1971
Riga
Born August 14 in Riga. His mother, a pianist and répétiteur at the Latvian State Conservatory — the piano is at the center from the very start.
Biography
A first publication at fifteen, in the young writers' section of the Latvian Writers' Union; alongside it, the Russian desk of Latvian Radio and his first jazz bands — for Dmitri Dragilew, literature and music were never two professions but two registers of one instrument.
After studies in Riga, at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar and at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, he worked as an editor (VIA REGIA, Ru.Bashka), columnist (7+7ya) and guest lecturer at the European University Viadrina. He founded the EXiLIBRIS reading series and the Eddie Rosner Jazz Festival, and co-initiated the Berlin literary group Zapad Naperyod.
1978–1991
Riga
Music school, first competitions, first compositions — and a first publication in 1986: the young writers' section of the Latvian Writers' Union, work for the Russian desk of State Radio, his first jazz bands. History and philosophy at the University of Latvia.
1991
Riga
After Latvian independence, effectively stateless — the Soviet passport no longer valid, a new one out of reach. Four years of waiting to leave.
1994
Erfurt
Emigration to Germany. In Thuringia he co-creates Radio Akzent, the state's first Russian-language FM program — working as radio journalist and jazz pianist.
1990er–2000er
Weimar / Jena
Studies at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar and Slavic studies in Jena. In 2001 his first poetry collection, K chayu v pyat (Tea at Five), appears.
2005
Berlin
Move to Berlin. Reading series, the literary group Zapad Naperyod, band projects — the city becomes stage and writing desk at once.
2008–2011
St. Petersburg / Nizhny Novgorod
His two major music books appear: Labyrinths of Russian Tango (2008) and the documentary Rosner biography Shmalyaem Jazz, Kholera Yasna! (2011).
2015
Berlin
Elected chairman of SLOG, the association of Russian-language writers in Germany. The founding of the Eddie Rosner Jazz Festival in Berlin follows.
2021
Berlin / Erfurt
The Oskar Strock & Eddie Rosner Orchestra is founded — the two legends' legacy brought back to the stage, with the society whose promotional council he represents.
2024–2025
Kyiv / Moscow / Berlin
The poetry collection Ispravlennomu Verit (2024) and the novel Nekoronovannye (The Uncrowned, 2025, NLO) appear — his major prose work on the meeting of émigré generations.
The third stage: radio
Radio is the third stage: volunteer and freelance contributor at Latvian Radio's Russian desk (1992–1995), then co-founder of Radio Akzent — Thuringia's first Russian-language FM program (first broadcast January 13, 2000; editor-in-chief of the Erfurt desk 2000–2005, coordinator of the Berlin group from 2011; a 2005 internship at Echo of Moscow). In 2017, the jazz radio series Shmalyaem Jazz! — from Tsfasman and Glenn Miller to Strock and Rosner.
Awards
- 2006 Deti Ra literary journal prize
- 2006 Special prize, 4th Berlin Russian-language poetry slam
- 2007 Badge of honor of the Free State of Thuringia
- 2019 Berlin Senate working grant for non-German-language literature
„Was ich als Autor mache, zumindest in meinen Gedichten, aber auch in Prosa – es ist etwas anderes, es regt immer die Gemüter auf.“
Dmitri Dragilew in the Zeitzeugen interview (zeitzeugen-exil-russland.com, German)