Viktor Astafiev is a famous Soviet and Russian writer. Laureate of state awards of the USSR and the Russian Federation. Member of the Writers' Union. His books have been translated into foreign languages and published in millions of copies. He is one of the few writers who was recognized as a classic during his lifetime.
Viktor Astafiev was born in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. In the family of Peter Astafyev and Lydia Potylitsina, he was the third child. True, two of his sisters died in infancy. When Vitya was 7 years old, his father was imprisoned for "wrecking". To get to see him on a date, the mother had to cross the Yenisei by boat. Once the boat capsized, but Lydia could not swim out. She caught her scythe on a floating boom. As a result, her body was found only a few days later.
The boy was raised by his maternal grandparents - Katerina Petrovna and Ilya Evgrafovich Potylitsyn. He recalled the years that the grandson lived with them with warmth and kindness, later he described his childhood in his grandmother's house in his autobiography The Last Bow.
When the father was released, he married a second time. He took Victor with him. Soon their family was dispossessed, and Pyotr Astafyev with his new wife, newborn son Kolya and Vitya were deported to Igarka. Together with his father, Victor was engaged in fishing. But at the end of the season, my father became seriously ill and ended up in the hospital. Stepmother Vitya was not needed, she was not going to feed someone else's child.
As a result, he ended up on the street, homeless. Soon he was placed in an orphanage. There he met Ignatius Rozhdestvensky. The teacher himself wrote poetry and was able to consider the literary talent in the boy. With his help, the literary debut of Viktor Astafiev took place. His story "Alive" was published in the school magazine. Later the story was called "Vasyutkino Lake".
After the 6th grade, he began to study at the school of factory training, after which he worked as a coupler at the railway station and on duty.
In 1942, Astafiev volunteered for the front. The training took place in Novosibirsk in the automotive division. Since 1943, the future writer fought on the Bryansk, Voronezh and Steppe fronts. He was a driver, signalman and artillery reconnaissance. In the war, Victor was shell-shocked and wounded several times. For his services, Astafyev was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and he was also awarded the medals "For Courage", "For the Victory over Germany" and "For the Liberation of Poland".
Having returned from the war to feed his family, and at that time he was already married, with whom he just did not have to work. He was both a laborer, and a locksmith, and a loader. He worked at a meat-packing plant as a janitor and carcass washer. The man did not shy away from any work. But, despite the hardships of post-war life, Astafiev's desire to write never disappeared.
In 1951 he joined a literary circle. He was so inspired after the meeting that in one night he wrote the story "Civil Man", later he revised it and published it under the title "Siberian". Soon Astafiev was noticed and offered a job in the Chusovskoy Rabochy newspaper. During this time he wrote more than 20 stories and a lot of feature articles.
He published his first book in 1953. It was a collection of short stories, it was called "Until next spring." Two years later, he published a second collection - "Lights". It includes stories for children. In subsequent years, he continued to write for children - in 1956 the book "Vasyutkino Lake" was published, in 1957 - "Uncle Kuzya, Fox, Cat", in 1958 - "Warm Rain".
In 1958, his first novel, The Snows Are Melting, was published. In the same year, Viktor Petrovich Astafiev became a member of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR. A year later, he was given a referral to Moscow, where he studied at the Literary Institute in courses for writers. In the late 50s, his lyrics became known and popular throughout the country. At this time, he published the stories "Starodub", "Pass" and "Starfall".
In 1962, the Astafievs moved to Perm, during these years the writer creates a series of miniatures that he publishes in various magazines. He called them "butts", in 1972 he published a book of the same name. In his stories, he raises important topics for the Russian people - war, patriotism, village life.
In 1967, Viktor Petrovich wrote the story “The Shepherd and the Shepherdess. Modern Pastoral. He had been thinking about this idea for a long time. But it was difficult to take it to print, a lot was crossed out for reasons of censorship. As a result, in 1989 he returned to the text in order to restore the previous form of the story.
In 1975, Viktor Petrovich became the laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR for the works "The Last Bow", "The Pass", "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess", "Theft".
And the following year, perhaps the most popular book of the writer, “The King-Fish,” was published. And again it was subjected to such "censorship" editing that Astafiev even ended up in the hospital after the stress he experienced. He was so upset that he never touched the text of this story again. Despite everything, it was for this work that he received the State Prize of the USSR.
Since 1991, Astafiev has been working on the book Cursed and Killed. The book was published only in 1994 and caused a lot of emotions among readers. Of course, there were some critical remarks. Some were surprised by the courage of the author, but at the same time they recognized his truthfulness. Astafiev wrote a story on an important and terrible topic - he showed the futility of wartime repressions. In 1994 the writer received the State Prize of Russia.
Astafiev met his future wife Maria Koryakina at the front. She worked as a nurse. When the war ended, they got married and moved to a small town in the Perm region - Chusovoy. She also began to write.
In the spring of 1947, Maria and Victor had a daughter, Lydia, but six months later, the girl died of dyspepsia. Astafyev blamed the doctors for her death, but his wife was sure that Victor himself was the cause. That he earned little, could not feed his family. A year later, their daughter Irina was born, and in 1950 their son Andrei was born.
Victor and Maria were very different. If he was a talented person and wrote at the behest of his heart, then she did it to a greater extent for her own self-affirmation.
Astafiev was a stately man, he was always surrounded by women. It is known that he also had illegitimate children - two daughters, the existence of which he did not tell his wife for a long time. Maria was insanely jealous of him, and not only for women, but even for books.
He left his wife more than once, but returned every time. As a result, they lived together for 57 years. In 1984, their daughter Irina suddenly died of a heart attack, and the remaining grandchildren - Vitya and Polina - were raised by Viktor Petrovich and Maria Semyonovna.
In April 2001, the writer was hospitalized with a stroke. He spent two weeks in intensive care, but in the end, the doctors discharged him, and he returned home. He felt better, he even read newspapers on his own. But already in the autumn of the same year, Astafyev again ended up in the hospital. He was diagnosed with heart disease. In the last week, Viktor Petrovich went blind. The writer died on November 29, 2001.
They buried him not far from his native village, a year later a museum of the Astafyev family was opened in Ovsyanka.
In 2009, Viktor Astafiev was posthumously awarded the prize. The diploma and the sum of $25,000 were handed over to the writer's widow. Maria Stepanovna died in 2011, outliving her husband by 10 years.
Viktor Petrovich Astafiev was born May 2, 1924 in the village of Ovsyanka (now the Krasnoyarsk Territory) in a peasant family.
Father - Pyotr Pavlovich Astafiev. Mother, Lydia Ilyinichna Potylitsyna, drowned in the Yenisei in 1931 . He was brought up in the family of his grandfather and grandmother, then in an orphanage in Igarka, often homeless. After graduating from the 6th grade of secondary school, he entered the railway school of the FZO, graduating from which in 1942, worked for some time as a train compiler in the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk. From there autumn 1942 went to the front as a volunteer, was a driver, artillery reconnaissance officer, signalman. He participated in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, liberated Ukraine and Poland from the fascist invaders, was seriously wounded, shell-shocked.
After demobilization in 1945 together with his wife - later the writer M.S. Koryakina - settled in the Urals, in the city of Chusovoy. He worked as a loader, a locksmith, a foundry worker, a carpenter in a wagon depot, a meat carcass washer at a sausage factory, etc.
In 1951 in the newspaper "Chusovoy Rabochiy" the first story "Civil Man" appeared (after completion it was called "Siberian"). The craving for "writing" manifested itself in Astafyev very early.
From 1951 to 1955 Astafiev is a literary contributor to the Chusovoi Rabochiy newspaper; published in the Permian newspapers Zvezda, Molodaya Gvardia, the almanac Prikamye, the magazine Ural, Znamya, Molodaya Gvardia, Smena. The first collection of short stories "Until next spring" was published in Perm in 1953, followed by books for children: "Lights" ( 1955 ), Vasyutkino Lake ( 1956 ), "Uncle Kuzya, fox, cat" ( 1957 ), "Warm rain" ( 1958 ).
In 1958 Astafiev's novel about the life of the collective farm village "The Snows Melt" was published, written in the tradition of fiction of the 1950s.
Since 1958 Astafiev - member of the USSR Writers' Union; in 1959-1961 studied at the Higher Literary Courses at the SP of the USSR. Astafiev turned out to be a turning point in his work 1959, when the stories "Old Oak" and "Pass" appeared in print, the story "Soldier and Mother". The story "Starodub" dedicated to Leonid Leonov (the action takes place in an old Kerzhat settlement in Siberia) was the source of the author's reflections on the historical roots of the "Siberian" character. Critics reproached Astafiev for the vagueness of the ethical ideal, for the triviality of the problematics based on the opposition of "society" and "natural man".
The story "Pass" began a cycle of Astafyev's works about the formation of a young hero in difficult living conditions - "Starfall" ( 1960 ), "Theft" ( 1966 ), “War is rumbling somewhere” ( 1967 ), "Last Bow" ( 1968 ; initial chapters). They told about the difficult processes of maturing an inexperienced soul, about breaking the character of a person left without the support of relatives in the terrible 1930s and no less terrible 1940s. All these heroes, despite the fact that they have different surnames, are marked by features of autobiography, similar in fate, in a dramatic search for life "in truth and conscience." In Astafiev's stories 1960s revealed with all evidence the gift of a storyteller, able to captivate the reader with the subtlety of lyrical feeling, unexpected salty humor, and philosophical detachment. A special place among these works is occupied by the story "Theft".
The hero of the story - Tolya Mazov - from dispossessed peasants, whose family is dying in the northern regions. The scenes of the orphanage, "herd" life are recreated by Astafiev with compassion and cruelty, representing a generous variety of children's characters broken by time, impulsively falling into a quarrel, hysteria, mockery of the weak, then suddenly, unexpectedly uniting in sympathy and kindness.
From the story "The Soldier and the Mother", according to the apt definition of the critic A. Makarov, who thought a lot about the essence of Astafiev's talent, a series of stories about the Russian national character begins. In the best stories ("Siberian", "Old Horse", "Hands of the Wife", "Spruce Branch", "Zakharko", "Anxious Dream", "Life to Live", etc.), a person "from the people" is recreated naturally, reliably. Creativity Astafiev in the 1960s was ranked by criticism as a so-called. "village prose", in the center of which were the artists' reflections on the foundations, origins and essence of folk life.
Astafiev's story "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess" 1971 ; subtitle "Modern Pastoral") was unexpected for literary criticism. The already established image of Astafiev as a storyteller, working in the genre of social and everyday narration, was changing before our eyes, acquiring the features of a writer striving for a generalized perception of the world, for symbolic images. For the first time in the writer's work, the theme of war appears. The love plot (Lieutenant Kostyaev - Lyusya) was surrounded by a fiery ring of war, shading the catastrophic nature of the meeting of lovers.
More at the very beginning of the 1970s Astafiev asserted the right of every person who had front-line experience to remember "his" war. The philosophical conflict of the story was realized in the opposition of the pastoral motive of love and the monstrous sizzling elements of war; the moral aspect concerned the relationship between the soldiers. The most controversial responses from critics were devoted to the genre and composition of the story. The ring composition of the story seemed harsh, overly rationalistic. The “overture” and “finale” of the work, sustained in the style of folk lamentations and lamentations, according to some researchers, “do not quite fit with the plot-conflict basis of the story.” This bright, which has become a classic story by Astafiev was criticized both for “everydayism”, and for “pacifism”, and for pastorality, for “deheroization”, for a “romantic” “non-military” hero dying of love.
The story "Ode to the Russian garden" ( 1972 ) is a kind of poetic hymn to the industriousness of the peasant, in whose life expediency, utility and beauty were harmoniously combined. The story is imbued with sadness about the lost harmony of agricultural labor, which allowed a person to feel a life-giving connection with the earth.
Created over two decades, "The Last Bow" ( 1958-1978 ) is an epoch-making canvas about the life of the village in the difficult 1930s and 40s and a confession of a generation whose childhood fell on the years of the “great turning point”, and whose youth fell on “the fiery forties”. Written in the first person, stories about a difficult, hungry, but wonderful village childhood are united by a feeling of deep gratitude to fate for the opportunity of living, direct communication with nature, with people who knew how to live “in peace”, saving children from hunger, educating them industriousness and honesty. In the chapter "The Chipmunk on the Cross", included in "The Last Bow" in 1974 , a terrible story of the collapse of a peasant family is told, in the chapter “Forty” - a story about the sad fate of a bright and talented man Uncle Vasya-Soroka, in the chapter “Without Shelter” - about the hero’s bitter wanderings in Igarka, about homelessness as a social phenomenon of the 1930s.
After the release of The Sad Detective ( 1986 ), "Ludochki" ( 1989 ), the final chapters of The Last Bow ( 1992 ) the writer's pessimism intensified. The world appeared before his eyes "in evil and suffering", full of vice and crime. The events of the present and the historical past began to be considered by him from the standpoint of the maximalist ideal, the highest moral idea, and, naturally, did not correspond to their embodiment. This rigid maximalism was exacerbated by pain for a ruined life, for a person who had lost himself and was indifferent to social rebirth.
Parallel to art in the 1980s Astafiev is engaged in journalism. Documentary stories about nature and hunting, essays about writers, reflections on creativity, essays about the Vologda region, where the writer lived from 1969 to 1979, about Siberia, where he returned in 1980, compiled collections "Ancient, eternal ..." ( 1980 ), Staff of Memory ( 1980 ), "Everything has its time" ( 1985 ).
In 1988 the book "The Sighted Staff" dedicated to the memory of the critic A. Makarov was published. According to his stories, Astafiev creates the drama "Bird Cherry" ( 1977 ), "I'm sorry" ( 1979 ), writes the screenplay "Thou shalt not kill" ( 1981 ).
A novel about the war "Cursed and Killed" (Part 1. 1992 ; Part 2. 1994 ) not only strikes with facts that were not customary to talk about before, it is distinguished by sharpness, passion, categoricalness of the author's intonation, surprising even for Astafyev.
In 1995 Astafyev's story "So I want to live" was published about the bizarre front-line fate and post-war life of a simple Russian soldier Kolyashi Khakhalin, and later the story "Oberton" ( 1996 ) and "Jolly Soldier" ( 1998 ). Created in the genre of social and even naturalistic narrative, these things connect and balance the author's contradictory intonations, returning the writer to a state of wisdom and sadness. “Thanks also to the Almighty,” Astafiev said in one of his last interviews, that my memory is merciful, in ordinary life a lot of hard and terrible things are erased” (Literaturnaya Rossiya. 2000. No. 4).
Biography and episodes of life Victor Astafiev. When born and died Viktor Astafiev, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Quotes from a writer and playwright, Photo and video.
“Siberian autumn is pure and innocent.
The severe power of the Yenisei spread.
Viburnum has ripened, viburnum is blazing
In the Astafiev estate, like a fire!
And the bitterness of viburnum is already sweet.
The fruits from the frost are even juicier.
What a loss! What a loss!
Her space is irreplaceable…”
From a romance to poems by Nina Guryeva in memory of Astafiev
His motto was "not a day without a line!" Until his death, Astafiev was full of plans - on paper and in his heart. The biography of Viktor Astafyev is a difficult story of the life of a talented and strong person who has survived many losses. But this did not prevent him from becoming a truly popular writer.
Victor Astafiev was born in the village of Ovsyanka (now it is the Krasnoyarsk Territory), where today a whole memorial complex of the writer works. Astafyev's grandmother's house is part of this complex, it was the grandmother who raised the boy after his father was imprisoned, and his mother drowned, going to her husband on a date. Later, with his father's new family, Victor moved to Igarka, but soon the stepmother decided to shove off the burden in the form of a child, and Astafyev had to wander. The literary talent of Astafyev was first noticed by the teacher of the boarding school where the boy ended up. After the boarding school, Astafiev entered a school in Krasnoyarsk, and then went to war as a volunteer, where he was seriously wounded several times. Astafiev's health condition, alas, did not allow him to get a qualified job, and he tried to feed his family as best he could: he worked as a loader, carpenter, even a meat carcass washer.
Once in Chusovoy, Astafiev got to the lesson of a literary circle, this inspired him so much that he wrote a story in one night, and then worked for several more years in the Chusovsky Rabochiy newspaper. Already in 1953, his first book with stories was published, followed by novels, books for children, and essays. In 1958, he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the RSFSR - after the release of his novel Snow Melt. From there, Astafiev was sent to literary courses in Moscow, where he studied for two years. This period brought the writer great fame, and during this time his prose reached its lyrical heyday. This was followed by many years of Astafiev's fruitful work - numerous stories, plays, novels, novellas, in which the writer often refers to his childhood, to the places where he lived, memories of the war, reflections on life and the country. Readers especially loved Astafiev for his lively literary language and for his talent for depicting Russian life so realistically. When at the end of the 90s a collection of Astafiev's works was published, it took 15 volumes!
Astafiev's death occurred on November 29, 2001. The cause of Astafyev's death was a stroke, which he suffered in April and after which he never recovered. Astafiev's funeral took place on December 1 in Ovsyanka, the writer's homeland. Astafyev's grave is located on Mayskaya arable land - three kilometers from Ovsyanka, in the same place where his daughter Irina is buried.
May 1, 1924 Date of birth of Viktor Petrovich Astafiev.
1942 Astafiev's departure as a volunteer to the front.
1945 Demobilization with the rank of private, departure to the Urals, marriage to Maria Koryakina.
1948 Birth of daughter Irina.
1950 Birth of son Andrei.
1951 Work in the newspaper "Chusovsky worker", the publication of the first story.
1953 The release of Astafiev's first book "Until next spring".
1958 Acceptance of Astafiev to the Union of Writers of the USSR.
1959-1961 Studying at the Higher Literary Courses in Moscow.
1962 Moving to Perm.
1969 Moving to Vologda.
1980 Moving to Krasnoyarsk.
1987 Death of Astafiev's daughter, Irina.
1989-1991 People's Deputy of the USSR.
1994 Awarding Astafiev an independent award "Triumph".
1995 Awarding Astafiev the State Prize of Russia for the novel Cursed and Killed.
November 29, 2001 Date of Astafiev's death.
December 1, 2001 Astafiev's funeral.
1. The village of Ovsyanka, where Astafiev was born and buried.
2. Vocational School No. 19 in Krasnoyarsk. Astafiev (former FZO-1), where the writer studied.
3. House-Museum of Astafiev in Chusovoy, where the writer lived and worked after the war.
4. Literary Institute. M. Gorky, where Astafiev studied at the Higher Literary Courses.
5. Astafyev's house in Perm, where he lived in the 1960s and where today a memorial plaque to the writer is installed.
6. The Astafyev memorial complex in the village of Ovsyanka, which includes the Astafyev Museum, the house of the writer's grandmother Ekaterina Potylitsina and the chapel.
The first daughter of the Astafyevs died as a baby. These were hard times, right after the war, everyone was starving, there were not enough ration cards. The daughter simply had nothing to eat, and her mother lost her milk. Later, a daughter, Irina, was born, which Astafyev, alas, also had to lose when she herself already had two children - Irina died of a heart attack. The Astafyevs took their grandchildren to live with them and raised them as their own children.
After suffering a stroke, Astafyev wrote to his fellow soldier Ivan Gergel that he sometimes feels real despair. “If I had a gun at home, I would have cut off all these torments, because I can’t live,” Astafyev complained. Most of all, he was worried that he could not write - he tried to dictate to the recorder, but it turned out like someone else's text.
“Let my name live as long as my works are worthy to remain in the memory of people. I wish you all the best; for this he lived, worked and suffered.”
Documentary film with Viktor Astafiev "Everything has its time"
“His death could have been expected, and yet it is unexpected. It was vaguely believed: maybe he would hold on this time, and on this already mortal line. But, apparently, there is a limit to Astafiev's love of life and perseverance. He was a real soldier - beaten, shot, resilient, cheerful and sad, heartily kind and truly evil, sometimes rude. Everything was in it. He hooked the reader, as they say, to the quick. Not everyone accepted him, and this is natural - he was unlike anyone in our wonderful literature about the past terrible war. After all, in addition to the general war, everyone also had their own.
Konstantin Vanshenkin, poet
“Viktor Petrovich Astafyev has gone into eternity, leaving such a short and such a long life behind him. Life is hard to the point of martyrdom. And joyful to self-forgetfulness. A life full of aromas of herbs and flowers, beautiful music, poetry and creativity. And with his departure, he was able to morally surpass all of us - the citizens of Krasnoyarsk, who failed to protect, save the sick heart of the writer from the dirt of the slanderous media, from the mental obscurity of the deputies. And forgive us, Lord, and rest the soul of your deceased servant Victor in the villages of the righteous, grant him the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal rest, he worked hard on this earth. And for us, who remained here, this loss is irreparable ... "
Gennady Fast, rector of the Assumption Church in the city of Yeniseisk
Astafiev Viktor Petrovich (1924 - 2001) - a famous Soviet writer, prose writer, essayist. Laureate of state awards of the USSR and the Russian Federation.
Option 1
Victor Astafiev was born on May 1, 1924 in the village of Ovsyanka (Krasnoyarsk Territory). He lost his mother early (she drowned in the Yenisei), was brought up in the family of his grandparents, then in an orphanage. He ran away from there, wandered, starved ... The boy turned out to be an orphan with a living father, who, after the death of his wife, soon started another family and did not care about his son. The writer will tell about this in the stories “Theft” and “The Last Bow”. Shortly before the Great Patriotic War, he graduated from the FZO school, worked at the railway station, and in the fall of 1942 he went to the front. Wounded three times, shell-shocked, he will still survive and start a family. He will tell about the difficult post-war years in the story “The Merry Soldier”.
In these difficult years, V.P. Astafiev lives with his family in the Urals - it was easier to find work there. The first story "Civil Man" about the fate of signalman Moti Savintsev was published in the newspaper "Chusovskoy Rabochy" in 1951. And from that moment on, all his life V.P. Astafiev dedicated to literature.
The main theme of the writer's work was military and rural prose. One of the first works was written at school as an essay. Then he turned it into the story Vasyutkino Lake. Astafiev Viktor often published in the magazine "Change". In 1953, the first book of the writer "Until next spring" was published. Since 1958, Viktor Astafiev was a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR. Since 1959, he studied in Moscow, then moved to Perm, and then to Vologda. Since 1980 he settled in Krasnoyarsk.
For about two years he was a People's Deputy of the USSR. V.P. Astafiev died on November 29, 2001 and was buried in his native village.
Option 2
Viktor Petrovich Astafiev was a Soviet writer. He was born in 1924 in the Krasnodar Territory. Victor was born the fourth of the children in his family. Victor's father was sent to prison when Vitya was still a child. Once, when his mother was driving to her husband, the boat she was on capsized. She died by drowning. Victor was at that time a seven-year-old child. When my father was released from prison, he ended up in the hospital.
There was no one to take care of Victor. The boy wandered the streets. Soon he ended up in an orphanage. After leaving school, he was on duty at the Yenisei station and made trains. One of the main themes of his work is rural. Astafiev's very first work was written by him at school. It was an essay. Then the author rewrote it and designed it as a story.
In 1942, Viktor Astafiev went to the front. The second main theme of his work is military. The author in his stories shows a look at the military actions of a soldier, a worker. Astafiev's book images are partly autobiographical.
Viktor Petrovich received military training. In 1943, in the spring, he was sent to the army. During the war, Astafiev Viktor was a signalman and driver. Victor Petrovich taught as a result of a severe injury.
In 1945 Astafiev Viktor went to the Ural Mountains. He changed many jobs from a locksmith to a teacher. Then Victor got married. And in 1951, Astafiev was hired by Chusovsky Rabochy. There he published his story. Victor published stories in different genres. In 1958, Astafiev was admitted to the Writers' Union. The writer was also in Perm, then in Vologda and Krasnoyarsk.
The author in his works often depicts the sad side of life. He writes about the hungry years, about teenagers with their cruelty, about the marginalized, about violence. Astafiev Viktor wrote many stories for children. The works of Viktor Petrovich were very popular in Russia. They have also been translated into different languages. The topics that the author touched on remain popular to this day.
Astafiev Viktor died in 2001.
Option 3
Born on May 1 in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory, in a peasant family. Childhood and youth passed in his native village, in labor and non-childish cares.
The Great Patriotic War called Astafiev to the front. He was badly wounded.
After the war, he worked as a mechanic, an auxiliary worker in Chusovo, Perm region. He begins to write small notes that were published in the newspaper Chusovsky Rabochiy. In 1951, the story "Civil Man" was published. In 1953 the first collection of short stories "Until Next Spring" was published.
In 1959 - 61 Victor Astafiev studied at the Higher Literary Courses at the Literary Institute. M. Gorky. Since that time in the journals of the Urals,
Perm and Sverdlovsk, acutely problematic, psychologically in-depth works by V. Astafiev regularly appear: the stories “Theft” (1966), “War is thundering somewhere” (1967), a cycle of autobiographical stories and stories about childhood “The Last Bow” (1968 - 92, concluding the chapters “Damned little head”, “Evening reflections”), etc.
The writer focuses on the life of a modern Siberian village.
Astafiev's annual trips to his native places served as the basis for writing a wide prose canvas "Tsar Fish" (1972 - 75), one of the most significant works of the writer.
In 1969 - 79 Victor Astafiev lived in Vologda, in 1980 he returned to his native village near Krasnoyarsk. Here he worked on such works as "The Sad Detective" (1986), the story "Lyudochka" (1989), journalistic - "Everything has its hour" (1985), "Sighted Staff" (1988). In 1980, the drama Forgive Me was written.
In 1991, the book “Born by Me” (novel, novels, short stories) was published; in 1993 - "Feast after the victory"; in 1994 - "Russian Diamond" (stories and recordings).
In recent years, the writer has created the novel "Cursed and Killed" (the beginning of publication - 1992), the second book of the novel - "Bridgehead" (1994), the story "So I want to live" (1995). Astafiev Viktor lived and worked in Krasnoyarsk in recent years.
Option 1
Writer, order bearer and orphanage - Astafiev's chronological table will tell about all these incarnations of the author of many military-patriotic and rural works. Novels, short stories and collections of short stories of the writer are distinguished by the freshness of the literary language and the brightness of the image of reality through the eyes of a “common man”. Being a man of difficult fate, Viktor Astafiev knew how to talk about hard workers like himself.
The story of his life is incredibly interesting, unusual and in many ways very tragic. This will be confirmed by a biography in which you can find all the main dates of Astafiev's life. Such material is interesting both for schoolchildren and for everyone who is not alien to Russian literature. To learn a lot about the writer, just go to the appropriate section of our website and study his chronological table.
1924 May 1– Born in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. Father - Astafiev Petr Pavlovich (born in 1901). Mother - Lidia Ilyinichna Potylitsina (born in 1901). He was brought up by his grandmother, his mother drowned in the Yenisei when Astafyev was 7 years old. He graduated from the 6th grade in the city of Igarka, where he lived with his father and stepmother.
1936–1937 - A homeless child, then an orphanage.
1941–1942 - Studying at the railway school.
1942–1943 - Studying at the infantry school in Novosibirsk.
1943
- Sent to the front line and until the end of the war serves as a private in infantry units;
receives a severe wound, concussion;
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Medal for Courage.
1945 - After the hospital, he marries M.S. Koryakina (a participant in the Great Patriotic War, a writer, author of 12 books, including “Father”, “On foot from the war”, “Linden century”) and lives with his family in the Urals (city of Leningrad). Chusovoy, since 1963 - Perm), where he works as an auxiliary worker, mechanic, storekeeper.
1951 - Publication of Astafiev's first story - "Civil Man" - in the newspaper "Chusovskoy Rabochiy".
1951–1955 - Victor Astafiev - literary employee of the newspaper "Chusovskoy worker". For four years of work in the newspaper, he published more than a hundred correspondence, articles, essays, over two dozen stories.
1950s– Publishes books of stories for children in Perm (“Until Next Spring”, 1953, “Lights”, 1955; the final collection “Zorkina Song”, 1960), a novel about the transformation of a backward collective farm “The Snows Melt” (1958).
1958 - Becomes a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR.
1959–1961 - Studying at the Higher Literary Courses at the Literary Institute. in Moscow.
1968 – The autobiographical book “The Last Bow” (Viktor Astafiev has been working on it from the late 1950s to the early 1990s).
1971 - The story “The shepherd and the shepherdess. Modern Pastoral.
1976 - The novel "Tsar-fish" (State Prize, 1978)
1980 - He returns from Vologda to his native places, lives in Krasnoyarsk and the village of Ovsyanka.
1979–1981 - In the publishing house "Molodaya Gvardiya" Astafiev's collected works are published in 4 volumes.
1989 - For outstanding writing activity, Astafiev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
1989–1991
- People's Deputy of the USSR. Secretary of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1991), Vice-President of the Association of Writers "European Forum";
honorary citizen of the cities of Igarka and Krasnoyarsk;
full member of the International Academy of Creativity, Honorary Professor of the Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical University.
1991 - For the story "Sighted staff" (1981) Astafiev was awarded the State Prize.
1992–1994
- The novel "Cursed and Killed" (books 1-2, 1992-94, not finished; in March 2000
the writer announced the termination of work on the novel.
1998 - The story "Merry Soldier".
1999 – Viktor Astafiev was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.
Option 2
1931 - after the death of his mother, he is brought up in the family of his grandmother, then he moves to Igarka with his father and stepmother and soon ends up in an orphanage.
1942 - goes to the front as a volunteer.
1943 - Awarded the medal "For Courage".
1945 - demobilization. Leaves for the Urals, in the city of Chusovoy. Works as a locksmith, teacher, storekeeper.
1951–1955 - work in the editorial office of the newspaper "Chusovoy Rabochiy", where the story "Civil Man" was published in 1951 (later this story will be called "Siberian").
1953 - the release of the first book of stories for children - "Until next spring".
1956 - the output of the story "Vasyutkino Lake".
1957 - Special correspondent of the Perm regional radio.
1958 - Admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR.
1959–1961 - studies at the Higher Literary Courses in Moscow.
1962 - moving to Perm.
1969 – moving to Vologda.
1971 - the story "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess", conceived back in 1954, was published in the magazine "Our Contemporary", No. 8.
1975 , December 23 - for the book of stories "The Pass", "The Last Bow", "Theft", "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess" was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR named after M. Gorky in the field of literature (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR 23.12.1975 No. 674)
1976 - in the magazine "Our Sovremennik" in numbers 4,5 and 6, for the first time, the narration in the stories "Tsar-fish" was completely published (except for the story "The Lady", published at the same time in the weekly "Literary Russia"), in 1978 awarded the State Prize USSR.
1977 - in Moscow, the publishing house "Young Guard" publishes a collection of stories "", where the "Last bow" and the first book edition of "Tsar-fish" are placed. The circulation is 150 thousand copies.
1978 , October 19 - for the narration in the stories "Tsar-fish" was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1978 in the field of literature. (Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of 10/19/1978 No. 852)
1979–1981 - The collected works of Astafiev in 4 volumes are published by the publishing house "Young Guard".
1980
- return to their homeland - to Krasnoyarsk.
In Moscow, the publishing house "Soviet Writer" in the series "Library of Works Awarded with the State Prize of the USSR" publishes a narrative in the stories "Tsar Fish".
1981
- In Moscow, the play by V.P. Astafyev "The Dream of the White Mountains" based on the story "Tsar-Fish" is released.
August 7– By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples for his merits in the development of Soviet culture, literature, and art.
1989 - Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
1989–1991 - He was a People's Deputy of the USSR.
1992–1994 - the novel “Cursed and Killed” is being printed (books 1–2, not finished; in March 2000, the writer announced the termination of work on the novel).
1999 - Awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.
Option 1
Viktor Astafiev is a famous Soviet and Russian writer. Laureate of state awards of the USSR and the Russian Federation. Member of the Writers' Union. His books have been translated into foreign languages and published in millions of copies. He is one of the few writers who was recognized as a classic during his lifetime.
Childhood and youth
Viktor Astafiev was born in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. In the family of Peter Astafyev and Lydia Potylitsina, he was the third child. True, two of his sisters died in infancy. When Vitya was 7 years old, his father was imprisoned for "wrecking". To get to see him on a date, the mother had to cross the Yenisei by boat. Once the boat capsized, but Lydia could not swim out. She caught her scythe on a floating boom. As a result, her body was found only a few days later.
The boy was raised by his maternal grandparents - Katerina Petrovna and Ilya Evgrafovich Potylitsyn. He recalled the years that the grandson lived with them with warmth and kindness, later he described his childhood in his grandmother's house in his autobiography The Last Bow.
When the father was released, he married a second time. He took Victor with him. Soon their family was dispossessed, and Pyotr Astafyev with his new wife, newborn son Kolya and Vitya were deported to Igarka. Together with his father, Victor was engaged in fishing. But at the end of the season, my father became seriously ill and ended up in the hospital. Stepmother Vitya was not needed, she was not going to feed someone else's child.
As a result, he ended up on the street, homeless. Soon he was placed in an orphanage. There he met Ignatius Rozhdestvensky. The teacher himself wrote poetry and was able to consider the literary talent in the boy. With his help, the literary debut of Viktor Astafiev took place. His story "Alive" was published in the school magazine. Later the story was called "Vasyutkino Lake".
After the 6th grade, he began to study at the school of factory training, after which he worked as a coupler at the railway station and on duty.
In 1942, Astafiev Viktor went to the front as a volunteer. The training took place in Novosibirsk in the automotive division. Since 1943, the future writer fought on the Bryansk, Voronezh and Steppe fronts. He was a driver, signalman and artillery reconnaissance. In the war, Victor was shell-shocked and wounded several times. For his services, Astafyev was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and he was also awarded the medals "For Courage", "For the Victory over Germany" and "For the Liberation of Poland".
Literature
Having returned from the war to feed his family, and at that time he was already married, with whom he just did not have to work. He was both a laborer, and a locksmith, and a loader. He worked at a meat-packing plant as a janitor and carcass washer. The man did not shy away from any work. But, despite the hardships of post-war life, Astafiev's desire to write never disappeared.
In 1951 he joined a literary circle. He was so inspired after the meeting that in one night he wrote the story "Civil Man", later he revised it and published it under the title "Siberian". Soon Astafiev was noticed and offered a job in the Chusovskoy Rabochy newspaper. During this time he wrote more than 20 stories and a lot of feature articles.
He published his first book in 1953. It was a collection of short stories, it was called "Until next spring." Two years later, he published a second collection - "Lights". It includes stories for children. In subsequent years, he continued to write for children - in 1956 the book "Vasyutkino Lake" was published, in 1957 - "Uncle Kuzya, Fox, Cat", in 1958 - "Warm Rain".
In 1958, his first novel, The Snows Are Melting, was published. In the same year, Viktor Petrovich Astafiev became a member of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR. A year later, he was given a referral to Moscow, where he studied at the Literary Institute in courses for writers. In the late 50s, his lyrics became known and popular throughout the country. At this time, he published the stories "Starodub", "Pass" and "Starfall".
In 1962, the Astafievs moved to Perm, during these years the writer creates a series of miniatures that he publishes in various magazines. He called them "butts", in 1972 he published a book of the same name. In his stories, he raises important topics for the Russian people - war, patriotism, village life.
In 1967, Viktor Petrovich wrote the story “The Shepherd and the Shepherdess. Modern Pastoral. He had been thinking about this idea for a long time. But it was difficult to take it to print, a lot was crossed out for reasons of censorship. As a result, in 1989 he returned to the text in order to restore the previous form of the story.
In 1968, Viktor Astafiev wrote the story "". The story takes place in 1933. An orphan boy is going through the hungriest winter of his life. Good luck to his family brings a puppy rescued from a fierce death in a snowdrift.
In 1975, Viktor Petrovich became the laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR for the works "The Last Bow", "The Pass", "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess", "Theft".
And the following year, perhaps the most popular book of the writer, “The King-Fish,” was published. And again it was subjected to such "censored" editing that Viktor Astafiev even ended up in the hospital after the stress he experienced. He was so upset that he never touched the text of this story again. Despite everything, it was for this work that he received the State Prize of the USSR.
Since 1991, Viktor Astafiev has been working on the book Cursed and Killed. The book was published only in 1994 and caused a lot of emotions among readers. Of course, there were some critical remarks. Some were surprised by the courage of the author, but at the same time they recognized his truthfulness. Astafiev Viktor wrote a story on an important and terrible topic - he showed the futility of wartime repressions. In 1994 the writer received the State Prize of Russia.
Personal life
Astafiev Victor met his future wife Maria Koryakina at the front. She worked as a nurse. When the war ended, they got married and moved to a small town in the Perm region - Chusovoy. She also began to write.
In the spring of 1947, Maria and Victor had a daughter, Lydia, but six months later, the girl died of dyspepsia. Victor Astafyev blamed the doctors for her death, but his wife was sure that Victor himself was the cause. That he earned little, could not feed his family. A year later, their daughter Irina was born, and in 1950 their son Andrei was born.
Victor and Maria were very different. If he was a talented person and wrote at the behest of his heart, then she did it to a greater extent for her own self-affirmation.
Astafiev Viktor was a stately man, he was always surrounded by women. It is known that he also had illegitimate children - two daughters, the existence of which he did not tell his wife for a long time. Maria was insanely jealous of him, and not only for women, but even for books.
He left his wife more than once, but returned every time. As a result, they lived together for 57 years. In 1984, their daughter Irina suddenly died of a heart attack, and the remaining grandchildren - Vitya and Polina - were raised by Viktor Petrovich and Maria Semyonovna.
Death
In April 2001, the writer was hospitalized with a stroke. He spent two weeks in intensive care, but in the end, the doctors discharged him, and he returned home. He felt better, he even read newspapers on his own. But already in the autumn of the same year, Astafyev Viktor again ended up in the hospital. He was diagnosed with heart disease. In the last week, Viktor Petrovich went blind. The writer died on November 29, 2001.
They buried him not far from his native village, a year later a museum of the Astafyev family was opened in Ovsyanka.
Option 2
Russian writer Viktor Petrovich Astafiev was born on May 1, 1924 in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. Having lost his mother early, he was brought up in the family of his grandparents, then in an orphanage.
In 1942, Viktor Astafiev graduated from the Railway School of the FZO, then worked for four months as a train compiler at the Bazaikha station near Krasnoyarsk.
During the Great Patriotic War, Astafiev went to the front as a volunteer, fought as a simple soldier, and was wounded. Astafiev's front-line merits were awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage", "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "For the Liberation of Poland".
Returning from the front, Astafiev settled in the Urals. He worked as a mechanic, auxiliary worker, teacher.
From 1951 to 1955, Astafiev was a literary employee of the Chusovskoy Rabochiy newspaper. In 1951, this newspaper published his first story "Civil Man". In 1953, Astafiev's first book, Until Next Spring, was published in Molotov (now Perm). In 1955 - the second book of the writer called "Lights" was published.
Since April 1957, Astafiev has been a special correspondent for the Perm Regional Radio. In 1958, his novel Snow Melt was published.
In 1959-1961, Viktor Astafiev studied at the Higher Literary Courses in Moscow. At this time, his stories began to be published in the capital, including in the Novy Mir magazine, headed by Alexander Tvardovsky.
The end of the 1950s was marked by the flourishing of Viktor Astafiev's lyrical prose. The stories "Pass" (1958-1959) and "Starodub" (1960), the story "Starfall" (1960), written in just a few days, brought the writer wide fame.
The 1960s were extremely fruitful for the writer: the story “Theft” (1961–1965) was written, short stories that later formed the story in the stories “The Last Bow”. In 1968, the story "The Last Bow" was published in Perm as a separate book.
By 1965, a cycle of ideas began to take shape - lyrical miniatures, reflections on life, notes for oneself. They were published in central and peripheral journals. In 1972, "Zatesi" was published as a separate book by the publishing house "Soviet Writer".
Since 1973, stories have appeared in the press, which subsequently made up the famous narrative in the stories “King-fish”. For the first time, "Tsar-fish" was published in the book "The Boy in the White Shirt", published by the publishing house "Young Guard" in 1977.
From 1978 to 1982, Astafiev worked on the story "The Sighted Staff", published in 1988.
In 1980, the writer moved to live in his homeland - in Krasnoyarsk. Here began a new period of his work. In Krasnoyarsk and in Ovsyanka - the village of his childhood - he wrote the novels “The Sad Detective” (1985) and “Cursed and Killed” (1995), the novels “So I Want to Live” (1995), “Oberton” (1995–1996) and “ Merry Soldier" (1997), stories "Bear's Blood" (1984), "Life to Live" (1985), "Vimba" (1985), "Doomsday" (1986), "Blind Fisherman" (1986), "Catching minnows in Georgia ”(1986),“ Vest from the Pacific Ocean ”(1986),“ Blue field under blue skies ”(1987),“ Wolf smile ”(1989),“ Born by me ”(1989),“ Lyudochka ”(1989), "Conversation with an old gun" (1997).
In parallel with artistic creativity in the 1980s, Astafiev was engaged in journalism. Documentary stories about nature and hunting, essays about writers, reflections on creativity, essays about the Vologda region, where the writer lived from 1969 to 1979, about Siberia, where he returned in 1980, compiled collections: “Ancient, eternal ...” (1980) , “Staff of Memory” (1980), “Everything has its hour” (1985).
In 1997–1998, the Collected Works of Viktor Astafiev were published in Krasnoyarsk in 15 volumes, with detailed comments by the author.
Viktor Astafiev was a People's Deputy of the USSR (1989-1991), Secretary of the Writers' Union of the USSR, Vice-President of the Association of Writers "European Forum".
Astafiev - Hero of Socialist Labor (1989), holder of the Orders of Lenin (1989), the Red Banner of Labor (1971, 1974, 1984), Friendship of Peoples (1981), "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree (1999).
The writer's work was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR named after M. Gorky (1975), the State Prize of the USSR (1978, 1991), the Russian Independent Prize "Triumph" (1994), the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1995, 2003 (posthumously)), the Pushkin Prize of the Alfred Foundation Tepfer (1997), the Prize "For the Honor and Dignity of Talent" of the International Literary Fund (1998), the Apollon Grigoriev Prize of the Academy of Russian Modern Literature (1999).
Viktor Astafiev was married to the writer Maria Astafyeva-Koryakina (1920–2011). Three children were born in the marriage: daughters Lidia (born and died in 1947) and Irina (1948–1987), son Andrei (born in 1950).
In 2002, a memorial house-museum of Astafyev was opened in the village of Ovsyanka, in 2006 a monument to the writer was erected in Krasnoyarsk.
Option 3
On May 1, 1924, in the village of Ovsyanka, on the banks of the Yenisei, not far from Krasnoyarsk, a son, Viktor, was born in the family of Pyotr Pavlovich and Lidia Ilyinichna Astafyev.
At the age of seven, the boy lost his mother - she drowned in the river, catching her scythe on the base of the boom. VP Astafiev will never get used to this loss. He still “can’t believe that there is no mother and never will be.” The boy's grandmother, Ekaterina Petrovna, becomes the intercessor and breadwinner of the boy.
With his father and stepmother, Victor moved to Igarka - the dispossessed grandfather Pavel was sent here with his family. There were no “wild earnings”, which the father counted on, relations with the stepmother did not work out, she pushes the burden in the face of the child from her shoulders. The boy is deprived of shelter and livelihood, wanders, then ends up in an orphanage-boarding school. “I started my independent life right away, without any preparation,” V.P. Astafiev would later write.
The Siberian poet Ignaty Dmitrievich Rozhdestvensky, a boarding school teacher, notices in Viktor a penchant for literature and develops it. An essay about a beloved lake, published in a school magazine, will later unfold into the story Vasyutkino Lake.
After graduating from a boarding school, a teenager earns his bread in the machine Kureika. “My childhood was left in the distant Arctic,” V.P. Astafiev would write years later. - The child, in the words of grandfather Pavel, “was not born, not asked, abandoned by dad and mom,” also disappeared somewhere, or rather, rolled away from me. A stranger to himself and to everyone, a teenager or young man entered the adult working life of a wartime.
Gathering money for a ticket. Viktor leaves for Krasnoyarsk, and enters the FZO. “I did not choose the group and profession in the FZO - they chose me themselves,” the writer later tells. After graduating, he works as a train compiler at the Bazaikha station near Krasnoyarsk.
In the fall of 1942, Viktor Astafyev volunteered for the army, and in the spring of 1943 he went to the front. Fighting in Bryansk. Voronezh and Steppe fronts, which then merged into the First Ukrainian. The front-line biography of the soldier Astafyev was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage", "For the Victory over Germany" and "For the Liberation of Poland". Several times he was seriously wounded.
In the autumn of 1945, V.P. Astafyev was demobilized from the army and, together with his wife, Private Maria Semyonovna Koryakina, came to her homeland, the city of Chusovoi in the western Urals.
Due to health reasons, Viktor can no longer return to his profession and, in order to feed his family, works as a mechanic, laborer, loader, carpenter, meat carcass washer, meat-packing watchman.
In March 1947, a daughter was born in a young family. In early September, the girl died of severe dyspepsia - the time was hungry, her mother did not have enough milk, and there was nowhere to get ration cards.
In May 1948, the Astafievs had a daughter, Irina, and in March 1950, a son, Andrei.
In 1951, having somehow got to the lesson of a literary circle at the newspaper Chusovskoy Rabochiy, Viktor Petrovich wrote the story “Civilian Man” in one night; later he would call him "Siberian". From 1951 to 1955, Astafiev worked as a literary contributor to the newspaper Chusovskoy Rabochy.
In 1953, his first book of short stories, “Until Next Spring,” was published in Perm, and in 1955, the second, “Lights.” These are stories for children. In 1955–1957, he wrote the novel The Snows Melt, published two more books for children: Vasyutkino Lake (1956) and Uncle Kuzya, Chickens, Fox and Cat (1957), published essays and stories in the almanac Prikamye ”, the magazine “Change”, the collections “Hunters were” and “Signs of the times”.
Since April 1957, Astafiev has been a special correspondent for the Perm Regional Radio. In 1958, his novel The Snows Are Melting was published. V. P. Astafiev is accepted into the Union of Writers of the RSFSR.
In 1959, he was sent to the Higher Literary Courses at the M. Gorky Literary Institute. He has been studying in Moscow for two years.
The end of the 1950s was marked by the flourishing of V.P. Astafiev’s lyrical prose. The stories "Pass" (1958-1959) and "Starodub" (1960), the story "Starfall", written in one breath in just a few days (1960), bring him wide fame.
In 1962 the family moved to Perm, and in 1969 to Vologda.
The 60s are extremely fruitful for the writer: the story “Theft” (1961–1965) was written, short stories that later made up the story in the stories “The Last Bow”: “Zorka’s Song” (1960), “Geese in the Polynya” (1961), “ The smell of hay "(1963), "Trees grow for everyone" (1964), "Uncle Philip - ship mechanic" (1965), "Monk in new pants" (1966), "Autumn sorrows and joys" (1966), "Night dark-dark" (1967), "Last bow" (1967), "War is thundering somewhere" (1967), "" (1968), "Grandma's holiday" (1968). In 1968, the story "The Last Bow" was published in Perm as a separate book.
In the Vologda period of his life, V.P. Astafiev created two plays: “Bird cherry” and “Forgive me”. Performances based on these plays were performed on the stage of a number of Russian theaters.
Back in 1954, Astafiev conceived the story “The Shepherd and the Shepherdess. Modern pastoral "-" his favorite brainchild. And he realized his plan almost 15 years later - in three days, "absolutely stunned and happy", writing "a draft of one hundred and twenty pages" and then polishing the text. Written in 1967, the story was difficult to get through in print and was first published in the journal Our Contemporary, No. 8, 1971. The writer returned to the text of the story in 1971 and 1989, restoring what was filmed for reasons of censorship.
In 1975, for the stories "The Pass", "The Last Bow", "Theft", "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess" V.P. Astafiev was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR named after M. Gorky.
In the 60s, V.P. Astafiev wrote the stories “Old Horse” (1960), “What are you crying about, spruce” (1961). “Hands of the Wife” (1961), “Sashka Lebedev” (1961), “Anxious Dream” (1964), “India” (1965), “Mityai from the Dredge” (1967), “Yashka the Elk” (1967), “ Blue Twilight (1967), Take it and Remember (1967), Is it a Clear Day (1967), Russian Diamond (1968), Without the Last (1968).
By 1965, a cycle of ideas began to take shape - lyrical miniatures, reflections on life, notes for oneself. They are published in central and peripheral journals. In 1972, "Zatesi" was published as a separate book by the publishing house "Soviet Writer" - "Village Adventure". "The Song Singer", "How the Goddess Was Treated", "Stars and Christmas Trees", "Tura", "Native Birches", "Spring Island", "Bakeries", "For Everyone's Pain...", "Cemetery", "And with their Ashes" . "Dome Cathedral", "Vision", "Berry", "Sigh". The writer constantly refers to the genre of zasey in his work.
In 1972, V.P. Astafiev wrote his “joyful offspring” - “Ode to the Russian Garden”.
Since 1973, stories have been appearing in print that later made up the famous narrative in the stories "Tsar Fish": "Boye", "Drop", "At the Golden Hag", "The Fisherman Rumbled", "Tsar Fish", "Black Feather Flies" , “Ear on Boganid”, “Wake”, “Turukhan Lily”, “Dream of the White Mountains”, “I have no answer”. The publication of the chapters in periodicals - the journal "Our Contemporary" - went on with such losses in the text that the author went to the hospital from grief and since then never returned to the story, did not restore or make new editions. Only many years later, having found in his archive the pages of the chapter “Noriltsy” that had turned yellow from time to time, he published it in 1990 in the same magazine under the title “Not enough heart”. For the first time, "Tsar-fish" was published in the book "The Boy in the White Shirt", published by the publishing house "Young Guard" in 1977.
In 1978, V.P. Astafiev was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for his narration in the stories “Tsar-Fish”.
In the 1970s, the writer again turns to the theme of his childhood - new chapters are born for The Last Bow: The Feast after the Victory (1974), Chipmunk on the Cross (1974), Karasin's Death (1974), " No Shelter (1974), Magpie (1978), Love Potion (1978), Burn, Burn Clear (1978), Soy Candy (1978). The story of childhood - already in two books - was published in 1978 by the Sovremennik publishing house.
From 1978 to 1982, V.P. Astafiev worked on the story "The Sighted Staff", published only in 1988. In 1991, the writer was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for this story.
In 1980, Astafiev moved to live in his homeland - in Krasnoyarsk. A new, extremely fruitful period of his work began. In Krasnoyarsk and in Ovsyanka, the village of his childhood, he wrote the novel The Sad Detective (1985) and such stories as Bear Blood (1984), Life to Live (1985), Vimba (1985), Doomsday "(1986), "Blind Fisherman" (1986), "Catching minnows in Georgia" (1986), "Vest from the Pacific Ocean" (1986), "Blue field under blue skies" (1987), "Smile of a she-wolf" (1989 ), “Born by Me” (1989), “Lyudochka” (1989), “Conversation with an old gun” (1997).
In 1989, V.P. Astafiev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
On August 17, 1987, the daughter of the Astafievs, Irina, suddenly dies. She is brought from Vologda and buried at the cemetery in Ovsyanka. Viktor Petrovich and Maria Semyonovna take their little grandchildren Vitya and Polya to their place.
Life at home stirred up memories and gave readers new stories about childhood - the chapters are born: “Premonition of ice drift”, “Zaberega”, “Stryapukhin's joy”, “Pestruha”, “Legend of the glass pot”, “Death”, and in 1989 “ The Last Bow" is published by the publishing house "Young Guard" already in three books. In 1992, two more chapters appeared - "Damn Head" and "Evening Thoughts". "The Life-Giving Light of Childhood" required more than thirty years of creative work from the writer.
At home, V.P. Astafiev also created his main book about the war - the novel “Cursed and Killed”: part one “Devil’s Pit” (1990–1992) and part two “Bridgehead” (1992–1994), which took a lot of strength from the writer and health and caused a heated controversy among readers.
In 1994, "for an outstanding contribution to Russian literature" the writer was awarded the Russian independent prize "Triumph". In 1995, V.P. Astafiev was awarded the State Prize of Russia for the novel “Cursed and Killed”.
From September 1994 to January 1995, the master of words is working on a new story about the war “So I want to live”, and in 1995-1996 he writes - also a “military” story “Oberton”, in 1997 he completes the story “Merry soldier”, begun in 1987 - the war does not leave the writer, disturbs the memory. The cheerful soldier is he, the wounded young soldier Astafiev, returning from the front and trying on a peaceful civilian life.
In 1997–1998, the Collected Works of V.P. Astafiev were published in Krasnoyarsk in 15 volumes, with detailed comments by the author.
In 1997, the writer was awarded the International Pushkin Prize, and in 1998 he was awarded the Prize "For the Honor and Dignity of Talent" by the International Literary Fund.
At the end of 1998, V.P. Astafiev was awarded the Apollon Grigoriev Prize of the Academy of Russian Modern Literature.
The Soviet and Russian writer Viktor Astafiev was a man of rare talents. During his life, he wrote a lot of works that vividly describe village life, and did it so talentedly that a person who knows it firsthand will agree with the veracity of the description. The impersonal image, on behalf of which the narration is conducted in many of his books, allows you to get used to the role of the hero even better and feel all the events described for yourself.
Facts from the biography of Viktor Astafiev
Returning from the front, Astafiev settled in the Urals. He worked as a mechanic, auxiliary worker, teacher.
From 1951 to 1955, Astafiev was a literary contributor to the Chusovskoy Rabochiy newspaper. In 1951, his first story "A Civil Man" was published in this newspaper. In 1953, Astafiev's first book, Until Next Spring, was published in Molotov (now Perm). In 1955, the second book of the writer called "Lights" was published.
Since April 1957, Astafiev has been a special correspondent for the Perm Regional Radio. In 1958, his novel Snow Melt was published.
In 1959-1961, Viktor Astafiev studied at the Higher Literary Courses in Moscow. At this time, his stories began to be published in the capital, including in the Novy Mir magazine, headed by Alexander Tvardovsky.
On November 29, 2001, the writer died in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and was buried there.
Viktor Astafiev was married to the writer Maria Astafyeva-Koryakina (1920-2011). Three children were born in the marriage: daughters Lydia (born and died in 1947) and Irina (1948-1987), son Andrei (born in 1950).
In 2002, a memorial house-museum of Astafyev was opened in the village of Ovsyanka, in 2006 a monument to the writer was erected in Krasnoyarsk.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
