Stepanov Alexander Nikolaevich: biography, personal life, creativity, photo

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

One of the leading trends in the art of the Soviet Union and a number of other socialist countries was socialist realism. This is an artistic method, the purpose of which is to depict the life of a person in a socialist society, his struggle for certain ideas and ideals. The main principles of this direction are nationality, ideology and concreteness.

Many Soviet writers worked in the genre of socialist realism. One of them is Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov. His most famous works are the novels "Port Arthur" and "The Zvonarev Family".

Biography and photo of Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov. Early years

The future writer was born on February 2 (January 21, old style), 1892 in the Kherson province, the city of Odessa. Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov's father was an officer.

At the age of 9-11, the boy studied in the cadet corps. When Stepanov was 11, he moved with his parents to Port Arthur, a port city on the Yellow Sea.

Defense Port-Arthur

July 30, 1904 began the longest battle of the Russo-Japanese War, later called the defense of Port Arthur. 12-year-old Alexander took part in repelling attacks by Japanese troops as a liaison officer for his father. He received a concussion and seriously injured both legs, almost losing them. Alexander Stepanov was treated by the famous surgeon Sergei Romanovich Mirotvortsev, then a young doctor who volunteered to help soldiers and officers.

Stepanov often found himself in the very center of the battle, as he delivered water to the advanced positions. Every detail of the battle was vividly imprinted in the boy's memory. It was this fact in the biography of Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov that later influenced his work: the most famous novel of the writer "Port Arthur" was written on the basis of memories of those events.

Later years

Alexander Stepanov received his higher education at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, graduating in 1913.

Soon the First World War began, and 22-year-old Stepanov was called to the front. Throughout the war until the very victory of the Entente, he was on the battlefield, never having received a serious injury.

As during the defense of Port Arthur, during these battles Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov did not lose his powers of observation. Remembering in detail all the events he saw, later he recorded them in diaries, the habitnews that has been developed since childhood. These impressions have also become valuable materials for works of art.

Stepanov also took part in the Civil War. On March 17, 1921, an accident happened to him - Alexander Nikolaevich fell through the ice of the Gulf of Finland, after which he became seriously ill. It was decided to evacuate him to the southern city of Krasnodar.

In 1932, the writer was bedridden. The reason for this was an infectious disease called brucellosis. Unable to do practically nothing, Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov immersed himself in his own thoughts. It was then that he had the idea to write a novel about the defense of Port Arthur.

First published in 1938. The debut book of Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov received a lot of feedback from readers. Later, a continuation of the novel was written.

Subsequently, Stepanov created several more novels: "Steel Working Detachment", "Notes of a Guardsman", "Artillerymen".

The writer died on October 30, 1965 at the age of 73.

Alternative Biography Facts

The information given in some sources differs from the official biography of Alexander Stepanov. For example, the writer's real date of birth is September 2, 1892.

It is also said that in fact the writer and his father never took part in the defense of Port Arthur from attacks by Japanese troops and have never even been in this city.

It is also possible that Stepanov did not study at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, but was a staff memberofficer of the Life Guards. For participation in the First World War, the writer was awarded six military orders and the St. George weapon.

Creativity. Roman Port Arthur

Port Arthur is rightfully considered one of the best historical novels written in the Soviet Union.

Before starting to create this book, the writer Alexander Nikolayevich Stepanov studied many sources containing information about the defense of Port Arthur. Despite the fact that, as a 12-year-old boy, the author saw the battle with his own eyes, this was not enough: there were not enough historical facts, names and other accurate data.

The writer's father's notes, which he kept during all the months that the battle lasted, helped significantly. Officer Stepanov was the battery commander of the Electric Cliff, and later the Suvorov Mortar Battery on the Tiger Peninsula.

However, these diaries were not enough. Alexander Stepanov tried to learn as much as possible about the defense of Port Arthur and about the Russo-Japanese War in general: he read all the books on this subject that could be obtained in Krasnodar, where he then lived; ordered books from Moscow and other large cities of Russia, which was not easy enough in wartime conditions.

Ultimately, it took two volumes to present all the information collected.

After publication, the writer Aleksandr Nikolayevich Stepanov received hundreds of letters in which readers shared their own memories of the battle and their impressions of the book.

Port Arthur -this is a story about the courage and fearlessness of the defenders of the city, who did not spare their lives in the fight against the invaders.

“The Zvonarev Family”

20 years after the first publication of Port Arthur, Alexander Stepanov decided to write a sequel to his famous novel.

The book was called "The Zvonarev Family". Its first chapters appeared in 1959. In them, the writer tells about what events took place in Russia after Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

The novel "The Zvonarev Family" covers 11 years of Russian history - from 1905 to 1916, until the beginning of the February Revolution. On its pages are all the same characters familiar to the reader from the first part - Zvonarev, Blokhin, Yendzheevsky, Boreiko and others.

The author talks in detail about the difficult life in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century: the First World War, the unrest of the working class, Bolshevism, strikes and other problems.

Writer Awards and Prizes

In 1946, for a novel about the defense of Port Arthur, Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov was awarded the Stalin Prize of the first degree, which was given to Soviet citizens for special achievements in science, literature and art.

In 1952 the author was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. 10 years later, the writer also received the Order of the Badge of Honor.

Besides this, Alexander Stepanov is the owner of several medals.