WRITER

Varlam Shalamov

1907 - 1982

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Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov (Russian: Варла́м Ти́хонович Шала́мов; 18 June 1907 – 17 January 1982), baptized as Varlaam, was a Russian writer, journalist, poet and Gulag survivor. He spent much of the period from 1937 to 1951 imprisoned in forced-labor camps in the Arctic region of Kolyma, due in part to his support of Leon Trotsky and praise of writer Ivan Bunin. In 1946, near death, he became a medical assistant while still a prisoner. He remained in that role for the duration of his sentence, then for another two years after being released, until 1953. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Varlam Shalamov is the 881st most popular writer (down from 846th in 2019), the 295th most popular biography from Russia (down from 281st in 2019) and the 32nd most popular Russian Writer.

Varlam Shalamov is most famous for his writings about the Gulag, a system of Soviet labor camps. His work was published in a book called Kolyma Tales, which is a collection of short stories about his time in the Gulag.

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Varlam Shalamov ranks 881 out of 7,302. Before him are Ibn al-Muqaffa', Miep Gies, Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz, Jerzy Kosiński, Laura de Noves, and Danilo Kiš. After him are James May, Shoko Asahara, Appius Claudius Caecus, Aron Nimzowitsch, Robert E. Howard, and Ian McEwan.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1907, Varlam Shalamov ranks 53. Before him are Sisavang Vatthana, Barbara Stanwyck, Pujie, Compay Segundo, Henri-Georges Clouzot, and Lars Ahlfors. After him are Zarah Leander, Takeo Wakabayashi, Burgess Meredith, Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, Emilie Schindler, and Ray Milland. Among people deceased in 1982, Varlam Shalamov ranks 42. Before him are Walter Hallstein, Cevdet Sunay, Hans Selye, Ivan Bagramyan, Jiro Horikoshi, and Lee Strasberg. After him are Walther Wenck, Ahmad al-Khatib, John Belushi, Peter Weiss, Hermann Balck, and Helen of Greece and Denmark.

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In Russia

Among people born in Russia, Varlam Shalamov ranks 295 out of 3,761. Before him are Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin (1855), Arthur Adamov (1908), Alexandre Koyré (1892), Boris Shaposhnikov (1882), Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843), and Natalya Naryshkina (1651). After him are Andrey Markov (1856), Georgy Chicherin (1872), Nikita Mikhalkov (1945), Otto Nicolai (1810), Mikhail Mishustin (1966), and Tamara Karsavina (1885).

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Among WRITERS In Russia

Among writers born in Russia, Varlam Shalamov ranks 32. Before him are Nikolay Chernyshevsky (1828), Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883), Alexander Blok (1880), Nikolay Karamzin (1766), Arthur Adamov (1908), and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843). After him are Viktor Shklovsky (1893), Vasily Zhukovsky (1783), Henri Troyat (1911), Lyudmila Ulitskaya (1943), Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933), and Fyodor Tyutchev (1803).

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