Yuri Rytkheu - Biography

Biography

Yuri Rytkheu was born 8 March 1930 to a family of trappers and hunters. His birthplace, the village of Uelen, was then in the Chukotka District, Far Eastern Territory, RSFSR, USSR; it is now part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. His grandfather was a shaman.

At birth, he was given the name ”Rytkheu”, which means ”unknown” in the Chukchi language. Since Soviet institutions did not recognize Chukchi names and the Chukchi do not commonly use surnames, in order to obtain his passport he used his first name as his surname and assumed the first name and patronymic of a Russian geologist he knew.

Rytkheu graduated from the Soviet 7-year school in Uelen. He wanted to continue his education at the Institute of the Peoples of the North, but was not selected to study there, because of his young age. Consequently, he decided to go to Leningrad on his own, to continue his study. This travel was delayed for several years. In order to earn money for this journey, the future writer took odd jobs; for instance, he worked on the seas and on geological expeditions and trapped animals, stevedored at a hydrography base. Rytkheu moved to Anadyr and enrolled in a vocational school. In 1947 he started writing articles for the Anadyr district-based magazine Soviet Chukotka (Советская Чукотка), which published his first stories and poems. In Anadyr, Rytkheu met the Leningrad-based scholar Pyotr Skorik, who was leading a linguistic expedition in the area and who was responsible for helping the young writer move to Leningrad.

From 1949 until 1954 Rytkheu studied literature at Leningrad State University. He was only slightly older than 20 when his works started appearing in Young Leningrad (Молодой Ленинград), and then later on in other periodicals such as Ogonyok, Young World (Молодой мир), The Far East (Дальний Восток) and Youth (Смена). In 1953, the publishing company Young Guard published his first collection of stories The People of Our Coast (Люди нашего берега), in Russian. This book was later translated into Chukchi by A. Smolyana (А. Смоляна). While still a student, Rytkheu also translated the works of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Gorky and Tikhon Syomushkin into Chukchi. In 1954, Rytkheu was accepted into the USSR Union of Writers.

Upon graduating from Leningrad University, Rytkheu spent a few years living in Magadan, working as a correspondent for the newspaper Magadanskaya Pravda. After two years in Magadan, a collection short stories Chukotkan Saga (Чукотская сага) was published, and brought the writer recognition from both Soviet and foreign readers.

After Magadan, he moved to Leningrad, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1967, Rytkheu joined the Communist Party. Rytkheu travelled extensively around the world on creative trips and with cultural and goodwill visits. As Rytkheu spoke fluent English, he was invited to give lectures at American universities. He also worked with UNESCO for a time.

Rytkheu died in Saint Petersburg 14 May 2008, after a long battle with myeloma. He is buried in Komorovskoe Cemetery near the grave of his wife.