Lidija Alekseeva

Lidiia Alekseevna Alekseeva, née Devel (1909–1989) was a Russian émigré poet and writer of short stories. She was among the group of Russians who were forced to emigrate from the country after the rise of Bolshevism. Her writing reflects this hardship but also contains hints of optimism and beauty. Alekseeva was also a teacher, translator and book reviewer.

Biography Alekseeva was born in Dvinsk, Russia in 1909 to a small military family. Her father, Aleksei Viktorovich, was a Russian officer. Her ancestry can be traced back to French émigré from the Napoleonic era. Whilst living in the Crimea as a child, Alekseeva began writing poetry at the age of 7. The arrival of Bolshevism in 1917 forced Alekseeva and her family to emigrate from Russia in 1920. She first settled in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Whilst here, she attended the Russian gimnazium and later the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade, graduating with a specialism in Slavistics. Her husband Ivannikov, a prose writer, remained in Belgrade and died there in September 1986. Whilst in the United States, Alekseeva worked in a factory and in the Slavonic Division of the New York Public Library until she retired in 1978. Alongside poetry, Alekseeva also published lyrical prose miniatures.

Selected works

Poetry volumes Source: Lesnoe solntse (1954, Forest Sun) V puti (1959, On the Road) Prozrachny sled (1964, The Transparent Vestige) Vremya razluk (1971, The Time of Partings)

Translations Source: Slezy bludnogo syna (1965, epic verse by Ivan Gundulic translated from Croatian into Russian)

Book reviews Source: Sinii mir by Nonna Belavina, Stikhi by Oleg Il'inskii, Uzelok by A. Vasil'kovskaia – reviewed in Novyi zhurnal