The Pushkin Club invites you to an illustrated narrative in English, with readings in English and Russian, dedicated to a celebration of the life and poetry of Sergei Esenin (1895-1925) and to a commemoration of David and Lyudmila Matthews.
In his Wholly Esenin, an anthology of translations with commentary, the Australian translator Roger Pulvers argues that in his homeland Esenin is "the most popular modern Russian poet". Not everyone would agree with that, but there is no doubt that Esenin occupies a special place in the affections of his compatriots. This is all the more noteworthy, given that for three decades after Esenin’s death his works were actually banned by Soviet cultural commissars.
People were even imprisoned for reciting Esenin’s poems - as, for example, was Vadim Tumanov in 1948. (Vadim Tumanov later became the USSR’s first ‘lawful’ millionaire.)
The Evening will be introduced by David Brummell. In his accompanying illustrated narrative he will give an overview of the key events in Esenin’s life and the key themes in his poetic work as reflected in the poems which will be read in the course of the Evening.
Why do we connect Esenin's life and poetry with the names of David and Lyudmila Matthews?
Dr David Matthews and his wife, Dr Lyudmila Matthews, were both great admirers of the verse of Sergei Esenin. David translated many of Esenin’s poems and a selection of his translations will be read, along with the verse in the original. Lyudmila Matthews wrote an article in Ukrainian press about the circumstances of Esenin's death. She also delivered a talk for the Great Britain-Russia Society on this subject in 2006. Lyudmila and David jointly delivered a talk on Esenin to the Pushkin Club in 2015.
David and Lyudmila both had a deep love for Russian literature. Their translation of Konstantin Paustovsky’s selection of short stories “Rainy Dawn” //«Дождливый рассвет» (1995) was widely acclaimed.
David and Lyudmila were long-standing members and active supporters of both the Pushkin Club and the Great Britain-Russia Society.
Sadly, Lyudmila Matthews died on 3 January 2020 and David Matthews died on 5 March 2021. By holding this Evening in their memory, we are paying tribute to them both.
In the course of the Evening a total of 11 of Esenin's poems will be read - in David and Lyudmila Matthews’ English translations - by Lucy Daniels (a former Co-Chairman of the Pushkin Club) and David Brummell, and Alla Gelich will recite them in the Russian original.
One of the poems will also be sung in Russian by Lila Moshtael, to violin accompaniment by Julian Milone. This will be “The golden grove has lost its power of speaking"// «Отговорила рощая золотая».
A few short biographical details about David and Lyudmila:
After graduating from University College, London in Classics, David Matthews undertook research at Cambridge University on the relations between Ancient Greece and the Near East. In 1965 he was appointed lecturer in Urdu (and later Nepali) at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where he was awarded his Ph.D.
David was a brilliant linguist and was master of a large number of languages, including not only Urdu and Nepali but also Farsi, Arabic, Turkish and Russian. In the course of his professional life, David published widely, including translations of the verse of the 14th century Persian poet, Hafez.
Lyudmila Matthews graduated from Kiev University. After submitting her Ph.D. thesis from Moscow University, she was seconded by Kiev to Osmania University in Hyderabad (India) to teach Russian. There she met David and they fell in love. David and Lyudmila had to fight for a number of years for their right to get married and, after they had been granted a permission and married, it took a whole year for Lyudmila to get permission to leave for Britain to join her husband. Lyudmila became a Lecturer in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College, London and taught there till her retirement.