Igor Mozheiko (Kir Bulychev): biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Fans of the science fiction genre know the writer Kir Bulychev well, because it was based on his book that the series “Guest from the Future” was created, which was a huge success in the mid-1980s. The same author wrote the script for the animated series "The Secret of the Third Planet" and for the sci-fi film "Through hardships to the stars." The writer gained fame outside the USSR, but even many Russian readers do not know that behind the name of Kira Bulychev, a scientist, orientalist and historian Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko was hiding from fame.

Writer's family

Vsevolod Nikolaevich Mozheiko, the writer's father, was of noble origin. At a young age, leaving his home, he began to work in a factory. Later he moved to Petrograd and, having worked there for some time as a mechanic, began his studies at the preparatory department of the university. Then he entered the Faculty of Law, while working in the union. While inspecting a pencil factory, Mozheiko met Maria Bulycheva, who works there,whom he later married.

The writer's mother studied at the institute for noble maidens - this institution was the first in Russia to initiate women's education. Bulycheva's father was an officer, and also taught fencing in the Cadet Corps. After acquiring a working speci alty, Maria Mikhailovna studied at the Road Institute. Later, she was in the airborne school as the head, and also held the position of commandant in the Shlisselburg fortress. When the father left the family, the mother remarried Yakov Bokinik, who later died at the front.

Education and work

Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko was born in Moscow in 1934. After leaving school, he was educated at the Moscow State Linguistic University. He then went to Burma, where he worked for several years as a translator and journalist for a Soviet news agency, after which he returned home. Mozheiko completed his postgraduate studies and started working at the Institute of Oriental Studies. He often submitted geographical and historical essays to magazines, which were usually accepted for publication. Considering the topic of Buddhism in Burma, Igor Mozheiko defended his candidate and doctoral dissertations. In the scientific community, he gained fame for his work on the history of Southeast Asia.

Igor Mozheiko's aliases

The writer's first published story, "Maung Jo Shall Live", described the training of the local people of Myanmar to work on modern technology. Igor Mozheiko did not reveal his identity, and the story “Debthospitality" was published as a translation of a work by a Burmese author. The writer kept his real name a secret for a long time, fearing a possible dismissal from his job, since writing fiction was not considered a serious matter.

Later, the pseudonyms of Igor Mozheiko changed more than once, but most of his books were published under the authorship of Kirill Bulychev. This combination appeared from the generalization of the maiden name of the writer's mother and the name of his wife. Over time, publishers began to shorten the author's pseudonym to Kir. Bulychev, and then they even removed the dot, and so Kir Bulychev, now familiar to everyone, appeared.

The writer used many names. Lev Khristoforovich Mints, Igor Vsevolodovich Vsevolodov, Nikolai Lozhkin - these are just some of the pseudonyms hiding Igor Mozheiko.

Alice's Adventures

Alisa Selezneva is a schoolgirl of the 21st century, who got her name in honor of Kir Bulychev's daughter. The girl from the future is often compared to her namesake in Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking-Glass books, as both of them explore new worlds without any fear and notice what adults do not see.

Alice is in a variety of places, but adventures find her everywhere: it's space, the bottom of the ocean, mysterious planets, the modern Earth of the 21st century. Having got into the past with the help of a time machine, the girl travels through the Legendary era, in which there is magic and living characters of fairy tales.

The very first stories about little Alice were written on behalf of her father, Igor Seleznev, who studies cosmobiology and is looking for new animal species. ATIn subsequent books, the adventures of the grown-up schoolgirl and her friends are presented in the third person. This is the study of new planets, interesting excursions for modern schoolchildren and true friendship. All this takes place on another Earth that readers need to get used to: these are domestic robots, unprecedented animals, schoolchildren who make new discoveries and conquer space.

Books about Alice Selezneva

"Alice's Journey" is one of the most popular stories by Kir Bulychev from a series of books about a girl from the future. This work was translated into different languages, and based on it, a cartoon, a computer game, and even a comic book were created. The book describes Professor Seleznev's space expedition with a team to search for rare alien animals. Captain Poloskov, flight engineer Zeleny and Alice and their father explore various planets, find animals and plants never seen on Earth, and fight real space pirates.

In the book "Alice's Journey" the expedition gets acquainted with the history of the Three Captains - these are great heroes who have traveled all over the cosmos. They found a way to create super-powerful fuel for ships, but because of this knowledge, they began to be persecuted. The first Captain is captured by pirates, and the Second has to barricade himself on his own ship so as not to fall into their hands. It was only thanks to the efforts of the expedition members from Earth that the enemies were defeated and the Three Captains finally met.

Also the most read stories about Alice's adventures are such as "Purple ball", "Reserve of fairy tales",End of Atlantis and Rusty Field Marshal.

Criticism of the writer's works

A series of books about Alisa Selezneva has become the most popular and controversial. Critics noted that the author's early works about the adventures of a schoolgirl from the future were much stronger than all subsequent ones. In the new stories, plot moves are often repeated, the “seriality” of the works appears, as if now the writer is more interested in the number of the cycle, and not its quality. Igor Mozheiko, whose books were criticized, said more than once in an interview that for forty years he was tired of talking about the same heroes, and perhaps this is what influenced the level of writing. Kir Bulychev continued to create stories about Alice, regularly returning to this hero.

The series "Guest from the Future"

In 1985, the film "Guest from the Future" was released, which instantly won the hearts of both children and adolescents. The screened story “One Hundred Years Ahead” showed the adventures of the Soviet schoolboy Kolya in the 21st century, where he was able to get using a time machine. During the day, he manages to visit the Cosmodrome, build a real house, see fantastic animals and save an important device from theft. By chance, he takes the myelophone back to his own time, where Alisa Selezneva also ends up. She must find valuable equipment and return to the future, but her search is hampered by the fact that she is looking for a man she has not even seen. She comes to Kolya's class as a new student, but she cannot understand who he is, because there are three boys with that name in the class. See also searchesThe Alices are hindered by the intervention of space pirates who have also managed to infiltrate the past.

Natasha Guseva, who starred in the title role, has become adored by thousands of boys across the country. The Soviet science fiction writer Kir Bulychev, who created the script for the film "Guest from the Future", was happy to tell the children's audience of readers about his acquaintance with the actress and about the large number of messages that came to him. Boys from all over the country wrote to the author, admiring his work and asking him to give them the address of Natasha Guseva.

The cycle of books "The Great Guslar"

In the town invented by the author with the name Guslyar, many strange events take place, it is inhabited by the most unusual people, aliens fly there. But ordinary residents are also there, and it is they who solve the problems that arise due to the peculiarities in their environment, and even in difficult situations remain people. The books of the cycle are written with humor, they are easy to read, despite the serious issues that are periodically raised in the work.

Once the author saw a road sign warning about repairs, and it seemed to him that the worker there had three legs. This is how the first story "Personal Relations" appeared, which was published in a Bulgarian magazine. The fictional town kept growing, and Igor Mozheiko continued to describe it.

The cycle includes about seventy works. Seven of them are stories, and the rest are short stories. These works were created over a long period of time, therefore, inthere are many one-day heroes in the book, and the characters often leave the city forever, but still return.

Andrey Bruce

The protagonist of the works is Space Fleet agent Andrey Bruce. He performs tasks on behalf of the space agency and, during his adventures, finds himself in situations where he has to show courage and bravery. The first novel, KF Agent, is about a conspiracy on the planet Pe-U that the protagonist encounters. The second book, "Dungeon of the Witches," is devoted to the consequences of experiments carried out by representatives of another civilization. These were attempts to accelerate the social development of people, as well as the evolution of flora and fauna. Both novels deal with serious moral and social issues and are written in a very authentic manner.

Screenings of the author's books

Filmmakers singled out the works of Kira Bulychev from all the works of Russian and Soviet science fiction writers. So, according to his books, more than 20 films were shot, serials and episodes for television plays were created. For most of his film adaptations, Igor Mozheiko wrote the scripts himself.

The most popular feature-length films are Witches' Dungeon and Through Adversity to the Stars, the television sci-fi series The Guest from the Future, the animated films Alice's Birthday and The Secret of the Third Planet.

Biography Facts

In 1982, the writer received the USSR State Prize for his scripts. It was then that the secret of his pseudonym was revealed, people found out who Kir Bulychev was. Igor Mozheiko expected to be fired from his job, but this did not happen. His employees were indignant that a serious scientist was engaged in "frivolous writing", but the director took it calmly, knowing that the plan was carried out by the employee without any complaints.

Bulychev not only wrote his books, but also translated fantastic works by foreign authors. While still studying at the university, he and his friend took up the translation of Alice in Wonderland, not knowing that the book had already been translated. Kir Bulychev also edited several science fiction magazines. The writer drew well, often making caricatures of famous artists.

The writer's wife, Kira Alekseevna Soshinskaya, wrote science fiction and illustrated books. Daughter - Alisa Lutomskaya - an architect by education, she has a son Timofey.

Igor Mozheiko died in 2003 after a severe cancer. The writer was 68 years old.

Kir Bulychev's books were translated into different languages of the world and published in huge editions. And his works about Alice from the 21st century are read with pleasure by all new generations of schoolchildren.