William Pokhlyobkin
# William Pokhlyobkin

William Vasilyevich Pokhlyobkin (August 20, 1923 – April 15 (burial date), 2000; Russian: Ви́льям Васи́льевич Похлёбкин, Viliyam Vasilievich Pokhlyobkin) was a Soviet and Russian historian specializing in Scandinavian studies, heraldry, the diplomacy and international relations of Russia. He was also known as a geographer, journalist, expert on the history of Russian cuisine and the author of numerous culinary books. His A History of Vodka has been translated into a number of languages, including English.

## Biography

William Pokhlyobkin was born to Russian revolutionary Vasili Mikhailov (Михайлов Василий Михайлович). "Pokhlyobkin" was Mikhailov's underground nickname, derived from the word "Pokhlyobka [ru]" which is a Russian type of vegetable soup. Vasili named his son after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (VIL is an acronym which turned into William).

He took part in the Soviet-Finnish War and German-Soviet War as a private. After his discharge from service, he studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations from 1945–1949, and later did postgraduate courses in the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He became a Kandidat of Historical Sciences and a research member in the Institute of History in 1953. He founded the journal Skandinavskii sbornik ("Скандинавский сборник") and was its chief editor from 1955-1961. He was later a member of the editorial collegium of the journal Scandinavica.

In 1968 he was labeled a dissident because his book on tea was popular in dissident circles. He was barred from publication, thus was unable to finish his doctoral dissertation, and had to concentrate on his culinary hobby. His book on Vodka has been criticized by Lev Usyskin for containing errors, and a trademark dispute between the Soviet Union and Poland over usage of the word "vodka" that Pokhlyobkin supposedly provided research for did not occur.

He was the author of over 50 books and a large number of articles. For a long time his books remained unpublished, and most of them were printed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Printed simultaneously in large numbers they gave rise to speculation that "Pokhlyobkin" was a pen name of a whole artel of writers.

In 1993 he was awarded Langhe Ceretto Prize, an international award for outstanding culinary writing, awarded by Ceretto Brothers winery on the basis of recommendations of an international committee.

Pokhlyobkin was found murdered in his apartment, in Podolsk somewhere between March 27 and 31, 2000. He was stabbed eleven times with a screwdriver and alcohol was found in his system despite being a teetotaler. His dead body was uncovered by the chief editor of the Polyfakt publishing house, who was worried about the delay of the book Cuisine of the Century and came from Moscow to Podolsk to see Pokhlyobkin. A large number of his books on Scandinavian topics remain unpublished.

