César Vallejo vs Dmitri Shostakovich
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| César Vallejo | Dmitri Shostakovich | |
| Field | Literature | Music |
| Sub-field | Poet | Composer |
| Born | 1892 | 1906 |
| Died | 1938 | 1975 |
| Country of birth | Peru | Russia |
| Star sign | Pisces | Libra |
Who they are
César Vallejo
Most Formally Radical Latin American Poet Trilce · Los heraldos negros · Posthumous Poems · Died in poverty in Paris Born March 16, 1892 · Santiago de Chuco, Peru · Died April 15, 1938
Full biography of César Vallejo →
Dmitri Shostakovich
In January 1936, Josef Stalin attended a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at the Bolshoi Theatre and left before the final act. Two days later, Pravda published an unsigned editorial — almost certainly authorized at the highest level — titled "Muddle Instead of Music." The article attacked the opera as "formalist" and "bourgeois," its dissonances described as deliberate assaults on Soviet socialist culture. Shostakovich was twenty-nine years old, the most celebrated composer in the Soviet Union, and now suddenly in danger. He had a new symphony nearly finished —…
Full biography of Dmitri Shostakovich →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Literature for César Vallejo, Music for Dmitri Shostakovich.
- Born in different countries: Peru and Russia.
- 14 years separate their births (1892 and 1906).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, César Vallejo or Dmitri Shostakovich?
- César Vallejo. César Vallejo was born in 1892, Dmitri Shostakovich in 1906.
- What field is each of them in?
- César Vallejo is filed under Literature (Poet). Dmitri Shostakovich is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.