Samuil Aronovich Lurie （May 12, 1942, Sverdlovsk – August 7, 2015, USA）was a critic, literary historian, writer, essayist, or, as he defined himself, “literary figure, author of texts.” He graduated from Leningrad University, about whose teaching standards he was skeptical: “a factory of education… In fact, I am self-taught. An auditor of Russian literature. Everything I understand I owe everything to it.” He worked as a rural teacher and museum employee until 1966, when he joined the prose department of the magazine Neva, where he remained until 2002. He made his debut as a critic in 1964 and very soon became convinced that “literary criticism… was, in essence, a literary tactic.” He did not accept these rules and remained at odds with literary authorities, which explaims why the lion’s share of his writings (more than 1000 articles, notes, essays, and reviews) date from the post-Soviet era.