The first common-law wife of the writer was the artist Anna Rubinstein, who hanged herself in 1990.
After that, Limonov married the poetess Elena Shchapova. After parting with Elena, he married the singer, model and writer Natalia Medvedeva, with whom he lived for about 12 years.
The next wife of the politician was Elizabeth Blaise, with whom he lived in a civil marriage. An interesting fact is that the man was 30 years older than his chosen one. However, their relationship only lasted 3 years.
In 1998, 55-year-old Eduard Veniaminovich began to cohabit with 16-year-old schoolgirl Anastasia Lysogor. The couple lived together for about 7 years, after which they decided to leave.
The last wife of Limonov was actress Ekaterina Volkova, from whom he had children for the first time - Bogdan and Alexandra.
The couple decided to divorce in 2008 due to domestic problems. It is important to note that the writer continued to pay great attention to his son and daughter.
Death
Eduard Limonov died on March 17, 2020 at the age of 77. He died from complications caused by an oncological operation. The oppositionist asked that only close people be present at his funeral.
A couple of years before his death, Limonov gave a long interview to Yuri Dudyu, sharing various interesting facts from his biography. In particular, he admitted that he still welcomes the annexation of Crimea to Russia. In addition, he believed that all Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, as well as certain territories of Kazakhstan from China, should be annexed to the Russian Federation.
Limonov Photos
