Vladislav Davidzon - From Odessa With Love: Political And Literary Essays In Post-Soviet Ukraine

Political and Literary Essays from Post-Soviet Ukraine

Vladislav Davidzon

Political and Literary Essays from Post-Soviet Ukraine

Vladislav Davidzon

Forward by Peter Pomerantsev

Preface by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Academica Press

Washington~London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Davidzon, Vladislav (author)

Title: From odessa with love : political and literary essays from post-soviet ukraine | Davidzon, Vladislav

Description: Washington : Academica Press, 2021. | Includes references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021942994 | ISBN 9781680539660 (hardcover) | 9781680539677 (paperback) | 9781680539936 (e-book)

Copyright 2021 Vladislav Davidzon

With boundless devotion and fealty to Regina, my sovereign queen.

With gratitude to my family for all their support: to my mother Elena, my sister Natalia, aunt Marina and uncle Vadim.

To the blessed memory of Anthony Yakhnich, my grandmother Galina Seryabrikova -Rudderman, Nina Beilina and Tatyana Prudnikova.

And for David Samuels, for teaching me how to write.

- Simon Sebag Montefiore

- Genius Loci - Peter Pomerantsev

- Vladislav Davidzon

Much gratitude to those whose support, love or violent opposition has sustained me though the writing of this book, from the hoodlums back in Brooklyn all the way up to Lords Oxford and Risby, who graciously hosted me in Westminster Parliament. This book owes its existence to the gallant encouragement of my dashing publisher and comrade-in-arms Professor Paul du Quenoy. I must thank him for proposing that I gather my disparate thoughts on Ukraine together that sunny afternoon in London over cucumber sandwiches and tea at the East India Club.

The moral, emotional and financial support of my family during strenuous times, especially that of my mother, my sister Natalia, my uncle Vadim and aunt Marina in Washington D.C. were crucial.

My father in law, George Semyonovich Prudnikov, took me into his home and taught me what it means to see life from the perspective of a real Odessan - a sailor!

My deepest thanks must go to Matthew Kupfer and Simon Albert for all of their generous efforts in reading earlier versions of the manuscript of this book. Any mistakes, errors or infelicities that remain in this volume after their graceful and generous editing efforts remain entirely my own fault. You are both gents and loyal friends.

Joseph Schwarzbach: even when you were very far away and ensconced in the pleasures of family life in Jerusalem, you have always been a pillar of support. The same goes for Victoria Kravets, who has followed a parallel life path to my own.

A mighty thanks to Martin Peretz for all his solidarity, honesty and gracious help. Marty: you are a real Mensch and I adore you.

My deepest gratitude goes out to Simon Sebag Montefiore and Peter Pomerantsev for their generosity in contributing a forward and preface to this book. It is a dream to have my first book appear in the world with endorsements from writers whose work I have have grown up reading - you are my kinsmen in terms of intellectual and aesthetic concerns.

Faina Kremerman and Alexander Geifman for inviting me out to attend a Wes Anderson film that spring day in 2010, and for much else besides.

Much gratitude to Dan Robins and Irina Dratva for their warm ironical company in New York City and for the boundless love that they have always shown in our histrionic correspondence.

The Bulgakov family have always shown amazing affection and generosity, wether on trips to Odessa and Kyiv or while vacationing in Greece. Anastasiya Bukovska and Danylo Kaptyukh for their friendship and hospitality in Kyiv and elsewhere.

Victoria Yakubova and Herv Schneid in Paris, for all of their gracious assistance in times of trouble.

Dmytro Sikorsky, my fellow aesthete and collector in Odessa, you will always have my gratitude for filling me up with Bulgarian food at the Two Karls Cafe (which is helpfully located at the intersection of the streets once known as Karl Marx and Karl Engels). Marika Yamnizzki and Uliana Dovgan and our whole Odessa cohort - you are like another beautiful neurotic family.

My deepest respect to Peter and Martine Halban, perhaps the best people in London, you are a deeply civilizing influence on anyone lucky enough to find themselves in your orbit.

A deep bow to my friend and comrade in arms Adrian Karatnycky for all of his support over the years, I owe you a tremendous debt. This likewise goes for Alti and Berel Rodal, Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Mark Freiman and Wolf Moskovich and the rest of our comrades at the UJE.

I am tremendously grateful to Melinda Haring for all of her loyalty and solidarity in the face of existential danger. Likewise, my gratitude to John Herbst for his support at the Atlantic Council. My fellow innocent abroad Brian Mefford and I have shared many grand conversations and cold glasses of whisky during election monitoring missions.

A special thanks to all of the editors who have helped shape these pieces along the way: David Samuels, Peter Dickinson, Liel Liebovitz, Damir Marusic, Dominic Green, James Palmer, Ilya Lozovsky, Michael Mosbacher, Claire Berlinski, Jacob Siegel, Adam ONeil, Noam Blum, Park MacDougald and Mark Horowitz.

Matthew Torne and I have enjoyed many delightful and horrifying adventures together without ultimately having killed one another.

My gratitude to David Loyd Stern, whose moral support and American Midwestern decency were always crucial in getting me to calm down.

To my friends, colleagues, comrades, competitors and enemies among my fellow Eastern European journalists and experts: I raise a toast to all of you for your collegial support, love, and rancor. Mark Galeotti, Anna Nemtsova, David Satter, Devin Ackles, Anton Shekhovtsov, Andrew Wilson, Nataliya Gumenyuk, Polina Ivanova, Taras Kuzio, Ariel Cohen, Tom de Waal, Sam Sokol, Emmanuel Dreyfus, Alan Riley, Serhii Plokhii, Natalia Antelava, Roman Olearchyk, Vladimir Kozlovsky, and Richard Behar. I have learned a great deal from every one of you. So many of the individuals in our profession imbibe the worst and most misanthropic parts of Eastern Europe, yet all of you possess great and capacious souls!

To my pals in Paris who were comrades along the way and kept up my spirits in difficult times: Florian Hohenberg, Lex Paulson, Seb Emina, and Thomas Chatterton Williams. Greg Frolov and Anna Smailikova for taking care of me in Kyiv and for their excellent political advice.

Sophie Weisenfeld and Sam Oiknine must be thanked for taking me and Regina into their hearts and home in London and forging me into an angle in the Hexagon society.

To Emily Katz for her ingenious advice and support and Gilles Hertzog, a great dandy and friend.

Jason Stanley: I have argued with you about everything but I retain great affection for you.

Aleksander Roytburd in Odessa, director of the Roytburd Odessa museum of art - a true original who died tragically young as this book was going to print. And to our mutual friend Oleksandr Suslenskyi, who has always treated me like his 12th child, and demanded that Roytburd and I conclude our feud while waving his walking stick in our faces - with implicit threat of violence if we would not embrace.

Assorted friends, Odessans, fellow travelers and comrades on the path who have been indispensable in the creation of this book in one way or another include: Peter Culshaw, Alik Shpilyuk, Alexandra Koroleva, Helena Akhtiorskaya, Adrian Dannat, Christine Liubov Kaminsky, Alexa Chopivsky, Borislav Bereza, Bohdan Nahaylo, David Patrikarakos, Simon Waldron, Michael Gottlieb, Nada Gordon, Tamara Silverman, Tchavdar Georgiev, Yevgeniy Fiks, Will Murphy, Sheila OShea, Peter Webber, Thomas Eymond-Laritaz, Mr. Gray, Esther Adler, Michal Murawski, Val Vinokur, Vitaly Portnikov, Misha Gulko, Olga Gershenson, Olexo Gladushevskyy, Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz, Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, Martin Gimenez Larralde, Yaroslav Trofimov, Mark Gillespie, Anna Momigliano, Kate Tsurkan, Sophie Schultz, Joshua Dolgin, Eugene Ostashevsky, and Helga Landauer. A special thanks to Harvey and Irina Stein as well as the whole Oppenheim family back in New York City.