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Jurij Moskvitin ( Robert Jurij Moskvitin Hansen, January 6, 1938 — May 25, 2005) was a classical pianist, composer, philosopher, mathematician and boheme.

Jurij Moskvitin acompaning Karen Blixen at her meeting with Igor Stravinsky at the city hall of Copenhagen

Jurij Moskvitin grew up in Denmark; his mother a Russian aristocrat and his father was a Danish civil engineer. After World War II he studied at the The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.He then obtained a master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen.

He was a friend of Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), Simon Spies, Tao Nørager and Henrik Stangerup.

His works include:

• Essay on The Origin of Thought 1974 (philosophy)
• Det er spændende at tænke 1976 (philosophy)
• Music to the movie "Jorden Er Flad or The Earth is Flat" 1977 by Henrik Stangerup
• Den store undren 1992 (philosophy)
• Simon Spies. Historien om et venskab 1984-1999 (biography)
• Den døve øgle 2001 (Self-Portraits)
• Du må ikke sjuske med dit liv 2008 (biography; Henrik Stangerup)

He was one of the main characters in the documentary "En aften i november" the other being Ilja Bergh. He was also interviewed in the documentary "At skrive eller dø & At forråde virkeligheden" about his relationship with Henrik Stangerup. He regularly appeared in the Danish TV-program "Smagsdommerne" until his death. He also appears in the radio documentary "Eliten fra Minefeltet" where he talks about his relationship to the pianist Klaus Heerfordt.

Jurij Moskvitin in a thoughtful moment in 1996, "This is how I want to be remembered after my death."

Essay on the Origin of Thought 1974

Describes how Moskvitin came to observe "states of mind when consciousness is kept somewhere halfway between the waking state and dream." Moskvitin became aware of strange "sparks" and "smoke-like forms", which "upon close and intense observation became the elements of waking dreams, forming persons, landscapes, strange mathematical fractal forms." Moskvitin came to believe that the hypnagogic patterns he was observing were the actual `material' out of which the conscious mind `builds' its representation of the external world. Our inner world of dreams and visions comes before the outer one of sensory stimuli (Closed-eye hallucination).

Det er spændende at tænke 1976 (It's Exciting to Think)

This book was made by Moskvitin in an effort to kick start a child's imagination. It contains classical examples in philosophy and logic and features illustrations by Jakob Hoffmeyer. It was published by Sommer og Sørensen.

Den store undren 1992 (The Great Wonder)

This book takes up the philosophical questions: What is time? who am I? What is real? Why does anything exist at all? and presents them for the adult reader while guiding the reader through the history of philosophy. The book was published by Lindhart og Ringhof in 1992. Shortly thereafter Moskvitin wrote a highly critical and devastating review of his book in the Danish newspaper Politiken under a pen name. The aim was to create debate and interest in the book, but Moskvitin's plan backfired and the result was a low sale.

Simon Spies. Historien om et venskab 1984,1999 (Simon Spies. The Story of a Friendship)

This book was published twice. Immediately after Spies's death April 16, 1984 Moskivitin began Writing the book which he managed to publish within the same year under the title under the title "Simon Spies - en myte" (Simon Spies a myth). The book received a critical reception in that it painted an honest, but non-glamorous portrait of the Danish tycoon. The book concerns itself with the psychedelic era of Simon Spies's life during the late 60's in which Moskvitin and Spies were close friends. Years later Moskivitin decided to edit out some of the more obscene details while making the book more readable. This "final version" called "Historien om et venskab" was published in 1999 by Lindhardt og Ringhof.

Den døve øgle 2001 (The Deaf Lizard)

Image from the same photo session in 1996 as above

Moskvitin wrote this self-portrait as the first of two books, the second of which was never published. It contains the story of Moskvitin's childhood and youth. Moskvitin notably describes how he became friends with Karen Blixen, how he had his first sexual intercourse in Paris, his first great concert in Cairo, and his mother's aristocratic friends. The book follows Moskvitin in his never ending search for women, drugs and spiritual insight. The book was published in 2001 by Lindhardt og Ringhof.

Du må ikke sjuske med dit liv 2008 (Thou Shalt Not Waste Thy Life)

Shortly after the death of Henrik Stangerup in 1998, Jurij Moskvitin started writing Stangerup's biography. It was completed in the spring of 1999. It was due to be released later that year by the publisher Lindhardt & Ringhof, though the latter canceled the publication in the last moment due to concerns about Henrik's posthumous reputation. Only after the journalist Poul Pilgaard, having heard about the manuscript while interviewing pianist Ilja Bergh, tracked down a person possessing a copy, was the book published by Pilgaard's own publishing house Bianco Luno. The publication date was 29 August 2008, three years after Jurij Moskvitin's death.

See also

• Karen Blixen
• Simon Spies
• Tao Nørager
• Philosophy of mind

References

External links

the following link to media about, or featuring, Jurij Moskivitn. They are all in Danish

• En aften i november - del 1
• En aften i november - del 2
• En aften i november - del 3
• Eliten fra Minefeltet
• I tonernes verden