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Vladislav Davidzon

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Vladislav Grigorievich Davidzon
Native name
Владислав Григорьевич Давидзон
Born (1985-03-07) 7 March 1985 (age 39)
Tashkent, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
OccupationWriter, Editor
LanguageEnglish, Russian, Ukrainian
Nationality
  • American
  • Russian
EducationCity University of New York, EIUC
SpouseRegina Maryanovska-Davidzon (2013–2024)

Vladislav Grigorievich Davidzon (born 7 March 1985) is an artist, writer, editor and publisher, film producer best known for his journalism and chronicling on post-Soviet politics with an emphasis on cultural affairs.[1][2] Davidzon is the former publisher and editor-in-chief of The Odessa Review, an anglophone publication that focused on the cultural life of Odesa, Ukraine.[3] Davidzon is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council at the Eurasia Center and is the author of From Odessa with Love, a novel about modern Odesa.[4] He is known for his daily practice of keeping an artistic [5] daybook/diary[6] and also for his work as a collage artist.[7] In March 2022 he burned his Russian passport[8] in front of the Russian embassy in Paris with former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves holding the lighter.[9]

Early life and education

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Davidzon was born in Tashkent, then capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, on March 7, 1985, to a family of Jewish origin. His grandfather was active in the republic's liberalizing political arena and was assassinated.[citation needed] Davidzon moved with his family to Moscow before emigrating to New York City in 1991.[10] His father, Grigory Davidzon, became a "kingmaker" and entrepreneur in the Russophone community of Brighton Beach.[11]

Davidzon went on to study English literature at City University of New York. During that time, he was an aide to renowned violinist Nina Beilina.[12] At CUNY was a student of political theorist Marshall Barman[13] as well as Literary Critic Morris Dickstein and poet Matvei Yankelevich.[14] He studied Human Rights Law at the EIUC in Venice, Italy.

Author

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In 2011, Davidzon moved to Odesa, Ukraine, where he wrote dispatches on topics relating to the social and cultural landscape of the city. After the Maidan Revolution, Davidzon founded The Odessa Review, which served as an anglophone platform for this subject.[15] Davidzon's experience in interacting with various local and national politicians and intellectuals were compiled into a collection of essays in his book, From Odessa With Love.[16]

Journalist

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Davidzon has resided in Paris since leaving Odesa, serving as the correspondent for Tablet Magazine.[10] Davidzon writes as a freelancer on issues that concern European politics and cultural affairs and their intersection with Jewish culture.[17] In 2020, Davidzon was approached by Ukrainian operatives connected to the campaign of President Donald Trump, with offers to propagate news relating to Hunter Biden's laptop.[18] According to CNN "Davidzon said he did not act on the offer, letting it go “as elegantly as possible.” But - he shared what he knew with US authorities".[19]

In 2023, Davidzon`s second book received a foreword from Bernard Henri-Levy. Levy has written about Ukrainian-Jewish affairs and has mentioned Davidzon in those writings .[20]

Currently, Davidzon is reporting from Ukraine on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on behalf of Tablet Magazine and Foreign Policy Magazine.[21]

On the night before the Russian invasion began on February 24,2022 Davidzon had dinner in Kyiv with his friend the Latvian American investor Dan Rapoport who would die several months in Washington D.C. under suspicious circumstances.[22]

Davidzon worked as a producer on actor Sean Penn`s Ukraine war documentary "Superpower" and traveled[23] with Penn producing[24] the film and interpreting during some of Penn`s meetings with Ukrainian officials.[25]

Personal life

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During his studies in Paris in his late twenties Davidzon met his future wife, the Franco-Ukrainian Film Producer Regina Maryanovska-Davidzon.[26] He is a descendant of the Soviet Composer Isaac Dunaevsky.[27] He teaches Eastern European politics and art history at the New School and Parsons Paris.

Davidzon is a self-identified Judeo-Banderite.[28]

Davidzon and his wife separated in 2024.[29]

Awards

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  • 2022 Transatlantic Leadership Network Freedom of the Media Award for the best Next Generation Journalism Reporting [30]

References

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  1. ^ Feinberg, Alexander (10 July 2018). "Reading for Russophiles". The Moscow Times.
  2. ^ Kovpak, James (20 April 2017). "Russian Dissidents Open Office in Ukraine's Capital". Voice of America.
  3. ^ Grieg, Rebecca (14 August 2018). "Odessa, the Cradle of Israeli Culture, Enjoys a Jewish Renaissance". Haaretz.
  4. ^ "Passover in war-torn Odesa". UnHerd. April 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Из Нью-Йорка в Одессу: Дневники Владислава Давидзона: Выставка - | Афіша - Афіша в Одесі - 048.ua".
  6. ^ "Ни слова о политике 17.07.2018".
  7. ^ "An Interview with Vladislav Davidzon". 24 May 2022.
  8. ^ "In Lieu of Fun, Episode 620: Vladislav Davidzon Burns His Russian Passport". YouTube.
  9. ^ "Leaving Kyiv". 18 April 2022.
  10. ^ a b Geets, Siobhan (20 March 2022). "Können Sie sich vorstellen, was dieser Krieg mit den Kindern anstellt?". Profil.
  11. ^ Powell, Michael (10 March 2012). "The Kingmaker of Little Russia". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (30 November 2018). "Obituary: Nina Beilina". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "All That Is Solid Melts Into Berman: The Last of the New York Jewish Intellectuals". Tablet Magazine.
  14. ^ "Vladislav Davidzon and Matvei Yankelevich on Bars, Collaboration, and Being Multilingual". 15 May 2013.
  15. ^ dos Santos, Nina (14 March 2020). "A Giuliani ally offered cash to lobby US senators on behalf of pro-Russian TV stations". CNN.
  16. ^ Jonsson, Gustav (9 June 2022). "The cultural labyrinth of Odessa". The Washington Examiner.
  17. ^ Smith, Lee (October 29, 2019). The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History. New York: Center Street. p. 222. ISBN 978-1546085027.
  18. ^ Ecarma, Caleb (3 April 2020). "REPUBLICANS WON'T LET A PANDEMIC CURB THEIR HUNTER BIDEN OBSESSION". Vanity Fair.
  19. ^ "A Giuliani ally offered cash to lobby US senators on behalf of pro-Russian TV stations". 14 March 2020.
  20. ^ Levy, Bernard-Henri (28 February 2022). "Ukraine's Hero President Z." Tablet Magazine.
  21. ^ "Vladislav Davidzon". 28 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Death of Dan Rapoport, A Jewish Businessman". Tablet Magazine.
  23. ^ "Sean Penn filming documentary on the ground in Ukraine". 24 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Vladislav Davidzon". IMDb.
  25. ^ "Why Putin bombs the very same Russian-speaking people he claims to liberate". The Times of Israel.
  26. ^ "Discover Ukraine from an Odesa Perspective". 4 August 2017.
  27. ^ "Yevgeniy Fiks' Gay, Communist, Yiddish Utopia". 4 December 2018.
  28. ^ Tsurkan, Kate (May 24, 2022). ""I see politics through a literary and poetic lens": An Interview with Vladislav Davidzon". Apofenie.
  29. ^ Davidzon, Vladislav (18 June 2024). ""After 13 year together my wife and I have sadly separated."". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  30. ^ "TLN Freedom of the Media Award Ceremony 2022".
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