Konstantin Paustovsky
Encyclopedia
Konstantin Georgiyevich Paustovsky was a Russia
n Soviet writer nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1965.
. His father, descendant of the Zaporizhia
Cossacks, was a railroad statistician, and was “an incurable romantic and Protestant”. His mother came from the family of a Polish intellectual. Konstantin grew up in Ukraine
, partly in the countryside and partly in Kiev
. He studied in “the First Imperial” classical Gymnasium
of Kiev, where he was the classmate of Mikhail Bulgakov
. When Konstantin was in the 6-th grade his father left the family, so he was forced to give private lessons in order to earn a living. In 1912 he entered the University of Kiev
, the faculty of the Natural History. In 1914 Konstantin Paustovsky transferred to the Law faculty of the University of Moscow, but World War I
interrupted his education. At first he worked as a trolley-man in Moscow, then served as a paramedic in a hospital train. During 1915, his medical unit retreated all the way through Poland
and Belarus
. After two of his brothers died on the front line, Konstantin returned to his mother in Moscow
, but later he left and wandered around, trying his hands at many jobs. He started with the metallurgical factories in Yekaterinoslav (now: Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) and Yuzovka (now: Donetsk
, Ukraine). In 1916 he lived in Taganrog
, where he worked at the Taganrog Boiler Factory (now: Krasny Kotelschchik). Later Konstantin Paustovsky joined a cooperative association of fishermen (artel
) in Taganrog
, where he started his first novel Романтики ("Romantiki", Romantics) to be published in 1935. The novel, its content and feelings agreed with its title. It was author’s story of what he had to see and feel in his youth. One of the heroes, the old Oscar, was an artist who resisted all of his life, people forcing him to become a moneymaker. The main theme throughout “Romantics” – destiny of an artist who strives to overcome his loneliness – was later used in other works of Paustovsky. In his later works, as Разговор о рыбе (“Razgovor o ribe”, Conversation about the Fish), Азовское подполье (“Azovskoe podpolie”, Azov Underground), Порт в траве (“Port v trave”, Seaport in The Grass) and others, Paustovsky described the time spent in Taganrog
.
as well as the writers of the "Odessa school", (Isaac Babel
, Valentin Kataev
, and Yuri Olesha). During World War I
, Paustovsky wrote some sketches of life at the front, and one of them was also published. His first book, Morskiye Nabroski (“Sea Sketches”), was published in 1925, but was little noticed. It was followed by Minetoza in 1927, and the romantic novel Blistaiushie Oblaka (“Shining Clouds”) in 1929. In the 1930s Paustovsky visited various constructions sites and wrote in praise of the industrial transformation of the country. To that period belong the novels Kara-Bugaz (1932) and Kolkhida (1934). Kara-Bugaz won particular praise. It is essentially a tale of adventure and exploration in the region around Kara-Bugaz Bay, where the air is mysteriously heavy. It begins in 1847 and moves to the Russian Civil War
period when a group of Red Guards
is abandoned to near-certain death on a desolate island. There are, however, survivors, who are rescued by an explorer. Some of the survivors stay on to help in the exploration, development and study of the natural wealth of the region.
Paustovsky continued to explore historical themes in Severnaya Povest ("Tale of the North", 1938). In this tale, after the anti-Tsarist Decembrist uprising in Saint Petersburg
, a wounded officer who took part in the uprising and a sailor try to make it by foot across the ice to Sweden
. They are captured in a sequence of dramatic events. Years later, in Leningrad
of the 1930s, the great-grandsons of the participants in the events unexpectedly meet. In the late 1930s, Russian nature emerged as a central theme for Paustovsky, for example, in Letniye Dni ("Summer Days", 1937) and Meshcherskaya Storona (1939). For Paustovsky, nature was a many-faceted splendor in which man can free himself from daily cares and regain his spiritual equilibrium. This focus on nature drew comparisons with Mikhail Prishvin
. Prishvin
himself wrote in his diary, "If I were not Prishvin, I would like to write like Paustovsky."
During World War II
Paustovsky served as a war correspondent on the southern front. In 1943 Paustovsky produced a screenplay for the Gorky Film Studio production of "Lermontov", directed by A. Gendelshtein. Another work of note is Tale of the Woods (1948). This story opens in a remote forest in the 1890s, where Tchaikovsky
is composing a symphony. The young daughter of the local forester often brings Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
berries. Half a century later, the daughter of this girl is a laboratory technician at the local forest station.
From 1948 until 1955 Paustovsky taught at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
. Paustovsky also edited a few literary collections, Literary Moscow (1956) and Pages from Tarusa, in which he tried to bring new writers to the public's attention and to publish writers suppressed during the Joseph Stalin
years.
Other major works include Snow, Crossing Ships (1928); The Black Sea (1936); and The Rainy Dawn (1946). Paustovsky was also the author of several plays and fairy tales, including "Steel Ring".
In February 1966 he was one of more than 125 prominent figures from science and the arts who signed a letter to the 23rd Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Congress appealing against re-Stalinization.
He died in Moscow
on July 14, 1968.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Soviet writer nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1965.
Early life
Konstantin Paustovsky was born in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. His father, descendant of the Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
Cossacks, was a railroad statistician, and was “an incurable romantic and Protestant”. His mother came from the family of a Polish intellectual. Konstantin grew up in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, partly in the countryside and partly in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. He studied in “the First Imperial” classical Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
of Kiev, where he was the classmate of Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
. When Konstantin was in the 6-th grade his father left the family, so he was forced to give private lessons in order to earn a living. In 1912 he entered the University of Kiev
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
, the faculty of the Natural History. In 1914 Konstantin Paustovsky transferred to the Law faculty of the University of Moscow, but World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
interrupted his education. At first he worked as a trolley-man in Moscow, then served as a paramedic in a hospital train. During 1915, his medical unit retreated all the way through Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. After two of his brothers died on the front line, Konstantin returned to his mother in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, but later he left and wandered around, trying his hands at many jobs. He started with the metallurgical factories in Yekaterinoslav (now: Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) and Yuzovka (now: Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
, Ukraine). In 1916 he lived in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
, where he worked at the Taganrog Boiler Factory (now: Krasny Kotelschchik). Later Konstantin Paustovsky joined a cooperative association of fishermen (artel
Artel
Artel is a general term for various cooperative associations in Russia and Ukraine, historical and modern.Historically, artels were semi-formal associations for various enterprises: fishing, mining, commerce, of loaders, loggers, thieves, beggars, etc. Often artels worked far from home and lived...
) in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
, where he started his first novel Романтики ("Romantiki", Romantics) to be published in 1935. The novel, its content and feelings agreed with its title. It was author’s story of what he had to see and feel in his youth. One of the heroes, the old Oscar, was an artist who resisted all of his life, people forcing him to become a moneymaker. The main theme throughout “Romantics” – destiny of an artist who strives to overcome his loneliness – was later used in other works of Paustovsky. In his later works, as Разговор о рыбе (“Razgovor o ribe”, Conversation about the Fish), Азовское подполье (“Azovskoe podpolie”, Azov Underground), Порт в траве (“Port v trave”, Seaport in The Grass) and others, Paustovsky described the time spent in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
.
Novels and poetry
Paustovsky began writing while still in Gymnasium. His first works were imitative poetry. He eventually limited his writing to prose, after Ivan Bunin who wrote in a letter, "I think that your sphere, your real poetry, is prose. It is here, if you are determined enough, that I am sure you can achieve something significant." His first stories to be published were “Na vode” (“On The Water”) and “Chetvero” (“The Four”) in 1911 and 1912. They were influenced by Alexander GrinAlexander Grin
Alexander Grin was a Russian writer, notable for his romantic novels and short stories, mostly set in an unnamed fantasy land with a European or Latin American flavor...
as well as the writers of the "Odessa school", (Isaac Babel
Isaac Babel
Isaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
, Valentin Kataev
Valentin Kataev
Valentin Petrovich Kataev was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing post-revolutionary social conditions without running afoul of the demands of official Soviet style. Kataev is credited with suggesting the idea for the Twelve Chairs to his...
, and Yuri Olesha). During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Paustovsky wrote some sketches of life at the front, and one of them was also published. His first book, Morskiye Nabroski (“Sea Sketches”), was published in 1925, but was little noticed. It was followed by Minetoza in 1927, and the romantic novel Blistaiushie Oblaka (“Shining Clouds”) in 1929. In the 1930s Paustovsky visited various constructions sites and wrote in praise of the industrial transformation of the country. To that period belong the novels Kara-Bugaz (1932) and Kolkhida (1934). Kara-Bugaz won particular praise. It is essentially a tale of adventure and exploration in the region around Kara-Bugaz Bay, where the air is mysteriously heavy. It begins in 1847 and moves to the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
period when a group of Red Guards
Red Guards (Russia)
In the context of the history of Russia and Soviet Union, Red Guards were paramilitary formations consisting of workers and partially of soldiers and sailors formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
is abandoned to near-certain death on a desolate island. There are, however, survivors, who are rescued by an explorer. Some of the survivors stay on to help in the exploration, development and study of the natural wealth of the region.
Paustovsky continued to explore historical themes in Severnaya Povest ("Tale of the North", 1938). In this tale, after the anti-Tsarist Decembrist uprising in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, a wounded officer who took part in the uprising and a sailor try to make it by foot across the ice to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. They are captured in a sequence of dramatic events. Years later, in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
of the 1930s, the great-grandsons of the participants in the events unexpectedly meet. In the late 1930s, Russian nature emerged as a central theme for Paustovsky, for example, in Letniye Dni ("Summer Days", 1937) and Meshcherskaya Storona (1939). For Paustovsky, nature was a many-faceted splendor in which man can free himself from daily cares and regain his spiritual equilibrium. This focus on nature drew comparisons with Mikhail Prishvin
Mikhail Prishvin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin was a Russian/Soviet writer.Mikhail Prishvin was born in the family mansion of Krutschevo, near the city of Yelets in what is now Lipetsk Oblast into the family of a merchant. In 1893-1897, he studied at a polytechnic school in Riga and was once arrested for his...
. Prishvin
Mikhail Prishvin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin was a Russian/Soviet writer.Mikhail Prishvin was born in the family mansion of Krutschevo, near the city of Yelets in what is now Lipetsk Oblast into the family of a merchant. In 1893-1897, he studied at a polytechnic school in Riga and was once arrested for his...
himself wrote in his diary, "If I were not Prishvin, I would like to write like Paustovsky."
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Paustovsky served as a war correspondent on the southern front. In 1943 Paustovsky produced a screenplay for the Gorky Film Studio production of "Lermontov", directed by A. Gendelshtein. Another work of note is Tale of the Woods (1948). This story opens in a remote forest in the 1890s, where Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
is composing a symphony. The young daughter of the local forester often brings Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
berries. Half a century later, the daughter of this girl is a laboratory technician at the local forest station.
From 1948 until 1955 Paustovsky taught at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute is a higher education institute in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tver Bulvar in Central Moscow.It was founded in 1933 on the initiative of Maxim Gorky, and received its current name at Gorky's death in 1936....
. Paustovsky also edited a few literary collections, Literary Moscow (1956) and Pages from Tarusa, in which he tried to bring new writers to the public's attention and to publish writers suppressed during the Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
years.
Other major works include Snow, Crossing Ships (1928); The Black Sea (1936); and The Rainy Dawn (1946). Paustovsky was also the author of several plays and fairy tales, including "Steel Ring".
Autobiography
Perhaps Paustovsky’s most famous work is his autobiography “Povest o Zhizni” (“Story of a Life”). It is not a strictly historical document but rather a long, lyrical tale focusing on the internal perceptions and poetic development of the writer . It has been called a "biography of the soul" rather than a biography of events. Nonetheless, it does provide a unique bystanders view of life in Russia during the turbulent later years of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century.Nobel prize nomination
In 1965, Paustovsky was nominated for a Nobel Prize for literature, but due to pressure from Soviet authorities, the prize was awarded instead to Mikhail Sholokhov who was considered more loyal to the Soviet regime.In February 1966 he was one of more than 125 prominent figures from science and the arts who signed a letter to the 23rd Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
Congress appealing against re-Stalinization.
He died in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on July 14, 1968.
Quotes
- Anticipation of happy days is sometimes much better than those days.
- A Man must be smart, unpretentious, fair, courageous and kind. Only then he can be entitled to be called a Man.
- Let's just not talk about love. We still don't know what it is.
- If we deprive the man of his ability to dream, one of the greatest motives that drives culture, arts, science and desire to fight for the beautiful future will fall aways.
- "From the book of dream interpretations": if a poet saw in a dream his money coming to an end -is that's for new poetry.
- Savrasov
Alexei SavrasovAlexei Kondratyevich Savrasov was a Russian landscape painter and creator of the lyrical landscape style.-Biography:Savrasov was born into the family of a merchant...
painted the The Rooks Have Come Back quickly - he was afraid for rooks fly away.- The favorite theme of Chekhov
Anton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
: There was a wonderful and healthy forest, a forester was invited to take care of, the forest quickly withered and died.- Assiduity is also a talent. Some writers should be photographed (from) the rear end instead of full face.
- Turgenev
Ivan TurgenevIvan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
lacked the health of Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
and the disease of DostoevskyFyodor DostoevskyFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
.- I believe that the foundations of the literature are imagination and reminiscences, that's why I never use notebooks. When you take a phrase from your book of notes, and put it into the text that you're writing in a different moment of time and in a different mood, that phrase shrivels and dies. I recognize notebooks only as a genre.