Boris Kiril Ilyin (Russian: Борис Кириллович Ильин; 28 August 1918 - 10 August 2014) was a Russian-American novelist and painter.[1] Ilyin was born in Kazan, Russia during the Russian Revolution and immigrated to California in 1923.[2]
After a career in the U.S. Army during World War II, he became a student of Wallace Stegner at Stanford University, where he was among the first recipients, along with Rory Barnes, of the Stegner Fellowship[3]. While a student at Stanford, Ilyin wrote his first novel, "Green Boundary"[4], based on his experiences with displaced persons during the postwar occupation of Germany[5]; the title is a reference to the border between the American occupation zone in Germany and the Soviet one.
He received the M.A. in 1949 and remained at Stanford, teaching English.[6] During this time, he, Stegner and Richard Scowcroft wrote "The Writer's Art"[7], a collection of short stories interleaved with literary analysis.
After a short time teaching at Pomona College, Ilyin began what he later described [8]as "participation" in the Cold War. Some sources describe him as having a career "in the foreign service"[6]. However, his second novel, "False Flag", is told from the point of view of a CIA agent with the same initials as Ilyin, active during the same years. This has been considered[9] tacit acknowledgment that Ilyin worked for the CIA. Additionally, a published bio[2] mentions his work in "intelligence".
Ilyin retired from government service in 1969 to write and paint. His work, which focused on California landscapes[2] was exhibited publicly beginning in 1970, including at his alma mater of Stanford.
Ilyin's second novel, "False Flag", was published in 2013 when he was 94. Its protagonist is a CIA agent concerned with a fictional Central African country during the 1960s; during this time, Ilyin is recorded[10] as having been present at high-level State Department meetings concerning the Central African country of Congo.
Ilyin died August 10, 2014 and is buried in San Rafael, California.
Category:American writers of Russian descent