Nikolai Biryukov: biography, books and interesting facts

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

Socialist realism is an artistic method in literature and art in general, which was relevant in the USSR. This direction was built on three main principles - nationality, ideology and concreteness. The main purpose of this method was to show the life of a person in a socialist society, his struggle for certain ideas.

One of the creative figures who created works in the direction of social realism is the poet and writer Nikolai Biryukov. He is the author of 9 novels.

Biography of Nikolai Biryukov. Early years

The future writer, whose full name is Nikolai Zotovich Biryukov, was born on February 14, 1912 in the city of Orekhovo-Zuevo, which was then considered part of the Vladimir province, and now belongs to the Moscow region. It is known that Biryukov's parents, Zot Ivanovich and Evdokia Panfilovna, were textile workers.

When the boy was about 7 years old, the Biryukov family moved toVolga region. It was here that the future author had to see the events of the Civil War and the subsequent famine of 1921-1922. Many years later, all these impressions were reflected in the work of Nikolai Biryukov.

Soon the family returned to Orekhovo-Zuyevo again. In 1925, Biryukov became a Komsomol member and began working at a factory. Then he entered the school of factory apprenticeship at a textile mill. Nikolai Biryukov also studied at a construction college.

At the end of 1930, a tragedy occurred in one of the buildings of the Dulevo plant, forever changing the life of 18-year-old Biryukov. He had to work in icy water, which suddenly rushed into the pit. After that, Nikolai Biryukov fell seriously ill, he had to spend the rest of his life in bed due to paralysis that affected almost the entire body - only the hands did not lose mobility.

Further life. Creative activity

The idea to start writing came to Biryukov in 1931. The following year, he took part in the All-Union Competition for Young Poets and received an award for his poem "There are no counting victories!".

Despite the fact that Nikolai Biryukov could not walk or even get out of bed on his own, the tragedy did not make him a recluse. Biryukov led a full life, studying in absentia at the Gorky Literary Institute. In many ways, the writer was influenced by the famous novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky "How the Steel Was Tempered", which became Biryukov's motivation to achieve his goals and never feel sorry for himself.

While undergoing another course of therapy in the hospital, the writer met Anna Kharitonova, a young teacher who later became the wife of Nikolai Biryukov and until the end of his life was everything to him - a true friend, critic, doctor. Anna Ilyinichna played a role in the life of the writer, the significance of which cannot be overestimated: perhaps, without her help and support, Biryukov would not have become the way everyone knew him.

The writer's debut novel, titled "On the Farms", was first published in 1938 in the magazine "October".

During the Great Patriotic War, Nikolai Biryukov created many stories in which he described the courage and heroism of his compatriots - "Before the breath of death", "Russian eyes", "Song in the forest" and others.

At the end of the war, Biryukov's second novel "The Seagull" was published, which became the most popular of all the writer's works.

In 1949 Nikolai Biryukov's next book "The Waters of Naryn" was published. The author's last novel, Through the Hostile Whirlwinds, was published in 1959.

Nikolai Biryukov passed away early - at the age of 53. He died on January 31, 1966 in Simferopol, where he spent the last 10 years.

Bibliography. Prose

The writer's most famous novel is The Seagull, on which Biryukov worked from 1942 to 1945. It is dedicated to Elizaveta Ivanovna Chaikina, a 23-year-old partisan who was shot by the Germans on November 23, 1941 for refusing to give information about the location of the partisan detachment.

It was Chaikina who became the prototype of the main character of the work of Ekaterina Volgina - the bravea communist and a true patriot of his Fatherland.

The novel "The Seagull" is a typical representative of the genre of socialist realism. Many literary critics argue that the image of the partisan Chaikina in this work is overly idealized and elevated to a cult, and the events described do not quite correspond to how everything was in reality. However, despite this, the novel does not become less exciting and exciting. The story of a brave partisan has been translated into 42 languages.

Another fairly well-known prose work by Nikolai Biryukov is “The Waters of Naryn”, which tells about the history of the construction of the Great Fergana Canal. Tens of thousands of workers from the collective farm of Uzbekistan were involved in the construction of this canal.

Poetry

As a poet, Nikolai Biryukov is not as famous as as a prose writer. He wrote poems rarely and mostly only at the beginning of his creative career.

One of Biryukov's most popular poetic works - "There are no counting victories!", Created in 1932. Other of his poems were periodically published in various publications.

Writer Awards and Prizes

The first writer's prize was awarded to him for winning the All-Union Competition for Young Poets in 1932.

In 1947, Biryukov became one of the residents of Moscow who received a medal dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the city. However, at the moment this medal is deprived of the status of a state award.

In 1951, Nikolai Biryukov was awarded the Stalin Prizethird degree for a novel about the fate of Elizaveta Chaikina. He was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Badge of Honor.

2 years after the writer passed away, he was posthumously awarded the Nikolai Ostrovsky Prize.

Memory of Nikolai Biryukov

Biryukov spent the last 7 years of his life in Y alta. At present, the house where the writer lived and worked has been turned into a literary and memorial museum, which is a branch of the Y alta Historical and Literary Museum. The initiator of the creation of this institution was the wife of Nikolai Biryukov - Anna Ilyinichna.

One of the streets of his native city of Orekhovo-Zuevo and the local comprehensive school No. 20, where the bust of Biryukov is installed, are also named after the writer.

August 14, 1977 in the Crimea, Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh discovered asteroid No. 2477, which was later named Biryukov.