Sneha Girap (Editor)

Boris Georgievich Derevenskij

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Nationality
  
Russian

Period
  
1991 – Present

Role
  
Writer

Citizenship
  
Russia

Name
  
Boris Derevenskij


Born
  
June 30, 1962 (age 61) (
1962-06-30
)

Genre
  
short story, novella, novel, historical research

Boris Georgievich Derevenskij (Russian: Boris Georgievich Derevenskii; born June 30, 1962) is a Russian writer, best known for his publication of a popular omnibus “Jesus Christ in the Documents of History” (Russian: «Iisus Hristos v dokumentah istorii»), which had several reissues (1st publication – 1998, 5th publication – 2007). Derevenskij also has publications in different literary magazines and collective books.

Contents

Biography

Boris Derevenskij was born on 30 June 1962, in a family of an electrical engineer in the South of Kazakhstan. He was the elder of two brothers. His father’s bloodline included Ural Cossacks (stanitsa Novochercassk). Great-grandfather – Derevenskov Ivan Petrovich (born 1881) was a Cossack Yesaul during the World War I; he was fatally wounded at the battlefront and died in a hospital in 1916. Grandfather – Derevenskov Ivan Ivanovich (1902–1987) was a soldier of the Red Army, between 1926 and 1928 took part in the battles together with Basmaches (see: Basmachi movement) in the Middle Asia. After demobilization he settled in the South Kazakhstan. Surname “Derevenskij” (instead of “Derevenskov”) is a bureaucratic inaccuracy, which occurred when Georgij Ivanovich Derevenskov (1928–2009), writer’s father, was getting a passport. All his relatives still have the surname “Derevenskov”.

Boris finished the school in Kentau in 1979. In 1981–1986 studied at Kazakhstan Teachers' Training Institute (Alma Ata); his major was history and soviet law. After graduating he worked as a staff correspondent in such newspapers as “Kentau’s truth”, “Shimkent Panorama” and as a news anchor at “Ikar” TV studio in Kentau. It was the time of his first literary experience as well.

His debut as a writer happened in 1991 in Shimkent, where his booklet “Afterworld: Legends. Evidence. Facts” came out. At the same time he became interested in the history of Ancient world. In 1996 “Lenizdat” published his novels “Herod and Cleopatra” and “Fatale Monstrum”, both dedicated to famous Egyptian empress Cleopatra VII. His historical essay “Women in the fate of Marc Anthony” was printed in the appendix of the novel. In imitation of Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, using the style of this ancient author Boris wrote an biographical omnibus “Famous Women of Ancient Times” (1995–1996). Since 1995 he has been living in Saint-Petersburg and Gatchina.

The same year he started working with Gospel history and wrote a novella in two parts “Pilate” (1996) and several short stories. However, what Boris considered to be the most important, was the publication of an omnibus of historical documents, dedicated to Jesus Christ. After laborious work of gathering and translating the materials (part of which had never been published before) omnibus “Jesus Christ in the Documents of History” came out in 1998 in Saint-Petersburg Publishing House “Aletheia”. Impartially, as a true researcher, Derevenskij published it, providing detailed commentaries to various documents: evidences of Jewish, Greek and Roman writers of the 1st and 2nd centuries; extracts from the works of early Christian authors; stories from apocryphal Gospel (see: Biblical apocrypha); messages from Talmud and Midrash. A separate chapter was dedicated to Muslim literature, which narrated about Prophet ‘Isa Ibn Maryam (see: Jesus in Islam). Also many fabrications on the subject of Gospel were included in this book.

During the interviews and discussions Derevenskij claimed that this book should be a desk book for Biblical scholars and everyone who is interested in the history of Christianity. Indeed, the omnibus was accepted by a large readership with a great interest. This book has been quoted from by historians specializing in Christianity, as well as by divines. However, the book has also provoked a protest of those, who were not happy with the fact that many apologetic statements were there along with the antichristian extracts from the Talmud sources, which happened to be the historical documents. The omnibus included three versions of translation of the Jewish anti-Gospel “Toledot Yeshu” – something that had never been published in Russia before (see also: Yeshu). The 5th, extended and revised edition of the omnibus (2007) considers almost all critical comments and suggestions, which were found in the scientific literature.

“Doctrine of Antichrist in ancient times and Middle Ages” (2000) is another work by Derevenskij, which also attracted attention of historians and divines. It seems natural that after writing about the figure of the Christ a theologian-writer turned to the figure of His hell-twin – the Antichrist. This is the path of thinking about good and evil, love and hatred, problems of messianism and Christianity. In 2007 the Saint-Petersburg Publishing House “Amphora” published the revised edition of this work – “The book of Antichrist”.

By this time Publishing House “Amphora” became quite aware of Derevenskij’s attraction to Islam and his respect towards Muslim tradition. In 2009 this Publishing House published one more omnibus of documents: “Muslim Jesus. Gospel tradition in Islam”. In the atmosphere of strained relations between West and East civilizations, when in the minds of Western Islam became a hostile, aggressive religion, Derevenskij tried to show how indeed close Islam and Christianity are to each other (“Islam is as close to Christianity as no other religion”), how much the Muslims had embraced from Gospel legends and how much they were imbued with the doctrine of the Messiah-Christ.

Books

  • Herod and Cleopatra / Irod i Kleopatra (1996)
  • Fatale Monstrum / Fatale monstrum (1996)
  • Women in the fate of Marc Anthony / ZHenschini v sud'be Marka antoniya (1996)
  • Pilate / Pilat (1996)
  • Jesus Christ in the Documents of History / Iisus Hristos v dokumentah istorii (1998, 2007)
  • Doctrine of Antichrist in ancient times and Middle Ages / Uchenie ob antihriste v drevnosti i srednevekov'e (2000)
  • Sharlote Corde’s Case / Delo SHarlotti Korde (2003)
  • The book of Antichrist / Kniga ob antihriste (2007)
  • Muslim Jesus / Musul'manskii Iisus (2009) — [1]
  • 'Secrets of the Gospel history / — Taini evangel'skoi istorii (2014)
  • References

    Boris Georgievich Derevenskij Wikipedia