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Volkov Alexander short biography for children. Volkov Alexander Melentievich - to remember - lj

(1891-1977) Russian writer

For most readers, Alexander Melentievich Volkov is the author of one work. Fairy tale "Wizard" emerald city"everyone knows, but that the author of this author owns several dozen works written in the most different genres known to few.

Volkov was born in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk in the family of a retired non-commissioned officer. Alexander spent his childhood in the village of Sekisovka, where his maternal grandfather lived. He was an Old Believer reader, that is, a reader sacred books, and taught his grandson to read when he was five years old.

When Sasha Volkov grew up, he, as the son of a soldier, was accepted into the Ust-Kamenogorsk school. In 1903, he graduated with a certificate of merit and was admitted to the state kosht (maintenance) at the Tomsk Teachers' Institute. In 1909, he received a diploma as an elementary school teacher.

For several years, the young teacher worked in rural schools, taught literature, geography, history and mathematics. At the same time, Volkov first tried to write, rather out of necessity: the village kids needed books that they could understand for reading, as well as plays for school theater. In 1916, a collection of his plays was published, which became the first publication of a young writer.

After the revolution, Alexander Volkov moved to Yaroslavl, where he continued to work at the school. By that time, he already clearly knew that his vocation was mathematics. Volkov enters the mathematical faculty of the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute. After graduating from it, he works for some time in Yaroslavl - he teaches mathematics and physics, and then submits documents to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow State University in order to deepen his knowledge - to receive serious theoretical training.

Alexander Volkov completed the five-year course in seven months, combining his studies with work at the Department of Higher Mathematics of the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. Here he attends a circle in English. Somehow, at one of the classes, a book fell into Volkov's hands American writer F. Baum "The Wizard of Oz". Alexander Volkov liked it so much that he began to read it to his children, and then made an authorized translation.

At that time, baby foreign books came to little Russian readers through the retellings of T. Gabbe, L. Lyubarskaya, Korney Chukovsky. In a living language, based on realities understandable to children, the writers told entertaining stories from the life of the peoples of different countries.

Alexander Melentyevich Volkov for a long time did not dare to show his creation to professional writers. Only after E. Permitin approved his tale, did he take the manuscript to Samuil Marshak. Samuil Yakovlevich liked the tale, he gave positive feedback, and the publishing house "Children's Literature" began work on the book.

The publication came out with wonderful drawings by N. Radlov, one of the best book artists of that time.

It immediately became one of the most popular and read and quickly disappeared from the shelves of bookstores. In a little over a year, two more editions of The Wizard of Oz came out, which sold out as quickly as the first.

In Alexander Volkov's adaptation, Baum's boring narration sparkled with all the colors of life: the moralizing tone and instructive intonation disappeared, but an adventure plot arose, thanks to which the action of the fairy tale unfolds rapidly, dragging both characters and readers along with it.

Volkov fulfilled the order of readers, but only after twenty years. During this time, he published several historical novels.

The first work "Wonderful Balloon" is made in the genre of an adventure story about how the merchant's son Dmitry Rakitin escapes from the prison in a balloon. The novel "Two Brothers" is dedicated to the events of the time of Peter the Great, where the writer introduces us to the little-known pages of the history of Russia, the beginning of the eighteenth century.

In the work on the works, Alexander Volkov had to study a lot of materials, rummage through the archives, go to museums in order to get to know the culture of the time in which his heroes would act.

I had to capture the realities of the past, fill the works with the flavor of the era and create a reliable historical background for the events depicted.

Alexander Melentievich Volkov showed these qualities in full in the novel "Architects". In it, the admiring author talks about the ancient masters who built one of the wonders of the world on Borovitsky Hill - the Moscow Kremlin and the fabulous St. Basil's Cathedral.

Before the reader - and the book is designed primarily for the attention of the younger generation - the majestic, simple-hearted, hard-working and cheerful Moscow of the middle of the 16th century appeared before the reader. Volkov paints vivid, emotionally rich pictures of Moscow life.

The writer knew perfectly well the psychology of his audience and masterfully built the plot, giving dynamism to the plot and authenticity of the images. Therefore, his books are on a par with the works of such recognized masters of the genre as Alexei Tolstoy, A. Chapygin, O. Forsh.

Becoming famous writer, Alexander Volkov did not forget about his teaching profession. He continues to act in this field, but already as a popularizer.

In the fifties, he published several collections containing entertaining stories on astronomy, physics, and geography. They are based on articles for the "Children's Encyclopedia", which he planned to create back in the 30s.

But this does not exhaust the literary interests of Alexander Volkov, a man of high erudition - he is also engaged in translations. In particular, he was one of the leading translators of the works of J. Verne, which were included in the collected works of the French science fiction writer.

However, the writer himself considered the tale of Ellie and her friends to be the main work of his life. The story about the adventures of this girl once magically turned a modest physics teacher into a famous and beloved writer by children.

Alexander Volkov continued the story about Ellie. He took the wishes of his correspondents very seriously, including their suggestions in the plot outline. From under his pen come "Oorfene Juess and his wooden soldiers", "Seven underground kings", "The fiery god of the Marrans", "Yellow fog", "The mystery of the abandoned castle".

Of course, the writer used the traditional techniques common to author's fairy tale. Along with real characters folklore creatures act in his tales: talking animals, wizards, monsters. And of course, despite all the ups and downs that fall to the lot of heroes, good eventually wins over evil.

At the same time, the writer listens sensitively to the trends of the time, expanding the boundaries of the genre by introducing new forms that have just appeared in literature. Thus, The Secret of the Abandoned Castle was written in a fantasy style, representing a symbiosis of a traditional fairy tale and science fiction. Much to the delight of the children, who gravitate towards technical innovations due to their age, in this fairy tale, among the traditional characters, there is a robot - Tilly-Willi.

Diversity and versatility creative heritage Alexander Volkov can be considered a leading master of children's literature, which determined its development in various fields.

The works of Alexander Melentievich Volkov occupy a strong place in the repertoire of children's theaters and cinema, as evidenced by numerous productions and cartoons. Volkov's books have been translated into many foreign languages.

VOLKOV Alexander Melentievich (July 14, 1891, Ust-Kamenogorsk - July 3, 1977, Moscow) - Soviet children's writer, playwright, translator. In 1926 - 1929. lived in Yaroslavl.

Alexander Volkov was born into a military family (his father served as a sergeant major) and a dressmaker. The boy learned to read three years old. At the age of 6, he was immediately admitted to the second grade of the city school. He studied "excellently", moving from class to class only with awards, and at the age of 12 he graduated from college as the best student. At the age of 8, Volkov learned to bind books. The young bookbinder had no shortage of customers. And he not only bound, but also read the works of Mine Reed, Jules Verne and Charles Dickens. In 1904, after a preparatory course, Volkov entered the Tomsk Teachers' Institute, from which he graduated in 1910 with the right to teach in city and higher elementary schools in all subjects except the Law of God. At first, Volkov worked as a teacher in the city of Kolyvan in Altai, and then returned to Ust-Kamenogorsk, taught at the school, which he himself had once graduated from. Independently mastered German and French.

In 1915, Volkov met Kaleria Gubina, a teacher of gymnastics and dance at the Ust-Kamenogorsk gymnasium, at a New Year's ball. Two months later they got married, a year later their son Vivian was born, and three years later Romuald.

Volkov began to compose at the age of 12 under the influence of the read "Robinson Crusoe". In 1917, his poems “Nothing Makes Me Happy” and “Dreams” were published in the Siberian Light newspaper.

After the revolution, he was elected to the Ust-Kamenogorsk Soviet of Deputies, participated in the publication of the newspaper of the teachers' union "Friend of the People", taught at pedagogical courses. At the same time, Volkov wrote for children's theater plays "Eagle's Beak", "In a Deaf Corner", "Village School", "Tolya the Pioneer", "Fern Flower", " home teacher"," Comrade from the center "(" Modern auditor") And " Trading house Schneerson & Co.

In 1926 Volkov moved to Yaroslavl. He was in charge of the Experimental Demonstration School. M. Gorky at the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute. At the same time, as an external student, he passed the exams for the course of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Pedagogical Institute.

In 1929, Volkov moved to Moscow, worked as the head of the educational department of the workers' faculty. At the age of forty he entered the Moscow State University, in seven months he mastered the entire five-year course of the Faculty of Mathematics and passed all the exams. For twenty-seven years he was a teacher (then assistant professor) of higher mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. There he led an elective for students in literature, and was engaged in translations.

In the mid-1930s, Volkov, who already knew several foreign languages I decided to study English as well. He took L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as material for his exercises. He read it, told his two sons, and decided to translate it. But while working, Volkov changed many storylines, came up with new characters and new episodes. The result was an adaptation, not a translation. In 1936, Volkov showed the manuscript to S. Ya. Marshak and received his approval and support. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz was printed. Black and white illustrations for the first edition was made by the artist Nikolai Radlov. The book was published with a circulation of twenty-five thousand copies and immediately won the sympathy of readers. On next year its second edition appeared, and by the end of the year it entered the “school series”, the circulation of which was 170,000 copies.

In 1937, Volkov also wrote the story The First Aeronaut. This historical narrative about the time of Elizabeth Petrovna. Main character story - the son of a merchant Dmitry Rakitin - was imprisoned forever in a fortress, where he invented the first in Russia balloon and with his help he escaped from prison (the story was published in 1940 under the title "The Miraculous Ball"). In 1941 Volkov became a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR.

From November 1941 to October 1943 Volkov lived and worked in evacuation in Alma-Ata. Here he wrote the documentary books "Invisible Fighters" (about mathematics in artillery and aviation) and "Aircraft at War", a series of radio plays on a military-patriotic theme: "The Counselor Goes to the Front", "Timurovites", "Patriots", "Deaf at night", "Sweatshirt" and others, historical essays: “Mathematics in military affairs”, “Glorious pages on the history of Russian artillery”, poems: “Red Army”, “Ballad about a Soviet pilot”, “Scouts”, “Young partisans”, “Motherland”, songs: “Coming Komsomolskaya” , "Song of the Timurovites". He wrote a lot for newspapers and radio, some of the songs he wrote were set to music by composers D. Gershfeld and O. Sandler.

After the end of the war, Volkov wrote historical novels: "Two Brothers" (1950) from the time of Peter I about the fate of two brothers Yegorov - an inventor and a fighter for people's freedom; "Architects" (1954), dedicated to the builders of St. Basil's Cathedral; "Wanderings" (1963), in the center of which is the fate of Giordano Bruno. In the story “Prisoner of Constantinople” (1969), he spoke about the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, in the story “Journey to the Third Millennium” (1960) - about the construction of the Volga-Don Canal. The collection "Trace after the stern" (1960), is dedicated to the history of navigation, primitive times, the death of Atlantis and the discovery of America by the Vikings. In addition, Alexander Volkov published several popular science books about nature, fishing, history of science. The most popular of them, "Earth and Sky" (1957), introducing children to the world of geography and astronomy, has withstood multiple reprints.

In 1959, Alexander Volkov met the novice artist Leonid Vladimirsky, and The Wizard of the Emerald City was published with new illustrations, later recognized as classics. The book fell into the hands of the post-war generation in the early 60s, already in a revised form, and since then it has been constantly reprinted. The creative collaboration between Volkov and Vladimirsky turned out to be long and very fruitful. Working side by side for twenty years, they co-authored the Wizard's sequel books: Oorfene Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers, The Seven Underground Kings, The Fire God of Marranos, The Yellow Mist, and The Secret of the Abandoned Castle. .

Volkov translated Jules Verne (“The Extraordinary Adventures of the Barsak Expedition” and “The Danube Pilot”), he wrote the fantastic novels “The Adventure of Two Friends in the Land of the Past” (1963, pamphlet), stories and essays “Peti Ivanov’s Journey to an Extraterrestrial Station”, "In the Altai Mountains", "Lapatinsky Bay", "On the Buzha River", " Birthmark”,“ A good day ”,“ By the fire ”, the story“ And Lena was stained with blood ”(1975) and many other works.

Alexander Melentyevich Volkov was born on July 14, 1891 in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk in the family of a military sergeant major and a dressmaker. In the old fortress, little Sasha Volkov knew all the nooks and crannies. In his memoirs, he wrote: “I remember standing at the gates of the fortress, and the long building of the barracks was decorated with garlands of colored paper lanterns, rockets fly high into the sky and scatter there into multi-colored balls, fiery wheels spin with a hiss ...” - this is how A.M. Volkov celebrating in Ust-Kamenogorsk the coronation of Nikolai Romanov in October 1894. He learned to read at the age of three, but there were few books in his father's house, and from the age of 8, Sasha began to masterfully bind the neighbor's books, while having the opportunity to read them. Already at this age I read Mine Reed, Jules Verne and Dickens; from Russian writers, he loved A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Nikitin. In elementary school he studied only with excellent marks, moving from class to class only with awards. At the age of 6, Volkov was immediately admitted to the second grade of the city school, and at the age of 12 he graduated as the best student. In 1910, after a preparatory course, he entered the Tomsk Teachers' Institute, from which he graduated in 1910 with the right to teach in urban and higher elementary schools. Alexander Volkov began working as a teacher in the ancient Altai city of Kolyvan, and then in hometown Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the school where he began his education. There he independently mastered German and French.

On the eve of the revolution, Volkov tries his pen. His first poems "Nothing pleases me", "Dreams" were published in 1917 in the newspaper "Siberian Light". In 1917 - early 1918, he was a member of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Soviet of Deputies and participated in the publication of the newspaper "Friend of the People". Volkov, like many "old-mode" intellectuals, did not immediately accept October revolution. But an inexhaustible faith in a bright future captures him, and together with everyone he participates in the construction of a new life, teaches people and learns himself. He teaches at pedagogical courses that are opening in Ust-Kamenogorsk, at a pedagogical college. At this time he wrote a number of plays for the children's theater. His funny comedies and plays "Eagle's Beak", "In a Deaf Corner", "Village School", "Tolya Pioneer", "Fern Flower", "Home Teacher", "Comrade from the Center" ("Modern Inspector") and " Trading house Shneerzon and Co” were performed with great success on the stages of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Yaroslavl.

In the 1920s, Volkov moved to Yaroslavl as a school principal. In parallel with this, he externally takes exams at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Pedagogical Institute. In 1929, Alexander Volkov moved to Moscow, where he worked as the head of the educational department of the workers' faculty. By the time he entered Moscow State University, he was already a forty-year-old married man, the father of two children. There, in seven months, he completed the entire five-year course of the Faculty of Mathematics, after which he was a teacher of higher mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold for twenty years. In the same place, he led an elective in literature for students, continued to replenish his knowledge of literature, history, geography, astronomy, and was actively engaged in translations.

It was here that the most unexpected turn in the life of Alexander Melentievich took place. It all started with the fact that he, a great connoisseur of foreign languages, decided to study English as well. As material for exercises, he was brought a book by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He read it, told it to his two sons, and decided to translate it. But in the end, it turned out not to be a translation, but an arrangement of the book by an American author. The writer altered something, added something. For example, he came up with a meeting with a cannibal, a flood and other adventures. Dog Totoshka spoke to him, the girl began to be called Ellie, and the Wise Man from the Land of Oz acquired a name and title - the Great and Terrible Wizard Goodwin ... There were many other cute, funny, sometimes almost imperceptible changes. And when the translation or, more precisely, the retelling was completed, it suddenly became clear that this was not quite Baum's "Sage". The American fairy tale has become just a fairy tale. And her characters spoke Russian as naturally and cheerfully as they spoke English half a century before. Alexander Volkov worked on the manuscript for a year and titled it "The Wizard of the Emerald City" with the subtitle "Reworkings of the fairy tale by the American writer Frank Baum." The manuscript was sent to the famous children's writer S. Ya. Marshak, who approved it and handed it over to the publishing house, strongly advising Volkov to take up literature professionally.

Black-and-white illustrations for the text were made by the artist Nikolai Radlov. The book went out of print with a circulation of twenty-five thousand copies in 1939 and immediately won the sympathy of readers. At the end of the same year, its second edition appeared, and soon it entered the so-called "school series", the circulation of which was 170,000 copies. Since 1941, Volkov became a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR.

During the war years, Alexander Volkov wrote the books Invisible Fighters (1942, about mathematics in artillery and aviation) and Aircraft at War (1946). The creation of these works is closely connected with Kazakhstan: from November 1941 to October 1943 the writer lived and worked in Alma-Ata. Here he wrote a series of radio plays on a military-patriotic theme: “The Counselor Goes to the Front”, “Timurovites”, “Patriots”, “Dead Night”, “Sweatshirt” and others, historical essays: “Mathematics in Military Affairs”, “Glorious Pages on the History of Russian Artillery”, poems: “Red Army”, “Ballad of a Soviet Pilot”, “Scouts”, “Young Partisans”, “Motherland”, songs: “Marching Komsomol”, “Song of Timurov”. He wrote a lot for newspapers and radio, some of the songs he wrote were set to music by composers D. Gershfeld and O. Sandler.

In 1959, Alexander Melentievich Volkov met the novice artist Leonid Vladimirsky, and The Wizard of the Emerald City was published with new illustrations, later recognized as classics. The book fell into the hands of the post-war generation in the early 60s, already in a revised form, and since then it has been constantly reprinted, enjoying the same success. And young readers again set off on a journey along the road paved with yellow bricks ...

The creative collaboration between Volkov and Vladimirsky turned out to be long and very fruitful. Working side by side for twenty years, they practically became co-authors of books - continuations of The Wizard. L. Vladimirsky became the "court painter" of the Emerald City, created by Volkov. He illustrated all five sequels to The Wizard.

The incredible success of the Volkov cycle, which made the author modern classic children's literature, largely delayed the "penetration" of the domestic market original works F. Baum, despite the fact that subsequent books were no longer directly connected with F. Baum, only sometimes partial borrowings and alterations flashed in them.

"The Wizard of the Emerald City" caused a large flow of letters to the author from his young readers. The children persistently demanded that the writer continue the fairy tale about the adventures of the kind little girl Ellie and her faithful friends - the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the funny dog Totoshka. Volkov responded to letters of similar content with the books Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers and Seven Underground Kings. But readers' letters continued to come with requests to continue the story. Alexander Melentievich was forced to answer his “assertive” readers: “Many guys ask me to write more fairy tales about Ellie and her friends. I will answer this: there will be no more fairy tales about Ellie ... ”And the flow of letters with persistent requests to continue the fairy tales did not decrease. AND good wizard heeded the requests of his young fans. He wrote three more fairy tales - "The Fiery God of the Marrans", "Yellow Fog" and "The Secret of the Abandoned Castle". All six fairy tales about the Emerald City were translated into many languages of the world with a total circulation of several tens of millions of copies.

Based on The Wizard of the Emerald City, the writer wrote in 1940 play of the same name, which was set in puppet theaters Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities. In the sixties, A. M. Volkov creates a version of the play for theaters young viewer. In 1968 and subsequent years, according to a new scenario, The Wizard of the Emerald City was staged by numerous theaters in the country. The play "Ourfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers" was performed in puppet theaters under the names Oorfene Deuce, Defeated Oorfene Deuce and Heart, Mind and Courage. In 1973, the Ekran association made a ten-series puppet film based on the fairy tales by A. M. Volkov, The Wizard of the Emerald City, Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers, and Seven Underground Kings, which was shown several times on All-Union television. Even earlier, the Moscow Studio of Filmstrips created filmstrips based on the fairy tales The Wizard of the Emerald City and Oorfene Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers.

Anton Semyonovich Makarenko, who had just moved to Moscow, where he devoted himself completely to scientific and literary work. "Wonderful ball" - historical novel about the first Russian aeronaut. The impetus for writing it was a short story with a tragic ending, found by the author in an old chronicle. Not less popular in the country and other historical works Alexander Melentievich Volkov - “Two Brothers”, “Architects”, “Wanderings”, “Prisoner of Tsargrad”, collection “Following the Stern” (1960), dedicated to history navigation, primitive times, the death of Atlantis and the discovery of America by the Vikings.

In addition, Alexander Volkov published several popular science books about nature, fishing, and the history of science. The most popular of them - "Earth and Sky" (1957), introducing children to the world of geography and astronomy, has withstood multiple reprints.

Volkov translated Jules Verne (“The Extraordinary Adventures of the Barsak Expedition” and “The Danube Pilot”), he wrote the fantastic novels “The Adventure of Two Friends in the Country of the Past” (1963, pamphlet), “Travelers in the Third Millennium” (1960), short stories and essays “Petya Ivanov’s Journey to an Extraterrestrial Station”, “In the Altai Mountains”, “Lopatinsky Bay”, “On the Buzha River”, “Birthmark”, “Lucky Day”, “At the Campfire”, the story “And Lena was stained with blood” ( 1975, unpublished?), and many other works.

But his Fairyland books are tirelessly reprinted. large circulations, delighting all new generations of young readers ... In our country, this cycle became so popular that in the 90s its continuations began to be created. This was started by Yuri Kuznetsov, who decided to continue the epic and wrote new story- "Emerald Rain" (1992). Children's writer Sergei Sukhinov, since 1997, has already published more than 20 books in the Emerald City series. In 1996, Leonid Vladimirsky, illustrator of the books by A. Volkov and A. Tolstoy, connected two of his favorite characters in the book Pinocchio in the Emerald City.

Ust-Kamenogorsk is a small provincial town. There, in the ancient fortress, where the peasant Melenty Volkov served as a soldier, his first-born son, Alexander, was born.
The boy was not even four years old when his father taught him to read. Since then, Sanya has become an avid book reader. At the age of six, he was accepted immediately into the second grade of the city school. And at twelve he graduated as his best student. A few years later, Sasha - no, now Alexander Melentievich - taught at the same Ust-Kamenogorsk school, where he had previously sat at his desk.
In less than twenty years - a respected city dweller. What else does a peasant's son need? Much…
At the end of World War I, already called up for military service, he externally passed the final exams at the Semipalatinsk gymnasium. Later, the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute remained behind him. And in his fifties, this restless man entered and brilliantly graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of Moscow University. And in just seven months! And soon he taught higher mathematics in one of the Moscow universities.
It was here that the most unexpected turn in the life of Alexander Melentyevich Volkov took place.
It all started with the fact that he, a great connoisseur of foreign languages, decided to learn more and English. And for practice, I tried to translate the tale of the American writer Frank Baum "The Wise Man of Oz". He liked the book. Very. So he began to retell it to his sons. At the same time, altering something, adding something. The girl was named Ellie. Totoshka, hitting Magic land, spoke. And the Wise Man from the Land of Oz acquired the name and title - the Great and Terrible Wizard Goodwin ... There were many other cute, funny, sometimes almost imperceptible changes. And the book seemed to become more spacious and lighter. And when the translation or, more precisely, the retelling was completed, it suddenly became clear that this was not quite Baum's "Sage". The American fairy tale has become just a fairy tale. And her characters spoke Russian just as naturally and cheerfully (maybe even a little more cheerfully), as they spoke English half a century before.
Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak soon got acquainted with the manuscript new fairy tale, and then with the author-translator. And he strongly advised him to take up literature professionally. Volkov listened to the advice.
In 1939, The Wizard of the Emerald City was published by Detizdat. And the story of Baum's "The Wise Man" was repeated: in the same year the book was published in the second, and in early 1941 - in the third edition.
During the war, the tale, of course, was somewhat forgotten. And only at the end of the 1950s, when the artist Leonid Vladimirsky made new drawings for The Magician, it was published again. And the young readers again set off on a journey along the road paved with yellow bricks. And letters began to flock to the author - tens, hundreds, thousands. With one single request: to continue the fairy tale! Yes, and Volkov himself could not resist the magic of Baumov and, to some extent, his imagination, and wrote a whole series of books about the Magic Land, already completely original.
But Volkov the writer is not only a storyteller, although his historical and popular science books are not so widely known. It's a pity. With them, believe me, it is worth getting to know better.

Irina Kazyulkina

WORKS OF A.M. VOLKOV

COMPLETE WORKS / Khudozh. Y. Solovyov. - St. Petersburg: Neva; M.: OLMA-Press, 2003. - 639 p.: ill.
The publishers feigned some innocence in naming this huge volume « full assembly essays" A.M.Volkova. In fact, only the fairy-tale epic about the Magic Land was included in the book. Probably, someone will be glad to find all six under one cover fairy tales about the adventures of Ellie and Annie, but such joy will become available only to people endowed with remarkable strength. Ordinary child it will be very difficult to cope with a weighty volume.

THE WIZARD OF THE EMERALD CITY / Art. L. Vladimirsky. - M.: AST: Pushkinskaya b-ka, 2004. - 287 p.: ill. - (Extracurricular reading).
URFIN JUS AND HIS WOODEN SOLDIERS / Khudozh. L. Vladimirsky. - M.: AST: Astrel, 2002. - 207 p.: ill.
SEVEN UNDERGROUND KINGS: Fairy tale. story / Art. L. Vladimirsky. - M.: AST: Astrel, 2002. - 190 p.: ill.
FIRE GOD MARRAN: Fairy tale. story / Art. L.Vladimirsky.- M.: AST: Astrel, 2003. - 196 p.: ill.
YELLOW MIST: Fairy tale. story / Art. L. Vladimirsky. - M.: AST: Astrel, 2001. - 222 p.: ill.
THE MYSTERY OF THE ABANDONED CASTLE / Khudozh. L. Vladimirsky. - M.: Dom, 1992. - 183 p.: ill.
Who is already familiar with Ellie, Totoshka, Scarecrow, Lumberjack and Cowardly Lion, he will certainly want to know what happened to them next. And if you don't know them yet, get to know them! Otherwise, you will never get to the Magic Land and you will not see the Emerald City.

Illustrations by Leonid Viktorovich Vladimirsky for A.M. Volkov's fairy tale epic have long become classics, but there are editions of The Wizard of the Emerald City designed by other artists. Here are a few of them:

THE WIZARD OF THE EMERALD CITY / Art. V. Chizhikov. - M.: Astrel: ONIKS, 2000. - 191 p.: ill. - (Favorite book).
THE WIZARD OF THE EMERALD CITY / Art. E.Vasiliev. - M.: ROSMEN, 2000. - 143 p.: ill.
THE WIZARD OF THE EMERALD CITY / Art. O. Gorbushin. - M.: Samovar, 1998. - 175 p.: ill.
THE WIZARD OF THE EMERALD CITY / Fig. N. Shchelkanova. - St. Petersburg: Lyceum, 1992. - 158 p.: ill.

* * *

IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH. - M.: Det. lit., 1987. - 154 p.: ill. - (Bible series).
The heroes of this book are Aristotle, Nicolaus Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Johannes Kepler, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. And many others, whose names are forever included in the history of astronomy.

TWO BROTHERS: Roman. - M.: Century: Intern. book, 1995. - 382 p.: ill. - (Historical adventure novels for youth).
This story happened in Russia during the reign of Peter the Great. There lived then two brothers - Ilya and Yegor Markov, the children of a poor archer's widow. They had different characters, and therefore the fates turned out differently ...

EARTH AND SKY: Entertaining stories in geography and astronomy / Fig. B. Kyshtymova. - M.: Det. lit., 1974. - 208 p.: ill.

WANDERING; WONDERFUL BALL: East. novels. - M.: Century: Intern. book, 1995. - 525 p.: ill. - (Historical adventure series for youth).
"Wandering"
A book about the childhood and youth of the great Italian philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno.

"Wonderful Ball"
They took the merchant's son Dmitry Rakitin to the fortress, and he will have to spend his whole life in prison. Yes, he is not such a person to put up with this. It is impossible to escape from the fortress. So, right, you can fly away? ..

FOLLOW THE Stern. - M.: Det. lit., 1972. - 208 p.: ill.
The history of navigation from primitive times to the legendary campaigns of the brave Viking Leif Erickson.

TSARGRAD BRIDE; ARCHITECTS. - M.: Century: Intern. book, 1995. - 528 p.: ill. - (Historical adventure series for youth).
"Tsargrad Bride"
The Pechenegs kidnapped Olga, the wife of the blacksmith Stoyun, took her away and sold her into slavery in the distant city of Tsargrad. How to find and save the prisoner? ..

"Architects"
The famous St. Basil's Cathedral stands on Red Square in Moscow. This novel is dedicated to the Russian craftsmen who built it back in the 16th century.

Irina Kazyulkina

LITERATURE ABOUT THE LIFE AND WORK OF A.M.VOLKOV

Volkov A.M. Tale of life // Aloud to myself. - M.: Det. lit., 1978. - S. 61-78.

Begak B.A. Once upon a time there was a boy // Begak B.A. True fairy tale. - M.: Det. lit., 1989. - S. 63-72.
Begak B.A. About the author of this book // Volkov A.M. Architects. - M.: Det. lit., 1986. - S. 3-6.
Volkov Alexander Melentievich (1891-1977) // Kuznetsova N.I., Meshcheryakova M.I., Arzamastseva I.N. Children's writers. - M.: Ballas: S-Info, 1995. - S. 31-33.
Volkov Alexander Melentievich (1891-1977) // Stories about the authors of your books. - M.: Megatron, 1997. - S. 61-65.
Kuleshov E.V. Volkov Alexander Melentievich (1891-1977) // Essays on children's writers. - M.: Ballas, 1999. - S. 37-38.
Nevinskaya I.N. Volkov Alexander Melentievich (1891-1977) // Russian children's writers of the XX century. - M.: Flinta: Science, 1997. - S. 99-101.
Rozanov A. A boy from a long village // Volkov A.M. The Wizard of Oz; Oorfene Deuce and his wooden soldiers. - Kemerovo: Prince. publishing house, 1989. - S. 360-364.
Rozanov A.S. A teacher from our city // Rozanov A.S. First Russian boys. - Alma-Ata: Zhalyn, 1988. - S. 96-107.
Petrovsky M. Truth and Illusions of Oz // Petrovsky M. Books of our childhood. - M.: Book, 1986. - S. 221-273.
Rakhtanov I. Wizard-scientist // Rakhtanov I. Stories from memory. - M.: Det. lit., 1971 - S. 32-55.
Tokmakova I.P. About the author and his books // Volkov A.M. Two brothers. - M.: Det. lit., 1981. - S. 5-8.
Tubelskaya G.N. Volkov Alexander Melentievich (1891-1977) // Tubelskaya G.N. Children's writers of Russia. - M.: Shk. b-ka, 2002. - S. 52-54.

I.K.

SCREENSING OF A.M. VOLKOV’S WORKS

- FEATURE FILM -

The Wizard of Oz. Scene. V. Korostylev. Dir. P. Arsenov. Comp. E. Krylatov. Russia, 1994. Cast: Katya Mikhailovskaya, V. Nevinny, V. Pavlov, N. Varley, E. Gerasimov, B. Shcherbakov, O. Kabo and others.

- CARTOON -

Wizard of the Emerald City. In 10 ser. Dir. K. Malyantovich, Y. Kalisher, Y. Trofimov, L. Aristov and others. USSR, 1973-1974.

Years of life: from 07/14/1891 to 07/03/1977

Soviet writer playwright, translator.

Alexander Melentievich Volkov was born on July 14, 1891 in Ust-Kamenogorsk in the family of a military sergeant major and a dressmaker. The future writer was not even four years old when his father taught him to read and since then he has become an avid reader. At the age of 6, Volkov was immediately admitted to the second grade of the city school, and at the age of 12 he graduated as the best student. At the end I-st world war, he takes the final exams at the Semipalatinsk gymnasium, and then graduates from the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute. In 1910, after a preparatory course, he entered the Tomsk Teachers' Institute, from which he graduated in 1910 with the right to teach in urban and higher elementary schools. Alexander Volkov began working as a teacher in the ancient Altai city of Kolyvan, and then in his native city of Ust-Kamenogorsk, at the school where he began his education. There he independently mastered German and French.

On the eve of the revolution, Volkov tries his pen. His first poems "Nothing pleases me", "Dreams" were published in 1917 in the newspaper "Siberian Light". In 1917 - early 1918, he was a member of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Soviet of Deputies and participated in the publication of the newspaper "Friend of the People". Volkov, like many "old-mode" intellectuals, did not immediately accept the October Revolution. But an inexhaustible faith in a bright future captures him, and together with everyone he participates in the construction of a new life, teaches people and learns himself. He teaches at pedagogical courses that are opening in Ust-Kamenogorsk, at a pedagogical college. At this time he wrote a number of plays for the children's theater. His funny comedies and plays "Eagle's Beak", "In a Deaf Corner", "Village School", "Tolya Pioneer", "Fern Flower", "Home Teacher", "Comrade from the Center" ("Modern Inspector") and " Trading house Shneerzon and Co” were performed with great success on the stages of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Yaroslavl.

Later, in his thirties, Alexander Melent'evich brilliantly graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of Moscow University in just 7 months. And soon he becomes a teacher of higher mathematics in one of the Moscow universities. And here the most unexpected turn in the life of Alexander Melentievich takes place. It all started with the fact that he, a great connoisseur of foreign languages, decided to study English. And for practice I tried to translate the fairy tale of the American writer Frank Baum "The Wise Man from the Land of OZ". He liked the book. He began to retell it to his two sons. At the same time, altering something, adding something. The girl was named Ellie. Totoshka, once in the Magic Land, spoke. And the Wise Man of Oz acquired a name and title - the Great and Terrible Wizard Goodwin ... There were many other cute, funny, sometimes almost imperceptible changes. And when the translation or, more precisely, the retelling was completed, it suddenly became clear that this was not quite Baum's "Sage". The American fairy tale has become just a fairy tale. And her characters spoke Russian as naturally and cheerfully as they spoke English half a century before.

Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak, having become acquainted with the manuscript of The Wizard, and then with the translator, strongly advised him to take up literature professionally. Volkov listened to the advice. The Magician was published in 1939.

The incredible success of the Volkov cycle, which made the author a modern classic of children's literature, largely delayed the "penetration" of F. Baum's original works on the domestic market; nevertheless, with the exception of the first story, Volkov's cycle is the fruit of his independent fantasy.

In addition to works for children, Volkov is the author of other works. The historical works of Alexander Melentievich - “Two Brothers”, “Architects”, “Wanderings”, “Prisoner of Constantinople”, the collection “Following the Stern”, dedicated to the history of navigation, primitive times, the death of Atlantis and the discovery of America by the Vikings, were very popular in the country.

Volkov translated Jules Verne (“The Extraordinary Adventures of the Barsak Expedition” and “The Danube Pilot”), he wrote the fantastic novels “The Adventure of Two Friends in the Country of the Past” (1963, pamphlet), “Travelers in the Third Millennium” (1960), short stories and essays “Petya Ivanov’s Journey to an Extraterrestrial Station”, “In the Altai Mountains”, “Lapatinsky Bay”, “On the Buzha River”, “Birthmark”, “A Good Day”, “At the Campfire”, the story “And Lena was stained with blood” ( 1975, unpublished?), and many other works.

As a child, there were few books in his father's house, and from the age of 8, Sasha began to masterfully bind the neighbor's books, while having the opportunity to read them.

As a child I read Mine Reed, Jules Verne and Dickens; from Russian writers, he loved A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Nikitin.

Bibliography

Cycle Wizard of the Emerald City
The basis of the first book was the book of the American children's writer Lyman Frank Baum Amazing Wizard from the Land of Oz.
(1939)
(1963)
(1964)
(1968)
(1970)
(1975, published 1982)

Non-fiction books
How to fish with a rod. Angler's Notes (1953)
Earth and Sky (1972)
In Search of Truth (1980)

Poetry
Nothing Makes Me Happy (1917)
Dreams (1917)
Red Army
Ballad about a Soviet pilot
Scouts
Young partisans
motherland

Songs
Camping Komsomol
Song of the Timurovites

Plays for children's theater
eagle beak
In a dark corner
village school
Tolya-pioneer
Fern flower
home teacher
Comrade from the center (Modern auditor)
Trading House Schneerson & Co.

radio plays (1941-1943)
The leader goes to the front
Timurovtsy
Patriots
Dead of night
Sweatshirt

Historical essays
Mathematics in military affairs
Glorious pages on the history of Russian artillery

Translations
Jules Verne, Danube Pilot
Jules Verne, The Extraordinary Adventures of the Barsac Expedition

Screen adaptations of works, theatrical performances

The Wizard of Oz:
1974 - puppet cartoon(10 episodes), based on Volkov's fairy tales "The Wizard of the Emerald City", "Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers" and "Seven Underground Kings".
1994 - Film directed by Arsenov. The film has a stellar cast of actors: Innocent and Innocent Jr., Pavlov, Varley, Shcherbakov, Kabo, Nosik.

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