Elena Dovlatova Russian emigrant, wife of the famous writer Sergei Dovlatov Country: Russia

Biography of Elena Dovlatova

Elena Dovlatova was a Russian immigrant and the wife of the famous writer Sergey Dovlatov. She was born in Leningrad before the war. Her father volunteered for the marine infantry but unfortunately became disabled during the war. This prevented him from pursuing a civilian career as a long-distance sailor. After the war, Elena attended a school in Leningrad and successfully completed her education within the designated timeframe. She worked various jobs before fate brought her together with Sergey Dovlatov.

Elena's mother quickly realized that her son's friend was a well-educated young woman, and she offered Elena a position as a proofreader at the Volodarsky Typography. Elena worked as an assistant to the proofreaders and spent a significant amount of time there. During this time, Sergey spent three years in the army. Eventually, they had a daughter named Ekaterina. They lived in Leningrad on Rubinsteina Street, in the same building numbered 23, which now bears a memorial plaque for Sergey Dovlatov.

In 1978, however, the family temporarily separated, and Elena and Katya left the country. They spent some time in Europe, particularly in Italy, before reaching their final destination, New York. Elena was initially amazed by the city, as everything felt unfamiliar and incredibly vast. She quickly began searching for work and managed to secure a job at Roman Gulya's "New Journal." However, her time there was short-lived. She then joined "New Russian Word," where she found more stability.

A year later, Sergey Dovlatov arrived in the United States, passing through Vienna. By that time, Elena had already been working for "New Russian Word" for six months. Her husband found her somewhat transformed into an American woman. Initially, the Dovlatovs lived in a private house before moving into an apartment in Queens. Over time, their living conditions improved progressively.

Later, Sergey launched his own project, a magazine called "New American." When "American" started publishing, Elena lost her job at "New Russian Word" due to pressure from the newspaper's management, as they did not want the editor's wife working for a competing publication. Under this systematic pressure, Elena chose to leave the editorial office of her own volition.

Currently, Elena Dovlatova is retired. The absence of work does not particularly bother her, as she enjoys and knows how to relax. Occasionally, she takes on orders for printing texts from a single customer. This, however, constitutes her only practical activity at present. The memory of her great husband still lives in Elena's heart.

In 2001, the book "Sergey Dovlatov - Igor Efimov. Epistolary Novel" was published, based on the private correspondence between Sergey and Igor. Igor had long tried to publish the book, but most publishers refused him. He eventually reached an agreement with the "Zakharov" publishing house. However, Elena intervened, as she inherited all the copyrights to Sergey's works according to his will. Dovlatova was able to prove that her husband opposed the publication of their correspondence, and she obtained an injunction against further publication of the book. Unfortunately, her request to destroy the 15,000 copies already printed was not granted, much to her regret.

On September 3, 2007, a memorial plaque was unveiled in Saint Petersburg on the building numbered 23 on Rubinsteina Street. Both Elena and her daughter Ekaterina traveled to Saint Petersburg to participate in the ceremony.