Field author. The Tale of the Real Field

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy ( real name- Kampov). Born March 4 (17), 1908 in Moscow - died July 12, 1981 in Moscow. Russian Soviet prose writer and screenwriter, journalist, war correspondent. Hero of Socialist Labor. Winner of two Stalin Prizes of the second degree (1947, 1949). Laureate of the International Peace Prize (1959).

Boris Polevoy was born on March 4 (17 according to the new style) March 1908 in Moscow in the family of a lawyer.

Father - Nikolai Petrovich Kampov (1877-1915), son of the teacher of the Kostroma Theological School Pyotr Nikolaevich Kampov. At the age of two, he was orphaned and raised in Shuya by his grandfather, Archpriest M.V. Milovsky. Graduated from Shuyskoye religious school(1891), Vladimir Seminary (1898), Faculty of Law of Yuryev University, became a lawyer. For five years he worked in Moscow as a secretary of the District Court. Then he was a city judge in Rzhev for three years, and from 1911 - a city judge in Tver. Died of tuberculosis.

Mother - Lidia Vasilievna Kampova (nee Mityushina, died in 1960), graduated from the Moscow Higher Women's Medical Courses, worked as a doctor in Tver-Kalinin. She died in Moscow.

In 1913 the family moved to Tver.

From 1917 to 1924 he studied at school No. 24 (now Tver Gymnasium No. 6).

He graduated from a technical school in Tver and worked as a technologist at a textile factory.

He began his career as a journalist in 1928 and had patronage. Worked for the newspapers “Tverskaya Derevnya”, “Tverskaya Pravda”, “Proletarskaya Pravda”, “Smena”.

The pseudonym Polevoy came about as a result of one of the editors’ proposal to “translate the surname Kampov from Latin” (campus - field) into Russian. One of the few pseudonyms invented not by the bearer, but by other persons.

In 1927, the first book of essays by Boris Polevoy, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” was published in Tver - about the life of people at the bottom. The book was noted by Gorky.

Since 1928 he became a professional journalist. In 1939, Polevoy’s first story, “The Hot Shop,” was published in the magazine “October,” which brought him literary fame.

Member of the CPSU(b) since 1940.

Since 1941 he lived in Moscow.

During the Great Patriotic War, Boris Polevoy was in the active army as a correspondent for Pravda, including on the Kalinin Front (1942). He was the first to write about the feat of 83-year-old peasant Matvey Kuzmich Kuzmin, who, in the writer’s opinion, repeated the feat of Ivan Susanin.

What he wrote in 19 days brought him widespread fame and the Stalin Prize. "The Tale of a Real Man"(a story in 4 chapters), dedicated to the feat of pilot A.P. Maresyev. Only until 1954, the total circulation of its publications amounted to 2.34 million copies. The story is based on the opera of the same name by Sergei Prokofiev.

He reflected his military observations in the books “From Belgorod to the Carpathians” (1945), “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946), “We are Soviet People” (1948), “Gold” (1949-1950).

He spoke at the all-Moscow meeting of writers on October 31, 1958, which condemned him and demanded his expulsion from the USSR.

In 1961-1981 - editor-in-chief of the magazine "Youth". Member of the SCM Bureau and the Presidium of the Soviet Peace Committee. Since 1967 he was secretary of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR, and since 1952 - vice-president of the European Society of Culture. Deputy Supreme Council RSFSR (1946-1958).

From 1969 until his death, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Soviet Peace Fund.

Signed the Letter of a group of Soviet writers to the editors of the newspaper Pravda on August 31, 1973 about Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov.

Awards and prizes of Boris Polevoy:

Hero of Socialist Labor (09/27/1974);
3 Orders of Lenin (05/04/1962; 10/28/1967; 09/27/1974);
order October revolution (02.07.1971);
2 Orders of the Red Banner (12/04/1944; 06/16/1945);
2 Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (10/21/1943; 09/23/1945);
Order of the Red Banner of Labor (03/15/1958);
Order of Friendship of Peoples (03/16/1978);
Order of the Red Star (04/27/1942);
Stalin Prize of the second degree (1947) - for “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946);
Stalin Prize of the second degree (1949) - for the collection of essays and stories “We are Soviet People” (1948);
International Peace Prize (1959) - for the collections of essays “American Diaries”;
Gold Peace Medal (1968).

Boris Polevoy died on July 12, 1981. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 9).

The ship is named after the writer. On March 16, 1978, “for the creation of works that truthfully reflect the heroic and labor exploits of Kalinin residents during the Great Patriotic War and peaceful labor, a great contribution to the development of the city and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth,” Boris Polevoy was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the City” Kalinina". In 1983, a street in Tver was named after him, and on December 16, 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where the writer lived.

Personal life of Boris Polevoy:

Was married. His wife, Yulia Osipovna, worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature. The marriage produced three children - sons Alexey and Andrey, as well as daughter Elena.

Son Andrei worked in the defense industry. Son Alexey Kampov-Polevoy is a professor at the University of North Carolina, a psychiatrist and narcologist.

Daughter Elena became a doctor, doctor of science, professor, and worked as a specialist in breast cancer surgery in the USSR.

Anastasia Parokonnaya - granddaughter of Boris Polevoy

He was friends with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh, billionaire Rockefeller - they visited him.

Filmography of Boris Polevoy:

1969 - Gold (screenwriter - together with Damir Vyatich-Berezhnykh)

Bibliography of Boris Polevoy:

1927 - Memoirs of a lousy man
1940 - Hot shop
1947 - The Tale of a Real Man
1948 - We are Soviet people
1950 - Gold
1952 - Contemporaries
1956 - American Diaries
1959 - Deep rear
1961 - Our Lenin
1962 - On the wild shore
1967 - Doctor Vera
1973 - To Berlin - 896 kilometers
1974 - These four years (in 2 books)
1978 - Silhouettes
1980 - Most Memorable

Screen adaptations of works by Boris Polevoy:

1948 - The Tale of a Real Man
1964 - I - “Birch”
1966 - On the wild shore
1967 - Doctor Vera
1969 - Gold

Polevoy Boris Nikolaevich

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy is a Soviet Russian prose writer and journalist. He was born on March 4 or, according to the new style, March 17, 1908. Despite the fact that he was born in Moscow, the writer always considered Tver to be his hometown, where, as an eight-year-old boy, he moved with his family in 1913. It was there that his most carefree childhood and youth years passed. His father, Nikolai Kampov, was a lawyer. After his death in 1916, he left a wonderful home library, which contained the most best works Russian and world classics. Boris's mother, a doctor by profession, closely monitored cultural development and education of the boy, guiding his reading. As a result, the first books Boris read were the works of Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, Nekrasov, and a little later Goncharov, Turgenev, Chekhov and Nikitin. Maxim Gorky was Boris Nikolaevich’s favorite writer.

From 1917 to 1924, school No. 24 hosted school years Boris, in currently this is Tver Gymnasium No. 6. Already here in 1922, the young man began to get involved in journalism. His first note was published in Tverskaya Pravda (provincial newspaper) when he was still a sixth grade student. Beginning in 1924, his articles regularly appeared in the city newspapers Proletarskaya Pravda, Smena, and Tverskaya Derevnya.

After graduating from the Tver Technical School in 1926, Boris Nikolaevich worked at the Proletarka textile factory as a technologist.

In 1927, the first book consisting of essays was published and received positive feedback Maxim Gorky, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man.” It tells about the life of people at the so-called “bottom”. This book was the only one written under the name Boris Kampov. Subsequently, one of the editors suggested that the author translate the surname Kampov from Latin into Russian (campus means field), hence the pseudonym Polevoy, one of the few invented not by the native speaker himself, but by outsiders.

Since 1928, Boris Polevoy has been working as a professional journalist.

The writer gained real literary fame when he published his first story, called “The Hot Shop,” shortly before the Great Patriotic War in the magazine “October.” This story is about the people of the first five-year plan who worked at the Kalinin Carriage Plant.

Polevoy was a participant in the Soviet-Finnish war (1939 - 40). In 1941, he moved to live in Moscow, where he worked on the Kalinin Front as a war correspondent. He had to visit the hottest spots. In his articles and essays he reflected his front-line impressions and the most bright events greatest battle against fascism that he witnessed. All of them are collected in the 1945 book “From Belgorod to the Carpathians.”

The material accumulated during the war became the basis for the writer’s future books. Boris Polevoy brought universal fame and world fame in 1946, written by him during his presence at Nuremberg trials as a war correspondent in just 19 days, consisting of four chapters, “The Tale of a Real Man.” The author was awarded the Stalin Prize for it in 1947. It is based on the real feat of the famous pilot, hero Soviet Union A.P. Maresyev, who continued to fight even after he lost both legs. Somewhat later, in 1948, this story was adapted into a film of the same name by Sergei Prokofiev, in which P. Kadochnikov played the main role. “The Tale of a Real Man” was a favorite book among Soviet youth. This story not only taught courage, it often helped people in those difficult times. Soviet people time. It was known in almost all countries of the world, but in our country it was published more than a hundred times.

The books “We are Soviet People” (1948), which was also awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949, and “Gold” (1949 - 1950) are also devoted to military topics. Among the writer’s numerous works, one cannot fail to note the story “Returned” (1949), the 1956 travel essays “American Diaries”, for which the author was awarded the International Peace Prize in 1959, “For Far Away Lands”, “30,000 Li in New China” "(1957). Wonderful works are the novel “Deep Rear” (1958) and the novel “Doctor Vera” (1966), “Angarsk Records” (1959) and “Sayan Records” (1963). Based on documentary essays collected by Boris Polev, the wonderful novel “On the Wild Beach” was written in 1962.

In the same 1962, Polevoy took the post of editor-in-chief of the famous youth magazine called “Youth”, and even earlier, in 1952, the writer was vice-president of the European Society of Culture. Since 1967, Boris Nikolaevich was appointed secretary of the board of the former Union of Writers of the USSR. For your active social activities in 1968 the writer was awarded the Gold Peace Medal, and in 1974 he was awarded the important title of Hero Socialist Labor.

Boris Nikolaev Polevoy died in 1981 on July 12 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. After the writer’s death in 1983, a street in Tver was named after him. And in 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in which he lived.

Writer Boris Polevoy(real name - Kampov) was born on March 17, 1908 in Moscow. And yet, the writer always called himself a Tver: when the boy was 5 years old, the family moved to Tver. Polevoy himself would later write: “I grew up, studied, got involved in work, in the journalistic profession, and wrote my first book in Tver.”

It was there that Boris graduated from high school and technical school, and worked in a textile factory. At the age of 19, he wrote his first book, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” it was about people at the “bottom.” Work young author highly appreciated Maksim Gorky, once famous for his play “At the Bottom”. It was Gorky who patronized Boris and helped him get a job as a journalist at the age of 20. Kampov worked for the newspapers “Tverskaya Derevnya”, “Tverskaya Pravda”, “Proletarskaya Pravda”, “Smena”.

He did not come up with the pseudonym himself, it was the initiative of one of the literary editors. In fact, he simply read his last name in Latin (campus - “field”) and “translated” into Russian. So Kampov became Polev.

In conversations with colleagues, the writer often called himself a “Tver goat.” In the book “The Most Memorable. The history of my reporting" Polevoy writes: "Goats are a humorous nickname for tveryakov. Either because there really were a lot of goats in our city, or in honor of the prevailing legend, which said that once a certain mythical goat, with its bleating at night, warned of the approach of the Tatar patrol and woke up the sentries on the city walls.”

Polevoy, by the way, was very surprised that his fellow writers from Tver were in no hurry to call themselves in the same way.

Drawing by artist Yuri Ivanovich Masyutin “Writer Boris Polevoy”. April 18, 1953. Photo: RIA Novosti / M. Kozlov

During the war, Boris Nikolaevich wrote reports from the front for the newspaper Pravda. As a war correspondent, he visited both Kalinin, destroyed by the Nazis, and liberated Prague in 1945.

The terrible reality of the Great Patriotic War gave many literary plots. Polevoy wrote, based on war memories, “From Belgorod to the Carpathians”, “The Tale of a Real Man”, “We are Soviet People”, “Gold”.

Of course, the most famous book Boris Polevoy became “The Tale of a Real Man”. The author created the story in four chapters in just 19 days: he was so impressed by the story of the military pilot Alexey Petrovich Maresyev, whom the writer met during the battles on Kursk Bulge. After a terrible injury, Maresyev had both legs amputated. Nevertheless, even after receiving a disability, he put on prosthetics and, showing incredible willpower, returned to duty. In total, Maresyev had 86 combat missions and 10 fascist planes shot down. Moreover, he shot down 7 of them after the amputation of his legs.

The book won fame not only in the USSR, but throughout the world. “Before 1954 alone, the total circulation of its publications amounted to 2.34 million copies. The story was published abroad about forty times. And about a hundred times - in Russian. She was extremely popular in Soviet country and far beyond. And not only because she talked about the legendary feat of the Soviet pilot. And not only because it became a textbook of courage. (Boris Polevoy clearly showed how you can live in the most unlivable conditions. Moreover, how you can survive in the most unlivable conditions. And even more - how to remain human in the most inhumane conditions). But, above all, because everyone, every person has a chance to live, even when there is no chance. Especially if you know why you live...” - wrote researcher of the work of Boris Polevoy Elena Sazanovich in your essay.

Surprisingly, the essay on the basis of which Boris Nikolaevich wrote his famous story was initially hacked to death. In 1943, Polevoy sent an essay about Maresyev to the editor. But the material was never published. When the author returned from the front and asked the editor why the essay was not published, the answer was a ready-made reprint of his material. At the top there was a resolution: “Interesting, but it’s not the time to give now. Let comrade Polevoy will write about this in more detail later.” Of course, handwriting Joseph Vissarionovich Boris Polevoy recognized it immediately.

In 1945-1946, the writer worked as a correspondent in Nuremberg, where the trial of the leaders of the Third Reich was underway. Polevoy decided that it was time to write a book about Maresyev. That's when he created it in less than 20 days. Later, the book will be adapted into a film and an opera by the composer. Sergei Prokofiev. Despite the huge number state awards, the writer remained a very modest person. Boris Nikolaevich, summing up the results of his writing at the end of his life, wrote: “I saw that I could, and described how I could.”

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy(real name - Kampov; March 4 (17), 1908, Moscow - July 12, ibid.) - Russian Soviet journalist and prose writer, film screenwriter. Hero of Socialist Labor. Winner of two Stalin Prizes of the second degree (,). Laureate of the International Peace Prize (1959). Member of the CPSU(b) since 1940.

Biography

Boris Nikolaevich Kampov was born on March 4 (17), 1908 in Moscow, in the family of a lawyer. In 1913 the family moved to Tver.

From 1917 to 1924 he studied at school No. 24 (now Tver Gymnasium No. 6).

He graduated from a technical school in Tver and worked as a technologist at a textile factory. He began his journalistic career in 1928 and had the patronage of Maxim Gorky.

Boris Polevoy worked for the newspapers Tverskaya Derevnya, Tverskaya Pravda, Proletarskaya Pravda, and Smena.

War impressions formed the basis of the books:

• "From Belgorod to the Carpathians" ()
• "The Tale of a Real Man" ()
• "We are Soviet people" ()
• "Gold" ( -)

Author of four books of war memoirs, “These Four Years.” Less known are materials about his presence at the Nuremberg trials as a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda - “In the End” (1969).

He spoke at the all-Moscow meeting of writers on October 31, 1958, which condemned B. L. Pasternak and demanded his expulsion from the USSR.

B. N. Polevoy died on July 12, 1981. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 9).

Family

Memory

The ship is named after the writer. On March 16, 1978, “for the creation of works that truthfully reflect the heroic and labor exploits of Kalinin residents during the Great Patriotic War and peaceful labor, a great contribution to the development of the city and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth,” B. N. Polevoy was awarded the title “ Honorary citizen of the city of Kalinin."

In 1983, a street in Tver was named after him, and on December 16, 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where the writer lived.

Awards and prizes

• three Orders of Lenin (1967, 1974)
• two Orders of the Red Banner (12/4/1944; 1958)
• two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (10/21/1943)
• Order of the Red Star (27.4.1942)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (03/16/1978)
• medals
• foreign awards
• Stalin Prize, second degree (1947) - for “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946)
• Stalin Prize of the second degree (1949) - for the collection of essays and stories “We are Soviet people” (1948)
• International Peace Prize (1959) - for collections of essays “American Diaries”

Bibliography

• Memoirs of a lousy man, 1927
• Hot shop, 1940
• We are Soviet people, 1948
• Gold, 1950
• Contemporaries, 1952
• American Diaries, 1956
• Deep rear, 1959
• Our Lenin, 1961
• On the wild coast, 1962
• Doctor Vera, 1967
• To Berlin - 896 kilometers, 1973
• These four years (in 2 books), 1974
• Silhouettes, 1978
• Most Memorable, 1980

written by

• - Gold (together with Damir Vyatich-Berezhnykh)

Film adaptations

• - A story about a real person
• - I am “Birch”
• - On the wild shore
• - Dr. Vera
• - Gold

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An excerpt characterizing Polevoy, Boris Nikolaevich

The French officer and Pierre entered the house. Pierre considered it his duty to again assure the captain that he was not a Frenchman and wanted to leave, but the French officer did not want to hear about it. He was so polite, kind, good-natured and truly grateful for saving his life that Pierre did not have the spirit to refuse him and sat down with him in the hall, in the first room they entered. In response to Pierre’s assertion that he was not a Frenchman, the captain, obviously not understanding how one could refuse such a flattering title, shrugged his shoulders and said that if he certainly wanted to pass for a Russian, then let it be so, but that he, despite then, everyone is still forever connected with him with a feeling of gratitude for saving his life.
If this man had been gifted with at least some ability to understand the feelings of others and had guessed about Pierre’s feelings, Pierre would probably have left him; but this man’s animated impenetrability to everything that was not himself defeated Pierre.
“Francais ou prince russe incognito, [Frenchman or Russian prince incognito," said the Frenchman, looking at Pierre’s dirty but thin underwear and the ring on his hand. – Je vous dois la vie je vous offre mon amitie. Un Francais n "oublie jamais ni une insulte ni un service. Je vous offre mon amitie. Je ne vous dis que ca. [I owe you my life, and I offer you friendship. The Frenchman never forgets either insult or service. I offer my friendship to you. I say nothing more.]
There was so much good nature and nobility (in the French sense) in the sounds of the voice, in the facial expression, in the gestures of this officer that Pierre, responding with an unconscious smile to the Frenchman’s smile, shook the outstretched hand.
- Capitaine Ramball du treizieme leger, decore pour l "affaire du Sept, [Captain Ramball, thirteenth light regiment, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for the cause of the seventh of September," he introduced himself with a smug, uncontrollable smile that wrinkled his lips under his mustache. - Voudrez vous bien me dire a present, a qui" j"ai l"honneur de parler aussi agreablement au lieu de rester a l"ambulance avec la balle de ce fou dans le corps [Will you be so kind as to tell me now who I am with. I have the honor of talking so pleasantly, instead of being at a dressing station with a bullet from this madman in my body?]
Pierre replied that he could not say his name, and, blushing, began, trying to invent a name, to talk about the reasons why he could not say this, but the Frenchman hastily interrupted him.
“De grace,” he said. – Je comprends vos raisons, vous etes officier... officier superieur, peut être. Vous avez porte les armes contre nous. Ce n"est pas mon affaire. Je vous dois la vie. Cela me suffit. Je suis tout a vous. Vous etes gentilhomme? [To be complete, please. I understand you, you are an officer... a staff officer, perhaps. You served against us . This is not my business. I owe you my life. This is enough for me, and I am all yours.] - he added with a hint of a question. Je ne demande pas davantage. Monsieur Pierre, dites vous... Parfait. C "est tout ce que je desire savoir. [Your name? I don’t ask anything else. Monsieur Pierre, did you say? Great. That’s all I need.]
When fried lamb, scrambled eggs, a samovar, vodka and wine from the Russian cellar, which the French had brought with them, were brought, Rambal asked Pierre to take part in this dinner and immediately, greedily and quickly, like a healthy and hungry person, began to eat, quickly chewing with his strong teeth, constantly smacking his lips and saying excellent, exquis! [wonderful, excellent!] His face was flushed and covered with sweat. Pierre was hungry and gladly took part in the dinner. Morel, the orderly, brought a saucepan with warm water and put a bottle of red wine in it. In addition, he brought a bottle of kvass, which he took from the kitchen for testing. This drink was already known to the French and received a name. They called kvass limonade de cochon (pork lemonade), and Morel praised this limonade de cochon, which he found in the kitchen. But since the captain had wine obtained during the passage through Moscow, he provided kvass to Morel and took up a bottle of Bordeaux. He wrapped the bottle up to the neck in a napkin and poured himself and Pierre some wine. Satisfied hunger and wine revived the captain even more, and he kept talking during dinner.
- Oui, mon cher monsieur Pierre, je vous dois une fiere chandelle de m"avoir sauve... de cet enrage... J"en ai assez, voyez vous, de balles dans le corps. En voila une (he pointed to his side) a Wagram et de deux a Smolensk,” he showed the scar that was on his cheek. - Et cette jambe, comme vous voyez, qui ne veut pas marcher. C"est a la grande bataille du 7 a la Moskowa que j"ai recu ca. Sacre dieu, c"etait beau. Il fallait voir ca, c"etait un deluge de feu. Vous nous avez taille une rude besogne; vous pouvez vous en vanter, nom d"un petit bonhomme. Et, ma parole, malgre l"atoux que j"y ai gagne, je serais pret a recommencer. Je plains ceux qui n"ont pas vu ca. [Yes, my dear Mr. Pierre, I am obliged to light a good candle for you because you saved me from this madman. You see, I’ve had enough of the bullets that are in my body. Here is one near Wagram, the other near Smolensk. And this leg, you see, doesn’t want to move. This was during the big battle of the 7th near Moscow. ABOUT! it was wonderful! You should have seen it was a flood of fire. You gave us a difficult job, you can boast about it. And by God, despite this trump card (he pointed to the cross), I would be ready to start all over again. I feel sorry for those who did not see this.]
“J"y ai ete, [I was there],” said Pierre.
– Bah, vraiment! “Eh bien, tant mieux,” said the Frenchman. – Vous etes de fiers ennemis, tout de meme. La grande redoute a ete tenace, nom d"une pipe. Et vous nous l"avez fait cranement payer. J"y suis alle trois fois, tel que vous me voyez. Trois fois nous etions sur les canons et trois fois on nous a culbute et comme des capucins de cartes. Oh!! c"etait beau, Monsieur Pierre. Vos grenadiers ont ete superbes, tonnerre de Dieu. Je les ai vu six fois de suite serrer les rangs, et marcher comme a une revue. Les beaux hommes! Notre roi de Naples, qui s"y connait a crie: bravo! Ah, ah! soldat comme nous autres! - he said, smiling, after a moment of silence. - Tant mieux, tant mieux, monsieur Pierre. Terribles en bataille... galants... - he winked with a smile, - avec les belles, voila les Francais, monsieur Pierre, n "est ce pas? [Bah, really? All the better. You are fierce enemies, I must admit. The big redoubt held up well, damn it. And you made us pay dearly. I've been there three times, as you can see me. Three times we were on the guns, three times we were knocked over like card soldiers. Your grenadiers were magnificent, by God. I saw how their ranks closed six times and how they marched out like a parade. Wonderful people! Our Neapolitan king, who ate the dog in these matters, shouted to them: bravo! - Ha, ha, so you are our brother soldier! - So much the better, so much the better, Mr. Pierre. Terrible in battle, kind to beauties, these are the French, Mr. Pierre. Is not it?]

Polevoy (pseudonym; real name - Kampov) Boris Nikolaevich - Russian Soviet writer and public figure, war correspondent, member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.

Born on March 4 (17), 1908 in Moscow in the family of a lawyer and a doctor. Russian. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1940. In 1913, the family moved to the city of Tver (Kalinin in 1931-1990), where the future writer spent his childhood and youth. After the death of her father in 1916, her mother began working as a doctor in a hospital at the Morozov textile factory (now OJSC Tver Manufactory Partnership). Subsequently, the world of the factory yard, pictures of working life, images of familiar fellow countrymen will appear on the pages of many of the writer’s novels.

In Tver he studied at primary school 2nd grade, read a lot, was interested in nature, actively participated in the work of a circle of young naturalists. During his school years, he developed a craving for journalism, and his sharp feuilletons began to appear in the satirical section of the school wall newspaper under the pseudonym “B. Gadfly”.

The first note (seven and a half lines and without the author’s signature) was published in the Tverskaya Pravda newspaper in 1922, when he was a 6th grade student. It talked about a visit to their school by the peasant poet S.D. Drozhzhin. After that, he began to publish information and sketches from city life in Tverskaya Pravda. Soon, at the suggestion of its editor A.I. Kapustin, the schoolboy Kampov began signing his materials with the pseudonym “Polevoy”.

After school, he graduated from the Industrial and Economic College and then in 1926-1928 he worked as a laboratory assistant, shift foreman, and shop manager at the caustic plant at the Proletarka textile factory. At the same time, he collaborated in Tver newspapers. In 1928, Polevoy left the factory and went to work full-time at the recently founded regional youth newspaper Smena. From this time until 1941, numerous correspondence, articles and essays by Polevoy were published in Tverskaya Pravda, Tverskaya Village, Smena and the magazine In Our Days. The young journalist boldly and enthusiastically took up his favorite job: he combined in one person an essayist, a feuilletonist, a traveling correspondent, a book reviewer and a theater reviewer. In addition, Polevoy actively participated in literary life Tver: is a member of the Tver Association of Proletarian Writers (TAPP) and the “literary group”.

In 1927, TAPP published Polevoy’s first book, a collection of journalistic short stories “Memoirs of a Lousy Man.” The story of the birth of this book is very unusual: in the summer of 1926, on the instructions of the editor of Tverskaya Pravda, Polevoy, under the guise of a Moscow thief in law, infiltrated the Tver criminal environment for 20 days in order to write a series of essays on a social plan. However, his wanderings along the “bottom” unexpectedly brought him to the facts of contacts between criminals and the leaders of a number of party and Soviet institutions in Tver. The result of this journalistic assignment was several publications in Tverskaya Pravda, the removal from high posts of many of the then officials and “Memoirs of a lousy man,” which Smena journalists sent to M. Gorky in Italy. In his response letter, M. Gorky spoke about “Memoirs...” quite critically and strictly, but gave the aspiring prose writer a lot of valuable advice and recommended studying. It was in this book that Polevoy formulated his main creative principle, “I write without fiction,” and demonstrated a good ability to show the peculiarities of the psychology and thinking of the people depicted.

In Tver, Polevoy formed as a journalist and writer. In the 1930s, in addition to newspaper materials, he wrote stories and historical novel“Biography of “Proletarka,” which remained unfinished, and its manuscript was lost during the occupation of the city by the Nazi invaders.

In 1939, Polevoy’s story “The Hot Shop” was published in the magazine “October,” which was a response to the development of the Stakhanov movement. Plot basis The work was a real life conflict associated with the re-education of a “difficult person” by the Kalinin Carriage Works team.

Participant in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940; war correspondent. for the period of hostilities he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1939 he was shell-shocked. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1940.

Participant of the Great Patriotic War. In 1941-1945 - in the Red Army. Since the summer of 1941, battalion commissar B.N. Polevoy was constantly in the active army, from October 1941 as a war correspondent for the newspaper Pravda and the senior correspondent group of the newspaper on the Kalinin, Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. Having walked the battle path from Kalinin (Tver) to Berlin and Prague, he created numerous military essays, reports, correspondence, stories, which, capturing the harsh reality of the war and the heroism of our people in the fight against fascism, then became the basis of the books “We are Soviet People” (1948; Stalin Prize, 1949) and “Contemporaries” (1954). The writer combined essays written in 1941 directly on the Kalinin Front into the cycle “In That Hard Winter.”

Polevoy was not only a brave reporter, but also a soldier who was not afraid of the front line. He flew on a long-range bomber to bomb German cities, was near Stalingrad (now Volgograd), in partisan detachments behind enemy lines, on the Kursk Bulge, in Poland and the Carpathians. And in May 1945, Polevoy, on instructions from the command, lands on a U-2 plane at the stadium in the center of fighting Prague and informs the rebels about the advance of Soviet tank armies towards the city. Here, under German fire, Polevoy first transmitted information about the situation in the city to front headquarters, and then an article to the Pravda newspaper, dictating its lines from notes hastily written on a cigarette box. Since 1945, Lieutenant Colonel B.N. Field - in reserve.

Polevoy’s greatest literary fame and glory came from “The Tale of a Real Man” (Stalin Prize, 1947), published in 1946 in the magazine “October”, and in 1947 - separate publication. Its hero is a military pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant A.P. Maresyev (in the story - Meresyev), after the amputation of both legs, he returned to combat duty. It has gone through more than 180 editions in 49 languages ​​with a total circulation of 9 million 745 thousand copies. In 1948, a film of the same name was released on the screens of the country (P.P. Kadochnikov starred in the title role) and in the same year, the brilliant Russian composer of the 20th century S.S. Prokofiev wrote an opera based on this work, which was staged on stage Bolshoi Theater in 1960.

After the war, the writer, as a correspondent for Pravda, lived for a long time on the Angara, Volga-Don and Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, where he collected material for the novel “On the Wild Beach” (1962, filmed in 1966), in artistic form embodied the true events and real people– geologists and hydraulic engineers. He also visited many countries and dedicated his book reports to these trips: “American Diaries” (1956; International Peace Prize, 1959), “To Far Far Away Lands” (1956), “Thirty Thousand Lis in China” (1957).

Theme of war and heroism Soviet people occupied important place and in Polevoy’s subsequent work - in the novels “Gold” (1949-1950, filmed in 1970), “Deep Rear” (1958), the stories “Doctor Vera” (1966, filmed in 1968) and “Anyuta” (1976). All these works are saturated with Tver eventual, geographical and figurative realities.

In addition, from the front-line diaries that the writer kept throughout the war, the documentary and journalistic books “In the Great Offensive” (1967), “In the End: The Nuremberg Diaries” (1969), “The Crush of the Typhoon” (1971), “Before Berlin - 896 kilometers" (1971). Biographical story“Commander” (1974) talked about the life and work of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev, whom the author knew personally.

By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 27, 1974, for great services in the development of Soviet literature, active social activities and in connection with the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Writers' Union of the USSR Polevoy (Kampov) Boris Nikolaevich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

In 1974, Polevoy united documentary narratives“In that difficult winter”, “During the assault on Velikiye Luki”, “In the great offensive”, “896 kilometers to Berlin” and “In the end” in the duology “These Four Years”. It most fully reflected the principle of historicism, which allowed the writer to analyze the events of the past from the point of view of modernity. The heroes of the portraits and literary critical essays included in his book “Silhouettes” (1974) were S.D. Drozhzhin, I.A. Ryabov, M. Gorky, A.A. Fadeev, K.A. Fedin, E.L. .Voynich, Yu.Fuchik, A.Zegers and others.

Documentary and works of art Polevoy are distinguished by high citizenship and patriotism, keen sense time, affirmation of humanism, goodness and human dignity, love and interest in working people, in-depth psychologism, intense plot and living language.

Despite his great creative and social work, Polevoy did not lose ties with Kalinin. He periodically came to the city, spoke at schools and businesses, met with local writers and journalists, and gave interviews to regional newspapers.

Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of three convocations, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Youth" (1962-1981), secretary of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1967-1981), chairman of the board of the Soviet Peace Foundation, vice-president of the European Society of Culture (1952-1981).

Lived and worked in the hero city of Moscow. Died on July 12, 1981. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow (section 9).

Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin (1967, 07/27/1974, ...), Order of the October Revolution, 2 Orders of the Red Banner (12/4/1944, 06/16/1945), 2 Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (10/21/1943, 1945), orders of the Red Banner of Labor (03/15/1958), the Red Star (04/27/1942), medals, including the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” (1943), as well as orders and medals of foreign countries.

Laureate Stalin Prize(1947, 1949), International Peace Prize (1959). Gold Peace Medal (1968).

Honorary citizen of the city of Kalinin (03/16/1978).

In 1983, a street in Kalinin (Tver) was named after him, and on December 16, 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where the writer lived. The ship is named after the writer. In Moscow, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived.