Cherkashin Nikolai Andreevich, seascape writer: biography, creativity

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

Cherkashin Nikolai is one of the most famous contemporary Russian marine painters. His theme has long been the romance of the sea. He is the author of not only fiction, but also journalistic works, as well as fascinating historical investigations.

The Way of the Officer

Cherkashin Nikolai Andreevich was born in the town of Volkovysk, which has less than 50 thousand inhabitants. Now it is a regional center in the Grodno region of the Republic of Belarus. Childhood passed in a difficult post-war period, Nikolai was born shortly after the end of the Great Patriotic War, in 1946.

From his youth, he strove for more, so immediately after school he entered the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University, graduated from graduate school.

Science decided not to be limited and went to serve in the army. In the Northern Fleet he entered the location of the 4th submarine squadron. It is the world's largest submarine flotilla. He took part in sea voyages in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

But allthe passion for literature and journalism took over. Since the 1980s, Cherkashin Nikolai began to actively participate in the work of the editorial board of the heroic-patriotic literary and artistic almanac "Feat". It is noteworthy that the very first works written by him were connected with the marine theme, to which he remains true to this day.

Russian Fleet Explorer

Nikolay Cherkashin writes about his maritime profession, explores the heroic and sometimes dramatic history of the Russian fleet. Many compare his work with the work of another famous historiographer, Valentin Pikul, who studied in detail the fate of the Russian Empire.

Among the most striking works of the author, there is a story dedicated to the death of the nuclear submarine "Komsomolets". This happened as a result of a fire in the Norwegian Sea in 1989. As a former submariner, Nikolai Andreevich Cherkashin took this tragedy especially keenly and realistically described it.

Another of his notable stories "The Flame in the Compartments" is dedicated to another catastrophe in the submarine fleet, which happened near Bear Island. The author was awarded a separate Alexander Nevsky Prize for his novel about Admiral Kolchak.

Sea fantasy

One of the most famous works written by Nikolai Cherkashin is the science fiction novel "The Secret of the Archelon". According to the plot, the Archelon is the newest American ship, a nuclear missile carrier. Suddenly, it is struck by an unknown virus. As it turns out,the cause of infection is the depressurization of one of the shells that was on the submarine.

In 1986, at Mosfilm, this novel was filmed under the title "Dolphin's Cry". In the picture, as in the book, all the symptoms of infection are similar to leprosy. Because of this, the ship does not leave combat duty for three years. The crew begins to overflow with aggression due to a long stay in a limited, closed room. Keeping order is getting harder every day.

At the decisive moment, the submarine commander can't stand it either, he decides to destroy all of humanity by firing the notorious contaminated missiles. His role is brilliantly performed by the actor Ivar Kalninsh. The audience especially remembers the moment when the captain finally changes his mind, cancels his order and sinks the boat. Thus ends the picture "Cry of the Dolphin".

Hidden Tragedies

But still, real fame came to Cherkashin, thanks not to fiction and science fiction, but to documentary books. One of his most high-profile and famous such works is the novel "I Am a Submarine".

It describes in detail the many years of confrontation between the Soviet and American armies. The Cold War unfolded not only on land, but also in the submarine fleet. The work was published by the publishing house "Sovershenno sekretno" and became one of the first to tell about these pages of the history of the 20th century.

The novel details previously unknownto a wide circle of readers the details of the Soviet-American confrontation, many of them had previously been kept exclusively under the heading "secret". Separate chapters are devoted to the uniquely complex operation to raise the Kursk nuclear submarine, which crashed in August 2000. And also about hitherto unknown naval facilities of our and foreign fleets. The book is filled with awareness of the tragedy of the once one of the best fleets of a great country, which today has lost and lost a lot.

Marine tragedy

Cherkashin dedicated a separate work to the fate of the Kursk submarine. This is the novel "Gone with the Abyss. The sinking of the Kursk", published in 2001, less than a year after the tragedy.

This is a scientific and historical investigation. The author describes the tragic fate of the officers and sailors of the Kursk, who, not sparing themselves, served the Motherland, but she did not save them at a critical moment. Understanding the causes of the death of a nuclear submarine is the main thing for Cherkashin. He tries to look into the very essence of what happened, in which his personal experience as a submariner greatly helps him. In the novel, he recounts his own version of the sad incident.

The writer is trying to answer dozens of questions: about how the "Kursk" lay down on the ground; what happened in all ten compartments of the submarine; could he have been attacked; collects the opinions of other researchers and professionals. He tries to figure out what the last seismogram was about, tells the personal stories of the commander, officers and privatessailors "Kursk". The main questions are how long the sailors held out after the accident, whether they died immediately or tried to get in touch by transmitting distress signals, step by step restores the entire disaster on the Kursk nuclear submarine.

Writing Awards

Cherkashin Nikolai is a writer who was awarded many awards for his unique and hard work, some of which are primarily related not to his talent, but to his civic position, unique investigations, including historical ones, to which he devoted almost his entire life. And also for his valiant service in the Soviet fleet.

Thus, Cherkashin Nikolai was awarded the orders "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 2nd and 3rd degrees. For his contribution to the development and strengthening of the defense capability of the Russian army, he was awarded the Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov Prize.

There are also exclusively literary awards for specific works. So, the Lenin Komsomol Prize was awarded to the writer for the novels "S alt on Epaulettes" and "Fate in a Green Cap". And in 1992, he already received the international award of St. Andrew the First-Called with the wording "For the total literary activity for the good of Russia."

The fate of the admiral

Cherkashin has devoted three novels to the history of the White Admiral Kolchak. In 2005, the first book "Admiral Kolchak. Unwitting Dictator" was published, in 2008 - "Kolchak's Last Love", and in 2009 - "Admiral. The tragic fate of Kolchak".

Nikolai Cherkashin writes books about this hero with special love. He notes that Kolchak was not only a military leader, but also a famous traveler who explored the Arctic, was interested in icebreaker shipbuilding. During the First World War, in the confrontation with the German fleet, he was one of the outstanding domestic naval commanders, and with the outbreak of the Civil War, he became the head of the white movement. His goal was to revive the dying state, as Kolchak himself said.

Under the pretext of fighting the Bolsheviks, he sought to gather around him a motley political force, to create a strong state. Cherkashin admits that Kolchak made many fatal political and life mistakes, but despite this, he remains one of the brightest figures in the Russian army at the beginning of the 20th century.

Cherkashin believes that it is necessary to perpetuate the memory of Kolchak, even though he is one of the most controversial participants in the Civil War.

Our contemporary

And today the author does not leave work. Cherkashin Nikolay Andreevich, whose biography is directly connected with the sea and the Russian fleet, remains one of the most famous and authoritative researchers and publicists in this field.

Today he lives in Moscow, he is 69 years old, but he still hopes to please readers with his works.