Khersonsky, Boris Grigorievich

Born in a family of doctors; his grandfather, Robert (Riven) Aronovich (1896-1954), was one of the founders of child psychoneurology in Odessa, and in the post-revolutionary years, under the pseudonym Ro, he published two books of satirical poems - “All Odessa in Epigrams” and “Hooter” (both - 1919). ^{[1] [2] [3]} A collection of poems "Students" was published in 1949 by Khersonsky's father Grigory Robertovich (the book of his selected poems "Return" was published in 2004 ). The mother’s family lived in Bessarabia before the war , after the war settled in Chernivtsi, where his father studied at the medical institute and returned from the front. ^[four]

In childhood, he lived in Starobelsk , where his parents got by distribution. He studied at the Ivano-Frankivsk Medical Institute , ^[5] he graduated from the Odessa Medical Institute . He worked as a psychoneurologist in the Ovidiopol district of Odessa region , then as a psychologist and psychiatrist in the Odessa Regional Psychiatric Hospital. During the years of perestroika, he also worked in a city newspaper, and collaborated in emigrant media.

Since 1996 he has been working at the Department of Psychology of Odessa National University , in 1999-2015 he was the head of the Department of Clinical Psychology. Author of six monographs on psychology and psychiatry , including Psychodiagnostics of Thinking ( 2003 ). He heads the Union of Psychologists and Psychotherapists of Ukraine (since 2011). In the 1990s, he also actively spoke in the city press as a journalist and publicist.

The first poetic publications in the late 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, Boris Khersonsky was one of the most prominent figures in the unofficial poetry of Odessa , a member of the self - publishing public movement, not only as an author, but also as a distributor of other illegal books. His poems were distributed in the usual way then - in typewritten copies. In the beginning of the 90s, books began to be published, also unofficially - without ISBN , but without prohibitions. Publications in the Russian-speaking emigrant press from the second half of the eighties. The first book published legally (with ISBN ) is “The Eighth Share” ( 1993 ). Further, “Beyond the Fence” ( 1996 ), “Family Archive” ( 1997 ), “Post Printum” ( 1998 ), “There and Then” ( 2000 ), “Scroll” ( 2002 ), “Draw the Little Man” ( 2005 ), “ Verbs of the past tense, as well as transcriptions of biblical texts, collected in the Book of Praises ( 1994 ) and the collection Poetry at the Crossroads of the Two Testaments. Psalms and Odes of Solomon ”( 1996 ). He was also published in the magazines Arion , Banner , Khreschatyk , New World , October , Homo Legens , etc.

The most significant literary work of Kherson is, apparently, the book “Family Archive”, in which from individual biographical poems and essays an epic canvas of the life and disappearance of Jews in the south of Ukraine is formed throughout the 20th century . The Samizdat book was published in Odessa in 1995 . In 2006, “Family Archive” became the first collection of Kherson published in Russia - the publishing house “ New Literary Review ” (UFO), in the series “Poetry of the Russian Diaspora” (editor - Dmitry Kuzmin ). The second book of the poet published by this publishing house was “Building Site” (2008). A collection of poems and essays "Out of the fence" was published by the publishing house "Science" in 2008 ( Russian Gulliver series). In 2009, the book Marble Leaf was published (M., ARGO-RISK ), which included poems written in Italy in the fall of 2008, as well as the book Spirituals (M., UFO). In 2010, the UFO publishing house published the book “Until It Gets Dark” with a preface by Irina Rodnyanskaya . In 2012, the Kiev publishing house Spadshchina-Integral published a book of poems “Still Someone,” echoing the previous book published in Moscow. In the same publishing house a book of poetry prose was published - "The Treasury of Madness." In the same year, AILUROS Publishing House (New York) published a joint book by Boris Khersonsky and Fr. Sergius Kruglov "Nathan. In spirit and truth ”, and in the Moscow publishing house“ Art House Media ”the book“ New Naturalist ”. In 2014, the St. Petersburg Publishing House of Ivan Limbach released the collection "Missa in tempore belli. Mass during the war ”, in 2015 in the Kharkov publishing house“ Folio ”a book“ Kaby not a rainbow ”was published, and in the publishing house“ Meridian Czernowitz ”, associated with the international poetry festival of the same name, - the book“ KOSMOSNASH ”. In addition, in 2015, the Kiev publishing house “ Spirit and Litera ” released Kherson’s book “Open diary” based on his Facebook posts and including poems as well as notes on socio-political topics ^[6] ; in the same year, this book was awarded a special prize named after Yuri Shevelyov (awarded under the auspices of the Ukrainian PEN Center).

Poems of Boris Kherson were translated into Ukrainian, Georgian, Bulgarian, English, Finnish, Italian, Dutch and German. In 2010, Wieser Verlag published a German translation of Family Archive; in 2014, the book was reprinted in a bilingual Russian-German version, at the same time a bilingual Russian-Dutch edition was published at the Pegassus Amsterdam publishing house; in 2016, a translation of the Family Archive into Ukrainian was released by Marianna Kiyanovskaya and the author. In turn, Khersonsky published a number of translations of modern Ukrainian and Belarusian poetry (in particular, Sergei Zhadan and Maria Martysevich ) into Russian. Autotranslations into the Ukrainian language and poems of recent years, first written in the poet’s creative biography immediately in Ukrainian, compiled the book “There was no Stalin” ( Ukrainian : Stalin was not a bulo ; 2018), edited by Yuri Vinnichuk .

Khersonsky consistently acts as a supporter of Ukrainian independence, an opponent of pressure on his country from Russia and a tough opponent of pro-Russian forces inside Ukraine. According to him, in this regard, he was subjected to bullying and hostility during the Orange Revolution , and after the next revolution ^[7] , during the repeatedly received threats of reprisal. On February 10, 2015, an interview was published in which Khersonsky declared that he would not have stayed in Odessa if the city had been occupied ^[8] . On the evening of the same day, a terrorist attack ^{[9] [10]} occurred near his house. Regarding various riots and provocations in the city of Kherson, he wrote:

I am almost convinced that the events in Odessa are a kind of performance, the main audience of which sits at a considerable distance from the events in a comfortable box. The main benefit here is received by the Russian media. They need a “picture” for news programs. They need to maintain the viewer's feeling of constant tension in the region, the presence of pro-Russian resistance. Not one that is openly manifesting in the blogosphere, but one whose “partisans” will take up arms on occasion. This viewer does not need blood yet ^[11] .

• At the end of the medical institute, he destroyed his Komsomol documents.
• From 1972 to 1982 - participated in the dissident movement, mainly as a distributor of samizdat. He also monitored psychiatric repression. In 1982, after many hours of interrogation at the KGB, he stopped activity because he realized that all his actions were known to the KGB.
• Since 1986 - a member of the Odessa Memorial.
• In 1986 he began short-term work in the Odessa People's Movement, a member of the regional Wire. But he left the Rukh after anti-Semitic remarks and articles that the Odessa Rukh "is more and more often called a synagogue." At the same time, several other activists of Jewish descent left the movement.
• In 1988-1996, deputy of the Odessa City Council. He was in opposition to the executive branch.
• Since 1986 he regularly collaborated with Odessa newspapers and the émigré press, Radio Liberty and New Russian Word (NY), Russian Thought (Paris).
• In 1991-2002, he was the head of the Society department in the newspaper Odessa Messenger, and after the defeat of the editorial board, herald of the region.
• Supported both Maidan (2004, 2014).
• In June 2018, he supported an open letter from cultural figures, politicians, and human rights activists calling on world leaders to speak out in defense of the Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov and other political prisoners, who was imprisoned in Russia. ^[12]

• Laureate of the 4th and 5th international Voloshinsky competition ( 2006 , 2007 ), diploma winner of the 7th and 8th international Voloshinsky competition, laureate of the Kiev Laurels festival ( 2008 ), special award “ Moscow Account ” (2007), laureate scholarships to them. I. Brodsky (2008).
• Laureate of the Anthologia Poetry Prize of the New World magazine ( 2008 ) ^[13] . Short list of the Andrei Bely Prize for the book “Family Archive”. Short list “Book of the Year” in the nomination “Best Poetry Book” for the book Spirituals (2009).
• Special award "Literaris" (Austria) for the book "Family Archive" (2010) ^[14] , the Russian award (diploma of the second degree) for the book "It Has Not Darken Yet" (2011).

Wife - poetess Lyudmila of Kherson. Niece - American writer Elena Akhterskaya (born 1985). ^{[15] [16]}

• Boris Khersonsky on the site " A new map of Russian literature "
• Boris Khersonsky in the " Journal Hall "
• Boris Khersonsky on the website “The Century of Translation”
•   - Boris of Kherson in LiveJournal
• The official page of Boris Khersonsky on the social network Facebook
• Boris Khersonsky on the site "Masters of Psychology" (inaccessible link)
• Bible verses in the Odessa almanac "Deribasovskaya - Rishelievskaya", No. 12 2003
• Yefim Yaroshevsky and his “Provincial Novel-s” are presented by Boris Khersonsky
• Boris Khersonsky became a scholarship holder of the Joseph Brodsky Memorial Fund. The New Russian Word, New York, August 16, 2008 Interview with Vadim Yarmolinets
• Speech by Boris Khersonsky in two parts ( part 1 , part 2 ) on the Peat TV channel