Komandarm 2 (Commander of the Second Army) [Tragedy

Near Fine condition; Cover corners are lightly bumped, cover bottom edge and spine ends show some fraying; internally fine condition.

Ilya Selvinsky (1899-1968) was a Russian avant-garde poet, the leader of the Literary Center of Constructivists (LTsK). He is credited with innovations in Russian and Jewish versification. As many Soviet poets, he first became enthusiastic about Communism ideology, and published some leftist experimental poetry collections, but as some Soviet poets, he later became disillusioned with it. In the late 1930s Selvinsky was a major mentor to the younger generation of Soviet Russian poets. During World War II he became the first poet who depicted Holocaust in the occupied Soviet territories. But for the “wrong” depiction of theme poet was subjected to repressions. Through a combination of personal bravery and political navigation, Selvinsky weathered the storms of Stalinism and remained a proud Jew during the most antisemitic of the Soviet years. A poetic virtuoso of high caliber, Selvinsky holds a prominent place in the history of modern Russian poetry and in the history of Jewish literature and Shoah literature. During his life, he published over 30 literary works. In the late 1920s Selvinsky was trying his hand at playwriting. The first tragical verse play “The Second Army Commander” is set in the Civil War and revolves around the conflict between Chub, a partisan leader of peasant origin thrown up by the masses, and Okonny, an army clerk and one time book-keeper who sees in the Revolution the means to self-realisation and glory.

Original paper covered boards with attractive constructivist cover design in red and black by artist A. Surikov.