Ilya Shtemler Cause of Death

Ilya Shtemler, Soviet and Russian writer has died from covid-19.

Ilya was born in Baku on 18 January 1933 and died on 3 December 2022. He was 89 years.

Ilya graduated from the Baku Industrial Institute in 1957.

After gaduation, he worked as an engineer:

• First in the oil industry in the Volga region and then
• On the “Geologorazvedka” factory in Leningrad, city which eventually became his second home.

Ilya’s most popular novels: “Univermag” (“The department store”), “Poezd” (“Train”), and “Utrennee shosse” (“Morning highway”) were a realistic description of life in 1960s, 70s, and 80s Russia.

His first novel “The Grandmaster’s Mark” was published in 1965 in the Yunost literary magazine and brought immediate recognition to its author.

Shtemler was an active campaigner for the protection of Russian historical heritage. In 2006, he became vice-president of the St. Petersburg division of the PEN club.

Shtemler died from COVID-19 on 3 December 2022, at the age of 89.