Autor: Valery Petrochenkov

Valery Petrochenkov was born in Russia in 1940. The first year of his life was spent in a Soviet military base on the Hanko Peninsula in Finland. In August of 1941 all families of military personnel were evacuated to Leningrad, right before the beginning of the Siege of Leningrad. His father died during the defense of the military base on December 3, 1941. He graduated from the Department of Journalism of Leningrad State University in 1967 and after emigration to the United States in 1974, acquired his master’s degree from the University of Colorado and his Ph.D. from Indiana University. He taught at Georgetown University for 23 years and retired in 2005 as a Professor Emeritus. He is the author of more than 10 books of poetry, prose, and literary studies. His fictional account of the Siege of Leningrad was first published in Russia in 1998.