Nicolai Lilin - Siberian Education

First published in Italy as Educazione siberiana by Giulio Einaudi editore s.p.a., Torino, 2009

First published in Great Britain by Canongate Books Ltd, 2010

This edition published by The Text Publishing Company, 2010

All the illustrations that accompany the text are details from original tattoos executed by the author.

Cover design by W.H. Chong

Printed in Australia by Griffin Press

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Lilin, Nicolai, 1981-

Siberian education / Nicolai Lilin ; translated by Jonathan Hunt.

ISBN: 9781921656323 (pbk.)

Translation of: Educazione Siberiana.

Lilin, Nicolai, 1981—Childhood and youth. Tattoo artists—Dniester Moldovan Republic—Biography. Dniester Moldovan Republic—Social life and customs. Dniester Moldovan Republic—Social conditions.

Hunt, Jonathan, 1951-

391.65092

Lena and Amur are the names of two great Siberian rivers. Traditionally, criminal fortune is linked to these rivers: they are worshipped as deities, to whom you make offerings and whom you can ask for help in the course of your criminal activities. They are mentioned in many sayings, fairy tales, songs and poems. Of a fortunate criminal it is said that ‘his destiny is borne on the current of Lena’.

‘Authority’ refers to a leading criminal figure in the community. The nearest equivalent in American criminal vocabulary is a ‘made man’.

A knife modelled on the military bayonet, used in attacking ships on the rivers.

Literally ‘polished ones’: kromachy was our word for boots.

A sailor’s vest, with blue and white stripes and long sleeves.

In the criminal language this means ‘he who stings’, i.e. the tattooist.

The tattoos so called do not represent seeds or wings: they contain various images which allude to the criminal’s personal characteristics, the promises he has made and any romantic attachments he might have.

This term is used for the lowest-ranking members of some criminal castes: the number is that of the lowest-value playing cards in a pack.

Pejorative name for a person who does not respect the rules that govern behaviour among criminals.

An old Jewish name, Gad was used to mean someone utterly evil; it was supposedly the name of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Here it means a person who does not deserve the slightest consideration or forgiveness.