On February 13, 1964, Brodsky was arrested on charges of parasitism. The next day, he suffered his first heart attack in the cell. A few days later, the first court hearing took place. Journalist and writer Frida Vigdorova took notes during two sessions, which were periodically attempted to be confiscated. Today, Vigdorova’s notebook is the only documentation of the case that allows a full assessment of the court’s and prosecutors’ rhetoric.
Brodsky was a self-taught poet who impressed many after just a year of “serious” poetry practice. He successfully learned several foreign languages on his own. Since the age of 15, he worked at a factory, in a morgue, in a boiler room, and on geological expeditions, but by the time of the trial, he had already begun earning a living through literary work, not only writing poetry but also doing complex artistic translations. Chukovsky and Marshak spoke highly of these. He was not on the staff of any organization but was not completely underground either; he interacted with the translation section of the Writers’ Union. At the trial, translator and teacher Yefim Etkind described Brodsky’s work as professional. But a guilty verdict was inevitable.
The first session of the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Leningrad took place at 36 Vosstaniya Street, the judge was Savelieva, and the hearing was held on February 18, 1964.
Judge: What do you do?
Brodsky: I write poetry. I translate. I suppose...
Judge: No “I suppose.” Stand properly! Don’t lean against the walls! Look at the court! Answer the court properly! (To me) Stop writing immediately! Or I will have you removed from the courtroom. (To Brodsky) Do you have a permanent job?
Brodsky: I thought this was a permanent job.
Judge: Answer precisely!
Brodsky: I wrote poetry. I thought it would be published. I suppose...
Judge: We are not interested in “I suppose.” Answer why you did not work?
Brodsky: I worked. I wrote poetry.
Judge: We are not interested in that. We want to know which institution you were connected to.
Brodsky: I had contracts with a publishing house.
Judge: Then answer accordingly. Do you have enough contracts to support yourself? List them, their dates, and amounts?
Brodsky: I don’t remember exactly. All contracts are with my lawyer.
Judge: I am asking you.
Brodsky: Two books with my translations were published in Moscow... (lists them).
Judge: Your work experience?
Brodsky: Approximately...
Judge: We are not interested in “approximately”!
Brodsky: Five years.
Judge: Where did you work?
Brodsky: At a factory. In geological parties...
Judge: How long did you work at the factory?
Brodsky: One year.
Judge: As what?
Brodsky: As a milling machine operator.
Judge: And what is your specialty in general?
Brodsky: Poet, poet-translator.
Judge: Who recognized you as a poet? Who counted you among poets?
Brodsky: No one. (Without prompting). And who counted me among the human race?
Judge: Did you study for this?
Brodsky: For what?
Judge: To be a poet? Didn’t you try to finish a university where they prepare... where they teach...
Brodsky: I didn’t think... I didn’t think this was given by education.
Judge: Then by what?
Brodsky: I think it’s... (hesitantly)... from God...
Judge: Do you have any petitions for the court?
Brodsky: I would like to know: why was I arrested?
Judge: That is a question, not a petition.
Brodsky: Then I have no petitions.
Judge: Does the defense have questions?
Lawyer: Yes. Citizen Brodsky, do you contribute your earnings to your family?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: Do your parents also earn money?
Brodsky: They are pensioners.
Lawyer: Do you live as one family?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: So your funds were contributed to the family budget?
Judge: You are not asking questions, you are summarizing. You are helping him answer. Don’t summarize, ask.
Lawyer: Are you registered at a psychiatric dispensary?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: Have you undergone inpatient treatment?
Brodsky: Yes, from the end of December 1963 to January 5 of this year at the Kashchenko Hospital in Moscow.
Lawyer: Do you think your illness prevented you from working steadily in one place for a long time?
Brodsky: Maybe. Probably. However, I don’t know. No, I don’t know.
Lawyer: Did you translate poems for a collection of Cuban poets?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: Did you translate Spanish romances?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: Were you connected with the translation section of the Writers’ Union?
Brodsky: Yes.
Lawyer: I ask the court to include in the case the characteristic from the translation section bureau... the list of published poems... copies of contracts... a telegram: “Please expedite contract signing.” (Lists them. And even from this list, it is clear that the charge of parasitism is baseless). And I ask to send citizen Brodsky for a medical examination to determine his health status and whether it prevented regular work. Furthermore, I ask for the immediate release of citizen Brodsky from custody. I believe he committed no crimes and that his detention is illegal. He has a permanent residence and can appear at court summons at any time.
The court retires for deliberation. Then returns, and the judge reads the ruling:
Send for forensic psychiatric examination, with the question posed whether Brodsky suffers from any mental illness and whether this illness prevents sending Brodsky to remote areas for forced labor. Return the materials to the police for additional verification of his earnings. Considering that the medical history shows Brodsky avoided hospitalization, suggest that police department No. 18 bring him in for the forensic psychiatric examination.
Judge: Do you have any questions?
Brodsky: I have a request — to give me paper and a pen in the cell.
Judge: You should ask the police chief for that.
Brodsky: I asked, he refused. I ask for paper and a pen.
Judge (softening): Very well, I will pass it on.
Brodsky: Thank you.
When everyone left the courtroom, they saw a huge number of people in the corridors and on the stairs, especially young people.
Judge: So many people! I didn’t think so many would gather!
From the crowd: They don’t try a poet every day!
Judge: We don’t care if he’s a poet or not!
According to defense attorney Z.N. Toporova, Judge Savelieva should have released Brodsky from custody so that he could go to the designated psychiatric hospital for the examination the next day, but she kept him under arrest, so he was sent to the hospital under escort.
Source:
http://www.agitclub.ru/museum/satira/samiz/brod2.htm
https://arzamas.academy/materials/710
https://www.forbes.ru/forbeslife/426389-ya-rabotal-ya-pisal-stihi-pochemu-sud-nad-brodskim-nelzya-zabyvat
