Latvian writer Slava Se died

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

As it became known from the post on social networks, the writer from Latvia Vyacheslav Soldatenko, who is known under the pseudonym Slava Se, died. He was 52 years old.

Information that the writer contracted the coronavirus and was hospitalized appeared on the Internet on June 10. Then all his performances were canceled. In his social media groups, it was reported that he was in intensive care with a severe form of covid. He was undergoing treatment in one of the Riga hospitals for 2-sided pneumonia.

Slava Se wrote stories in Russian, and gained fame thanks to the blog, in which he published them.

When asked whether he feels Russian or Latvian, he invariably replied that when he comes to Russia, he does not feel Russian, he is nevertheless closer to Latvians and their cold blood. For example, in Riga it is not customary to talk in public transport, and addressing a stranger on the street is completely indecent. When a Russian grabs the breasts, the Latvian will simply look pejoratively. And in this, as the writer noted, Latvians are closer to him. Yet he grew up in Riga. “It is quiet in Latvia, but not so fun,” said Slava Se. But at the same time, he noted that when he comes to Russia, it becomes easier for him.

It is worth saying that the path to the literary work of Vyacheslav Soldatenko was thorny. He began his career in the HR service, in the medical examination commission under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, worked as a marketer. When two daughters appeared in the family, he became a plumber, because this profession allowed him to devote more time to his family and literature. It was at that time that Slava Se had LJ, which became one of the most popular in the domestic blogosphere. But the unexpected happened - the new status did not suit the spouse, and a divorce broke out.

Then thousands of readers sympathized with the author and put more and more likes under the posts. The publishing house "AST" became interested in these texts, and offered Soldatenko to publish the book. His book, The Plumber, His Cat, Wife and Other Details, sold 30,000 copies in three days. And after 2 weeks the circulation doubled, and also sold out.

2010 brought Vyacheslav Soldatenko the Imhonet Internet Service Prize in the Favorite Journalists nomination.

2012 was a new discovery for Slava Se. In collaboration with Vladimir Nagorny, he wrote the script for the film "Gentlemen, good luck!" He also wrote the script for the cartoon Three Heroes: The Knight's Move.

When journalists asked him how his family members felt about his work, he noted that for them he was not a popular writer, but the one who had to bring potatoes from the store. And this he considered normal, at home the writer should be treated soberly. For his family, his writing is just an annoying factor, because they only heard him requests to evaluate, to give advice on what to rewrite. “My family members don’t quote me,” Slava Se jokingly lamented in one of his interviews.

The most severe critics noted that Slava Se gained popularity among readers only because of the quality of his literature, because everyone was tired of TV humor “below the baseboard”. Soldatenko was breaking out of this format. Critics called him an optimistic satirist, and noted that he writes figuratively, Nabokov. And most importantly, his books were close and understandable to people.