Ivan
Sysoev: A Doukhobor Poet
From article "Ivan Sysoev:
A Doukhobor Poet" by James D. Kalesnikoff and Nina Kolesnikoff
published in Canadian Ethnic Studies Vol.XII No.1, 1980 Pages
93-102 Reprinted by Permission
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Ivan
Sysoev (1894-1967), a self-taught Doukhobor poet, began writing verses
at the age of fourteen. His early
lyrics are short landscape sketches which reproduce in detail
impressions from nature. In many respects Sysoev's
early verses resemble Koltsov's poetry in that one finds the same admiration
for nature, the same simplicity of language. Beginning
with the 1920s, the poet addresses his poetry to the theme of
Doukhobor history and Doukhobor ideals. With
pride he writes about his forefathers who in 1895 burned their arms and
refused to do military service. He portrays
them as true Christian martyrs who had to walk a thorny road, subjected
to much hardship and suffering. The principal "thou shalt not kill"
in the opinion of the poet, is the most important tenet in
the Doukhobor philosophy, and he skillfully uses poetic imagery to
proclaim pacifist ideas. His mature poetry relies on simple
and concrete images which frequently refer to visible objects or scenes.
Most remarkable is the fact that with the aid of concrete and realistic
objects Sysoev creates highly spiritual poetry. Not only
does concretizing of poetic images not contradict the deep religous direction
of the poetry but this technique actually enhances it
in some measure.
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entire article
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Ivan F. Sysoev
Article by N.M. Kalmakov Richmond,
BC Canada Aug 24 1975
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Ivan
Sysoev was born in the village of Rodionovka, in the Republic Of Georgia,
on Nov 17, 1894 of Russian
parents. Before migrating to Canada in 1899, he lived for
seven months on the island of Cypress with his father,
mother, brother and sister. He was the youngest child of Fyodor
and Manya Sysoev. In Canada, along with
many other Doukhobors, the family settled in the province
of Saskatchewan.
In early childhood, with the help of his father, Ivan learned
to read and write in Russian, and then with great
enthusiasm, commenced to read everything he could get his
hands on. Although he was denied a formal
education, his dream was someday to become a poet. At the
age of eight he began writing poetry. His earliest
creations have been lost, however beginning in 1909 and extending
to 1966, a span of 57 years, his poetry has
been preserved.
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