Mikhail Kuzmich Lukonin

Born Oct. 29, 1918, in Astrakhan’. Soviet Russian poet. Member of the CPSU since 1942.

Lukonin is the son of an office worker. He worked in the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. His first works were published in 1935. He graduated from the Stalingrad Teachers’ Institute in 1937 and attended the M. Gorky Institute of Literature from 1937 to 1941. Lukonin saw service in the war with Finland in 1939-40 and in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.

Many of Lukonin’s poems about the front were assembled in his first book, The Heartbeat (1947). The peaceful labor of recently discharged soldiers is one of the main themes of the poem Working Day (1948; State Prize of the USSR, 1949). The poem Road to Peace (1950) is imbued with antiwar fervor. The novella in verse Declaration of Love (1959) re-creates the picture of the country’s revolutionary transformation. Lukonin has also written Poem of Return (1962), the poem Charred Frontier (1968), several collections of lyric poetry, and the book of articles Comrade Poetry (1963). He is also an essayist, reviewer, and translator.

Initially Lukonin’s poetry was directly influenced by V. V. Mayakovsky, but developed in the direction of an epic style and a wide comprehension of various aspects of life. He alternates free, intonational verse with a traditional meter. Since the 1960’s his work has been characterized by greater structural simplicity and intensified lyricism. His book of verses and poems Necessity (1969) earned him the State Prize of the USSR (1973). Lukonin is secretary of the Board of the Union of Writers of the USSR (since 1971). He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.