WRITER

Varlam Shalamov

1907 - 1982

Photo of Varlam Shalamov

Icon of person Varlam Shalamov

Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov (Russian: Варла́м Ти́хонович Шала́мов; 18 June 1907 – 17 January 1982), baptized as Varlaam, was a Russian writer, journalist, poet and Gulag survivor. He spent much of the period from 1937 to 1951 imprisoned in forced-labor camps in the Arctic region of Kolyma, due in part to his support of Leon Trotsky and praise of writer Ivan Bunin. In 1946, near death, he became a medical assistant while still a prisoner. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Varlam Shalamov has received more than 332,116 page views. His biography is available in 47 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 45 in 2019). Varlam Shalamov is the 847th most popular writer (up from 857th in 2019), the 281st most popular biography from Russia (up from 306th in 2019) and the 32nd most popular Russian Writer.

Varlam Shalamov is most famous for his writings about the Gulag, a system of Soviet labor camps. His work was published in a book called Kolyma Tales, which is a collection of short stories about his time in the Gulag.

Memorability Metrics

  • 330k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 63.04

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 47

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.60

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.20

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Varlam Shalamov ranks 847 out of 7,302. Before him are Miroslav Krleža, Julian Barnes, Vittoria Colonna, Robert van Gulik, Heliodorus of Emesa, and Juliette Récamier. After him are W. H. Auden, Stesichorus, Jules Renard, Frank Wedekind, Ahmed Deedat, and Vicente Aleixandre.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1907, Varlam Shalamov ranks 46. Before him are Dora Maar, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Lucien Laurent, Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, Compay Segundo, and Lê Duẩn. After him are W. H. Auden, Solomon Asch, Pujie, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Barbara Stanwyck, and U Nu. Among people deceased in 1982, Varlam Shalamov ranks 44. Before him are Cevdet Sunay, Bachir Gemayel, Helen of Greece and Denmark, Hermann Balck, Walther Wenck, and Lee Strasberg. After him are Meša Selimović, Walter Hallstein, Peter Weiss, Vladimir K. Zworykin, Gershom Scholem, and E. H. Carr.

Others Born in 1907

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Others Deceased in 1982

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In Russia

Among people born in Russia, Varlam Shalamov ranks 281 out of 3,761. Before him are Viktor Chernomyrdin (1938), Ramzan Kadyrov (1976), Vasily Vereshchagin (1842), Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843), Andrei Grechko (1903), and Aleksandr Dugin (1962). After him are Oleg Penkovsky (1919), Eugen Sandow (1867), Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia (1843), Eduard Limonov (1943), Viktor Vasnetsov (1848), and Vladimir K. Zworykin (1888).

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Among WRITERS In Russia

Among writers born in Russia, Varlam Shalamov ranks 32. Before him are Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883), Ivan Krylov (1769), Arthur Adamov (1908), Alexander Blok (1880), Alexander Litvinenko (1962), and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843). After him are Viktor Shklovsky (1893), Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933), Alexander Griboyedov (1795), Nikolay Karamzin (1766), Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (1858), and Vasily Zhukovsky (1783).

Russian born Writers

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