Volkov, Alexander Melentievich

Born on June 14 (June 2, old style ) in 1891 in Ust-Kamenogorsk in Little Russia Lane , in the family of retired sergeant major Melenty Mikhailovich Volkov. At the age of 12, he graduated from the Ust-Kamenogorsk City School as his first student, where he later began his teaching activities.

In 1907 he entered the Tomsk Teacher’s Institute , after which (in 1909) received a diploma with the right to teach all subjects of the curriculum, except the Law of God .

He began to work as a teacher in his hometown, in 1910 (by profession - mathematician) he worked as a teacher in the Novosibirsk region , the village of Kolyvan . In the 1920s he moved to Yaroslavl , where he worked as a school principal. In absentia he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute .

In 1929 he moved to Moscow, where he worked as the head of the educational department of the labor faculty . For seven months he completed the course and passed exams externally at the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow University . Since 1931, for twenty years from the moment of foundation, a teacher, then - assistant professor of higher mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold .

Volkov was an encyclopedically educated person, he knew literature, history, and was fluent in foreign languages.

At 24, Volkov met at the New Year's ball in Ust-Kamenogorsk with a gymnastics and dance teacher at the gymnasium, Kaleria Gubina. Two months later they got married and a year later their son Vivian was born (he died five years from dysentery ), and after three years the other - Romuald (died two years from croup ). Nevertheless, after a few years, Alexander and Kaleria again had two sons in turn, and they gave them the same names.

Volkov began writing his first novel at the age of twelve. Began to print in 1916 . In the 1920s, his plays were performed on the stages of several provincial theaters. In the late 1930s he entered into great literature. Member of the Writers' Union since 1941. The total circulation of his works published in many languages ​​of the world exceeded 25 million copies.

Many of Volkov’s works are dedicated to outstanding personalities of the past - scientists, builders, pioneers, philosophers. In his novels and short stories, the writer most often turned to history. Before working on such a book, he carefully and comprehensively studied the era, got acquainted with documents, special scholarly works, so his fascinating plot and emotional presentation are combined with scientific and authenticity.

One of the first children's books on the historical theme “The Wonderful Ball” reveals a picture of the life of Russia in the 18th century. The main character of this story, the son of the merchant Dmitry Rakitin, was imprisoned forever in the fortress, where he invented the first balloon in Russia. The book “Trail after the stern” tells about the history of navigation from primitive times to the legendary viking trips of Leif Ericsson .

Volkov loved to develop topics related to domestic history, and not only ancient, but also modern. In the story “Trail after the stern”, he described in an artistic form the emergence of shipbuilding and navigational skills among primitive people, in the story “Tsargradskaya captive” he spoke about the times of the great reign of Yaroslav the Wise , in “Two Brothers” - about the time of the reign of Peter I , and in “ Journeys to the Third Millennium ”- about the construction of the Volga-Don Canal in the Soviet era, the author’s native.

Volkov also engaged in the popularization of science for schoolchildren. He released a number of entertaining stories on geography and astronomy, combining them in the collection "Earth and Sky". The history of science was devoted to the popular science book "In Search of Truth", another book - to fishing.

The Wizard of the Emerald City series

As a rule, the name of Volkov today is known only from this cycle. The first story-tale of the cycle was based on the book by the American children's writer Lyman Frank Baum, "The Amazing Wizard of Oz ." Volkov undertook to translate this book in order to practice learning English. However, during the translation process, he changed some events and added new adventures of the heroes. The manuscript of the processed fairy tale was approved by S. Ya. Marshak . In 1939, the story “The Wizard of the Emerald City” acquired the status of an independent work, it was translated into 13 languages ​​and withstood 46 reprints.

In 1963, after almost 25 years, Volkov again began to write stories about the girl Ellie and her friends Scarecrow , Leo, the Lumberjack and other inhabitants of the Magic Land . The author created a whole series of novels in which he combined reality and science fiction. Volkov used the techniques characteristic of a literary fairy tale. For example, in the cycle you can see the “double world” traditional for this genre, the confrontation between good and evil, he also filled the narrative with classic fairy tale characters (wizards, talking animals) and used traditional motifs (flying shoes, a royal family immersed in a magical dream, revived wooden figures and so on).

The subjects of the cycle developed topics of moral self-improvement, the power of friendship, capable of creating real miracles, love of the motherland, and the collective struggle for freedom and justice. Although the main events of the cycle take place in the Magic Land, the characters find a way out of difficult situations not so much due to some kind of magical help, but thanks to their own knowledge, quick wit, ingenuity, mutual assistance.

The writer had faith in the power of man-made technology, so the heroes usually defeated witchcraft with the help of various technical inventions (a gun designed by Charlie Black, a mechanical drill, Tilly-Willy super robot).

In the 1950s, the book appeared drawings by L. Vladimirsky , who made illustrations for other novels in the cycle.

• The Wizard of the Emerald City ( 1939 )
• " Oorfene Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers " ( 1963 )
• The Seven Underground Kings ( 1964 )
• The Fire God of the Marrans ( 1968 )
• The Yellow Fog ( 1970 )
• The Mystery of the Abandoned Castle ( 1976 , book version - 1982 )

Tale

• “Two brothers” ( 1938 - 1961 )
• “The Wonderful Ball (The First Balloon)” ( 1940 )
• The Invisible Fighters ( 1942 )
• “Airplanes at War” ( 1946 )
• The Trail of the Poop ( 1960 )
• "Travelers in the Third Millennium" (1960)
• “The Adventures of Two Friends in the Country of the Past” ( 1963 )
• The Tsargradsky captive ( 1969 )
• “And Lena was stained with blood” ( 1975 )

Stories and Essays

• "The journey of Petit Ivanov to an extraterrestrial station"
• "In the mountains of Altai"
• Lopatinsky Bay
• "On the Bouzha River"
• "Birthmark"
• "Lucky day"
• "Campfire"

Novels

• The Architects ( 1954 )
  • Volkov A. M. Architect: Roman / Afterword: Doctor of Historical Sciences A. A. Zimin ; Drawings by I. Godin. - Reprint. - M .: Children's literature , 1986.- 384 p. - (Library Series). - 100,000 copies. (Annotation: A novel from 16th-century Russian history on the construction of the miracle of Russian architecture , a magnificent historical monument - St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow ).
• "Wanderings" ( 1963 ). In the novel, the author spoke about the childhood and youth of the Italian astronomer and philosopher Giordano Bruno .

Popular Science Books

• “How to fish with a fishing rod. Notes of the Fisherman "( 1953 )
• “ Earth and sky ” ( 1957 - 1974 )
• “ In Search of the Truth ” ( 1980 )
• “ In Search of Fate ” ( 1924 )

Poems

• “Nothing pleases me” ( 1917 )
• Dreams ( 1917 )
• "Red Army"
• "Ballad of the Soviet pilot"
• "Scouts"
• "Young partisans"
• "Homeland"

Songs

• “Marching Komsomolskaya”
• "Song of the Timurites"

Children's Theater Pieces

• Eagle's Beak
• "In a remote corner"
• "Village School"
• "Tolya-pioneer"
• "Fern flower"
• "Home teacher"
• “Comrade from the Center (Modern Auditor)”
• "Trading house Schneerson & Co."

Radio plays (1941-1943)

• "Counselor goes to the front"
• "Timurovtsy"
• "Patriots"
• Deaf of the Night
• Sweatshirt

Historical Essays

• "Mathematics in military affairs"
• “Glorious pages on the history of Russian artillery”

Translations

• Jules Verne , Danube Pilot
• Jules Verne , “The Extraordinary Adventures of the Barsac Expedition ”

In 1986, the newly built Ust-Kamenogorsk street on the left bank of the Irtysh was named after A.M. Volkov.

• Volkov A.M. Magician of the Emerald City. - Voronezh: Center.-Chernozemn. Prince Publishing House, 1988 .-- 287 p. - ISBN 5-7458-0082-8 .
• Volkov A.M. Magician of the Emerald City. - M .: Soviet Russia, 1978.
• Volkov A.M. Urfin Djus and his wooden soldiers. - M .: Soviet Russia, 1985.

• Volkov A.M.Tale of life // Aloud to myself. - M., 1978.
• Nevinskaya I.N. Volkov Alexander Melentievich // Russian children's writers of the XX century: Biobibliographic dictionary. - M., 1998.
• Rakhtanov I. Magician-scientist // Rakhtanov I. Stories from memory. - M., 1971.
• Petrovsky M. Alexander Volkov. "The Wizard of Oz". Truth and illusions of the country of Oz. // Books of our childhood. - 2008, 2nd ed.
• Begak B. A. There once was a boy // Begak B. True tales. - M., 1989.
• Vladimirsky L.V. History of a Tale // Bonfire. - 1989.— No. 7.
• Latova N. The Amazing Adventures of The Wizard of Oz in Russia // Children's Literature. - 1995. - No. 1-2.
• Etoev A. The Builder of the Emerald City // "7 Days". - 2001. - September 28.
• Galkina T.V. Biography of Alexander Volkov: principles of scientific biography // Bulletin of the Tomsk State Pedagogical University. - 2004. - No. 2 (39). - S. 162-167.
• Galkina T.V. Unfamiliar Alexander Volkov in memoirs, letters and documents. - Tomsk: Publishing house of Tomsk State Pedagogical University, 2006. - 270 p., Ill.

• Detailed biography
• Biography in the Fiction Archive
• Article on the website of writers of the East Kazakhstan region
• Children's Museum "Fairyland" named after A. Volkov in the city of Tomsk
• Forum "Emerald City"