Hoffmann, Victor Genrikhovich

He was born in the family of a military pilot and writer Heinrich Hoffmann (1922-1995) ^[1] .

In 1977 he graduated from the Literary Institute . He worked as an assistant operator at the Tsentrnauchfilm studio, in the large-circulation newspaper of the Second Moscow Watch Factory.

It was published as a poet since 1968: the magazine "NS".

He published poetry in the magazines " Youth ", " Banner ", " Prosōdia "; in the annual poetry day.

The author of nine poetry books.

Member of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1985), Union of Writers of Moscow.

On October 30, 2015, he was found murdered in his Moscow apartment on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street ^[1] . On January 14, 2016, the media reported that the identity of the killer Viktor Hoffman was established, and he turned out to be 38-year-old unemployed L. Sahakyan ^[2] .

“While the majority of modern poets (including talented ones) have gone along the line of innovation, feasibly updating visual means, Hoffmann chose a different path - the path of improving classical poetics, relying on Bunin, Khodasevich, Kuzmin, Georgy Ivanov. Moreover, he is the least epigone. His precise intelligible poetics are absolutely original - and above all in the methods of depiction. <...> In general, Hoffmann is even an urgent poet, many of his poems are extremely modern, but their form is classic, clear, and honed to the limit. This is the "calligraphy" that can only be welcomed " ^[3] - Eugene Rein .

• Slow river. - M .: Soviet writer , 1982. - 62 p.
• The excitement of sound. - M .: Soviet writer. 1990 .-- 144 p.
• In captivity of freedom. - St. Petersburg: 1996.
• Silent speech. - M .: Art and Publishing Center, 2008.
• Blind flight. 2010.
• Substations. - M .: Art and Publishing Center, 2011. - 64 p. ^[four]
• Poured sand. - M .: Art and Publishing Center, 2013.
• One hundred poems. - M .: Progress-Pleiades, 2014 .-- 140 p. ^[5]
• Vikings. - M .: A good book, 2016 .-- 128 p.
• White Road: A collection of poems. - M .: Galaxy, 2017 .-- 480 p.

• “The voice of Hoffmann now, amid the apocalyptic chaos and rampant unproductive innovations, sounds unusual because this poet has been stubbornly faithful to Russian classical verse from an early age. And the very fact of the existence of this far from epigonal, but eventful life of poetry, unwittingly turned into a fact of resistance to decay. <...> Obviously, Hoffmann follows the commandment of Epicurus: "Live quietly." In his way of life, something is akin to the fate of a mathematician, to the general indignation of having refused a million dollar prize. I don’t know a poet more devoted poetry and at the same time more indifferent to public recognition, so strong-willed, sacrificial disinterested, free from illusions ” ^[6] - Mikhail Sinelnikov .
• “According to fellow writers and the expert community, Victor is a very good poet. He was too modest to engage in the promotion of his work. He did not write for glory, but rather for eternity. He was not promoted by critics. Therefore, few people know about him. But Victor Hoffman is the author of four or five books. A large number of his poems are published on Facebook. He is undeservedly unknown. Of course, he did not live in literary labor. How can a poet in the current situation, when books are published at their own expense, live on literary earnings. Especially if he is not a promoted person. Maybe Victor's poetry was not very modern for the current reader. He was looking for the purity of the word. He has a classic style. He was a connoisseur and connoisseur of poetry. His own poetic fabric is saturated with the spirit of Russian poetry, original intonation moves that updated and actualized the classic poem. Experts appreciated him for this delicate sewing. Not catchy, not pop, not to be shown to others. He was a romantic and extremely kind person. At the same time - under two meters tall, an athlete, a very physically strong person. The combination of his remarkable strength with absolutely naive childish kindness, tenderness in relation to everything good, beautiful, kind - is amazing. Victor was also a bibliophile, a collector. Because of this, he apparently suffered. The robbers were looking for his collection. And he spent his whole life, as far as I know him, and we have known each other since his early youth, he collected coins and bonds. And he was a wonderful thinker, a good conversationalist with original ideas, assessments ” ^[7] - Vladimir Vigilyansky , 2015 .

• Hoffman, Henry Borisovich ( 1922 - 1995 ) - father, Soviet military pilot and writer, Hero of the Soviet Union.

• Victor Hoffman on the website of Pros Prodia magazine