Igor Franceschi (Francheski) was a promising poet of Italian descent in the literary circles of the early Soviet in Russia. However, his ambition wouldn’t come to fruition because he was wrongfully imprisoned twice.

First—in 1938, together with many other writers and poets following the fabricated accusations of plotting to overturn the Soviet regime and writing anti-Soviet literature.

Second—in 1942, for a reason as simple as his Italian surname.

Even though Igor Franceschi was released and his guilt was never proven, the propagandized stigma of the so-called “enemy of the people” was nevertheless attached to his name until 1992, when his innocence was fully restored at the age of 85. This was possible only after the collapse of the USSR.

Since 1938, he was silenced; neither permitted to share his story, nor publish his poetry. His name was supposed to be conveniently forgotten, washed away in the sea of nameless faces that disappeared into the oblivion of the Great Purge era in the USSR. 

In 2007, when I (Elena Prozorova) serendipitously came across his name in my hometown archive, no one knew who Igor Franceschi was. Since then, it has been my life’s mission to shed light on his unjustly silenced voice and reintroduce his remarkable works to the literary world, and to the history of human rights protection.