On December 30, 1905, Daniil Kharms was born in St. Petersburg - an emblematic Russian writer, poet and playwright.
He is considered a master of the absurd and one of the most significant figures in the Russian avant-garde.
Kharms was the founder of the literary group OBERIU (Union for Real Art), which proclaimed a rejection of traditional forms and logic in favor of the grotesque and the illogical.
His works (short stories, poems, plays) often describe everyday chaos, violence and metaphysical absurdity. His most famous story is "The Old Woman", and his cycle of short texts "Cases" is an emblem of his style.
During his lifetime, he was published mainly as an author of children's books and a contributor to the magazines "Chizh" and "Ezh", since his "serious" work was banned by Soviet censorship.
Harms was disliked by the Soviet authorities at the time. He was arrested in 1941 on charges of spreading "defeatist sentiments" and died of starvation in the psychiatric ward of the "Kresty" prison during the blockade of Leningrad in February 1942.