Kamenskii, Vasilii Vasilevich

Born Apr. 5 (17), 1884, near Perm’; died Nov. 11, 1961, in Moscow. Russian and Soviet poet; one of the first Russian pilots (1910–11).

Kamenskii was the son of a gold mine supervisor. First published in 1904, he was a futurist and a close associate of V. V. Mayakovsky. Kamenskii’s “free and easy novel,” Sten ‘ka Razin, with its romantic love of freedom, appeared in 1915. His early poems were marked by a futurist outlook and by verbal experimentation. The characteristic tone of his lyrics was a carefree rapture with existence and a spontaneously joyful view of life. Kamenskii’s principal creative works were the three poems on leaders of peasant uprisings: Sten’ka Razin (1912–20), EmeVian Pugachev (1931), and Ivan Bolotnikov (1934). He gave his heroes the traits of the bogatyrs (hero in Russian folklore) and of the courageous people sung about in the byliny (epic folk songs). Kamenskii was awarded two orders and various medals.