Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (Russian: Ро́берт Ива́нович Рожде́ственский; 20 June 1932 – 19 August 1994) was a Soviet-Russian poet and songwriter who broke with socialist realism in the 1950s–1960s during the Khrushchev Thaw and, along with such poets as Andrei Voznesensky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and Bella Akhmadulina, pioneered a newer, fresher, and freer style of poetry in the Soviet Union.
Robert Rozhdestvensky was born in the village of Kosikha in West Siberian Krai (now Altai Krai). He was named in honor of Robert Eikhe.
His father, Stanislav Nikodimovich Petkevich, was a Polish man employed by the OGPU, NKVD until drafted in 1941. Whilst in the army he obtained the rank of lieutenant overseeing his own group in the 123rd Rifle Division(ru)
He died in battle in Latvia on February 22, 1945. He was buried near the village of Mashen in the Temerovo district of the Latvian SSR, He was later reburied in a mass grave in the village of Slampe in the Tukums Municipality.
His birth parents divorced when Rozhdestvensky was 5 years old.
His mother, Vera Pavlovna Fedorova (1913-2001), was the director of a rural elementary school and was studying medicine at a specialised institute.
From 1932-1934 he lived in the Sherbakulsky District, Omsk Oblast. His grandfather P.D. Fedorov is buried in a cemetery here.
After 1934 Rozhdestvensky lived with his parents and grandmother in Omsk. Following the outbreak of World War II his parents were called to the front. Rozhdestvensky was left with his grandmother Nadezhda Alekseyevna Fyodorova.
Rozhdestvensky's first poem "My dad goes camping with a rifle"..." (С винтовкой мой папа уходит в поход) was published in The Omsk Truth (Омская правда) July 8, 1941)
In 1943 he studied at the military music school. His grandmother died in April 1943, His mother returned briefly to register her sister in the apartment. Rozhdestvensky continued to live there with his aunt and cousin until 1944.
His mother attempted to bring him with her to become a "Son of the Regiment(ru)" a child living in the army.
On the way to Moscow he changed his mind and found himself in the Danilovsky Orphanage.
In 1945, his mother remarried. Her new husband was an officer named Ivan Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (1899-1976). Robert changed his name and patronymic to that of his new stepfather. His parents took him to Königsberg, where they were both serving at the time.
After the war ended he moved to Leningrad until 1948 where he moved again to Petrozavodsk.
In 1950, the first adult publication of Rozhdestvensky's poems appeared in the magazine At the Frontier(ru).
Rozhdestvensky attempted to enter the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in the same year but wasn't accepted. He spent the following year studying at the historical and philological departments at Petrozavodsk State University.
In 1951, after reapplying he was able to attend the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute.
During his studies at the institute, he published the collections of poems Flags of Spring (1955) and Test (1956), and published the poem "My Love" (1955). He also became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers during this time.