Yevgeny Zamyatin – early 20th-century Russian writer, author of We and The Islanders, a precursor of dystopian fiction. A naval engineer by training, he blended technology with literature. His major novel was banned in the USSR but inspired Orwell and Huxley.
⚙️ Zamyatin trained as a naval engineer and worked at British shipyards. 📖 His novel We is regarded as the first major dystopia of the 20th century. 🚫 The book was banned in the USSR for over 60 years, published there only in 1988. 🌍 In exile, he lived in Paris, keeping ties with Gorky and Bunin. 🖋️ He openly opposed censorship, even writing letters to Stalin. 📚 George Orwell admitted that 1984 owed much to We. 🎭 Zamyatin also wrote plays, but they were rarely staged in the Soviet Union. 🛳️ He designed icebreakers, one of which was named Svyatogor. ✒️ His style was rich in satire and grotesque, provoking debates even before We. 📰 He contributed to the journal Novy Mir until removed. 😲 Curious: in Britain he was once mistakenly suspected of being a “Russian spy.” 😂 Funny: he joked that the engineer in him was always arguing with the writer.