One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Interesting Facts

• The book was Alexander Solzhenitsyn's first publication, which brought him worldwide fame.
• The story is based on Solzhenitsyn's personal experience, having spent eight years in Stalin's camps.
• The work was published in the magazine «Novy Mir» in 1962, made possible by the relative liberalization during the Khrushchev Thaw.
• The main character, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, is a composite image of a prisoner in Stalin's camps.
• The book describes one day in the life of a prisoner, allowing a deeper understanding of the daily hardships and moral trials faced by inmates.
• The publication of the book caused a wide resonance both in the USSR and beyond, becoming a significant event in the history of Russian literature and public thought.
• The work was one of the first to openly speak about the repressions and brutalities of the Stalinist regime.
• The book has been translated into numerous languages and became an important contribution to world literature on human rights and political repression.