Eduard Limonov

Russian writer, publicist, political activist, former chairman of the banned National Bolshevik Party (NBP) in Russia, and current chairman of the unregistered party “Other Russia.”

He began working at the age of 17. He worked as a laborer, high-rise assembly worker, builder, steelworker, charge-filler, and metal trimmer.

He applied to the Kharkiv Pedagogical Institute. He began writing poetry in 1958. In 1963, he took part in a workers’ strike against wage cuts. From 1967 to 1974, he lived in Moscow.

In 1974, he emigrated from the USSR and lived in the United States. According to Limonov himself, the reason for this was a condition set by KGB officers: if he refused to become a “secret employee,” he would have to emigrate to the West. In December 1973, KGB chairman Yu. V. Andropov called Limonov a “confirmed anti-Soviet.”

From 1975 to 1976, he worked as a proofreader for the New York newspaper Novoye Russkoye Slovo (“New Russian Word”). In the Russian émigré press, he wrote sharp accusatory articles against capitalism and the bourgeois way of life. He took part in the activities of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States. In connection with this, he was summoned for questioning by the FBI.

In May 1976, he handcuffed himself to the building of The New York Times, demanding publication of his articles. In 1976, the Moscow newspaper Nedelya reprinted from Novoye Russkoye Slovo Limonov’s article “Disappointment,” published in September 1974. In connection with the publication of this article in the USSR, he was dismissed from Novoye Russkoye Slovo. This was Limonov’s first and last publication in the USSR until 1989.

He lived in France from 1980, where he became close to the leaders of the French Communist Party. He wrote for the magazine Révolution, the party organ of the FCP.

In 1987, Limonov received French citizenship. The citizenship was granted to Limonov under pressure from the left