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Biography

Boris Ryzhy was born on September 8, 1974, in Chelyabinsk (Russia). His father was a geophysicist, and his mother an epidemiologist. He had two sisters. In 1980, the family moved to Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).

At the age of 13, Boris began writing poetry. After finishing secondary school, he married Irina Knyazeva, and in 1993 they had a son, Artyom. According to his wife, he was an exemplary father. From 1991 to 1997, he studied at the Ural Mining University.
In 2000, he defended his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Geophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He completed internships with geological teams in the Northern Urals. He published 18 works on the structure of the Earth's crust and the seismicity of the Urals and Russia.
He worked as a junior researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and collaborated with the magazine Ural. He hosted the column “Contemporary Poetry with Boris Ryzhy” in the Yekaterinburg newspaper Reading Club.

He died by suicide on May 7, 2001, by hanging, at the age of 26.
At the time of his death, he was beginning to be recognized as one of the leading poets of his generation. He received the Anti-Booker Prize and accepted an invitation to the Rotterdam Poetry Festival in 2000.

In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Northern Palmyra Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in Russian literature, for his collection A Reason to Live (Opravdanie zhizni).

Since his death in 2001, his poetry has been increasingly appreciated in Russia. Using simple and moving words, he shaped a character embodying post-Soviet delinquency and despair, in which his own depression and alcohol dependence played a significant role. This type of character inspired many post-Soviet films.

His reputation has grown slowly outside Russia. After his death, some of his works were translated into English, Italian, German, Dutch, and Spanish.

Dutch filmmaker Aliona van der Horst directed the documentary Boris Ryzhy in 2009, which received several awards, including Best Feature Documentary at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

In 2018, the Belarusian band Molchat Doma created the song "Cудно" (Vessel), whose lyrics were inspired by Boris Ryzhy’s poem "Эмалированное судно" (Enameled Vessel).
In 2023, director Semyon Serzin made the feature film Ryzhy, inspired by the poet’s life. The film was shown at several festivals, won awards, but never received permission for theatrical release in Russia.

 

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Commentaries

- «Рыжий» Семёна Серзина: Голос уральских окраин Алексей ХРОМОВ, 2026, okko.tv/media

- «Достаточно подобной романтики» [Assez de ce genre de romantisme] Дмитрий ДРИЗЕ, 2024, kommersant.ru

- «Последний поэт XX века»: Борис Рыжий ["Dernier poète du 20ème siècle" : Boris Ryji] 2024, culture.ru

- Борис Рыжий: знакомимся с «последним советским поэтом» через кино, спектакли, музыку [Boris Ryji à travers le cinéma, les spectacles et la musique] Власта БАРАНОВА, 2024, gorbilet.com

- Фильм о поэте Борисе Рыжем не выйдет в прокат по решению Минкульта. Что известно [Le film sur le poète Boris Ryzhy ne sortira pas sur décision du ministère de la Culture. Ce que l'on sait :] 2024, dzen.ru, 11/09/2024

- Boris Ryzhy Vera IVANOVA, 2010, Russia IC

 

 

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Photos, videos, texts

Эмалированное судно	Le bassin émaillé	The enamel basin
Окошко, тумбочка, кровать Жить тяжело и неуютно Зато уютно умирать Эмалированное судно Окошко, тумбочка, кровать Жить тяжело и неуютно Зато уютно умирать	Une fenêtre, une table de nuit, un lit Vivre est lourd et inconfortable Mais mourir est doux et confortable Le bassin émaillé Une fenêtre, une table de nuit, un lit Vivre est lourd et inconfortable Mais mourir est doux et confortable	A window, a bedside table, a bed Living is hard and uncomfortable But dying is calm and comfortable The enamel basin A window, a bedside table, a bed Living is hard and uncomfortable But dying is calm and comfortable
И тихо капает из крана И жизнь растрёпана, как блядь Выходит, как бы, из тумана И видит: тумбочка, кровать И я пытаюсь приподняться Хочу в глаза ей поглядеть Взглянуть в глаза и разрыдаться И никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть Никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть Никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть	Et l’eau goutte doucement du robinet Et la vie est échevelée, comme une fille perdue Elle sort, comme si, du brouillard Et voit : la table de nuit, le lit Et moi, j’essaie de me redresser Je veux la regarder dans les yeux Regarder dans ses yeux et éclater en sanglots Et ne jamais mourir, ne jamais mourir Ne jamais mourir, ne jamais mourir Ne jamais mourir, ne jamais mourir	And the water drips softly from the tap And life is disheveled, like a fallen woman It seems to emerge out of the fog And sees: the bedside table, the bed And I try to lift myself up I want to look into her eyes To look into her eyes and burst into tears And never die, never die Never die, never die Never die, never die