Russian satirist writer Evgeny Petrovich Petrov (real name Kataev) was born on December 13 (November 30, old style) 1903 (according to some sources - in 1902) in Odessa.
His father, Pyotr Vasilyevich Kataev, was the son of a priest from the city of Vyatka, a teacher at the diocesan and cadet schools in the city of Odessa. Mother, Evgenia, a Ukrainian from Poltava, whose maiden name was Bachey, died shortly after the birth of her second son. The older brother is Valentin Kataev, a future writer.
The Kataevs had an extensive family library, but classic literature was not attracted to Evgeniy. He read books by Gustave Aimard, Robert Louis Stevenson and others. He dreamed of becoming a detective, he was attracted by adventures.
In 1920, Evgeny Kataev graduated from the fifth Odessa classical gymnasium. He worked as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency, then as a criminal investigation inspector in Odessa.
In 1923 he moved to Moscow, where he continued his education and took up journalism.
In 1924, the first feuilletons and stories appeared in the satirical magazine "Red Pepper" under the pseudonym Petrov, also under the name of Gogol's "Foreigner Fedorov." The satirist also used other pseudonyms. He did not want another writer with the surname Kataev to appear.
Before collaborating with Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov published more than fifty humorous and satirical stories in various periodicals and published three independent collections.
In 1926, while working at the Gudok newspaper, Evgeny Petrov met Ilya Ilf. Their joint work began: they processed materials for the newspaper "Gudok", composed topics for drawings and feuilletons in the magazine "Smekhach".
In the summer of 1927, Ilf and Petrov traveled to the Crimea and the Caucasus and visited Odessa. They kept a joint travel diary. Later, some impressions from this trip were included in the novel “Twelve Chairs,” which was published in 1928 in the monthly literary magazine “30 Days.” Roman had big success from readers, but was received rather coldly literary critics. Even before its first publication, censorship greatly reduced it. Soon the novel began to be translated into many European languages, and it was published in many European countries.
Their next novel was The Golden Calf (1931). Initially it was published in parts in the monthly "30 days".
In September 1931, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov were sent to Red Army exercises in the Belarusian military district; based on the materials of the trip, the essay “Difficult Topic” was published in the magazine “30 Days”.
Since 1932, Ilf and Petrov began publishing in the newspaper Pravda.
In 1935-1936, the writers traveled around the United States, which resulted in the book “One-Storey America” (1937).
In collaboration with Ilya Ilf, they wrote the short stories “Extraordinary Stories from the Life of the City of Kolokolamsk” (1928-1929), fantastic story"Bright Personality" (1928), short stories "1001 days, or the New Scheherazade" (1929), etc.
Ilf's death in 1937 interrupted the creative collaboration of the writers.
Petrov did a lot to perpetuate the memory of his friend. In 1939, he published Ilya Ilf's Notebooks, and later decided to write a novel called My Friend Ilf. The novel was not finished; only individual sketches and detailed versions of the plan have survived.
Evgeniy Petrov wrote a number of film scripts. In co-authorship with Ilya Ilf they created “The Black Barrack” (1933), “Once Upon a Summer” (1936), in co-authorship with Georgy Munblit - “ Musical history" (1940), "Anton Ivanovich is Angry" (1941), etc. Petrov independently wrote scripts for the films "Silent Ukrainian Night" and "Air Cabby". He worked on the script for the film "Circus", but in the end demanded that his last name from the credits.
In 1941, Petrov became a war correspondent for Pravda and the Sovinformburo. He was often and for a long time at the front.
On July 2, 1942, Yevgeny Petrov died while returning by plane from besieged Sevastopol to Moscow. The writer was buried in the Rostov region in the village of Mankovo-Kalitvenskaya.
Many films have been made based on the works of Ilf and Petrov: “The Golden Calf” (1968), “The Twelve Chairs” (1971), “Ilf and Petrov Were Riding on a Tram” (1972), etc. Based on the play “Island of the World” by Evgeniy Petrov (published in 1947) the cartoon "Mr. Walk" (1950) was filmed.
Evgeny Petrov was awarded the Order of Lenin and a medal.
The writer's wife was Valentina Grunzaid. Their children: Pyotr Kataev (1930-1986) - a famous cameraman who shot almost all of Tatyana Lioznova’s films; Ilya Kataev (1939-2009) - composer, author of a number of popular songs and music for films.
The material was prepared based on information open sources
Evgeniy Petrov(pseudonym Evgeniy Petrovich Kataev, 1903-1942) - Russian Soviet writer, co-author.Brother of the writer Valentin Kataev. Father of cinematographer Pyotr Kataev and composer Ilya Kataev. Wife - Valentina Leontyevna Grunzaid, from the Russified Germans.
Evgeniy Petrovich Petrov(real name Kataev) was born in Odessa in the family of a history teacher. In Odessa, the Kataevs lived on Kanatnaya Street.
In 1920 he graduated from the 5th Odessa classical gymnasium. During his studies, his classmate was, who later wrote the adventure story “”, the prototype of which, Volodya Patrikeev, became the main character Evgeniy Petrov.
Worked as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency.
During three years served as an inspector of the Odessa criminal investigation department (in the autobiography of Ilf and Petrov (1929) it is said about this period of life: “His first literary work there was a protocol for examining the corpse of an unknown man").
In 1922, during a chase with a shootout, he personally detained his friend Alexander Kozachinsky, who led a gang of raiders. Subsequently, he achieved a review of his criminal case and the replacement of A. Kozachinsky with the highest measure of social protection - execution - to imprisonment in a camp.
In 1923 Petrov came to Moscow, where he became an employee of the Red Pepper magazine. In 1926, he came to work at the newspaper Gudok, where he hired A. Kozachinsky, who had been released by that time under an amnesty, as a journalist.
Significant impact on Evgenia Petrova provided by his brother Valentin Kataev. Valentin Kataev’s wife recalled:
I have never seen such affection between brothers as Valya and Zhenya have. Actually, Valya forced his brother to write. Every morning he started by calling him - Zhenya got up late, started swearing that they woke him up... “Okay, keep swearing,” Valya said and hung up.
In 1927 working together creative collaboration began on the novel "" Evgenia Petrova and Ilya Ilf (who also worked for the newspaper Gudok).
The novel “The Twelve Chairs” (1928);
novel "" (1931);
short stories "" (1928);
fantasy story "" (filmed)
short stories "" (1929);
documentary story "" (1937).
In 1932-1937 Ilf and Petrov wrote feuilletons for the newspaper Pravda. In 1935-1936, they traveled around the United States, which resulted in the book “One-Storey America” (1937). The books of Ilf and Petrov have been repeatedly dramatized and filmed.
In 1938 Petrov persuaded his friend A. Kozachinsky to write the story “The Green Van”. In 1939 he joined the CPSU (b).
Petrov put a lot of effort into publishing notebooks Ilfa, I've got it in mind great work"My friend Ilf." In 1939-1942 Petrov worked on the novel “Journey to the Land of Communism,” in which he described the USSR in 1963 (excerpts published posthumously in 1965).
During the Great Patriotic War Petrov became a front-line correspondent.
Evgeniy Petrov died on July 2, 1942 - the plane on which he was returning to Moscow from Sevastopol was shot down by a German fighter over the territory of the Rostov region, near the village of Mankovo. A monument has been erected at the site of the plane crash.
Years of life: from 11/17/1903 to 07/02/1942
Soviet satirist, journalist, film screenwriter. The most famous and significant works: “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf”, written in collaboration with.
Born in Odessa in the family of a history teacher. Real name– Evgeny Petrovich Kataev (pseudonym taken from his patronymic). Famous children's writer Valentin Kataev is the elder brother of E. Petrov. He graduated from the 5th Odessa Classical Gymnasium (1920), after graduation he worked as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency, then served as a criminal investigation inspector.
In 1923, E. Petrov moved to Moscow and became an employee of the Red Pepper magazine. Quite quickly, Petrov’s talent as a feuilletonist emerged and the satirical genre became the main one for the writer. In 1925, E. Petrov and E. Petrov met in the editorial office of the Gudok newspaper. According to some sources, the idea of co-authorship was proposed by E. Petrov’s brother, Valentin Kataev. Ilf and Petrov jointly write feuilletons, come up with drawings, etc. First a great work, co-written, was the novel “The Twelve Chairs,” which immediately brought fame to the writers. Despite significant censorship edits (up to a third of the book's volume was cut out) and the lukewarm attitude of critics, The Twelve Chairs gained enormous popularity among readers. In 1931, Ilf and Petrov wrote a sequel, the novel “The Golden Calf,” which also gained success.
In 1935-1936, Ilf and Petrov traveled around the United States, as a result of which they wrote the book “One-Storey America,” which became their last joint work. In 1937, Ilya Ilf dies of tuberculosis. E. Petrov continues to work as a journalist, begins a book of memoirs “My Friend Ilf” and a novel “Journey to the Land of Communism.” With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, E. Petrov became a war correspondent and on July 2, 1942, the plane on which he was returning to Moscow from Sevastopol was shot down by a German fighter over the territory of the Rostov region, near the village of Mankovo. A monument has been erected at the site of the plane crash.
There are disagreements regarding the year of birth of E. Petrov. Long time V literary encyclopedias The year 1902 was indicated, but the writer's relatives claimed that he was born in 1903, and in the end the date was changed.
While working in the criminal investigation department, E. Petrov personally detained his former classmate and colleague, Alexander Kozachinsky, who became the leader of the gang. The court sentenced Kozachinsky to death, but E. Petrov achieved a revision of the sentence and replaced the execution with imprisonment in a camp. After Kozachinsky was released from the camp in 1925, E. Petrov got him a job at Gudok. In 1938, Kozachinsky, at the insistence of the same Petrov, wrote the story “The Green Van”.
According to the original idea of Ilf and Petrov, Ostap Bender was supposed to become a minor character.
In the perception of the readership, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov turned out to be inseparable. They themselves joked about this: “ Ilf and Petrov are tormented by doubts - whether they will be included in the allowance as one person».
E. Petrov had two sons: Pyotr Kataev, a famous cameraman (“Three Poplars on Plyushchikha”, “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, etc.) and Ilya Kataev, who became a composer (“Standing at a Stop”, etc.).
Bibliography
Works of art
"" (1928) co-authored with I. Ilf
"" (1931) co-authored with I. Ilf
"" (1936) co-authored with I. Ilf
“Journey to the Land of Communism”, unfinished, publ. 1965
Film scripts
“Black Barrack” (1933) co-authored with I. Ilf
“Once Upon a Time in the Summer” (1936) co-authored with I. Ilf
"Musical History" (1940)
"Anton Ivanovich is angry" (1941)
"Air Cabby" (1942)
In addition, E. Petrov, independently and in collaboration with Ilya Ilf, wrote a huge number of feuilletons, essays and notes that were published in periodicals during the writer’s lifetime.
Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances
The works of E. Petrov, written in collaboration with I. Ilf, have been filmed many times both in the USSR (Russia) and abroad. The most frequently filmed work is the novel “The Twelve Chairs”, film adaptations of which are included in the “golden fund” of Russian cinema.
The most famous film adaptations:
The Golden Calf (1968, USSR) dir. Mikhail Shveitser
12 chairs (1971, USSR) dir. Leonid Gaidai
12 chairs (1976, USSR) dir. Mark Zakharov
According to the rules in force at all times, biography creative personality consists of facts, guesses and outright fiction. The biography of the famous Soviet writer Yevgeny Petrov was no exception. It is true that the child was born in Odessa, a city near the Black Sea. Father's last name is Kataev. Even many readers today know about the writer Valentin Kataev. But not everyone knows that Valentin is the older brother, and Evgeniy is the younger. It so happened in life that the younger one had to work under a pseudonym in order to avoid confusion on a historical scale and when solving everyday issues.
Kataev Jr. received his education at a classical gymnasium. In the early 20s of the last century, after completion Civil War Evgeniy came to Moscow following his older brother. Before that, he managed to work in his homeland in the criminal investigation department. The work left its mark on the memory for a long time, and on the basis of these “traces” the young writer wrote the story “The Green Van”, based on which the film of the same name was made twice. Due to the circumstances, the detective’s career in the capital did not work out, and the visiting Odessa resident had to retrain as a journalist. Initially, he was good at humorous and satirical essays.
It should be emphasized that Evgeniy’s natural gifts - intelligence and excellent memory - allowed him to quickly get used to the literary environment of the capital. The first humoresques and sketches from life were published on the pages of the magazine “Red Pepper”. After some time, Petrov took the position of executive secretary of this publication. At that time, the young and energetic journalist was called a “multi-station operator.” He had the strength and imagination to write several texts at once and send them to different editors. A similar practice is still used today, but not every subject who stains paper can handle such a load.
Creativity is like life
The personal life of Yevgeny Petrov was simple and even banal. In the turmoil of editorial affairs, he fell in love with the girl Valentina, who turned out to be eight years younger than the groom. The husband and wife, as they say, coincided in character, upbringing and temperament. The family was formed once and for all. And each child was born as a unique creation. The Petrov couple had two sons. And every literary work was prepared for release, like a beloved child. Similar harmony in family relationships is extremely rare.
Meanwhile, life in the country flowed and seethed. Already an accomplished writer and journalist, Evgeniy Petrov set himself and solved large-scale tasks. Some critics note that the pinnacle of his work were the novels “12 Chairs” and “The Golden Calf,” created in collaboration with his colleague Ilya Ilf. For a significant number of connoisseurs, the names of the authors - Ilf and Petrov - have become an idiom, stable combination. Among those noticed and appreciated is their book “One-Storey America.” Before reading these travel accounts, Soviet people knew little about how the American people lived in the outback.
When the war began, Yevgeny Petrov began working as a correspondent for the Sovinformburo - the Soviet Information Bureau. At the same time, he sent his materials from the active army to the newspapers Pravda, Krasnaya Zvezda, and the magazine Ogonyok. War correspondent Petrov died in a plane crash in 1942 while returning from a mission to Moscow. After his death, collections of his works “Moscow is behind us” and “Front-line diary” were published.
Evgeny Petrovich Kataev, aka Evgeny Petrov
In Odessa, the Kataevs lived on Kanatnaya Street, and by 1920 Evgeniy had graduated from the 5th Odessa classical gymnasium. During his studies, his classmate was Alexander Kozachinsky, a nobleman on his father’s side, who later wrote the adventure story “The Green Van”, the prototype of which for the main character - the head of the Odessa district police department, Volodya Patrikeev - was Evgeniy Petrov. Sasha and Zhenya were friends and fate brought the two friends together through life in a bizarre way.
A. Kozachinsky, a man of an adventurous bent and enormous charm, from the age of 19, having given up his detective work in the Bolshevik criminal investigation department, led a gang of raiders operating in Odessa and the surrounding area. Ironically, in 1922 it was Evgeniy Kataev, then an employee of the Odessa criminal investigation department, who arrested him. After a chase with a shootout, Kozachinsky hid in the attic of one of the houses, where he was discovered by a classmate. Subsequently, Evgeniy achieved a review of the criminal case and the replacement of A. Kozachinsky with an exceptional punishment, execution, to imprisonment in a camp. Moreover, in the fall of 1925, Kozachinsky was granted amnesty. He was met at the exit from prison by his mother and true friend, Evgeny Kataev. Journalist of the publication “Top Secret” Vadim Lebedev concludes his essay “The Green Van” with facts that surprise us, emphasizing the inexplicability, supernatural nature of the connection that existed between these people: “1941 separated them. Petrov goes to the front as a war correspondent. Kozachinsky was evacuated to Siberia for health reasons. In the fall of 1942, having received news of the death of a friend, Kozachinsky fell ill, and a few months later, on January 9, 1943, a modest obituary appeared in the newspaper “Soviet Siberia”: “Soviet writer Alexander Kozachinsky has died.”. In 1938, E. Petrov persuaded Kozachinsky, with whom they had once read Mine Reed as children, to write the adventure story “The Green Van”
From the “Double Biographies” written jointly with Ilya Ilf, we learn that E. Petrov “... graduated from a classical gymnasium in 1920. In the same year he became a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency. After that, he served as a criminal investigation inspector for three years. The “literary work” was a protocol for examining the corpse of an unknown man. In 1923, Petrov came to Moscow, where he continued his education, and also became an employee of the Red Pepper magazine. His older brother, the writer Valentin Kataev (1897-1986), had a significant influence on Evgeniy. ) Kataev’s wife recalled: “I have never seen such affection between the brothers as Valya and Zhenya had. Actually, Valya made his brother write every morning by calling him - Zhenya got up late and began to swear that he was woken up...” Okay, keep swearing,” Valya said and hung up.”
The literary collaboration between Ilf and Petrov lasted only ten years. Since 1927, they have written numerous feuilletons, the novels “The Twelve Chairs”, “The Golden Calf”, the story “The Bright Personality”, a cycle of short stories about the city of Kolokolamsk and the tales of the New Scheherazade. Essays about his stay in the United States in 1935 were compiled into the book “One-Storey America.” American impressions gave Ilf and Petrov material for another work - big story"Tonya".
Ilf and Petrov wrote enthusiastically, after finishing their working day at the editorial office, they returned home at two in the morning. The novel “The Twelve Chairs” was published in 1928 - first in a magazine, and then as a separate book. And he immediately became extremely popular. The story about the adventures of the charming adventurer and swindler Ostap Bender and his companion, the former leader of the nobility Kisa Vorobyaninov, was captivating with brilliant dialogues, bright characters, a subtle satire on Soviet reality and philistinism. Laughter was the authors' weapon against vulgarity, stupidity and idiotic pathos. The book quickly went viral with quotes:
- “All smuggling is done in Odessa, on Malaya Arnautskaya Street,”
- “Dusya, I am a man exhausted by Narzan,”
- “A sultry woman is a poet’s dream,”
- "Bargaining is inappropriate here"
- “Money in the morning, chairs in the evening”
- "Who needs a mare as a bride"
- “Only cats will be born quickly,”
- "Giant of thought, father of Russian democracy"
Odessa, a monument to Ilf and Petrov was opened in the Sculpture Garden of the Literary Museum.
It turned out to be impossible to finish what I started together with Ilf alone, although shortly before Ilf’s death, the co-authors had already tried to work separately - on “ One-story America"But then, working in different parts of Moscow and even not seeing each other every day, the writers continued to live in common creative life. Every thought was the fruit of mutual disputes and discussions, every image, every remark had to go through the judgment of a comrade. With the death of Ilf, the writer of “Ilf and Petrov” passed away.
E. Petrov in the book "My Friend Ilf". intended to talk about time and about himself. About myself - in this case it would mean: about Ilf and about myself. His plan went far beyond the personal. Here the era already captured in their joint works had to be reflected anew, in different features and with the use of other material. Reflections on literature, on the laws of creativity, on humor and satire. From the articles that he published under the title “From the Memoirs of Ilf,” as well as from the plans and sketches found in his archive, it is clear that the book would have been generously saturated with humor. The factual material that abounds in this work, which has only just begun, is extremely rich.
As a correspondent for Pravda, E. Petrov had to travel a lot around the country. In 1937 he was on Far East. Impressions from this trip were reflected in the essays “Young Patriots” and “Old Paramedic”. At this time, Petrov also wrote literary-critical articles and was also involved in a lot of organizational work. He was deputy editor of the Literaturnaya Gazeta, in 1940 he became editor of the Ogonyok magazine and brought genuine creative passion to his editorial work.
In 1940-1941 E. Petrov turns to the comedy film genre. He wrote five scripts: “Air Cabby”, “Silent Ukrainian Night”, “Restless Man”, “Musical History” and “Anton Ivanovich is Angry” - the last three in co-authorship with G. Moonblit.
"A Musical Story", "Anton Ivanovich is Angry" and "The Air Cabby" were filmed.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, E. Petrov became a correspondent for the Sovinformburo. His front-line essays appeared in Pravda, Izvestia, Ogonyok, and Red Star. He sent telegraphic correspondence to the USA. Knowing America well and able to speak with ordinary Americans, he did a lot during the war to convey to the American people the truth about the heroic feat Soviet people.
In the fall of 1941, these were essays about the defenders of Moscow. E. Petrov was on the front line, appeared in liberated villages when the ashes were still smoking there, and talked with prisoners.
When the Nazis were driven away from Moscow, E. Petrov went to the Karelian front. In his correspondence, he spoke about the heroism and courage of the defenders of the Soviet Arctic.
E. Petrov achieved permission to go to besieged Sevastopol with difficulty. The city was blocked from air and sea. But our ships went there and planes flew there, delivering ammunition, taking out the wounded and residents. The leader of the destroyers "Tashkent" (it was called the "blue cruiser"), on which E. Petrov was, successfully reached the goal when, on the way back, he was hit by a German bomb. And all the time, while the ships that came to help were taking off the wounded, children and women, the Tashkent was under fire.
1942, E. Petrov on the leader “Tashkent” broke into besieged Sevastopol. From left to right - E. Petrov and commander of “Tashkent” V. N. Eroshenko
Petrov refused to leave the ship. He remained with the crew until they arrived at the port, being on deck all the time and helping to fight to save the ship. “When on the day of departure I entered in the morning the veranda on which Petrov was sleeping,” said Admiral I.S. Isakov, “the entire veranda and all the furniture on it were covered with scribbled sheets of paper. Each was carefully pressed down with a pebble. These were Evgeniy Petrov’s notes drying , along with his field bag, fell into the water during the battle." Here was his last, unfinished essay, “Breaking the Blockade.”
Returning from the front, on July 2, 1942, the plane on which front-line journalist E. Petrov was returning to Moscow from Sevastopol was shot down by a German fighter over the territory of the Rostov region, near the village of Mankovo. He was not even 40 years old.
Konstantin Simonov dedicated the poem "It's not true, a friend doesn't die..." to the memory of Evgeniy Petrov.
Evgeny Petrov was awarded the Order of Lenin and a medal. In Odessa, where they were born and started creative path satirical writers, there is Ilf and Petrov Street.
The writer E. Petrov raised two wonderful sons. We know the cameraman Pyotr Kataev (1930-1986), who shot the main films of T. Lioznova. These are the well-known “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, “Three Poplars on Plyushchikha”, “We, the Undersigned”, “Carnival”, and we are familiar with the composer Ilya Kataev (1939-2009) from the play “I’m Standing at a Stop” from the Soviet television series "Day by Day". I. Kataev is the author of music for S. Gerasimov’s films “By the Lake” and “Loving a Man.”
Felix KAMENETSKY.
