Ilf and Petrov joint creativity. Ilya Ilf: the life and tragic fate of the creator of “12 Chairs”

ILF AND PETROV, Russian satirical writers.

Ilf Ilya (pseudonym; real name and surname Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg), was born into the family of a bank employee. Graduated from Odessa Technical School (1913). He was a member of the literary circle “Collective of Poets” (among its participants are E. G. Bagritsky, Yu. K. Olesha). In 1923 he moved to Moscow. He worked in the newspaper “Gudok”, where M. A. Bulgakov, V. P. Kataev, L. I. Slavin, Yu. K. Olesha and others collaborated; wrote mainly stories and essays that reflected the experience of the revolution and Civil War 1917-22. He first signed the pseudonym Ilf in 1923.

Petrov Evgeniy (pseudonym; real name and surname Evgeniy Petrovich Kataev), born into the family of a history teacher. Brother of V.P. Kataev. He changed several professions: he worked as a correspondent, was a criminal investigation agent, etc. He moved to Moscow in 1923. He made his debut with the story “The Goose and the Stolen Planks” (1924); published feuilletons (under the pseudonyms Shilo in the Bag, E. Petrov, etc.) in the humorous magazines “Red Pepper” and “Red Wasp”. No later than 1925 he met Ilf; in 1926 he went to work at Gudok. He published collections of stories “The Joys of Megas” (1926), “Without a Report” (1927), “The Comprehensive Bunny” (1928), etc.

In 1926, Ilf and Petrov began working together; published under the pseudonyms F. Tolstoevsky, Cold Philosopher, Vitaly Pseldonimov, Copernicus, A. Nemalovazhny, Sobakevich and others in satirical magazines (Smekhach, Ogonyok, Chudak, etc.). Ilf and Petrov became widely famous for the satirical novel “The Twelve Chairs” (1928), in the center of which is the witty adventurer Ostap Bender, acting against the backdrop of a wide-ranging panorama of Soviet life in the 1920s. The style of classical Russian prose coexists in the novel with newspaper cliches, slogans, and ideological clichés, which are subject to ironic rethinking and ridicule. Criticism accused the authors of “jeering” and the absence of real satire; only a year after publication, condescending reviews appeared. Other works of this period include numerous feuilletons, the satirical story “Bright Personality” (1928), and the cycle of satirical short stories “1001 Days, or the New Scheherazade” (1929). In the stories of this time, Ilf and Petrov turned to topical topics: political purge (“The Phantom Lover,” 1929), bureaucracy (“On the Verge of Death,” 1930), opportunism in literature (“Pale Child of the Century,” 1929), etc. Bender’s story was continued in the novel “The Golden Calf” (1931), where the image of the hero became more complex: he ironically observes the life of Soviet citizens, notes deformities modern life(mismanagement, ideologization of culture, etc.). The satirical plan is balanced by an idealized image of the socialist world, which gives the novel optimistic pathos (episodes of the construction of Turksib, the motor rally, etc.). The novel was highly appreciated by A.V. Lunacharsky and favorably received by critics (V.B. Shklovsky, G.N. Moonblit, etc.).

In the 1930s, when to print satirical stories It became more and more difficult, Ilf and Petrov tried to write feuilletons in the genre of “positive satire”, with optimistic endings (“Literary Tram”, 1932, “Cold of the Dog”, 1935, etc.). The main theme of the feuilletons of the 1st half of the 1930s was the fight against bureaucracy (“The Bone Leg,” 1934), indifference (“The Serene Stand,” 1934), and lawlessness (“The Case of Student Sveranovsky,” 1935). In 1935-36, Ilf and Petrov made a car trip around the United States, the result of which was a series of travel essays (on which the authors worked separately) “One-story America” (1936) - an attempt to objectively comprehend the life of Americans, their achievements and shortcomings.

After Ilf’s death from tuberculosis, Petrov prepared and published his notebooks (1939). In the late 1930s, Petrov wrote mainly essays, as well as film scripts in collaboration with G. N. Moonblit (“ Musical history", "Anton Ivanovich is angry", etc.). During the Great Patriotic War worked as a front-line correspondent for the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia. Died in a plane crash while flying from Sevastopol to Moscow. Awarded the Order of Lenin.

The works of Ilf and Petrov were repeatedly staged and filmed (directed by L. I. Gaidai, M. A. Schweitzer, M. A. Zakharov), and translated into many languages ​​of the world.

Works: Collection. cit.: In 5 vols. M., 1994-1996; Twelve chairs: First full version novel / Comment. M. Odessky, D. Feldman. M., 1997; Ilf I. Notebooks. 1925-1937. M., 2000 [first complete ed.]; Petrov E. My friend Ilf. M., 2001; Ilf I. One-story America: [Author's edition]. M., 2003.

Lit.: Galanov B. E. I. Ilf and E. Petrov. Life. Creation. M., 1961; Memories of I. Ilf and E. Petrov. M., 1963; Préchac A. Il'f et Petrov, témoins de leur temps. R., 2000. Vol. 1-3; Milne L. Zoshchenko and the Ilf-Petrov partnership: how they laughed. Birmingham, 2003; Lurie Y. S. In the land of unafraid idiots: a book about Ilf and Petrov. 3rd ed. St. Petersburg, 2005.

Name: Ilya Ilf (Ehiel-Leib Fainzilberg)

Age: 39 years

Activity: writer, journalist, screenwriter

Family status: was married

Ilya Ilf: biography

Two talented humorous authors, who co-authored the best-selling novels “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf,” are as difficult to separate as Siamese twins. Ilf and , who worked together for a decade, even wrote separately in such a way that connoisseurs of their work did not distinguish which author wrote the chapters of the story “One-Storey America.”

But each writer has his own life. However, there are similarities in the biographies of the two idols: both lived bright, but short lives, in which there was a place for hunger, war, devoted friendship, glory, persecution and tragic death.

Childhood and youth

Ilya Arnoldovich Ilf - fictional creative pseudonym one of the “parents” of a charming swindler. The real name of the writer is Yechiel-Leib Arievich Fainzilberg. He was born in the Black Sea pearl - Odessa - in the autumn of 1897.

Yechiel-Leib is the third of the four heirs of Arie and Mindl Fainzilberg. The head of the family, a modest employee of the Siberian Trade Bank, dreamed of giving his sons a decent education. I saw Saul’s eldest son as an accountant, but after studying at a commercial school he called himself Sandro Fasini and became a cubist artist (later moved to France and died in).

The second son, Moishe-Aron, graduated from college with honors, but repeated his brother’s experience and also went into art, signing his canvases with the creative pseudonym Mi-Fa.

Bitter experience and wasted money told Arya not to invest her savings in educating her third son at an expensive commercial school. Yehiel-Leib became a student at a vocational school, where there were no “extra” (in the opinion of old Arie) subjects, such as drawing. The father did not know that during lessons the boy hid books under his desk, and which he secretly read.

The 16-year-old boy received an education and pleased his father: he went from a turner to a master of a doll workshop, and in 1919 he sat down with accounting reports in the financial department of the provincial food commission, which was in charge of supplying the Red Army. Later, Ilya Ilf uses his experience of working in the food commission when describing events in the Hercules office in The Golden Calf.

His father’s crystal dreams were shattered when 23-year-old Yechiel quit his service, announcing his entry into the Odessa “Collective of Poets.” Now the third son was called Ilya Ilf, combining the first letters of the “old” unpronounceable name into the surname of the pseudonym.

Looking ahead, let's say that the fourth son justified his father's hopes: leaving his family name, he became a topographer. To Arie's delight, Benjamin was not interested in art. In 1919, mobilization was announced. Ilya Ilf arrived at the assembly point with Anatole France's novel under his arm. The writer spoke briefly but comprehensively about his military past:

“I knew the fear of death, but I was silent, I was afraid in silence and did not ask for help. I remember myself lying in the wheat. The sun was beating down on the back of my head, I couldn’t turn my head so as not to see what I was so afraid of.”

After the war, the future novelist returned to Odessa, took his first steps in journalism and became a member of the Union of Poets.

Literature

In 1923, the future “father” of the brilliant Combinator moved to Moscow: in Odessa literary life completely stalled. He helped with his first job: having become a famous writer, he got a job as a colleague in the Odessa poetry community in the newspaper “Gudok”.

Ilya Ilf was hired as the editor of the unreadable 4th page, entrusted with the processing of letters from workers' correspondents. In the first weeks of work, the editor turned the strip into the most popular, filling it with caustic feuilletons on the topic of the day. Under the Rabkor's notes, turned into feuilletons, there were signatures of the authors, but, processed by Ilf, they were instantly recognizable by their aphorism and subtle sarcasm.

Working at the newspaper brought the future novelist together with, and. Soon Kataev’s brother, Evgeniy, appeared in Gudok. He took the creative pseudonym Petrov, not wanting to attract attention with his relationship. This is how the co-authors, who were born in Odessa, met in Moscow. They started working together in 1927.

In 1928, Ilf was fired from Gudok due to staff reduction. Petrov followed him. The journalists were sheltered by the humorous weekly "Chudak", in which Ilya Ilf headed the literary reviews department. The co-authors made joint reviews of films and theater performances, putting the general creative pseudonym “Don Busilio”. Another pseudonym for Ilf and Petrov is F. Tolstoevsky.

Writers began writing the novel “12 Chairs” in 1927. Starting point was the idea of ​​Valentin Kataev, who invited Ilf and his 6-year-younger Petrov to work for him as “literary slaves.” The master gave the authors an adventurous plot, asking them to think about the development of events around the “treasures hidden in the chair.”

Ilya Ilf and his junior co-author were so carried away by writing an adventurous chronicle, which turned into a novel, that they refused to give the development to Kataev. He, having read what was written, praised it and offered to publish it. The novel was published in 1928 and brought fame to the authors.

That same year, lovers humorous genre got another one from the novelists a pleasant surprise- a satirical story published under the title “Bright Personality.” IN next year published grotesque short stories united in the cycle “ Extraordinary stories from the life of the city of Kolokolamsk" and a collection of short stories "1001 days, or New Scheherazade".

The works of Ilf and Petrov became bestsellers of the Soviet era, bringing the authors incredible fame. But literary critics and the censors did not favor sharply satirical novels, filled with hints about the imperfect Soviet system. Helped to “break through” the publication of “The Golden Calf.” Devastating articles appeared in central newspapers, but admirers of Odessa’s talent were not interested in them.

Ilya Ilf and his colleague have written dozens of stories, feuilletons and essays. Their comedy was based on the melodrama “Under the Circus Big Top,” filmed by the director and released in 1936 under the title “Circus.” IN leading role The film was brilliant, but Ilf and Petrov demanded that their names be removed from the credits: the script had undergone changes that the authors did not approve of.

In the mid-1930s, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, Pravda correspondents, went on a 4-month trip around the United States. The fruit of joint creativity was a book compiled from scattered essays and called “One-Storey America.” It was published in 1936 and became the first joint work written by writers separately. Ilf and Petrov, due to Ilya Arnoldovich’s illness, wrote chapters without meeting, but over 10 years of joint work they developed uniform style.

Ilya Ilf gave readers the wonderful “Notebooks” - a diary consisting of hundreds of aphorisms, essays, observations, funny phrases and sorrowful reflections recorded over 12 years. “Notebooks” was published after a thorough reduction and censorship, but even in its abbreviated form, Ilf’s aphorisms became popular.

An interesting fact in the biography of the Odessa resident is his passion for photography. Having purchased the Leika, Ilya Ilf took thousands of photographs, including unique ones: a funeral, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior before and after the explosion, America (the book is illustrated with photographs of Ilf), famous contemporaries- writers Mikhail Bulgakov, Yuri Olesha, Joseph Utkin, .

Personal life

WITH future wife The writer met Masha - Maria Tarasenko - in his native Odessa. Masha was a student at the painting school where Ilf’s brother taught. Young artist fell in love with the teacher, but after meeting Ilya, she gave in under the pressure of his attentions and waves of adoration.

After Ilya Ilf left for Moscow, the couple corresponded for 2 years - hundreds of touching letters imbued with tenderness have been preserved. On one of Maria’s visits to the capital, they got married. Soon they received modest housing - a room in a house on Sretensky Lane, next to the room of Yuri Olesha and his wife. In 1935, the couple had a daughter, Sashenka, Alexandra Ilyinichna Ilf.

The couple acquired material well-being and an apartment with antique furniture, a housekeeper and a nanny after the release of “The Twelve Chairs.” Long family happiness Ilya Ilf's illness interfered. He was an amazingly gentle father, but he could not even hug his daughter one more time, for fear of infecting him with tuberculosis. He died when Alexandra was 2 years old.

Death

After a trip across America in an open car, Ilya Ilf’s illness worsened: tuberculosis, diagnosed in the 1920s, opened up and became acute. The novelist felt pain in his chest in New Orleans. I coughed and saw blood on the handkerchief.

After returning from America, Ilya Ilf lived for another 2 years. But he couldn’t live in the capital—he was suffocating. He settled in a dacha in Kraskovo, where he wrote chapters of “One-Storey Moscow”, walked around pine forest.

When in the spring of 1937 Novodevichy Cemetery buried 39-year-old Ilya Ilf, his true friend and the co-author said that this was his funeral too. Petrov outlived his friend by 5 years, dying under strange circumstances.

In 1948, a resolution of the Secretariat of the Writers' Union appeared, in which the novels of Ilf and Petrov were called slander. It took 12 years until “12 Chairs” was allowed to be reissued. Researchers of the works of Ilf and Petrov suggest that the fate of the writers, had they lived longer, could have been tragic.

Bibliography

• 1928 - “Twelve Chairs”
• 1928 - “Extraordinary stories from the life of the city of Kolokolamsk”
• 1928 - “Bright Personality”
• 1929 - “1001 days, or New Scheherazade”
• 1931 - “Golden Calf”
• 1936 - “Once Upon a Summer”
• 1937 - “One-story America”

Quotes

You need to show him some paper, otherwise he won't believe that you exist.

A new store has opened. Sausage for anemic people, pates for neurasthenics. Psychopaths, buy food only here!

Living on such a planet is just a waste of time.

Ivanov decided to pay a visit to the king. Upon learning of this, the king abdicated the throne.

Why should I respect my grandmother? She didn't even give birth to me.

Liar competition. The first prize was given to the person who told the truth.

It was decided not to make a single mistake. They kept twenty proofs, and still on title page was published: "Encyclopedia Britannica".

God sees the truth, but will not tell it soon. What kind of red tape?

Ilf I. and Petrov E.- Russians Soviet writers- satirists; co-authors who worked together. In the novels “The Twelve Chairs” (1928) and “The Golden Calf” (1931), they created the adventures of a talented swindler and adventurer, showing satirical types and Soviet morals of the 20s. Feuilletons, book “One-Storey America” (1936).

IN Russian literature XX century Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov take the place of the most beloved satirical writers among the people. You can read their books, re-read them, you can even talk with phrases from them all your life. Many people do just that.

Ilya Ilf(pseudonym; real name and surname Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg) was born on October 15 (October 3, old style) 1897 in Odessa, in the family of a bank employee. Libra. He was an employee of Yugrost and the newspaper “Sailor”. In 1923, having moved to Moscow, he became a professional writer. In Ilya’s early essays, stories and feuilletons, it is not difficult to find thoughts, observations and details that were later used in the joint writings of Ilf and Petrov.

Evgeniy Petrov(pseudonym; real name and surname Evgeny Petrovich Kataev) was born on December 13 (November 30, old style) 1902 in Odessa, in the family of a history teacher. Zodiac sign - Sagittarius. He was a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency, then an inspector of the criminal investigation department. In 1923, Zhenya moved to Moscow and became a journalist.

In 1925, the future co-authors met, and in 1926 their joint work began, which at first consisted of composing themes for drawings and feuilletons in the magazine “Smekhach” and processing materials for the newspaper “Gudok”. The first significant collaboration between Ilf and Petrov was the novel “The Twelve Chairs,” published in 1928 in the magazine “30 Days” and published as a separate book in the same year. Roman had big success. It is notable for its many brilliantly executed satirical episodes, characteristics and details, which were the result of topical life observations.

The novel was followed by several short stories and novellas (“Bright Personality”, 1928, “1001 Days, or New Scheherazade”, 1929); At the same time, systematic work by writers began on feuilletons for Pravda and Literaturnaya Gazeta. In 1931, the second novel by Ilf and Petrov was published - “The Golden Calf”, the story of the further adventures of the hero of “The Twelve Chairs” Ostap Bender. The novel contains a whole gallery of small people, overwhelmed by acquisitive motives and passions and existing “in parallel big world in which they live big people and big things."

In 1935 - 1936, the writers traveled around the United States, which resulted in the book “One-Storey America” (1936). In 1937, Ilf died, and the Notebooks published after his death were unanimously praised by critics as an outstanding literary work. After the death of his co-author, Petrov wrote a number of film scripts (together with G. Moonblit), the play “Island of Peace” (published in 1947), “Front-line Diary” (1942). In 1940 he joined the Communist Party and from the first days of the war became a war correspondent for Pravda and Informburo. Awarded the Order Lenin and a medal.

The books of Ilf and Petrov were repeatedly dramatized and filmed, republished in the USSR and translated into many languages. foreign languages. (G.N. Moonblit)

Essays:

• Collected Works, vol. 1 - 4, M., 1938;
• Collection soch., vol. 1 - 5, M., 1961.

Literature:

• Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, Preface, in the books: Ilf I. and Petrov E., Twelve Chairs. Golden Calf, M., 1956;
• Sintsova T. N., I. Ilf and E. Petrov. Materials for bibliography, L., 1958;
• Abram Zinovievich Vulis, I. Ilf and E. Petrov. Essay on creativity, M., 1960;
• Boris Galanov, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, M., 1961;
• Memories of I. Ilf and E. Petrov, M., 1963;
• Yanovskaya L., Why do you write funny?, M., 1969;
• Russian Soviet writers, prose writers. Biobibliographic index, volume 2; L., 1964.

Books:

• I. Ilf. E. Petrov. Collected works in five volumes. Volume 1, I. Ilf, E. Petrov.
• I. Ilf. E. Petrov. Collected works in five volumes. Volume 2, I. Ilf, E. Petrov.
• I. Ilf. E. Petrov. Collected works in five volumes. Volume 4, I. Ilf, E. Petrov.

• Ilf and Petrov were traveling on a tram, USSR, 1971.

Film adaptations works:

• 1933 - Twelve chairs;
• 1936 - Circus;
• 1936 - One day in the summer;
• 1938 - 13 chairs;
• 1961 - Quite seriously (essay on How Robinson was created);
• 1968 - Golden Calf;
• 1970 - The Twelve Chairs (Twelve chairs);
• 1971 - Twelve chairs;
• 1972 - Ilf and Petrov rode on a tram (based on stories and feuilletons);
• 1976 - Twelve chairs;
• 1989 - Bright personality;
• 1993 - Dreams of an idiot;
• 2004 - Twelve Chairs (Zwölf Stühle);
• 2006 - Golden Calf.

ILF AND PETROV– Ilf, Ilya Arnoldovich (1897–1937) (real name Fainzilberg), Petrov Evgeniy Petrovia (1903–1942) (real name Kataev), Russian prose writers.

Ilf was born on October 4 (16), 1897 in Odessa in the family of a bank employee. In 1913 he graduated from technical school, after which he worked in a drawing office, at telephone exchange, at an aircraft factory, at a hand grenade factory. After the revolution, he was an accountant, a journalist at YugROSTA, an editor in humorous and other magazines, and a member of the Odessa Union of Poets. In 1923 he came to Moscow and became an employee of the Gudok newspaper, with which M. Bulgakov, Y. Olesha and other subsequently famous writers collaborated in the 1920s. Ilf wrote materials of a humorous and satirical nature - mainly feuilletons. Petrov was born on November 30, 1903 in Odessa in the family of a teacher. Became the prototype for Pavlik Bachey in the trilogy of his older brother Valentin Kataev Waves of the Black Sea. In 1920 he graduated from a classical gymnasium and became a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency. In the autobiography of Ilf and Petrov (1929) it is said about Petrov: “After that, he served as a criminal investigation inspector for three years. His first literary work there was a protocol for examining the corpse of an unknown man.” In 1923 Petrov arrived in Moscow. V. Kataev introduced it among journalists and writers. Petrov became an employee of the Red Pepper magazine, and in 1926 he came to work for the Gudok magazine. Like Ilf, he wrote mainly humorous and satirical materials.

In 1927 collaboration over the novel The twelve Chairs The creative collaboration between Ilf and Petrov began. Plot basis The novel was suggested by Kataev, to whom the authors dedicated this work. In his memoirs about Ilf, Petrov later wrote: “We quickly agreed that the plot with chairs should not be the basis of the novel, but only the reason, the reason for showing life.” The co-authors fully succeeded in this: their works became the brightest “encyclopedia Soviet life» late 1920s – early 1930s.

The novel was written in less than six months; in 1928 it was published in the magazine “30 days” and in the publishing house “Land and Factory”. In the book edition, the co-authors restored the banknotes that they were forced to make at the request of the magazine editor.

Ostap Bender was originally conceived as minor character. For him, Ilf and Petrov had only a phrase prepared: “The key to the apartment where the money is.” Subsequently, like many other phrases from novels about Ostap Bender (“The ice has broken, gentlemen of the jury!”; “A sultry woman is a poet’s dream”; “Money in the morning, chairs in the evening”; “Don’t awaken the beast in me”, etc.) , she became winged. According to Petrov’s recollections, “Bender gradually began to push out of the framework prepared for him, and soon we could no longer cope with him. By the end of the novel, we treated him as if he were a living person, and were often angry with him for the impudence with which he wormed his way into every chapter.”

Some images of the novel were outlined in Ilf’s notebooks and in humorous stories Petrova. So, Ilf has a note: “Two young people. All life phenomena are answered only with exclamations. The first one says “horror”, the second one says “beauty”. In Petrov's humoresque Gifted girl(1927) a girl “with an unpromising forehead” speaks in the heroine’s language Twelve chairs cannibals Ellochka.

Novel The twelve Chairs attracted the attention of readers, but critics did not notice it. O. Mandelstam wrote with indignation in 1929 that this “pamphlet splashing with fun” was not needed by the reviewers. Review by A. Tarasenkov in “ Literary newspaper" was entitled The book that is not written about. Rapp critics called the novel “gray mediocrity” and noted that it does not contain “charged deep hatred of the class enemy.”

Ilf and Petrov began working on a continuation of the novel. To do this, they had to “resurrect” Ostap Bender, who was stabbed to death in the finale Twelve chairs Kisa Vorobyaninov. New novel Golden calf was published in 1931 in the magazine “30 Days”, in 1933 it was published as a separate book by the publishing house “Federation”. After release Golden calf The dilogy became incredibly popular not only in the USSR, but also abroad. Western critics compared her to Adventures good soldier Seamstress J. Hasek. L. Feuchtwanger wrote that he had never seen “the commonwealth develop into such a creative unity.” Even V.V. Nabokov, who spoke contemptuously about Soviet literature, noted in 1967 the amazing talent of Ilf and Petrov and called their works “absolutely first-class.”

In both novels, Ilf and Petrov parodied Soviet reality - for example, its ideological clichés (“Beer is sold only to trade union members,” etc.). Meyerhold's performances also became the subject of parody ( Marriage at the Columbus Theater), and the correspondence of F.M. Dostoevsky with his wife published in the 1920s (letters from Father Fyodor), and the searches of the post-revolutionary intelligentsia (“homespun truth” by Vasisualiy Lokhankin). This gave grounds for some representatives of the first Russian emigration to call the novels of Ilf and Petrov a libel against the Russian intelligentsia.

In 1948, the Secretariat of the Writers' Union decided to consider The twelve Chairs And Golden calf libelous and slanderous books, the republication of which “can only cause indignation on the part of Soviet readers.” The ban on reprinting was also enshrined in a special resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which was in force until 1956.

Between two novels about Bender, Ilf and Petrov wrote a satirical story Bright personality(1928), two series of grotesque short stories Extraordinary stories from the life of the city of Kolokolamsk And 1001 days, or New Scheherazade(1929) and other works.

Since 1932, Ilf and Petrov began writing feuilletons for the newspaper Pravda. In 1933–1934 we visited Western Europe, in 1935 - in the USA. Sketches about travel to the USA compiled into a book One-story America(1937). It was a story about small country towns and farms, and ultimately about the “average American.”

The creative collaboration of writers was interrupted by the death of Ilf in Moscow on April 13, 1937. Petrov made a lot of efforts to publish notebooks Ilfa, I'm thinking 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.

During the Great Patriotic War, Petrov became a front-line correspondent. He died on July 2, 1942 in a plane crash while returning to Moscow from Sevastopol.