Kuranov, Yuri Nikolaevich

Born in Leningrad in a family of artists: his father, a painter, was the deputy director of the Hermitage , was in charge of restoration workshops and the Golden Pantry in the Hermitage ; mother is an art critic who worked at the Russian Museum . When Kuranov was 3 years old, his mother left the family. Soon, his father was arrested and a six-year-old boy, together with his grandfather, grandmother and uncle, ended up in Siberian exile.

He graduated from high school in Norilsk and in 1950-1953 studied at the History Department of Moscow State University . Then, in 1954-1956 he studied at the screenwriting faculty of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography . In these years he began to write poetry, short stories, and novels. His first poems were published in 1956 in the collection "First Acquaintance." At that time he met K. G. Paustovsky , who, as Kuranov recalled, “was one of the first to teach me to appreciate the lively breath of the word, the singing of colors, the wise simplicity of everyday life, under which the deep movements of the human heart are hidden.”

In 1959 he settled in the Kostroma village of Pyshchug, and since 1969 - in the Pskov village of Glubokoe. In Pyschug he created a series of short stories (published in 1959 in Literaturnaya Gazeta , Novy Mir and reprinted in the central newspaper Pravda ; a separate publication by Kostroma, 1961), which attracted the attention of critics and readers. He was supported by the writers Emanuel Kazakevich , then Veniamin Kaverin . In 1961, a separate edition of his short stories “Summer in the North” was published and in 1962 Yu. N. Kuranov was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR .

The subsequently published books “Squirrels on the Road” (M., 1962), “Lullabies”, “Uvaly Pyschuganya” (Kostroma, 1964), “Days of September” (M., 1969), “Pass” (M., 1973) Kuranov secured his reputation as a master of a short lyric story and miniatures. Kuranov's works began to be translated and published abroad.

In 1975, the magazine Oktyabr and central newspapers began publishing novels-chapters of Kuranov’s documentary romantic study, Glubokoe on Glubokoe (M., 1982), where he talked about the tragic death of “unpromising” villages . Concerned about the fate of the village, he decided to abandon the idea of ​​a novel about Pushkin’s youth and works from the era of False Dmitry and turned to journalistic activities while working on the lyrical, action-packed novel Zaozernye Zvony (Moscow, 1980). In 1982, his story "Rainbow Illumination" was published.

Kuranov’s attempt to intervene in the solution of socio-economic problems aroused discontent of the leadership of the Pskov region and in 1982 he was forced to move to Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad region, where he wrote the fiction-documentary short story “Traveling after a Bird”. He led the Svetlogorsk poetry club "Blue Space". He stood at the origins of the regional magazine "West of Russia", was its permanent author and member of the editorial board. In 1991, he became one of the founders of the new democratic Union of Writers of Russia. In the same year he became the laureate of the first literary prize in democratic Russia, and in 2000 received the regional professional award “Recognition” in the field of literature ^[1] .

A spiritual quest led him to religion; in this regard, Kuranov refused to continue the planned cycle of works (the story “Cloudy Wind”, 1969; “Sometimes not far away,” unpublished): “I was convinced that artistic, literary work was a dead end, a road to nowhere. Charm, temptation - that’s what it is called in theological language. Having realized, I do not want to continue to do this, to multiply a plausible lie ... ” ^[2] . In 1987, the book of Kuranov’s short stories about Christian righteous people, about morality and about the family “The Warmth of the Homeland” was published. Yu. N. Kuranov printed his spiritual poems under the pseudonym George Gurey; his spiritual poetry (1978–2000) and hymns were included in the collection “Here is my music!” (Kaliningrad, 2005).

Books of Yu. N. Kuranov were published in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, the USA and other countries. His works have repeatedly been included in the anthologies of Russian prose published abroad.

He died on the night of June 11, 2001 in Svetlogorsk.

On February 5, 2005, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where Yu. N. Kuranov lived.

• Summer in the North: stories. - Kostroma: Prince. Publishing House, 1961. - 102 p.
• Squirrels on the road: short stories and lyrical miniatures. - [ M. ]: The Young Guard , 1962. - 192 p.
• Puffing Uvals: short stories. - Kostroma, 1964 .-- 151 p.: Ill.
• Lullabies of hands: stories. - M.: Soviet writer , 1966. - 219 p.: Ill.
• Days of September: [stories]. - M.: Young Guard, 1969. - 78 p.
• Cloudy Wind: A Tale. - M.: Soviet writer, 1969. - 216 p.: Ill.
• Lullaby. - Tbilisi: Nakaduli, 1971. - 26 p. - Cargo. lang
• Pass. - M .: Sovremennik , 1973. - 325 p.
• Rainfall: short stories and miniatures. - M .: Children's literature , 1975. - 96 p.
• Voice of the wind: short stories and miniatures. - M.: Soviet Russia , 1976. - 158 p.: Ill.
• Road over the lake: [story and stories]. - M .: Sovremennik, 1977 .-- 335 p.
• The heart of the keys: short stories, essays, miniatures. - M., 1977 .-- 326 p.: Ill.
• Zaozernye ringing. - M.: Soviet writer, 1980. - 400 p.: Portr.
• Frost and the sun: lyrical miniatures and novels. - M .: Children's literature, 1981. - 96 p.: Ill.
• Deep on Deep. - M .: Sovremennik, 1982.- 336 p. - (Novelties of Sovremennik).
• Feast at the dawn: miniatures and poems in prose: [for Art. school age] / entry. Art. V. Kurbatov; artist P. Bagin. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1982. - 160 p .: ill.
• Na vyhřătĕm břthu. - Vyšehrad, 1983. - 138, [4] p.
• Favorites: short stories, novels. - M.: Soviet writer, 1984. - 543 p.: Portr.
• Rainbow inspiration: a lyrical story on the theme of art based on the life of Kostroma artist A. Kozlov: for Wednesdays. and Art. school age. - L .: Children's literature. Leningra. Otdel, 1984. - 127 pp .: Portr.
• Zaozernye Ringing. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1986. - 383, [1] p.
• Red light: for doshkas. age. - M.: Baby , 1987. - [16] p.: Col. silt
• The warmth of the hearth: a lyrical tale of a family. - M.: Fiction, 1987. - 64 p. - (Roman Newspaper, No. 14).
  • The warmth of the hearth. - M.: Young Guard, 1987. - 255 p.: Ill.
• The Case of General Raevsky: a novel [from the history of the war of 1812]. - M.: Armada , 1997. - 466, [14] p. - (Russia. History in novels).
  • The case of General Raevsky. - Kaliningrad: Terra Baltic, 2007 .-- 571 p.
• The warmth of the hearth: stories and tales. - Kaliningrad: Amber Tale, 2003. - 521, [1] p.
• Here is my music !: poems, poems, hymns / Yu. Kuranov; comp. and ed. Z. Kupriyanova, G. Beach; foreword B. Sinful; artist Yu. Kuranov. - Kaliningrad: Publishing house of the RSU, 2005. - P.165: ill.

• Lushev E. A. In memory of the writer: on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Yu.N. Kuranova // Only the word life is given ...: Sat. materials. - Kaliningrad, 2006 .-- S. 36–42.
• Yuri Nikolaevich Kuranov (1931-2001)

• “Singing the Pskov Land”: to the 85th birthday of Yu. N. Kuranov: a bio-bibliographic index of literature / Pskov. reg. univers. scientific bk; comp. E. G. Kiseleva, M.I. Panchishina; ch. ed. V.I. Pavlova. - Pskov: Pskov Regional Universal Scientific Library, 2016. - 47 p.