Biography. Ostap Bender - the real story of the great schemer (2 photos)

According to another version, Ilf and Petrov deliberately gave Bender an “international” (Ukrainian-Jewish-Turkish) name precisely in order to exclude the above interpretations and emphasize the universality and universality of this personality. As you know, Odessa is an international city, as was the duo of authors of “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf”. This version is more controversial compared to the first, because at the end of the 19th and beginning of centuries in Odessa, where a significant number of Jews lived, their numbers increased. Including because of those who fled there from the pogroms (in particular, from the Jewish town of Bendery).

It is obvious that Bender studied at the gymnasium, since he once recalled Latin exception words memorized there (novel The Golden Calf, Chapter XVII). In addition, in the same novel (chap. XIII), at the mention Vasisualiy Lokhankin O homespun truth of life, Ostap Bender knowledgeably notes:

Homespun?.. Isn’t it hewn, homespun and leather? So-so. In general, tell me, from which class of the gymnasium were you kicked out for failure? From the sixth? ... So you didn’t get to Kraevich’s physics?

"The twelve Chairs"

“At half past eleven, from the north-west, from the direction of the village of Chmarovka, a young man of about twenty-eight entered Stargorod. A homeless person was running after him.”

This is how he first appears in the novel. great schemer.

According to a number of commentators on the novel (in particular, M. Odessky and D. Feldman), the description indicates that a prisoner entered Stargorod, repeatedly convicted and very recently released, that is, a recidivist criminal (a fraudster, since immediately after his release he builds plans related to fraud). In fact, a homeless tramp who has neither a coat nor socks in the cold spring (ice on puddles), but travels in a fashionable suit and smart shoes:

“He didn’t even have a coat. A young man entered the city in a green, narrow, waist-length suit.”

But for a repeat offender there is nothing unusual here. He does not have an apartment and should not have one - Soviet legislation provided that those sentenced “to imprisonment” were deprived of “the right to occupied living space.” This means that he became homeless after his first term, there was nowhere to return, and he had nowhere to store his wardrobe. If “a young man of about twenty-eight” was arrested before the onset of cold weather, then he did not wear a coat. Bender kept his shoes and suit because they were taken away after the sentencing and returned upon release, but the socks and underwear that were left for the prisoners had become worn out.

Scams

The liveliness of his character and love for banknotes allowed Ostap to carry out quite witty scams, the victims of which were large groups people at the same time.

In Stargorod, Ostap one evening put together an underground organization to overthrow Soviet power - the “Union of Sword and Ploughshare.” Its members, the Stargorod “formers” and Nepmen, believed so much in the seriousness of the idea that they eventually confessed to the OGPU, and from one of them, Bender managed to obtain cash subsidies for the “sacred goal” twice more.

In the Volga town of Vasyuki, Ostap managed to impersonate an international grandmaster, give a simultaneous play session in the local chess section (which, with Ostap’s light hand, was renamed the “Club four horses"), and convince naive provincials of the reality of organizing the "International Vasyukin Tournament of 1927", where the strongest chess players of our time were supposed to meet. And after the tournament, Vasyuki, with its advanced idea of ​​chess thought, was to become the new capital of the USSR (New Moscow), and subsequently of the whole world.

Having received Adam Kozlevich’s car at his disposal, Bender, on the way to Chernomorsk, successfully posed as the commander of a large motor rally, “skimming foam, cream and similar sour cream from this highly cultural undertaking.”

Killing and resurrecting a hero

In the preface to The Golden Calf, Ilf and Petrov jokingly said that towards the end of writing The Twelve Chairs, the question of a spectacular ending arose. A dispute arose between the co-authors whether to kill Ostap or leave him alive. In the end, they decided to rely on lot. Two pieces of paper were placed in the sugar bowl, on one of which a skull and crossbones were drawn. The skull fell out - and thirty minutes later the great schemer was gone.

According to the testimony of E. Petrov’s brother, Valentin Kataev (in the book “My Diamond Crown”), the plot basis of “The Twelve Chairs” was taken from the story “The Six Napoleons” by A. Conan Doyle, in which gem was hidden in one of the plaster busts of the French emperor. Two criminals were hunting for the busts, one of whom was eventually stabbed to death with a razor by his accomplice. In addition, Kataev also mentions “a hilariously funny story by a young Soviet writer from Petrograd, Lev Lunts, who died early, who wrote about how a certain bourgeois family flees from Soviet power abroad, hiding their diamonds in a clothes brush.”

"Golden calf"

According to commentator Daniel Kluger, the structure of The Golden Calf is that of a classic detective story, elements of which are parodied.

The actions of Ostap Bender in the first part of his biography (“12 chairs”) easily fall under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code, while in the second part — “The Golden Calf” — he is, in fact, investigating a crime. Such duality of the hero is quite in the spirit of a classic detective story.

The image of Bender in novels

It can be noted that the images of Bender in the novels “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” are quite different. In “The Twelve Chairs” his image is rather schematic; in fact, he is a conventional character. He practically makes no mistakes, everything comes surprisingly easily to him. In “The Golden Calf” the image of Bender is deeper; in him you can already feel a living person, with all his pains, joys and dreams.

Bender is the “house manager” in some imitations of Ilf and Petrov

Possible prototypes of Ostap Bender

Osip Shor is considered the main prototype of Bender. He was born on May 30 in Nikopol. B - tried to study at the Petrograd Technological Institute, but, returning to Odessa, he went through a lot of adventures: in order to obtain a livelihood, he presented himself as an artist, then a chess grandmaster, then a fiancé, or a representative of an underground anti-Soviet organization.

Some researchers believe that the image of Bender embodied the characters of his three creators (including Valentin Kataev). The features of an arrogant provincial are taken from Kataev, an inexhaustible passion for jokes from Petrov, and skepticism and elements of disappointment from Ilf. Thus, Bender is unique in that his character, like a kaleidoscope, turns characters of three completely different faces, which gives it extraordinary artistic depth.

Bender on screen

Ostap Bender - main character novels by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf”, “the great strategist”, “an ideological fighter for banknotes”, who knew “four hundred relatively honest ways of taking away (withdrawing) money”. One of the most popular heroes of a picaresque novel in Russian literature.

Bender himself introduces himself as Ostap-Suleiman-Berta-Maria-Bender Bey(in "The Twelve Chairs") and Bender-Zadunaisky(in "The Golden Calf") In the novel "The Golden Calf" Bender is called Ostap Ibrahimovic.

Biography

Origin of the name

From his biography, he usually reported only one detail: “My dad,” he said, “was a Turkish subject.”

According to one version, the mention of the father’s “Turkish citizenship” and the patronymic “Ibrahimovic” do not indicate an ethnic connection with Turkey. In this, contemporaries saw a hint of Bender’s father’s residence in Odessa, where Jewish businessmen accepted Turkish citizenship so that their children could bypass a number of discriminatory laws related to religious affiliation, and at the same time receive grounds for exemption from conscription during the Russian-Turkish war. In addition, the name Ibrahim is known to be the Arabic form of the name Abraham.

According to another version, Ilf and Petrov deliberately gave Bender an “international” Ukrainian ( Ostap) - Hebrew ( Bender) - Turkish ( Ibrahimovic, -Suleiman, -Beat) name precisely in order to exclude the above interpretations and emphasize the universality, the universality of this personality. As you know, Odessa is an international city, as was the duo of authors of “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf”. The possibility that Odessa authors borrowed the surname of the main character from the name of a city close to their homeland, which is called Bender in Romanian (Romanian: Bender), was expressed by historian Viktor Khudyakov. After all, in the novel “12 Chairs” the acrobat of the Columbus Theater is also mentioned Georgette Tiraspolskikh- and Bendery and Tiraspol are located opposite each other on different banks of the Dniester. In addition, the city of Bendery has a Turkish past, and its most important attraction, widely known outside the city, is the Turkish fortress.

The ending of the novel “The Golden Calf” also confirms V. Khudyakov’s version: Ostap does not cross the USSR border with Poland or Finland, does not sail across the sea towards Istanbul, but chooses to cross Romania, the Dniester River, near Tiraspol - and on the other side, with the former then the Romanian side is just Bendery.

Bender's life until 1927

"The twelve Chairs"

“At half past eleven, from the north-west, from the direction of the village of Chmarovka, a young man of about twenty-eight entered Stargorod. A homeless person was running after him.”

This is how the great schemer appears for the first time in the novel.

According to a number of commentators on the novel (in particular, M. Odessky and D. Feldman), the description indicates that a prisoner entered Stargorod, repeatedly convicted and very recently released, that is, a recidivist criminal (a fraudster, since immediately after his release he builds plans related to fraud). In fact, a homeless tramp who has neither a coat nor socks in the cold spring (ice on puddles), but travels in a fashionable suit and smart shoes:

“He didn’t even have a coat. A young man entered the city in a green, narrow, waist-length suit.”

But for a repeat offender there is nothing unusual here. He does not have an apartment and should not have one - Soviet legislation provided that those sentenced “to imprisonment” were deprived of “the right to occupied living space.” This means that he became homeless after his first term, there was nowhere to return, and he had nowhere to store his wardrobe. If “a young man of about twenty-eight” was arrested before the onset of cold weather, then he did not wear a coat. Bender kept his shoes and suit because they were taken away after the sentencing and returned upon release, but the socks and underwear that were left for the prisoners were worn out.

"Golden calf"

The actions of Ostap Bender in the first part of his biography (“12 chairs”) may fall under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code, while in the second part - “The Golden Calf” - he is, in fact, investigating a crime, albeit for the purpose of blackmail. Such duality of the hero is quite in the spirit of a classic detective story.

Killing and resurrecting a hero

In the preface to The Golden Calf, Ilf and Petrov jokingly said that towards the end of writing The Twelve Chairs, the question of a spectacular ending arose. A dispute arose between the co-authors whether to kill Ostap or leave him alive, which even caused a quarrel between the co-authors. In the end, they decided to rely on lot. Two pieces of paper were placed in the sugar bowl, on one of which a skull and crossbones were drawn. The skull fell out - and thirty minutes later the great schemer was gone.

According to the testimony of E. Petrov’s brother, Valentin Kataev (in the book “My Diamond Crown”), the plot basis of “The Twelve Chairs” was taken from the story “The Six Napoleons” by A. Conan Doyle, in which the precious stone was hidden in one of the plaster busts of the French Emperor. Two criminals were hunting for the busts, one of whom was eventually stabbed to death with a razor by his accomplice. In addition, Kataev also mentions “a hilariously funny story by a young Soviet writer from Petrograd, Lev Lunts, who died early, who wrote about how a certain bourgeois family flees from Soviet power abroad, hiding their diamonds in a clothes brush.”

Writer Valentin Kataev indirectly speaks in favor of this version: “As for the central figure of the novel by Ostap Bender, he was written based on one of our Odessa friends. In life, of course, he bore a different surname, but the name Ostap was preserved as a very rare one. The prototype of Ostap Bender was the elder brother of one remarkable young poet... He had nothing to do with literature and served in the criminal investigation department to combat banditry..."

After the publication of the book, O. Shor showed up to Ilf and Petrov in order to demand “author’s royalties” for using the image, but the writers laughed and explained that the image was a collective one, therefore there was no talk of remuneration, but they drank a “peace treaty” with him, after to which Osip left his claims, asking the writers only one thing - to resurrect the hero.

It should also be noted that in 1926, a year before Bender appeared on the pages of the book, in Moscow, where Ilf, Petrov and Kataev lived, with great And Mikhail Bulgakov’s play “Zoyka’s Apartment,” showing the morals of the NEP, was staged with great success (two hundred performances were given in total) at the Vakhtangov Theater. The play features the character Amethyst, aka Putkinovsky, aka Anton Siguradze, who is very similar to the future Bender. This is a charming rogue, an artistic rogue, an elegant swindler, very active and eloquent, getting out of various situations. Amethyst, like Bender, was released from prison before his first appearance in the play. Amethyst was shot in Baku, just as Bender was stabbed to death in Moscow - but both of them miraculously resurrected. Amethysts can convince anyone of anything (except the police). Amethyst's blue dream - Cote d'Azur and white pants (" - Ah, Nice, Nice!..[cf. Oh, Rio, Rio!..] The azure sea, and I’m on its shore - in white trousers!»

In the 19th century, the image of the great schemer with a dream of Rio was anticipated by Baron Nikolai von Mengden (son of General von Mengden and Baroness Amalia) (1822-1888), who in 1844, in an adventurous way, out of idle curiosity, ended up in Rio de Janeiro. Posing as a Russian senator, he received an audience with the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II. After spending time in Rio de Janeiro “enjoyably,” Nikolai Mengden returned to Russia, where he had already been dismissed from service. This story was told in the memoirs of Baroness Sophia Mengden, published in 1908 in the magazine “Russian Antiquity”.

Bender on screen

There were film adaptations of the novels both in the USSR and abroad. For example, “The Twelve Chairs” was staged in Poland, Germany, and Cuba. In the first foreign film adaptations, the plot was significantly changed, and the name of the main character was also changed. Below is a list of actors who played the role of Ostap Bender.

Monuments to Ostap Bender

Monument to Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov in Cheboksary

Ostap Bender is immortalized by monuments in a number of cities:

• Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region. - immortalized together with Shura Balaganov in the park named after. P. P. Schmidt.
• Zhmerynka, Vinnytsia region of Ukraine, near the station - a monument in the form of a standing Ostap surrounded by chairs.
• Melitopol, intersection of B. Khmelnitsky Ave. and st. Kirov, near the City cafe.
• Pyatigorsk - a monument near the “Proval”.
• St. Petersburg - a monument to the great schemer was erected on July 25, 2000, on Ostap’s “birthday,” on Italianskaya Street, building 4, at the entrance to the Zolotoy Ostap restaurant.
• Starobelsk, Lugansk region of Ukraine - a monument to Ostap Bender was installed in the “Student” park of LNU named after. Shevchenko.
• Kharkov, a number of monuments (for more details, see Monuments to the heroes of the works of Ilf and Petrov in Kharkov).
• Cheboksary - a monument to Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov on Efremov Boulevard (Cheboksary Arbat).
• Yekaterinburg - a monument to Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov was erected in August 2007 on Belinsky Street.

• In honor of Ostap Bender, the annual humor festival “Golden Ostap”, held since 1992 in St. Petersburg, was named, and awards were awarded as part of this festival.

• OJSC "VINAP" (formerly Novosibirsk Brewing Plant) produced beer under the brand " Comrade Bender"with an image on the label of Bender, Kozlevich, Panikovsky and Balaganov in the Wildebeest car and with quotes from the book.

• In the early 90s, one of O. Bender’s film performers, Archil Gomiashvili, founded the Golden Ostap club/restaurant in Moscow.

Links

• Web-magazine “Evening windbag”. In the footsteps of the Great Schemer Ostap Bender

Notes

1. M. Odessky, D. Feldman. Literary strategy and political intrigue. “Twelve Chairs” in Soviet criticism at the turn of the 1920s-1930s
2. Khudyakov V.V. The scam of Chichikov and Ostap Bender // In the blooming acacias the city... Bendery: people, events, facts / ed. V. Valavin. - Bendery: Polygraphist, 1999. - pp. 83-85. - 2000 copies.
3. Khudyakov V.V.- ISBN 5-88568-090-6
4. In the blooming acacias the city... Bendery: people, events, facts / ed. V. Valavin. - Bendery: Polygraphist, 1999. - 464 p. - 2000 copies.- ISBN 5-88568-090-6
5. Eduard Bagritsky.
6. "Smugglers" ()
7. "The Twelve Chairs", ch. XXX "At the Columbus Theater"
8. Housing Code of the RSFSR, article 60, part 2, norm 18
9. Daniel Kluger. The first detective of the Soviet Union
10. Electronic library - Books for readers and downloaders (; Science Fiction. Fantasy Fantasy Rassadin S., Sarnov. In the land of literary heroes 1-2
11. Information about Osip Shor
12. Osip Shor With reference to materials from the newspaper “Novye Izvestia” dated November 6, 1999.
13. V. Kataev. My Diamond Crown / M., “Soviet Writer”, 1979.
14. Epoch. Events and people. //TV channel “Belarus”, November 23, 2011, 15:30 Sergey Belyakov. Lonely sail of Ostap Bender / “New World” 2005, No. 12
15. Levin A. B.“Twelve Chairs” from “Zoyka’s Apartment”
16. Michael Bulgakov .
17. Collected works in five volumes. Volume 3: Plays. M: Fiction, 1992. “Zoyka’s apartment.” Comments.
18. “Excerpts from a family chronicle” (from the memoirs of Baroness Sophia Mengden)

List of foreign film adaptations Andrey Veligzhanin. The choir soloist sang for Vysotsky in “Stryapukha” / “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, 02.26.2004 Ostap Bender - the main character famous novels Russian literature, each replica of which has long been parsed into quotes. This is an amazingly charming swindler, smart, subtle and incredibly inventive, whose goal, faith and eternal passion is money. He does not hide his sincere love for banknotes, and his whole life is subordinated to their extraction. Despite the fact that in the end all his grandiose projects fail, Bender always remains a winner - even with his throat cut, even robbed and caught, as happened to him in the denouement of both novels.

He calls himself Ostap-Suleiman-Bertha-Maria-Bender Bey, as he introduced himself in the novel “The Twelve Chairs”, and in “The Golden Calf” he called himself Bender-Zadunaisky, although throughout the entire novel he is simply called Ostap Ibrahimovich. Ostap's year of birth is also ambiguous - in "The Twelve Chairs" he was 27 years old in 1927, while in "The Golden Calf" he mentioned that he was 33 years old ("the age of Christ"), the time of action is 1930. So, we can consider Ostap Bender’s birth year to be 1900 or 1897.

From the scattered and sometimes contradictory stories of Ostap, which he told to various characters on different pages, Ostap’s childhood passed either in Mirgorod or in Kherson, and in 1922 he was in Tagansk prison. And it was after leaving prison that he developed his famous “400 relatively fair ways of taking money from the population.”

So, appearing for the first time in the novel “The Twelve Chairs,” Bender arrives in Stargorod, where he immediately begins to develop vigorous activity. It’s funny that many critics immediately saw in the “young man of about twenty-eight” a former recidivist prisoner. Indeed, Ostap Bender had nothing, he didn’t even have a coat, but at the same time he managed to look like a real dandy and a heartthrob.

Bender's charisma literally captivates the reader from the first appearance - every phrase is a pearl, every decision speaks of genius. It is not surprising that he instantly becomes a leader in any society. “I will command the parade!” - this famous phrase of Bender has long become a saying, and, they say, this phrase in this wording had to be abolished in official documents.

During the course of “The Twelve Chairs,” Bender has to lead what is, in his opinion, not the most intellectually burdened group of adventurers just like himself, but Bender never loses his famous optimism, even in the most deplorable circumstances.

Bender's mind is unusually flexible - sometimes he is born simply genius

personal plans right in the course of events - so, still entering Stargorod in one suit, the young man was not at all sure what he would do in this city - whether he would become a polygamist, or would distribute the picture “The Bolsheviks Write a Letter to Chamberlain.” And in the end he meets Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov, who tells him amazing story family diamonds from Madame Petukhova. So, Ostap’s plans changed instantly, and the new friends decided to set off to get treasures.

Money is the idol, the idol and the meaning of Ostap’s whole life; he sincerely and selflessly loves these “yellow circles”.

“Since there are some banknotes wandering around the country, there must be people who have a lot of them,” Ostap is sacredly sure of this and is ready to put his life into searching.

Alas, the search for the family diamonds, which sometimes seemed so close, was not successful for Bender. Moreover, at the end of the novel, Ostap is killed by the former leader of the nobility Vorobyaninov. By the way, they say that the authors of the novel, Ilf and Petrov, had serious contradictions about the ending of the novel - should Bender be left alive or killed? In the end, everything was decided by lot - and Kisa Vorobyaninov struck the razor along the defenseless neck of the sleeping Ostap...

They'll get a million soon. Alas, despite the fact that the million still went to Ostap (“Here I am a millionaire! An idiot’s dreams have come true!”), he was never able to keep it and was robbed by border guards while crossing the border.

Surprisingly, the lack of happy endings in both novels does not sadden the readers at all, although all of them, no doubt, succumb to Bender’s charisma and sincerely wish him luck in his scams. So, the end of each book seems to promise - Ostap Bender will return again, with a new adventure and new congenial ideas.

By the way, they said that Ilf and Petrov announced a third novel with Bender, and even its title was published in the press - “Scoundrel”, but this novel, alas, never saw the light of day.

There are many versions of who was the prototype of Ostap Bender - some even name the name Valentin Kataev, although Kataev himself said that it could be one of the writers’ Odessa childhood friends.

The image of Ostap Bender was embodied on the screens by several brilliant Russian actors, among whom the most prominent are Sergei Yursky, Archil Gomiashvili, Oleg Menshikov, and, of course, Andrei Mironov.

Monuments to Ostap Bender stand today in many Russian and Ukrainian cities - St. Petersburg and Kharkov, Pyatigorsk and Kremenchug, as well as in Elista, Yekaterinburg, Berdyansk and many others.

Despite the fact that the first novel by Ilf and Petrov was published more than 80 years ago, Ostap Bender remains one of the most recognizable, bright and timeless characters today, and each of his lines has long become a quotation. Critics and literary scholars can argue about how exactly the authors managed to create such a controversial image - at its core, Bender was an ordinary swindler and scoundrel, and at the same time it is simply impossible not to love him. Charming and gallant, daring and noble in his own way, stylish and poor - this is him, Ostap Ibrahimovich Bender, “the son of a Turkish subject.”

“I’m certainly not a cherub. I don’t have wings, but I respect the Criminal Code. That’s my weakness.”

On an early spring morning in 1927, from the direction of Bolshaya Nikitskaya, I approached the massive door with a half-rifle step. A tall man middle-aged in an elegant suit and patent leather boots. He looked at the brass plate. It read: “Editorial office of the newspaper “Gudok.”

Having shown the red book to the watchman, the tall man went up to the third floor and entered the room of the “4th strip” without knocking. In a room smoky with cheap cigarettes there were two young reporters.

“Greetings to the workers of the pen,” said the newcomer.

The plot of “12 Chairs” was suggested to the writing tandem by Valentin Kataev

He sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs.

Hello, Valyun, - that’s what Evgeny Petrov called his older brother Valentin Kataev.
“Hello, Valentin,” nodded the second reporter with sad eyes. His last name was Ilf.
“I have a business proposal for you... For both of you,” Kataev said conspiratorially and looked around. - I want you to become my... literary blacks.

Evgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf looked at each other in bewilderment.

IN Lately Valentin Kataev was haunted by the thought that he could become the Soviet Dumas father. Someone told him a gossip that Dumas did not write his novels himself, but hired aspiring writers, gave them a plot, they wrote, and he edited. Valentin Petrovich told Gudok reporters his story. The story was that a certain district leader of the nobility, Vorobyaninov, was hunting for jewelry sewn into one of the twelve chairs. Ilf and Petrov liked the plot. Kataev's authority guaranteed publication and, consequently, royalties. Without much thought, the newly minted literary blacks began work that same day.

Ilf and Petrov began writing their first novel as literary blacks

As literary heroes We decided to make the most of all our friends. Literary caricatures were made of all friends and acquaintances. Almost every hero had his own prototype. They decided to introduce one mutual friend, a certain inspector of the Odessa criminal investigation department, into the novel as a cameo person. They left it for him real name- Ostap. As for the surname... Ilf gave him the surname of his neighbor, the owner of the butcher shop Bender. Ilf liked the sound of it. However, as the work progressed, this same Ostap suddenly began to crawl out everywhere, “pushing the rest of the heroes with his elbows,” and literally after a few chapters he turned into the main thing actor. As a result, when Ilf and Petrov brought the manuscript to Kataev for editing, it turned out to have a completely different idea. Kataev realized that in a short time literary blacks turned into real writers. The situation was, frankly speaking, awkward. Valentin Petrovich, as a man of honor, refused to edit someone else's work and politely removed his name from the future cover of the book.

The story of the impostor artist was included in the novel almost unchanged

Kataev was forced to admit that the novel was a success. But he put forward two conditions for using his idea. First: wherever and whenever this novel is published, on the first page of the book there should be a dedication to him, Valentin Kataev. Second: as soon as the novel is published, the author of the idea receives a golden cigarette case from the writers. Kataev foresaw that the novel would be a success, and was already pleased to imagine the cigarette case that he would receive from the grateful authors.

The prototype of Ostap Bender is the criminal investigation inspector and adventurer from Odessa Ostap Shor

Later, the authors actually gave Kataev a cigarette case. But in order not to spend too much money, they bought him the smallest, mockingly tiny ladies' cigarette case. However, the fact is a fact: formally, the cigarette case fully met the terms of the contract: it was gold and it was a cigarette case. Kataev, who appreciated humor and jokes, accepted the cigarette case with a smile.

Thus was born a novel, and in it an illegitimate hero named Ostap Bender. Incredible, but true: in 1935, a survey was conducted among USSR schoolchildren on the topic “Who is your favorite literary hero?” The answer was expected to be Pavel Korchagin, but the answer they received was Ostap Bender.

Naturally, when the world appears great person, each nation is in a hurry to prove that he is precisely its son. Bender's obscure origins have provoked a host of such claims. Serious Arab scientists have irrefutably proven that Bender was a Syrian. Their Uzbek colleagues successfully refuted this version, brilliantly proving that Ostap was a Turk. The Germans, Jews, Georgians put forward their own versions... It seemed that the final and final point in the dispute between pundits was put in the mid-1990s, when the editors of the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" received a letter from the Moscow cultural and educational organization of Karaites, where it was argued that the prototype of Bender was the Karaite Ilya Levi-Maytop, like Ostap, “the son of a Turkish subject.” But no. Not only the best sons of the nation, but also independent candidates applied for the role of Bender's prototype. Moscow hooligan Yashka Shtopor, Petrograd dandy of the 1920s Ostap Vasilyevich, famous artist Sandro Fazini and famous Odessa rogue Misha Agatov...

Odessa cafes were empty in the 1920s. Beer was sold only to union members

Did the great schemer even have a prototype? The end of the 20th century finally provided the long-awaited solution. The prototype of Ostap Bender was Osip Veniaminovich Shor. For friends and family - Ostap. Literary scholars and journalists were able to find not only the person who served as the prototype for Bender, but also trace his fate, which turned out to be no less surprising than that of his literary brother.

Ostap Shor was born in late XIX century on Kanatnaya Street in Odessa in the family of a merchant, owner of colonial goods stores. Ostap was the second child in the family. The older brother Nathan, better known as the poet Anatoly Fioletov, played an important role in Ostap’s life, but more on that later.

In 1901, his father died of a heart attack. A few years later, the mother married the successful St. Petersburg merchant David Rapoport. From this marriage a girl was born, Elsa, who later became an artist at the Gorky Film Studio. Tender love Ostap and Nathan carried with Elsa throughout their lives.

Ostap's jokes were already popular at that time character traits Bender's humor. Elsa Davidovna Rapoport recalled several funny stories. Here is one of them. One day Ostap, in a conspiratorial voice, asked his sister if she would like to look at two corpses in the apartment corridor. The little girl flatly refused. For several days, Elsa could only think about the corpses in the hallway. She was afraid to go outside, to come from the street, in the evenings the girl was put to bed in the light... Ostap's calculations turned out to be correct. Curiosity took over. Elsa approached Ostap and asked to show where the corpses were. Ostap agreed with his sister that if she gave him a porcelain piggy bank along with its contents, then he was ready to fulfill his promise. The girl nodded. A moment later, Ostap pulled out two headless chickens from behind his back and waved them in front of his sister’s face. The girl cried out of fear. Ostap calmed his sister, pressing her head to his chest along with a porcelain piggy bank. From the age of eight, Ostap fell in love with the fashionable ball game, which was brought to Odessa by English sailors. While all the children his age wanted to be sailors, pirates and musicians, Ostap was the first to realize that good money could only be earned by becoming a professional football player. It was football that brought him closer to the brilliant Yuri Olesha, the future author of “Envy” and “Three Fat Men”. Friendship with him lasted almost half a century.

In 1916, Ostap entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute, where he was caught by the October Revolution. It took Ostap about a year to get home to Odessa. I met people, got into trouble, fell in love, ran away from pursuers. Ilf and Petrov drew many episodes for their novels from stories that Ostap Shor told his friends in subsequent years. Young Ilf was especially impressed by the stories about the fire inspector in a home for elderly women and the impostor artist on a ship - they were included in the novel in entire chapters, with minor additions.

In Odessa, Ostap breathed more freely. But still, Odessa was already different. The events of those years greatly changed its appearance. The city of enterprising businessmen, stockbrokers and shipbrokers, clever swindlers, Italian opera, cafes and wits, where everything spun like a carousel in Dyukovsky Park, turned into a carousel of a different kind - a bloody one. During the first three revolutionary years, the city changed fourteen authorities. Austrians, Germans, French, British, troops of Hetman Staropadsky, Petliurists, Haidamaks, white army General Denikin, the Bolsheviks, even the army of some Galician general Sekir-Yakhontov... There were times when several authorities and political groups ruled the city at the same time. So, the Bolsheviks settled on Peresyp. The territory from the station to Arcadia was occupied by the Haidamaks and Petliurists. The center was under the rule of the interventionists and the White Guard. Moldavanka was owned by the ten-thousand-strong army of raiders of Mikhail Vinnitsky, better known under the nickname Mishka Yaponchik. Each government had its own state borders, marked with clotheslines with red flags, and, of course, its own currency. Many refugees from other provinces arrived in the port city Russian Empire. This created a special atmosphere and a huge field of activity for thieves, cheaters, pharmacists and swindlers. The city was choking from banditry. Odessa residents were forced to unite into people's squads to fight crime. The most desperate ones were given the title of criminal investigation inspectors.

Yuri Olesha was one of Ostap's closest friends

Those who knew Ostap closely spoke of him as a kind, impressive, excitable truth-seeker with a strong developed sense humor. Ostap was smart, decisive, with a lightning-fast reaction to momentary events.

In April 1918, Ostap Shor became an inspector of the Odessa Criminal Investigation Department. It should be taken into account that he was about one hundred and ninety tall and had incredible strength. Ostap Shor dealt a significant blow to Mishka Yaponchik's gang in a short period of time: he solved cases of robbing two banks and a manufactory, set up successful ambushes and caught the robbers red-handed.

Ostap fled by jumping out of the window of the investigator's office

Today it’s hard to believe, but the two most famous prototypes of literary heroes Ostap Bender and Benny Krik fiercely hated each other. Jap considered Ostap his personal enemy and publicly promised to take revenge. The bandits tried to kill him several times. One evening they grabbed Ostap on Lanzheronovskaya Street, put the barrel of a revolver to his back, put a mackintosh over the revolver for camouflage, and took him to be shot at the port docks. But you need to know Ostap. Passing by the Fanconi cafe, the detective managed to start a quarrel with one of the stockbrokers at a street table. A fight broke out. The bandits thought it best to retreat.

In the first time after the revolution, power in Odessa changed more often than the seasons

But still they dealt their terrible blow. They wanted to shoot Ostap, but by mistake, misled by his last name, they shot Nathan, who in a few days was supposed to marry the young poetess Zinaida Shishova. The young couple were in a furniture showroom, where they were choosing furniture for their future home. There is a story in Odessa about what happened next. Yuri Olesha first told it to Valentin Kataev. Kataev mentioned her in his biographical novel “My Diamond Crown.” And Odessa residents gave history the image of a legend. We present it in full.

Three middle-aged men in boaters and English cloth suits stopped in front of a furniture store. After standing for a while at the display window, they took turns crossing the threshold. Then everything happened quickly.

Mr. Shore?
- Yes.
- Greetings from Mishka Yaponchik.

Four shots were fired by a fat, balding seller of double striped mattresses in Mr. Mirkin’s furniture workshop on Deribasovskaya, corner of Ekaterininskaya. A young man was left lying on the floor covered in furniture shavings.

In Odessa opera house both bandits and security officers loved to visit

Ostap was not at the funeral. All these days he was looking for killers. And I found it. Formidable as a night autumn storm, in a gray wide jacket, a captain's cap and a thick knitted scarf around his powerful neck, Ostap stopped at an old fisherman's hut on Second Zalivnaya, on Peresyp. His tired eyes, the color of young Bessarabian wine, looked at the damp sky. Then Ostap's gaze dropped to the door. With a kick, like the center forward of the Black Sea, he knocked out the plywood door and entered the dark craw of the basement.

The three killers sat at a dirty oval yellow table. Ostap walked up to the table and placed on it his Mauser with a polished handle, issued by the Odessa People's Militia. This was a sign that he wanted to talk. Shoot a little later.

Revolvers, guns and brass knuckles lay next to Ostap's Mauser.

Which of you scoundrels killed my brother? - Ostap asked, wiping his tears with a turquoise handkerchief.
“It’s my fault, Ostap,” said one of the bandits in a vest. - I solved it for you. Last name confused. God knows, I cry for him as for my own brother.
- It would be better if you, bastard, shot me in the liver. Do you know who you killed?
- I didn’t know then. And now I have information - Nathan Fioletov, famous poet, friend of Bagritsky. I beg your pardon. If you can’t forgive, then take your gun. Here's my breast for you, and we'll be even.

Ostap spent the whole night with the bandits. By the light of cinders they drank the rectified drink without diluting it with water. They read the poems of the murdered poet and cried.

With the first cold rays of the sun, Ostap hid the Mauser in a wooden holster and left unhindered...

Ostap took the murder of his brother very painfully. He vowed never to take up arms again. After some time, he resigned from the criminal investigation department and went to travel around the country. Due to his impulsive and decisive character Ostap constantly got into dangerous scrapes. So, in 1922 he ended up in Moscow, or more precisely, in the Taganskaya prison in Moscow. He ended up there for a fight with a man who insulted the wife of a famous poet. But as soon as the investigators learned that Ostap was an inspector of the Odessa Ugro, he was immediately released.

Ostap remains in Moscow. Often appears on literary evenings, where he meets with his old acquaintances and fellow countrymen. His famous phrase dates back to this time: “My dad was a Turkish subject.” Ostap repeated it often when the topic of military service came up (children of foreign citizens were exempt from military service). This phrase was popular in Odessa in the 20s. Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, in order to emphasize Ostap Shor’s attitude to criminal investigation, introduce a number of hints and specific phrases from Bender into the novel, showing him as a professional detective. And in the chapter “And others.” Ostap Bender even draws up a report from the scene of the incident. And in the most professional way. “Both bodies lie with their feet to the southeast and their heads to the northwest. There are lacerations on the body, apparently inflicted by some kind of blunt instrument.” But the most famous phrase about the key to the apartment where the money is, did not belong to Shor at all, but to one respectable Odessa billiard player.

After the release of “12 Chairs” and “The Golden Calf,” Ostap Shor sought out the authors of the books. Imagine the surprise of Ilf and Petrov when Ostap demanded in a rather impudent manner to pay him a large sum for Bender, who was written off from him. The writers began to make excuses. Ostap laughed. The friends stayed up until the morning. Apparently Shore was talking about his life. That is why in the famous " Notebooks" Ilf's entry appeared: "Ostap could even now go through the whole country, giving concerts of gramophone records. And he would live very well, have a wife and a mistress. All this should end completely unexpectedly - with a gramophone fire.” Ostap Shor gave a new impetus to the co-authors. Ilf and Petrov conceived a third part about the adventures of Ostap Bender, where Bender would be the prototype of today's DJs. But the plan was not destined to come true. Ilf fell ill with tuberculosis for a long time.

In 1934, Ostap went to Chelyabinsk to help his friend, the director of a tractor plant. In 1937, the director was arrested by NKVD officers. Ostap starts a fight with them, which was, without a doubt, a brave act. He was arrested, but again he did something extraordinary. He jumped out of the window of the investigator's office and ran away. But still far before these events, he formulated some of his views, which Ilf and Petrov endowed with their beloved hero. In particular, for literary character, and its prototype is characterized by the following phrase: “I have Soviet power arose over Last year serious disagreements. She wants to build socialism, but I don’t.”

Ilf and Petrov were planning a third part about the adventures of Ostap Bender

During the Great Patriotic War Ostap tries in vain to get through to his relatives in besieged Leningrad. Eventually, due to all the torment, he developed eczema, which eventually developed into skin cancer. The sick Ostap is evacuated to Tashkent. During evacuation, he works as a conductor on freight trains.

The corner of Rishelievskaya and Lanzheronovskaya streets, where Ostap fell into the clutches of Mishka Yaponchik’s gang

After the war, Ostap Shor and his family moved to Moscow to Vozdvizhenka. Retiring due to disability. He often visits the ailing Yuri Olesha on Lavrushinsky Lane. After the death of his friend, he is haunted by illnesses, and Ostap practically goes blind.

Published in 1978 biographical novel Valentina Kataeva “My Diamond Crown”. In it, Kataev only hints about who Ostap Bender is based on. But Shore didn't want to talk about his life publicly. Both age and numerous blows of fate took their toll. He remained a mystery for another two decades.

In 1979, Ostap Shor died. He was buried in Moscow at the Vostryakovsky cemetery. Such is the fate of this man, who became the prototype of one of the most popular literary characters.

Colossus on bronze legs

At first, the main chess player of Kalmykia, President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, promised to open a monument to Ostap directly in Rio de Janeiro, but then, apparently, deciding not to squander it around the world cultural values, placed it next to me.

Since 1999, the two-meter figure of Bender has been protecting the peace of the residents of the chess town of City Chess (a hotel complex on the outskirts of Elista, built for the World Chess Olympiad). Rio de Janeiro authorities are still tearing their hair out in frustration.

If your friends have been to Italianskaya Street in St. Petersburg, you could already see this monument in their red-eyed photographs. Few tourists can resist the temptation to sit on Master Gumbs's chair in front of the lens of a soap dish. The son of a Turkish citizen did not appear in Leningrad.

Nevertheless, in 2000, the monument was unveiled with great fanfare. The sculptor could not stop at just one thing and, in addition to the chair, gave Bender a folder with the Koreiko case. Facial features also had to be divided between Yursky and Mironov.

Photo sources: ITAR-TASS; Ullstein/Vostock Photo; Everett Collection; Corbis/RPG; v/o "Sovexport-film"; PhotoXpress

How Ostap Bender's prototype built the legendary tractor plant in Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk became famous as Tankograd thanks to its tank factory. Osip Shor, a man who is recognized as the main prototype of Ostap Bender, the hero of the novels “12 Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, took an active part in the construction of the enterprise.

“Russian Planet” has collected details of the biography of Osip Shor, which do not look pale even against the background of the adventures of the great schemer.

Odessa scams

For a long time it was believed that Osip Shor was born in Odessa,” historian Boris Oksenkrug tells a RP correspondent. - But then documents were found that allowed us to establish that his homeland was the small town of Nikopol. There his father had a store, a mill and a small candle factory. The merchant of the 2nd guild Benjamin Shor and his wife Kunya moved to Odessa only a year after the birth of their son Osi, who was born on May 30, 1899. The news that the prototype of Ostap Bender turned out not to be from Odessa, but from Nicopolis, greatly upset the capital of humor, which was flattered by the title of the homeland of the great schemer.

There was another child in the Shore family - Nathan. At the beginning of the last century, he became a famous futurist poet and took the pseudonym Anatoly Fioletov. And his younger brother Osip preferred that his friends call him in the Ukrainian manner - Ostap, and even signed with this name. This is mentioned in the book “My Diamond Crown” by Valentin Kataev, who, in fact, introduced Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov to their future hero. He directly points to him as the prototype of a Turkish subject: “Ostap Bender was based on one of our Odessa friends. He was the younger brother of one remarkable futurist poet... The futurist's brother was Ostap, whose appearance the authors preserved in their novel almost completely intact: athletic build and romantic, purely Black Sea character. He had nothing to do with literature and served in the criminal investigation department to combat banditry, which had reached threatening proportions...”

Before getting into the criminal investigation department, Osip Shor graduated from the Iliadi men's gymnasium - the same one where, by the will of the authors, Ostap Bender later “studied,” continues Boris Oksenkrug. - Osip had a penchant for exact sciences. Of all the humanitarian subjects, he showed interest only in jurisprudence. A good knowledge of the laws later became very useful to the born adventurer. After graduating from high school, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Novorossiysk University, but soon dropped out of the university. And he made a living card games- such people were then called katran workers. In this capacity he succeeded more than in his studies, easily beating even professional cheaters.

Osip's cherished dream was to emigrate to Brazil or Argentina. Dreaming of long journeys, he dressed accordingly: he wore light clothes, a white captain's cap and scarf. With him tall- 1 m 90 cm, in this image he looked impressive.

In 1916, the expelled student received a summons to the army. To avoid military service, he pulled off his first scam.

Osip Shor was a Jew by nationality, says Boris Oksenkrug. - But he decided to pass himself off as a Turk - children of foreign nationals were not taken into the army. He invented a Turkish father for himself, forged documents and avoided conscription without any problems. Moreover, he managed to make money on his idea - he helped several fellow countrymen become “Greeks” and “Kurds” for a small fee. This scam by Osip Shor is documented. The reliability of several others is highly questionable; they can rather be attributed to the realm of folklore.

If you believe the urban myths of Odessa, then Osip Shor’s next scam was inspired by a random find. One day, on a country road, he saw a chicken whose feathers had fallen out for some unknown reason. Anyone else would have passed by, but Ostap was immediately struck by the idea of ​​how to make capital on a sick bird. He founded the Ideal Chicken company, declared himself a professor and began giving lectures, explaining that this naked creature is the fruit of the labors of Odessa breeders. They managed to develop a breed that does not need to be plucked, but can be immediately put into soup or sent for processing for meat. Representatives of many poultry farms in the south of Russia became interested in the opening and entered into contracts for the supply of miracle birds, making an advance payment. But when the time came to receive the first batch of “ideal chickens,” the director disappeared in an unknown direction.

When the noise died down, the great schemer returned to Odessa and opened new office- selling indulgences. Absolution was in great demand among the raiders, who wanted to save their souls before going on business. Deciding to increase his income, Osip began selling places in heaven - he drew a diagram of heaven and invited everyone to choose where he would end up after death, according to his taste and pocket. Best places Wealthy Odessa residents eagerly bought them up. The successful business operated under the guise of local priests, who received a percentage of the income. But Osip Shor failed to feed the police, and the office had to be closed.

They say that from time to time the Turkish citizen earned money by consulting bandits and coming up with robbery schemes for them. So, one day he groped weakness one of the local banks - chimneys. He advised Vaska Kosoy’s gang not to break down the door, but to dress up as chimney sweeps and go down inside using a rope. The robbery went perfectly, and Osip Shor received his share of the loot.

Benya Krik vs Bender

In 1916, Osip Shor made another attempt to build an honest career and entered the mechanical faculty of the St. Petersburg Institute. But the civil war began.

Osip Shor met the October Revolution in St. Petersburg. Soon he decided to return to his native Odessa, away from unsafe historical events, - literary critic Irina Vaganova tells the RP correspondent. - The journey home through a country engulfed in fire took 10 months. Shor experienced many adventures with which we are all very familiar from the novels of Ilf and Petrov. To earn a living, he pretended to be a grandmaster and gave simultaneous games, although he did not really know chess. As a fire inspector, he robbed institutions that came his way. He got a job as an artist on a steamship that made propaganda trips along the Volga. He pretended to be a representative of some underground anti-Soviet organization and collected secret contributions for the just cause of the fight against the Bolsheviks. And he even married a middle-aged, plump butcher shop owner, whom we know as Madame Gritsatsueva. With her support, he survived the hungry winter.

Returning to Odessa, Osip Shor decided not to quarrel with the new government. He joined the Odessa Criminal Investigation Department, receiving the position of detective to combat banditry. Physical form allowed: Osip has been involved in classical wrestling since childhood and was fond of weights. And his success in football was so impressive that one of the first Russian pilots and European champion in cycling, Sergei Utochkin, predicted that Osya Shor would someday become a world star in this sport.

Good knowledge of the criminal world made the new opera a real find for the criminal investigation. So much so that the legendary Mishka Yaponchik - who himself became the prototype of Benny Krik from the stories of Isaac Babel - “ordered” an overzealous employee. He inflicted serious damage on the gang that controlled Moldavanka: he solved cases of robbery of two banks and a manufactory, caught several robbers red-handed and extracted testimony from them.

It's hard to believe that the prototypes of Ostap Bender and Benny Krik hated each other fiercely, but this one does. Jap declared Osip Shor his personal enemy and swore revenge on him. The first attempt ended unsuccessfully - Osip Shor survived the shootout in the cafe without receiving a scratch, and four killers, as we would now call them, died, says Boris Oksenkrug. “Then the bandits made a new attempt. But by mistake they killed Shor’s older brother, Nathan, who was just about to get married and, together with his bride, was choosing furniture for their future home. Having received the news of his death, Osip did not sleep for several days. I didn't even attend my brother's funeral. He smashed raspberries, knocking out the killer's address. And managed to recognize him. Having burst into the apartment where the bandit was just walking with several raiders, he shot them all with a Mauser. And he brought his brother’s killer to his knees and was about to shoot him, but he saw that five small children were watching in horror at the scene of their father’s execution. Osip Shor was unable to pull the trigger. Bursting into tears, he, together with the pardoned bandit, who repented of his crime, drank moonshine until the morning and read the poems of his late brother. And the next morning he left Odessa forever and went to Moscow, vowing never to take up arms again.

There, Osip Shor almost immediately ended up in the Tagansk prison - for a drunken fight with a man who insulted his companion. But he was soon released: as soon as the data came from the Odessa UGRO, he was released. The hero of the fight against banditry was offered a job at the Petrograd Criminal Investigation Department, but he did not change his decision to never kill people again.

During this period of his life, Osip Shor often lived in the apartment of his close friend, Odessa resident Yuri Olesha. Osip told the story of his adventurous life to another of his fellow countrymen, the writer Valentin Kataev. And he introduced him to his younger brother Evgeniy Petrov and his best friend- young journalist Ilya Ilf. The result of this historical meeting was the birth of Ostap Bender, whose adventures are partially borrowed from the biography of Osip Shor.

In 1934, when the novel “The Twelve Chairs” became a cult favorite and sold out in huge numbers, Osip Shor decided that he was owed part of the royalties, says Irina Vaganova. - He came to Ilf and Petrov and demanded to pay money for retelling his stories. The authors laughed at him, saying that Ostap Bender is a collective image. Then Osip arranged major scandal and demanded at least the resurrection of the hero who died at the end of the book. The authors agreed, and this compromise led to the writing of a sequel - the novel “The Golden Calf”.

Ostap Bender is building ChTZ

After reading an advertisement in the newspaper that workers were needed at the construction site of the five-year plan - the country's first tractor plant - Osip Shor went to Chelyabinsk. Arriving in the Urals, he discovered that his old acquaintance, Odessa resident Vasily Ilyichev, was working as the director of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. He hired a friend as a supply worker.

Most sources indicate that Osip Shor came to Chelyabinsk in 1934 and worked at the plant until 1937, historian Sergei Spitsyn tells a RP correspondent. - But in the state archives Chelyabinsk region Documents have been preserved from which it follows that he worked at ChTZ from June 13, 1931 to October 20, 1932. This is confirmed by the employees of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant Museum: Vasily Ilyichev was the director of the enterprise from May 11, 1931 to September 29, 1932. This means that the Chelyabinsk period in the life of Osip Shor could not have lasted three years. Unfortunately, Shor’s personal file was not preserved - it was destroyed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, it is known that it contained 29 pages - several times more than many employees who worked at ChTZ all their lives. One can only guess what scams of the great schemer were described in it.

Urban folklore tells that Vasily Ilyichev was arrested as an “enemy of the people” in 1937 in his own office. Osip Shor happened to be nearby and could not calmly watch as the NKVD arrested a friend to whom he owed a lot. I tried to protect him and a fight broke out. As a result, Osip himself was arrested. In Chelyabinsk they believe that he managed to escape while he was being led into the “crater.”

The first director of ChTZ, Vasily Ilyichev, was indeed repressed, but not in 1937, but in 1938, and not in Chelyabinsk, but in Moscow, continues Serey Spitsyn. “Osip Shor could not have been present at his arrest, since he received five years in the camps for economic crimes committed as a supplier. This, by the way, was a very lenient sentence for those times - apparently, the judges took into account Shor’s heroic past. He met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War behind barbed wire. And he managed to escape only on the way to the front, where he asked to volunteer in order to gain freedom.

Having escaped, Osip Shor hid from the authorities for a long time and tried to break the blockade of Leningrad - to get into the surrounded city and find his relatives. But he failed. But with the help of Yuri Olesha, he was able to achieve an amnesty and move to a legal position. From the shock he experienced, he developed eczema, which developed into skin cancer.

After the war, Osip continued his search. He managed to find out that his mother died of starvation in the besieged city. But he managed to find younger sister Elsa (his mother’s daughter from her second marriage), who was evacuated to Tashkent, and went after her.

It sounds absolutely incredible, but Osip Shor managed to defeat cancer, having successfully recovered from this fatal disease, says Irina Vaganova. - Unfortunately, there are no details of how he managed to do this. Together with his sister, he moved to Moscow and worked for 15 years as a conductor on the Moscow-Tashkent train. He retired due to disability, having almost completely lost his sight. Shortly before the death of Osip Shor, Valentin Kataev’s book “My Diamond Crown” was published, and the whole country found out who real prototype favorite hero. Osip was literally attacked by journalists. But he categorically refused to give interviews, deciding to keep his secrets. Died in Moscow in 1978. He was buried at Vostryakovsky cemetery.

At home, in Nikopol, a monument was erected to Osip Shor. On its base it is written: “To Nikopol resident Osip Shor. He is the son of the Turkish citizen Ostap-Suleiman Ibrahim Berta Maria Bender-bey, aka Ostap Ibrahimovich, aka the prototype of the great schemer Ostap Bender (I. Ilf and E. Petrov).”