Masha Gessen Biography

Masha Gessen is a famous Russian as well as American author and translator. Masha is known for her outspoken attitude and criticism of several political powers in the world such as Donald Trump as well Vladimir Putin. 

Masha Gessen Early Life

Masha Gessen was born on 13th January 1967 in Moscow, which makes him 57 years old as of 2024. He was raised by Jewish parents, Alexander and Yelena Gessen. He, as a teenager, moved with their family to the United States in 1981.

He then moved to Moscow in 1991 to pursue a future career. He uses the pronouns “they, their & them.” Their brother’s names are Keith Gessen, Daniel Gessen, and Philip Gessen. Keith’s full name is Konstantin Alexandrovich Gessen, a novelist and translator. 

Career

Masha Gessen began their career in 1993. Throughout in career, they have written columns for The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, New Statesman, Granta, Slate, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Magazine, The New Yorker, and U.S. News & World Report.

In November 2016, an article, Autocracy: Rules for Survival, was published in The New York Review of Books. That article was written by Masha Gessen. Masha is the author of several books. Here are the published books list:

  • They published their first book titled “Dead Again: The Russian Intelligentsia After Communism” in 1997. 
  • In 2004, they published two books titled “Ester and Ruzya” and “Two Babushkas”. 
  • He wrote a book titled “Blood Matters: From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies, How the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene” which was further released in April 2008. 
  • The book title “Perfect Rigour: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of a Lifetime” was published in 2009. 
  • They published a book titled “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” in 2012. 
  • The book title “Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot” was published on 8th January 2014. 
  • The book titled “In The Future is History” was published on 3rd October 2017. This book is a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
  • The book title “Never Remember: Searching for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia” was published in 2018.
  • The published book title “Surviving Autocracy” on 2nd June 2020 got a 4.2 out of 5 rating. 

She has been a writer staff for “The New Yorker” since 2017. On 11th March 2023, they were featured in the article:  What We Talk About When We Talk About Trans Rights (an interview with David Remnick).

They served as a volunteer board member at PEN America for nine years. They resigned in May 2023. They served as a writer at Bard College from 2020-2023. They have worked as a professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York since June 2023.

Masha Gessen Biography

Real Name Masha Gessen
Birth Date 13 January 1967
Age (as of 2024) 57 Years
Birth Place Moscow, Russia
Profession Journalist, Author
College The Cooper Union, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Qualification Graduate

Physical Statistics

Height in feet inches – 5’ 6” – in Centimeters – 168 cm
Weight in Kilograms – 65 kg  –  in Pounds – 143 lbs
Hair Color Brown
Eye Color Brown

Family

Father Alexander Gessen
Mother Yelena Gessen
Sister
Brother Keith Gessen

Relationship Status

Marital Status Married
Is she a gay/lesbian? Yes
Who is his wife/spouse? Darya Oreshkina
Children Three (Yolka Gessen, Vova Gessen)

Personal Life

Masha Gessen is a happily married man. The first wife is named Svetlana Generalova, a Russian citizen. Both got divorced in December 2013. Then, again he married Darya Oreshkina. Together, the couple are blessed with two sons and a daughter.

The first child, Vova, came into the world in 1997 in Russia and was adopted from a Kaliningrad orphanage catering to children of HIV-positive women. Gessen’s daughter, Yolka, was born in the U.S. in 2001, and their third child, a son, entered the world in February 2012.

Masha came out as nonbinary in 2020. After that, he uses they/them pronouns. They now live in New York with their wife and children. On 12th December 2023, She announced their engagement to Lynne Echenberg on Facebook. 

Social Media

Masha Gessen is active on social media platforms. They have 17.2k followers on Instagram @mashagessen. On Instagram, they usually posted pictures of the iconic Brompton folding bike. 

Masha Gessen Net Worth

Masha Gessen has accumulated an estimated net worth of around $900,000 as of 2024. Gessen earned income from the profession as a writer, author, and journalist. They worked as a translator on the FX TV channel historical drama The Americans.

Trivia

  • Masha has both Russian and U.S. citizenship.
  • Gessen has received numerous awards. It includes a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, a Carnegie Millennial Fellowship and a Nieman Fellowship, the 2017 Overseas Press Club Award for Best Commentary, and many more.
  • Masha is the recipient of the 2023 Hannah Arendt Award. 
  • Masha Gessen’s career bio is featured at the University of RHODE ISLAND.

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