Alexei Navalny’s Posthumous Memoir ‘Patriot’ Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

Alexei Navalny’s Posthumous Memoir ‘Patriot’ Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

“Let’s face it,” wrote Alexei Navalny, shortly before his murder in prison, “If a murky assassination attempt using a chemical weapon, followed by a tragic demise in prison, can’t move a book, it’s hard to imagine what would.” It’s a typically self-referencing touch from an author who lived and died as the main character in his remarkable life. “Patriot” is part memoir, part manifesto, and part prison diary, and excels as all three.

Alexei Navalny loved Russia. He loved his country because the most famous of Vladimir Putin's opponents died in a prison in the Arctic Circle, February 2024, at the age of 47. In several passages of his book of memories, recently released in Brazil, the lawyer and activist said he liked Russia, with his people, his language and his “melancholic landscapes”. The work won the proper title of Patrioto (Translation of Clovis Marques; Rocco; 448 page…