Biography, life and work of Ostrovsky

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

The life and work of Ostrovsky are heroic pages in the biography of a person who has experienced severe trials.

Family

Writer Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky (1904 - 1936) was born in the Ukrainian village of Viliya, Volyn province, into a family of hereditary military men. Grandfather, Ivan Vasilyevich Ostrovsky, was a non-commissioned officer, the hero of the battle of 1855 on the Malakhov Hill during the defense of Sevastopol. The years of the life of Ostrovsky Ivan Vasilyevich are inextricably linked with the heroic past of Russia in the 19th century.

Father, Alexei Ivanovich Ostrovsky, is also a retired non-commissioned officer of the tsarist army. He was awarded the St. George Cross for courage in the capture of Shipka and Plevna. The years of the life of Ostrovsky Alexei Ivanovich were the pride of his son.

Nikolay's mother, a Czech by nationality, was a cheerful and witty woman, the soul of the company. The family lived in abundance, kept servants, the house was always full of guests.

Childhood

Little Kolya surprised those around him with his abilities. At the age of 9, he graduated from a parochial school and was going to study further, but fate decreed otherwise. In 1914, my father was left without work, and life collapsed overnight. House had tosell, the family dispersed. Aleksey Ivanovich, together with Kolya, went to stay with relatives in Ternopil, where he contracted to work as a forester.

Nikolai Ostrovsky himself, whose biography and work are striking in their diversity, got a job as an assistant barmaid at a railway station in the city of Shepetovka, and a year later he began working as an electrician. In September 1918, the young man entered the Shepetovka Primary School, which he successfully completed in 1920.

Youth

A number of major world upheavals fell on young Nikolai Ostrovsky: the First World War, then the February Revolution of 1917, followed by the October Revolution and the civil war, which ended in Ukraine only in 1920. Power was constantly changing in Shepetovka, the Germans were inferior to the White Poles, who, in turn, were forced out by the Red Army, then the White Guards came, after them the Petliurists. The civilians of Shepetovka were haunted by numerous gangs that robbed and killed.

In the school, Nikolai Ostrovsky was the leader, he was delegated by the students to the Pedagogical Council. In 1921, the activist passed the exams and received a matriculation certificate. In the same year, Ostrovsky joined the Komsomol, and in the fall he became a student in the evening department of the Kyiv College of Electromechanics. Nikolai went to work in his speci alty, an electrician. The life and work of Ostrovsky during his student days served as a model for others.

Hunger and cold

If you describe the life and work of Ostrovsky briefly, it will still be interesting,a meaningful story about a strong-willed, purposeful person. There were difficult post-war years, devastation reigned in the country, there was not enough food, coal, medicines. Students of the technical school, including Nikolai Ostrovsky, began to prepare firewood in order to somehow provide the freezing Kyiv with heat. In addition, the students built a railway line, through which it was possible to carry the harvested firewood to the city. Soon Ostrovsky caught a cold and took to his bed. In serious condition, he was sent home, where he lay for several months. It is difficult to briefly describe the life and work of Ostrovsky, this is a guide to life for entire generations on how to overcome difficulties.

In the end, the disease receded, and Nikolai returned to study and work. At that time, the technical school was transformed into an institute, but Ostrovsky did not have time to become a student at the university, as the disease again crippled him. Since then, the future writer has become a regular patient of hospitals, sanatoriums, clinics and dispensaries. I had to leave my studies, the eighteen-year-old boy was threatened with a hospital bed for an indefinite period.

In 1922, the worst fears of doctors and Nikolai Ostrovsky himself came true, he was given a terrible diagnosis - Bekhterev's disease. This meant complete immobility, pain and suffering, which a few years later, with penetrating psychological depth, the writer will be able to convey through the image of the hero of the novel How the Steel Was Tempered by Pavka Korchagin. The work reflects facts from the life of Ostrovsky, traces the biography of the writer himself. The persistence of Pavel Korchagin's character is a direct analogy withauthor of the novel.

Komsomol work

A brief outline of Ostrovsky's life and work allows us to reveal the character of this courageous man. Gradually, Nikolai's legs fail, he moves with difficulty, leaning on a cane. In addition, the left leg stopped bending. In 1923, Ostrovsky moved to his sister in the city of Berezdov and there became the secretary of the regional Komsomol organization. A wide field of vigorous activity awaited him in the field of propaganda of communist ideals. Ostrovsky devoted all his time to meetings with young people in remote areas, he managed to captivate young men and women with stories about a brighter future. The efforts of the activist were rewarded, Komsomol cells arose in the most distant villages, young people enthusiastically helped their leader to implement the communist ideology. The life and work of Ostrovsky as a Komsomol leader became a role model for many of his young followers.

The year 1924 was a turning point for Ostrovsky, he joined the ranks of the Communist Party. At the same time, he became a participant in the fight against banditry, his membership in the CHON (special purpose unit) became another area of activity for the tireless fighter for the ideals of universal equality. The life and work of Ostrovsky in the troubled years for the country were an example of selflessness. Nikolai Ostrovsky treated himself ruthlessly, he did not spare himself. He regularly traveled to operations to destroy enemies, did not sleep at night. Then came the reckoning, he alth deteriorated sharply. I had to quit my joba long recovery period has begun.

Hospitals, spa treatment

Review of Ostrovsky's life and work continues with a period in which he will be intensively treated. For two years, from 1924 to 1926, Nikolai Ostrovsky was at the Kharkov Medical and Mechanical Institute, where he underwent a course of treatment followed by rehabilitation. Despite the efforts of doctors, there was no improvement. However, at that time, Nikolai made many new friends, the first of which was Pyotr Novikov, a faithful adherent who would be next to Ostrovsky to the end.

In 1926, Nikolai moved to Evpatoria, a city in the western part of the Crimean peninsula. There he will undergo a course of treatment at the Mainaki sanatorium. In the Crimea, Ostrovsky met Innokenty Pavlovich Fedenev and Alexandra Alekseevna Zhigareva, people of high ideals, who were called "Bolsheviks of the old school." New acquaintances will play a huge role in the life of the writer, they will become his second parents. Innokenty Fedenev will be the closest friend of the writer, his colleague in the affairs of the ideology of communism. Alexandra Zhigareva will become a "second mother". The life and work of Nikolai Ostrovsky has since been inextricably linked with these people. True friends will never leave him.

Life in Novorossiysk

The further chronology of Ostrovsky's life and work is his stay in the Krasnodar Territory, on the Black Sea coast. Following the recommendations of doctors, Nikolai remains to live in the south. He moves in with relativesmaternal line, the Matsyuk family, to Novorossiysk. He will live with them for two years, from 1926 to 1928. He alth continues to deteriorate, Ostrovsky can no longer walk, moves on crutches. All the time he devotes to reading books, which become the main part of his life. Nikolai's favorite author is Maxim Gorky, followed by the classics of Russian literature: Gogol, Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy.

Ostrovsky's special attention is drawn to the theme of the Civil War, he tries to understand the root causes of the events of that time, when a brother killed a brother, and a father killed a son. The works of "Chapaev" by Furmanov, "Cities and Years" by Fedin, "Iron Stream" by Serafimovich, "Commissars" by Libedinsky were read in one breath.

In 1927, Bekhterev's disease, from which Nikolai Ostrovsky suffered, reaches its culmination, complete paralysis of the legs sets in. He can no longer walk, even on crutches. Exhausting pains do not stop for a minute. Since that time, Nikolai has been bedridden. Reading books is a little distraction from physical suffering, literature is brought every day by librarians, who also become Ostrovsky's close friends. An outlet for the patient becomes a radio receiver, which at least somehow, but connects him with the outside world.

At the very end of 1927, Nikolai Ostrovsky entered the correspondence department of the Yakov Sverdlov Communist University, and this event became a real happiness for him. Friends receive a joyful message: "Studying! In absentia! Lying!"Life for the hopelessly ill Ostrovsky takes on meaning.

And then a new misfortune happens - eye disease. While this is only inflammation, but soon there will be a loss of vision. Doctors categorically forbade reading, so as not to tire the eyes. What to do, how to live now!?

Apartment in Sochi

The seriously ill Nikolai Ostrovsky has a wife, Raisa Porfirievna, whom he met in Novorossiysk. Friends are trying in every possible way to help the young family, thanks to the efforts of Alexandra Zhigareva, the Ostrovskys are provided with an apartment in Sochi. It is possible to collect a certain amount of money, life gradually began to improve. However, Nikolai's he alth continued to deteriorate, his musculoskeletal functions were almost completely lost, and the process became irreversible. Vision also weakened, every day it was more and more difficult to read even large letters. Hours of rest restored vision for a short time, but the slightest strain of the eyes again caused a blackout. The general state of Ostrovsky's he alth was catastrophic, there was no hope for recovery. Friends were constantly nearby, and only this gave strength to the patient.

Moscow period

Ostrovsky's biography, life and work entered a new stage in October 1929, when Nikolai and his wife arrived in Moscow for an eye operation. Despite the fact that he was placed in the best clinic with Professor M. Averbakh, general inflammatory processes throughout the body caused a negative reaction. Operation failed.

Life in a Moscow communal apartment further exacerbated Ostrovsky's serious illness. Wifewent to work, and he was left all alone. It was then that he decided to write a book. The body was motionless, and the soul was eager for self-expression. Fortunately, the hands retained mobility, but Nikolai could no longer see. Then he came up with a special device, the so-called "transparency", thanks to which it was possible to write blindly. The lines lined up in even rows, the page was written easily, it was only necessary to change the sheets written on clean ones in time.

The beginning of creativity

The stages of Ostrovsky's life and work characterize him as a stubborn person who was not broken by any trials. Diseases only strengthened his inflexibility of will. Nikolai Ostrovsky began to write his first work being a seriously ill, immobilized and blind person. Nevertheless, he managed to create an immortal work, which was included in the Golden Fund of Russian literature. This is How the Steel Was Tempered.

I wrote well at night, although it was difficult. In the morning, the relatives collected the crumpled sheets scattered on the floor, straightened them and tried to make out what had been written. The process was painful until Ostrovsky began to dictate a text to his loved ones, and they wrote it down. Things immediately went smoothly, there were more than enough people who wanted to work with the writer. In a small room in a Moscow communal apartment, three kindred families gathered at once, more than ten people.

However, it was not always possible to dictate and immediately write down a new text, since all the relatives were busyat work. Then Nikolai Ostrovsky asked his flatmate Galya Alekseeva to write down texts for him from dictation. And a smart, educated girl turned out to be an indispensable assistant.

The novel "How the steel was tempered"

The chapters written by Ostrovsky were reprinted and given to Alexandra Zhigareva, who was in Leningrad and was trying to submit the manuscript for printing. However, all her attempts were unsuccessful, the work was read, praised and returned. For Ostrovsky, the novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" was the meaning of his whole life, he was worried that the manuscript would not be published.

In Moscow, Innokenty Pavlovich Fedenev tried to publish the novel, he handed over the manuscript to the publishing house "Young Guard" and waited for the editor's response. After a while, a review followed, which was essentially negative. Fedenev insisted on a second consideration. And then the "ice broke", the manuscript fell into the hands of the writer Mark Kolosov, who carefully read the contents and recommended the novel for publication.

Novel edition

Writer Kolosov, together with the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Young Guard" Anna Karavaeva, edited the manuscript, and the work began to be printed on the pages of the monthly. It was a victory for Nikolai Ostrovsky and his novel How the Steel Was Tempered. They signed a contract with the writer, he received a fee, life again found meaning.

The work was published in the magazine "Young Guard" in five issues, since Aprilto September 1932. Against the background of the general rejoicing of the family and relatives of the writer, he was upset that the novel was shortened, abolishing several chapters. Formally, the publishers explained this by a shortage of paper, but the author believed that "the book was crippled." However, in the end, Nikolai Ostrovsky reconciled.

Later, the novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" was repeatedly reprinted abroad, the work is considered a classic example of the unbending Russian character. The writer wrote another novel called "Born by the Storm", however, in the words of the author himself, "the work turned out to be insufficient", especially since Ostrovsky did not have to finish it, he died at the age of 36 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Memory

The periods of Ostrovsky's work are bright pages in the life path of a heroic person, over whom neither illness nor deep disappointments had power. The writer created only one work, but it was such a grandiose revelation in prose that other authors do not happen in their entire long life. Nikolai Ostrovsky and his novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" are forever inscribed in the history of Russian literature.