Call to Peace

Call to Peace

1921

This was one of three books of poetry Alymov published while in Harbin. Regarded as part of the *LEF Movement, this book contains 26 poems, including one about Japan, Korea, Norway, England, America, Germany, India. The verses concentrate on the theme of revolution and the glorification of the world proletariat. Alymov was exiled to Siberia in 1911 for participating in revolutionary activities. He made his way to Shanghai and Harbin wчere he lived from 1917 to 1926, аnd contributed to the newspaper Shanghaiskaia zaria, and the journal Vestnik Man’chzhurii. He was the first editor of the daily evening newspaper Rupor, and co-editor of the literary monthly Okno. In 1919 he became a member of the Harbin studio Kol'tso,
which included artists, painters and poets. Alymov was described as tall and handsome
with large dark Tatar eyes. Towards the end of his stay in Harbin he was drinking heavily and getting into fights. In 1926 he repatriated to the Soviet Union, where he
turned his talents to writing popular songs; many of his poems were set to music. He
wrote a novel: Nanking-road, which was published in German in 1932 as Schanghai.
The avant garde artist is Viktor Nikandrovich Pal'mov (1888-1929), who studied art in Kazan and Moscow schools (1911-14). After the Revolution (1919) together with David Davidovich Burliuk (1882-1967) they traveled by train to Siberia (via Vladivostok), Harbin, and Japan. Pal'mov was influenced by Burliuk's work on cubism-futurism. Back in Moscow he set up an exhibition "To Japan with Futurism" in 1922. He was a member of the LEF movement from 1923 to 1924. From 1922-8 he was a professor and later Dean at the Kiev Art Institute. He died from an unsuccessful operation.

16 pages

Russian Collection, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library

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