Origins & Early Life

Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky (Russian: Ви́ктор Бори́сович Шкло́вский, IPA: [ˈʂklofskʲɪj]; 24 January [O.S. 12 January] 1893 – 6 December 1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, writer, and pamphleteer. He is one of the major figures associated with Russian formalism. Shklovsky's Theory of Prose was published in 1925.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Shklovsky himself is still praised as "one of the most important literary and cultural theorists of the twentieth century" (Modern Language Association Prize Committee); "one of the most lively and irreverent minds of the last century" (David Bellos); "one of the most fascinating figures of Russian cultural life in the twentieth century" (Tzvetan Todorov) Shklovsky was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father, Boris Vladimirovich Sklovsky, was a Lithuanian Jewish mathematician (with ancestors from Shklov in present-day Belarus) who converted to Russian Orthodoxy; his mother, Varvara Karlovna, née Bundel', was of German-Russian origin. He attended St. Petersburg University.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Following Russia's entry into the First World War in August 1914, he volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army in the autumn of 1914 and in 1915 became a driving trainer...

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