Yevgeny Zamyatin

Date of Birth: February 1, 1884

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Date of Death: March 10, 1937

Biography

Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin was a Russian novelist, playwright, and satirist, best known for his dystopian novel “We,” which had a profound influence on later dystopian works by authors such as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Born in Lebedyan, Tambov Governorate, Russian Empire, Zamyatin initially trained as a naval engineer and was involved in the construction of icebreakers and other ships. Zamyatin joined the Bolshevik Party in 1905 but was later disillusioned with the Soviet regime, which led him to write “We” as a critique of totalitarianism. The novel, completed in 1921, was banned in the Soviet Union and first published in English in 1924. Throughout his life, Zamyatin faced censorship and persecution by Soviet authorities. In 1931, he courageously wrote to Joseph Stalin requesting permission to leave the Soviet Union, which was granted, and he spent his remaining years in Paris, where he continued to write until his death.

5 Interesting Facts about Yevgeny Zamyatin

1. Zamyatin was exiled to Siberia in 1911 for his revolutionary activities but returned to St. Petersburg illegally.

2. His novel “We” is considered one of the first dystopian novels and inspired notable works such as Orwell’s “1984” and Huxley’s “Brave New World.”

3. Zamyatin was also a talented engineer and contributed to the design of icebreakers during World War I.

4. Despite his initial support for the Bolshevik cause, Zamyatin became a vocal critic of Soviet censorship and authoritarianism.

5. Zamyatin’s request to leave the Soviet Union was one of the rare instances where Stalin personally intervened to grant an intellectual’s plea for emigration.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Yevgeny Zamyatin

1. “We comes from God, I from the Devil.”

2. “Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought.”

3. “A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don’t know how it will end. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth reading.”

4. “Freedom is the right to live as you wish. Nothing else.”

5. “There is no final one; revolutions are infinite.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Zamyatin’s net worth was not documented in historical records. As a writer in early 20th-century Russia, he did not achieve significant financial wealth.