Alena Basilova died

On August 30, in Moscow, at the age of 75, the poetess Alena Basilova died.

Alena (Elena) Nikolaevna Basilova Gold in 1943 in Moscow, in the early 1960s she became the mistress of the literary salon, who was attended by participants in poetic readings on Mayakovsky Square Yuri Galanskov, Vladimir Kovshin (Vishnyakov), Nikolai Kotrelev, Vladimir Bukovsky. “Alena can rightfully be called the first Soviet hippie,” wrote Eduard Limonov.

In the mid-1960s, Alena Basilova began to write poetry, together with Leonid Gubanov, Vladimir Aleinikov and Vladimir Batshev, he became one of the founders of the unofficial literary association.

“The new literary trend was already visible, but had no name,” Henry Sapgir recalled. - It was necessary to urgently come up with him. I remember we sat with Alena Basilova, who later became the wife of Gubanov, and came up with the name of the new current. Gubanov himself came up with: I could. The youngest society of geniuses, strength, thought, image, depth, and was still present here, Smolo, rising from the garden ring to our windows. ”

Poetic readings were combined with underground exhibitions of the works of Anatoly Zverev, Oscar Rabin and other non-conformist artists, one of whom, Nikolai Nedbailo, was a member of the main nucleus of Smoga.

On December 5, 1965, the “dissident” wing of Smog and the people close to them (Bukovsky, Batshev, Vishnevskaya, Galanskov, Evgeny Kushev, Victor Haustov, Sergey Morozov) organized a “publicity rally” on Pushkinskaya Square in defense of Julia Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky - the first opposition demonstration in the Soviet Union for more than 50 years.

By 1967, he was able to cease to exist: Henry Sapgir was expelled from the Writers' Union on charges of involvement in Smogism, Aleinikov and Vadim Delonya were expelled from the institute, Batshev and Nedbailo were exiled to Siberia, Leonid Gubanov was forced to isolated in a psychiatric hospital, and after leaving the CGB observation became an object of observation.

In 1968, Alena Basilova, despite intimidation and threats, witnessed the defense at the process of Alexander Ginzburg and Yuri Galanskova.

For Alena Basilova, the path to the wide reader turned out to be closed. The book of her verses “Comedy of Sin” prepared for the press with the preface of Viktor Shklovsky, having laid in the publishing house “Soviet writer” for 17 years, disappeared without a trace. A brochure with several passages published in 1992 is still the only separate edition of the poetry poetry, which the representatives of her generation - the “silent generation”, according to Olga Sedakova, consider Bella Akhmadulina equal in talent.

The funeral service of Alena Basilova will take place on September 5 at 11:00.