Background
Brodskii, Iosif was born in 1940 in Leningrad. Son of a naval officer.
Brodskii, Iosif was born in 1940 in Leningrad. Son of a naval officer.
Left school at 15. Worked in a factory as a metal worker, a machine operator. Later worked in the morgue of the local county hospital. Started writing poetry in the late 1950s.
Constantly in conflict with the Soviet authorities. In 1964 imprisoned, tried and sent into internal exile. Forced to leave the country in 1972.
Settled in America and became an American citizen in 1980. Teaches Russian poetry and literature in American universities. Many articles in the American press.
Continues to write Russian poetry. Nobel Prize for Literature, 1987. Some of his poems were published in the Soviet Union in 1988.