Timenchik Roman Davidovich (born 1945, Riga), literary historian. In 1967 he completed the philology faculty of the University of Latvia. In 1968–91 he worked as head of the literary section of the Riga Theater for Young Audiences. From his student years he took part in the scholarly seminars of Professor Yu. Lotman at Tartu University and in the work of the so-called Summer School on Secondary Modeling Systems under the direction of Yu. Lotman.

One of the main directions of Timenchik's research activity is the history of Acmeism. His first scholarly work, “On the Analysis of Akhmatova's 'Poem without a Hero,'” appeared in the collection “Materials of the 22nd Scholarly Conference” (Tartu, 1967), while he was still a student. He studied the work of A. Akhmatova, L. Gumilev, O. Mandelshtam, A. Blok, and I. Annensky. In 1982 he defended his candidate's dissertation at Tartu University, “The Artistic Principles of Anna Akhmatova's Pre-Revolutionary Poetry.” Together with B. Kats, he wrote the monograph “Anna Akhmatova and Music” (Moscow, 1969). He published many articles devoted to Russian “Silver Age” poetry, including “Autometadescription in Akhmatova” (the journal “Russkaya Literatura,” Nos. 10–11, 1974–75, Moscow); “Akhmatova and Pushkin: Notes on a Theme” (“Academic Papers of the University of Latvia,” 1974, vol. 215, Pushkin Collection No. 2); “Blok and His Contemporaries in 'Poem without a Hero': Notes on a Theme” (“Academic Papers of Tartu University,” 1989, issue 857, Blok Collection); “Notes on Acmeism” (the journal “Russkaya Literatura,” Nos. 7/8, 1974–75); and “On the Works and Days of Akhmatova” (the journal “Novoye Literaturnoye Obozreniye,” No. 29, 1998, Moscow).

Timenchik also worked on problems of cultural studies and semiotics, publishing numerous works on this subject, including: “On Montage Processes in Poetic Texts” (“Academic Papers of Tartu University,” 1973, issue 308); “Text within Text in the Acmeists” (“Academic Papers of Tartu University,” 1981, issue 567); and “On the Symbolism of the Tram in Russian Poetry” (“Semiotics,” Tartu, 1987).

In 1970–89 Timenchik lectured on the history of Russian literature and theater at the theater faculty of the Latvian State Conservatory. In the second half of the 1980s he took an active part in the country's literary life, and was editor of academic editions of the works of A. Akhmatova, L. Gumilev, and V. Nabokov. From 1989 — member of the editorial board of the biographical dictionary “Russian Writers. 1800–1917,” for which he wrote 15 articles; in 1988–91 — member of the editorial board of the publication “Literary Heritage.” He also studied the work of A. Pushkin, co-authoring with A. Ospovat the book “To Preserve a Sad Story…” (on the author and readers of “The Bronze Horseman,” Moscow, 1985); and “Akhmatova and Pushkin” in the book “Pushkin and Russian Literature” (Riga, 1986).

In 1991 he moved to Israel. From 1991 — professor at the Department of Russian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He continued his research in the study of Acmeism, including the problem of Old Testament motifs in early 20th-century Russian poetry. He published a number of works on this subject, including “Anna Akhmatova and the Old Testament (The 1910s)” (“Jews and Slavs,” Jerusalem, 1995). He prepared the monographs “Anna Akhmatova in the 1960s” and “Anna Akhmatova and Her Era” for publication.

In the 1990s Timenchik studied Russo-Jewish literary relations and Jewish themes in the work of Russian poets. He is the author of a number of articles in the Concise Jewish Encyclopedia (see Encyclopedias), including the section “Russian Literature in the Early 20th Century” in the article “Russian Literature.” He has given lectures as a visiting professor at the University of California. Timenchik is a member of the editorial boards of the Russian journals “Novoye Literaturnoye Obozreniye” and “Novaya Russkaya Kniga.”“