Mikhail Shishkin is a Russian writer, author of novels that have received worldwide recognition. The writer is a laureate of the Big Book, Russian Booker and National Bestseller awards. He lives in Switzerland and writes his works in Russian and German.
Biography
Mikhail was born in Moscow on January 18, 1961. His father, a submariner, was a participant in the Great Patriotic War and was twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The paternal grandfather was dispossessed in 1930, repressed and sent to the construction of the BAM, where he died. My grandmother fled to Moscow with her two children, got a job as a cleaner and raised her sons as best she could. The elder brother (Mikhail's uncle) was shot in 1942 in German captivity. Shishkin's father went to war at the age of 17 to avenge his brother, and later continued his military career.
Mother worked as a teacher and party organizer at the school. In 1959, a scandal erupted in an educational institution, in which a student Vladimir Bukovsky (a future dissident and an ardent opponent of communism) took part and Mikhail's mother had to leave her job. However, thanks to maternity leave, she managed to keep her job, and in the future became the head teacher and director. When the time came, Mikhail went to study at the school where his mother worked.
Mikhail did not have a complete and happy family, his parents separated even before his birth.
The family did not live well, so Mikhail began to earn money early. He managed to be both a janitor and an asphalt paver.
Despite the difficulties in life, the young man successfully entered the Moscow State Pedagogical University at the Romance - Germanic Faculty and graduated from it in 1982.
Creation
After graduation, Shishkin worked in the magazine "Peer". However, due to his opposition views and the policies of the publishing house, he had to leave.
Ever since his school days, Mikhail had his own clear position in relation to the Soviet regime, but in the 80s of the last century a negative opinion about “those in power” was not openly welcomed, and as a result, the principled journalist left to work as a teacher of foreign languages at school.
Shishkin began publishing his works in 1993. In 1995, the author moved permanently to Switzerland, where he lives to this day.
Shishkin regularly publishes his stories and novels in Russian and German, and is engaged in translations.
His books are very popular and have received various literary awards. The best works of Mikhail Shishkin are: "Venus's Hair", "Larionov's Notes", "The Taking of Ishmael" and "The Writer".
His prose is a combination of Russian and European literary traditions. A distinctive feature of the author is his attitude to time, in his books the time frames are blurred, and the actions sometimes take place in parallel to each other.
Performances were staged in Moscow theaters based on Shishkin's novels "The Writer", "The Taking of Ishmael" and "Venus's Hair". They fell in love with the audience and were a success.
The author's collection contains many awards and prizes for his literary work. Among them are "Big Book", "Russian Booker", "National Bestseller" and many others.
Personal life
Mikhail was married three times. From his first wife Irina, he has a son, Mikhail. The second wife of the writer was Francesca Stöcklin, a Swiss citizen, Slavic by profession. They have a common son, Constantine.
Both marriages of the writer lasted seven years. In 2011, Shishkin will marry for the third time. Evgenia Frolkova became his wife, the couple had a son, Ilya.
Currently, the writer continues to work on new books and, despite the fact that he has lived in Switzerland for a long time, closely follows the fate of Russia. He also remains an ardent oppositionist to the Russian government, which he publicly declares. For example, in 2013, he refused to represent Russia at an international book fair for personal political reasons.
