Abstract
Lev Kopelev wrote his autobiographical trilogy in a time span from the 60’s to the 80’s. Its uniqueness lays in the fact that Kopelev , despite his imprisonment, remained loyal to communism and defended Stalin’s actions. Kopelev presents himself in these texts, and especially in Khranit’ vechno, as an heroic figure, a man who has always fought to protect the weaker, even clashing with his superiors. By comparing Kopelev’s description of himself and that reported by Solzhenitsyn and Panin, this article attempts to demonstrate how within his autobiographical works Kopelev tries to idealize and humanize himself and to provide a philosophical justification of his communist past, seen as a great lesson that has been useful for his inner development.