Where was Zhitkov born in what city? Boris Zhitkov
In November 1923, the middle-aged unemployed Boris Zhitkov wrote in his diary: “Today is the day when there is nowhere to go”. There was no work, there was a feeling of a blank fence along which he walked and knocked unsuccessfully. And suddenly… “a gate opened in this fence... Not at all where... he knocked... and they said: “For God’s sake, come in, come in””. This “come in, come in” was said in the editorial office of the magazine “Sparrow”, where Zhitkov was invited to apply by Korney Chukovsky, who believed in the literary talent of his gymnasium friend. They once studied together in Odessa, at one time they were even friends, and Chukovsky (then Kolya Korneychukov) often visited the Zhitkov family.
The family was quite large: parents, three daughters and the youngest son. He was born near Novgorod, in a village on the banks of the Volkhov, where his parents rented a dacha. My father taught mathematics: one of his problem books was published thirteen times. But due to the strong stigma of being “unreliable,” he was forced to change one job after another. The family had to travel around Russia until they settled in Odessa, where his father managed to get a job as a cashier in a shipping company. Boris's mother idolized music. In her youth she even took lessons from the great Anton Rubinstein.
In Odessa, Boris went to school for the first time: a private, French one, where instead of grades for diligence, they gave candy wrappers and toys. Then I entered the gymnasium. He was an unusual high school student. His hobbies knew no bounds. He seemed to be interested in everything: he spent hours playing the violin, or studying photography. I must say that he was a meticulous “student”. And he often achieved excellent results. For example, having become interested in sports, he not only won prizes in races, but also built a yacht with his friends.
Once I persuaded Kolya Korneychukov to go to Kyiv - on foot! And this is 400 kilometers. We left at dawn. Everyone has a shoulder bag. But they didn't last long. Boris was an imperious, unyielding commander, and Kolya turned out to be an obstinate subordinate. 
Among Boris Stepanovich’s hobbies there was one that stubbornly “led” to that gate in the fence that “opened” Zhitkov the writer. One might say that since childhood his hand has been drawn to the pen, “pen to paper.” He published handwritten magazines. I kept diaries all my life. His letters are sometimes whole stories. Once, for his nephew, Boris Stepanovich came up with a long story in letters with a continuation. He also wrote poetry: he had a whole notebook of them. In addition, he turned out to be a great storyteller. Yes, and there was something to tell him about. After graduating from high school, his life is a real kaleidoscope of diverse, sometimes exotic events.
He studied mathematics and chemistry at Novorossiysk University and shipbuilding at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, led an ichthyological expedition along the Yenisei, and worked at factories in Copenhagen and Nikolaev. I went on sailboats to Bulgaria and Turkey. Having passed the exam for a long-distance navigator as an external student, he set off across three oceans from Odessa to Vladivostok as a navigator on a cargo ship. During the 1905 revolution, he made explosives for bombs and helped print leaflets. And during the First World War, it accepted engines for Russian aircraft in England. He worked at school, taught mathematics and drawing.
He had to starve, wander, hide. And so, with the passion with which he sailed a yacht on the Black Sea as a boy, he - a middle-aged man - threw himself into literary work.
The first story by forty-two-year-old Boris Zhitkov (“Over the Sea”) was published in 1924 by the magazine “Sparrow.” Later the author changed the title - “Above the Water”. In the same year, a collection of short stories, The Evil Sea, was published.
Once, having received an invitation to work as an editor in the magazine “Young Naturalist,” Boris Stepanovich committed "Zhitkovsky coup". The same thing happened a little earlier in the Pioneer magazine, which, however, everyone was happy about.
The heroes of Zhitkov's works were people of bright, sharp characters - he met such people more than once in his life full of adventures. And the stories “About an Elephant” or “A Stray Cat” could have been written by a person who not only loved animals, but also understood them. How can one not remember that Boris Zhitkov had both a trained wolf and a cat who could "become a monkey".
Just like in childhood, he “I thirsted to teach, instruct, explain, explain”. And sometimes the heroes of his works became... an ax or a steamboat. As the author wanted, “to make your hands and brains itch” from reading these books! That is why he was constantly zealous in his invention.
Zhitkov’s varied knowledge also came in handy. No wonder they had a great reputation. He could explain to a housewife how best to salt cabbage, and to the writer Konstantin Fedin how to make barrels. Yes, so explain that he “I heard the knocking and hum of work... and was ready... to plan a little together with the wonderful cooper - Zhitkov”.
A desperate interest in life did not give the writer Zhitkov peace. Either he started making a film about microbes, then he drew avidly, then he returned to the violin. “I am captivated, I am in love and at my feet in admiration”- this is about a new instrument with a gentle “female” voice.
For his eternal wanderings they somehow called him "eternal Columbus". What would Columbus be without discoveries! In 1936, Zhitkov took up an unprecedented book - "encyclopedia for four-year-old citizens". He called her "Why". The first listener and critic of individual chapters was a real why - his neighbor Alyosha, to whom “Explain the metro - you’ll lose your brains”.
Book "for small readers" entitled “What I Saw” was published in 1939. It was the last for Boris Zhitkov, who died a year before its release. There is a legacy left: almost two hundred stories, novellas, articles.
Nadezhda Ilchuk
WORKS OF B.S.ZHITKOV
FAVORITES. - M.: Terra - Book. club, 1999. - 542 pp.: ill. - (Treasures of children's literature).
FAVORITES / Join. Art. K.I. Chukovsky; Artist B.V. Trzhemetsky. - M.: Pravda, 1988. - 477 p.: ill.
Contents: Sea stories; Stories about animals; What happened.
FAVORITES / Comp., intro. Art., note. V. Glotser; Artist A. Brey et al. - M.: Education, 1989. - 190 p.: ill. - (School library).
Contents: What happened; Sea stories; Stories about animals.
STAYLESS CAT: [Stories] / Artist. M. Fedorovskaya. - M.: Pushkinskaya B-ka: Astrel, 2005. - 238 p.: ill. - (Extracurricular reading).
HOW WE WENT TO THE ZOO: A story. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 1998. - 46 p.: ill. - (Book by book).
HOW I CATCHED PEOPLE; WHITE HOUSE; PUDYA; MONGUSTA: [Stories] / Artist. I. Kireeva. - M.: August, 2001. - 56 p.: ill. - (Stories of Russian writers).
SEA STORIES; STORIES ABOUT ANIMALS // Prishvin M.M. Golden Meadow: Stories; Zhitkov B.S. Sea stories; Stories about animals; Bianki V.V. Stories and fairy tales; Bazhov P.P. Ural tales. - M.: Det. lit., 1982. - P. 169-348.
What is the sea like? Deep, blue, warm, affectionate. And also angry and merciless towards a person trying to clash with the water element one on one.
HELP IS COMING: Stories / Artist. V. Yudin. - M.: Det. lit., 1990. - 29 p.: ill. - (Read for yourself).
ABOUT THE ELEPHANT: Story / Art. N. Tyrsa. - St. Petersburg: Lyceum, 1991. - 14 p.: ill. - (My first books).
PUDIA: Story / Fig. V. Drozdova. - St. Petersburg: Lyceum, 1992. - 31 p.: ill. - (Read for yourself).
STORIES ABOUT ANIMALS / Artist. V. Chelak. - M.: Makhaon, 2004. - 125 p.: ill. - (Native nature: Read at home and at school).
STORIES ABOUT BRAVERY / Artist. Yu. Trizna. - L.: Det. lit., 1990. - 110 pp.: ill. - (School library: For primary school).
SEVEN FLIGHTS: Essays, stories, stories, plays / Artist. A. Brey, V. Vladimirov, N. Lapshin, P. Miturich, A. Samokhvalov, R. Semashkevich, S. Sokolov, M. Tsekhanovsky; Designed G. Filchakova. - L.: Det. lit., 1989. - 287 pp.: ill.
Contents: Tales and stories: About the wolf; Roman Marquis; Boa; Varka; Vasily Mutny; Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin; Plays: Seven Fires; Last minutes; Essays: Telegram; About this book and others.
This book is about how money is made and how the steam locomotive was born. There is a story about the life of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and a play about the revolution. And you just can’t tear yourself away from the story “About the Wolf.” The author describes his attempt to tame a wild animal in such a fascinating way.
BRAVE DUCKING: Fairy Tale / Artist. A. Komrakov. - M.: Det. lit., 1998. - 15 p.: ill. - (For little ones).
WHAT HAPPENED: Stories / Preface. G. Chernenko; Artist M. Belomlinsky. - L.: Det. lit., 1986. - 79 p.: ill.
WHAT HAPPENED: Stories / Artist. A. Bezmenov, A. Kapninsky. - M.: ROSMEN, 2002. - 250 pp.: ill. - (B-younger schoolboy).
WHAT HAPPENED: Stories / Artist. V. Chernoglazov. - M.: Det. lit., 2003. - 301 p.: ill. - (School library).
What happened? Anything happened: both scary and funny. This book contains stories about a steamship that hit a mine and a samovar that blew soap bubbles. About the rescue of fishermen carried away on an ice floe into the open sea, and about a lost beard.
WHAT I SAW: Stories and fairy tales / Intro. Art. K. Fedina; Rice. a group of artists; Comp. and ed. biogr. essay by G. Chernenko. - L.: Det. lit., 1979. - 382 pp.: ill.
WHAT I SAW / Artist. D. Anikeev. - M.: Primat, 1994. - 240 pp.: ill.
Why does the dog have a bow on his head?
Why can't you eavesdrop?
Why is the road railway?
Why is the switchman’s yellow flag either folded or unfolded?
Try to ask more questions than Alyosha Whychka!
Nadezhda Ilchuk,
Olga Murgina (bibliography)
LITERATURE ABOUT THE LIFE AND WORK OF B.S. ZHITKOV
Bianki V.V. Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov and his literary heritage // Bianki V.V. Collection cit.: In 4 vols. - L.: Det. lit., 1972-1975. - T. 4. - P. 218-222.
Experienced man Zhitkov: [Chukovsky K. Childhood; Bianchi V. Friend; Fraerman R. Recent years] // Zhitkov B.S. On the Robinson Islands. - Chelyabinsk: South-Ural. book publishing house, 1984. - pp. 230-254.
Volpe Ts.S. The art of otherness: B. Livshits, A. Green, A. Bely, B. Zhitkov, M. Zoshchenko: Collection. - M.: Sov. writer, 1991. - 316 p.
Life and work of B.S. Zhitkov. - M.: Detgiz, 1955. - 591 p.: ill.
Zhitkov Boris Stepanovich // Krat. lit. encyclopedia: In 9 volumes - M.: Sov. encyclopedia, 1962-1978. - T. 2. - Stb. 947-948.
Zhitkov Boris Stepanovich // Matsuev N. Russian Soviet writers: 1917-1967. - M.: Sov. writer, 1981. - P. 85.
Zhitkov Boris Stepanovich // What is it. Who is: T. 2. - M.: Pedagogika-PRESS, 1993. - P. 18-19.
Zubarev D. Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov // Anthology of world children's literature. - M.: Avanta+, 2002. - T. 3. - P. 53-54.
Marshak S.Ya. “Distance Navigator” // Marshak S.Ya. Collection cit.: In 4 vols. - M.: Pravda, 1990. - T. 4. - P. 416-423.
Nikolaeva S.A. Zhitkov B.S. // Arzamastseva I.N., Nikolaeva S.A. Children's literature: Textbook. allowance. - M.: Academy, 1997. - P. 279-284.
Panteleev A.I. Not one turn: (To the 95th anniversary of B.S. Zhitkov) // Panteleev A.I. Collection cit.: In 4 vols. - L.: Det. lit., 1983-1985. - T. 3. - P. 259-261.
Razumnevich V.L. About people of labor and feat // Prishvin M.M. Golden Meadow; Zhitkov B.S. Sea stories; Stories about animals; Bianki V.V. Stories and fairy tales; Bazhov P.P. Ural tales. - M.: Det. lit., 1982. - pp. 161-169.
Sivokon S. Jack of all trades: (Boris Zhitkov) // Sivokon S. Lessons from children's classics. - M.: Det. lit., 1990. - pp. 66-98.
Sivokon S. Jack of all trades // Zhitkov B.S. What happened. - M.: Det. lit., 2003. - pp. 5-18.
Fedin K. Master // Zhitkov B.S. What I saw. - L.: Det. lit., 1979. - pp. 5-6.
Chernenko G.T. Eternal Columbus: Biogr. essay / Fig. and designed B. Zabirokhina. - L.: Det. lit., 1982. - 255 pp.: ill.
Chernenko G.T. Two lives of Boris Zhitkov // Zhitkov B.S. What I saw. - L.: Det. lit., 1979. - pp. 369-379.
Chernenko G.T. Favorite writer // Zhitkov B.S. What happened. - L.: Det. lit., 1986. - pp. 5-7.
Shcheglova E.P. Zhitkov Boris Ivanovich: [Biography. reference] // Dear children: Sat. - L.: Det. lit., 1989. - P. 252.
N.I., O.M.
SCREEN ADAPTATIONS OF B.S. ZHITKOV’S WORKS
- CARTOONS -
Buttons and people. An episode from B. Zhitkov’s story “What I Saw.” Scene V.Golovanova. Dir. M.Novogrudskaya. Comp. M. Meerovich. USSR, 1980.
Why elephants? Based on the story “What I Saw” by B. Zhitkov. Scene J. Vitenzon. Dir. M.Novogrudskaya. Comp. M. Meerovich. USSR, 1980. The roles were voiced by: G. Drobinina, E. Zvereva, R. Sukhoverko and others.
Pudya. Based on the story by B. Zhitkov. Dir. I. Vorobyova. Comp. I. Efremov. USSR, 1990.
Biography
ZHITKOV, BORIS STEPANOVICH (1882−1938), Russian writer. Born on August 30 (September 11), 1882 in Novgorod in the family of a mathematics teacher and pianist. He spent his childhood in Odessa (his school friend was K.I. Chukovsky), and in 1905 he took part in revolutionary events. He graduated from the natural sciences department of Novorossiysk University (1906) and the shipbuilding department of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute (1916). He was a navigator of a sailing ship, captain of a research vessel, ichthyologist, metal worker, shipbuilding engineer, teacher of physics and drawing, head of a technical school; traveled a lot.
Published since 1924 - first addressing adults, then increasingly to children's audiences, which he found, in particular, as a regular author of children's magazines and newspapers "New Robinson", "Chizh", "Hedgehog", "Young Naturalist", "Pioneer" ", "Lenin's Sparks" and others (sea stories in the collection Evil Sea, 1924; stories for children Black Mahalka, Uncle, both 1925; Dzharylgach, 1926; About the monkey, 1927; Mug under the Christmas tree, 1929; White House, Mongoose , both 1935; On an Ice Floe, 1939; cycles Sea Stories, 1925−1937, Stories about Animals, 1935; stories Boa Constrictor, Black Sail, both 1927; plays Fifth Post, 1927; Seven Lights, 1929; fairy tale Elchan-Kaya, 1926 ; scientific and fiction books About this book, Light without Fire, both 1927; Steamboat, 1935, homemade books, including Dress Me, 1928). The wealth of life observations and high educational value, clarity in defining the poles of good and evil, inexhaustible plot ingenuity, dynamism of the narrative, the sharpness and unusualness of moral conflicts that arise in everyday life and reveal the true essence of man, the romantic belief in the triumph of good and justice ensured Zhitkov’s works an honorary place in Russian children's literature of the 20th century, and an outwardly restrained, but sincere and touching love for this world, for everything living and in need of protection, the ability to be surprised by the beauty of existence, to awaken compassion for the weak, including for “our smaller brothers” , and interest in the mysteries of nature, clear, concise and serious “children’s” language made Zhitkov’s work a favorite reading for young readers to this day. The pinnacle of Zhitkov’s creativity is the encyclopedia story What I Saw (published in 1938, posthumously), which became a reference book for many generations of children, where the writer, in the genre of the journey of a four-year-old boy Alyosha - “Pochemuchki”, on whose behalf the book was written, answers various questions, arising in a child at the first encounter with the “miracle” of the railway, new people, objects and animals. Zhitkov’s psychologism, not without social bias in stories about adults (a kind and brave sailor and a greedy owner in the story On the Water, a poor sailor and a selfish captain in the story Pobeda, noble revolutionaries and evil policemen, Black Hundreds and bandits in the stories Vata, Kompas, Bakery) , benevolent and edifying - in depicting images of children (who, as they grow up, certainly become better), is especially accurate in stories about animals, which are shown with all their specific behavioral characteristics, and at the same time with a specific situational characteristic (an elephant that saves its owner from the tiger), as creatures in which the writer wisely highlights worthy qualities (the devotion of a wolf, the hard work and kindness of an elephant, the courage of a monkey, etc.) P.). Zhitkov was the organizer of a shadow theater and a special series of books for the illiterate, the author of the unfinished book The History of the Ship, the cycle Stories about Technology, addressed to youth, the novel for adults Viktor Vavich (books 1−2, 1929−1937), which tells, not without autobiographical reminiscences, about the period of the revolution of 1905. The work of Zhitkov, a classic of Russian children's and animalistic (in continuation of the traditions of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov) literature, who, along with V.V. Bianchi and E.I. Charushin, can also be considered the founder of the scientific and artistic genre in children's literature, had a significant influence on many children's writers. Zhitkov died in Moscow on October 19, 1938.
Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov was born in 1882 in Novgorod. His parents are a math teacher and a pianist. As a child, he lived in Odessa, where he was friends with Chukovsky. He was an active participant in the revolutionary events in 1095.
In 1906 he graduated from Novorossiysk University (natural sciences department), and in 1916 he received a second (shipbuilding) education at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute.
Zhitkov changed many professions during his life - he worked as a navigator of a sailing ship, was the captain of a research ship, a metal worker, an ichthyologist, a shipbuilding engineer, tried himself in the teaching field, and headed a technical school. Traveled a lot.
He first began publishing in 1924. At first he focused on the adult category of readers, but over time he switched to children's literature. His works were published in various magazines and newspapers: “Chizh”, “Young Naturalist”, “Hedgehog”, “New Robinson”, “Lenin Sparks”, etc.
Zhitkov's works are distinguished by a wealth of life observations, significant educational value, clarity in the definition of good and evil, interesting plots, dynamism of the narrative, unusual and acute moral conflicts, romantic faith in the victory of justice, true and touching love for this world, the ability to be surprised by the beauty of life and awaken sympathy for the weak. The writer organized a shadow theater and wrote special books for the illiterate. His work had a huge influence on children's literature in the following years.
Boris Stepanovich died in Moscow in 1938. The encyclopedia story “What I Saw,” which is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the writer’s work, was published posthumously.
Children's literature should always contain inspiration and talent at its core. Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov, first of all, proceeded from the belief that it should never appear as an addition to adult literature. After all, most of the books that children will definitely read are a textbook of life. The invaluable experience that children gain by reading books has exactly the same value as real life experience.
A child always strives to copy the heroes of a literary work or openly dislikes them - in any case, literary works allow you to directly and very naturally integrate into real life, take the side of good and fight evil. That is why Zhitkov wrote stories about animals in such wonderful language.
He very clearly understood that any book that was read by a child would remain in his memory for the rest of his life. It is thanks to this that Boris Zhitkov’s stories quickly give children a clear idea of the interconnectedness of generations, the valor of enthusiasts and workers.
All of Zhitkov’s stories are presented in prose format, but the poetry of his stories is clearly felt in every line. The writer was convinced that without the memory of his childhood, there was little point in creating literature for children. Zhitkov clearly and vividly teaches children to determine where good and bad are. He shares his invaluable experience with the reader, strives to convey all his thoughts as accurately as possible, and tries to attract the child to active interaction.
The writer Boris Zhitkov created stories about animals in such a way that they vividly reflect his entire rich and sincere inner world, his principles and moral ideals. For example, in the wonderful story “About the Elephant,” Zhitkov talks about respect for the work of others, and his story “Mongoose” clearly conveys the energy, strength and accuracy of the Russian language. On our website we have tried to collect as many of his works as possible, so you can read Zhitkov’s stories, as well as see their entire list, absolutely free.
All the work of the beloved writer is inextricably linked with thoughts about children and concern for their upbringing. Throughout his short life, he communicated with them, and, like a professional researcher, studied how his fairy tales and stories influenced the sensitive and kind souls of children.
We lived at sea, and my dad had a nice boat with sails. I knew how to navigate it perfectly - both oars and sails. And yet, my dad never let me into the sea alone. And I was twelve years old. One day, my sister Nina and I found out that my father was leaving home for two days, and we decided to go on a boat to the other side; and on the other side of the bay there was a very nice house...
I really wanted to have a real, live mongoose. Your own. And I decided: when our ship arrives on the island of Ceylon, I will buy myself a mongoose and give all the money, no matter how much they ask. And here is our ship off the island of Ceylon. I wanted to quickly run to the shore, quickly find where they were selling these animals. And suddenly a black man comes to our ship (the people there are all...
Boris Zhitkov is a writer whose biography requires careful study. He became a famous writer already at a fairly mature age. But in a short time, this man managed to give us about two hundred wonderful stories for children on an adventure theme.
Real friends
In general, Zhitkov was helped to get into print by his childhood friend Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky. The friendship of these people helped them survive the difficult years. Even after the death of Boris Zhitkov, Chukovsky and his wife treated the Zhitkov family with warmth. subsequently she wrote a book about him, in which she not only gave an analysis of his prose, but also expressed simple human admiration for a tall man endowed with courage and talent.
Biography facts
The biography contains information necessary to understand his worldview. The father of the future writer was a simple teacher, and his mother was a pianist. The father, a comprehensively developed person, managed to develop these qualities in his son. It was from his parent that the future writer had excellent knowledge in the fields of mathematics and astronomy. The mother discovered musical abilities in her son and developed musical knowledge. Besides everything, Boris Zhitkov was interested in ballet and knew how to play the violin.
Zhitkov received two educations. First, he graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Odessa, and then, a few years later, from the shipbuilding department at the St. Petersburg Institute. Life hasn't been easy. He took part in revolutionary events at the beginning of the century, changed many different professions, and traveled around the world as a ship navigator. In general, for a more complete understanding of the characteristics of a particular writer or poet, his biography should be studied. Boris Zhitkov, or rather, his work also needs to be studied through the prism of his personal life.
Features of creativity
Features of Boris Zhitkov’s creativity are as follows:
- inclusion of lived experience;
- a clear division of good and an honorable place in Russian literature;
- rich stories;
- dynamism;
- faith in the triumph of light principles, etc.
Children's writer
By character and mentality, the writer was a romantic and a lover of truth. This man always put honor and dignity, truth and work first, both in life and in his work. According to relatives, Boris’s curiosity knew no bounds. Every day he disappeared, either in a locksmith's workshop or in ship ports, where he studied working professions, gained new impressions and knowledge. After graduating from university, he was offered a teaching position. However, the Zhitkovs moved to St. Petersburg, where the talented Boris Zhitkov continued his studies. A short biography for children must be supplemented with information about his travels in India, Madagascar, Egypt, which filled the writer’s experience with new events and ideas, skillfully presented by him in his works. In other words, the biography of Boris Zhitkov is quite complex and interesting.
The work of Boris Zhitkov has rightfully taken an honorable place in Russian literature for children. The ability to make subtle observations, notice the habits of animals and features of nature, simple language aroused the deep love of the children's reader for the work of Boris Zhitkov. Take, for example, “Stories about Animals” and “Boa Constrictor,” “Black Sail” and “On an Ice Floe,” in which Boris Zhitkov expressed himself. A biography for children of any writer should be entertaining and leave a mark on the soul of the little reader.
In his children's and adult stories and stories, the writer always took the side of the weak and disadvantaged. A talented follower of Maxim Gorky, Zhitkov picked up his key to children's consciousness. He said that you need to talk to the child on an equal basis, only in this case can you gain trust from him. Zhitkov’s ideas for raising a child were outlined very clearly in the encyclopedia “What I Saw.” And this work was influenced by the biography of Boris Zhitkov. The writer worked on his writings until his death, which occurred in October 1938.
Goda, not far from Novgorod, in a village on the banks of the Volkhov, where my parents rented a dacha. The Zhitkov family lived in Novgorod at that time. Boris's father was a mathematics teacher. A very good teacher. Several generations studied arithmetic and geometry using textbooks written by him. “My father was sociable, he was loved, and he knew how to unite people around him,” recalled the writer’s sister. “He did not tolerate any negligence in anything.” But due to the strong stigma of being “unreliable,” he was forced to change one job after another. The family had to travel around Russia until they settled in Odessa, where his father managed to get a job as a cashier in a shipping company. Boris's mother was an excellent pianist, she idolized music. In her youth she even took lessons from the great Anton Rubinstein. Music filled their house, rushing from the open windows to the street. “We used to fall asleep to the sounds of music,” recalled Sister Zhitkova.
Boris was sent to the second Odessa gymnasium. In the same class as Zhitkov, sat a tall, thin, very fidgety high school student, a future writer. One day Boris persuaded Kolya Korneychukov to go to Kyiv on foot! And this is 400 km. We left at dawn. Everyone has a shoulder bag. But they didn't last long. Boris was an imperious, unyielding commander, and Kolya turned out to be an obstinate subordinate.
Boris was an unusual high school student. His hobbies knew no bounds. He seemed to be interested in everything: he spent hours playing the violin, or studying photography. I must say that he was a meticulous student. And he often achieved excellent results. For example, having become interested in sports, he not only won prizes in races, but together with his comrades he built a small sailing boat with a cabin.
Boris Zhitkov studied mathematics and chemistry at Novorossiysk University. In the summer of the year, when the first Russian revolution began, and a red flag hoisted on the battleship Potemkin, student Zhitkov at night on a sailboat, having dimmed the lights, transported weapons to the rebel sailors and port workers. For his participation in the “riots” he was expelled from the university. I tried to transfer to St. Petersburg University and, of course, received a decisive refusal.
Boris Stepanovich was attracted by free winds and open spaces of the sea. Passed the navigator exam as an external student. In the summer, he hired out on sailing ships, sailed along the Black Sea and to distant shores: Turkey, Bulgaria. Sailed both in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. And where has he been?
In the same year, Boris Zhitkov went on an ichthyological expedition along the Yenisei. His father wrote: “Boris is pleased that he’s finally getting to work. It seems to me that it’s good that he doesn’t end up in an office or even in a laboratory, but in an expedition, in a moving, living business.”
The scientific journey ended successfully. The expedition returned safely to Krasnoyarsk, and here Zhitkov made an important decision. Shipbuilding had long attracted him. He decided to become a shipbuilding engineer and enter the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute.
In September of the year Zhitkov was in St. Petersburg. He is a student again. A year has passed. Zhitkov is going to practice in Denmark. There he works at a machine-building plant as a simple worker. In the fall, back to books. He goes to lectures, in laboratories, draws, calculates. He enjoys learning. “So, you know, it’s interesting that I would be happy to work out more, but there’s no time, that’s the problem,” he complains to his nephew.
And in the summer - back to the sea. In the same year, Zhitkov set off on a training cargo ship to circumnavigate the world. He began this voyage as a cabin boy, then became a fireman, and by the end of the voyage he was already the captain's mate. I was in India, Ceylon, China, Japan. Zhitkov did not know that he would become a writer, but he forever remembered the smart Indian elephants, the aroma of the heat, and the black, thin back of the Singhalese rickshaw.
Russia on the eve of the revolution. There was confusion in the country; the labor exchanges were crowded with unemployed people. Even such an experienced and knowledgeable person as Zhitkov found it difficult to find a job as an engineer. He had to starve, wander, hide.
Among Boris Stepanovich’s hobbies there was one that stubbornly “led” to that gate in the fence that “opened” Zhitkov the writer. One might say that since childhood his hand has been drawn to the pen, “pen to paper.” He published handwritten magazines. I kept diaries all my life. His letters are sometimes whole stories. Once, for his nephew, Boris Stepanovich came up with a long story in letters with a continuation. He also wrote poetry: he had a whole notebook of them.
And so, with the passion with which he sailed a yacht on the Black Sea as a boy, he, a middle-aged man, threw himself into literary work. A new life began for Zhitkov, and he eagerly attacked the business that he had long vaguely dreamed of and which was his true calling. Zhitkov’s writing talent was revealed in him somehow immediately and flared up quickly and brightly.
When Zhitkov put pen to paper, his whole old life acquired a new meaning, it became material for creativity. This, it turns out, is why he studied shipbuilding, and sailed on ships and submarines across the seas and oceans, and flew on an airplane, and was in India, Japan, and Africa; That’s why he spent his whole life in close communication with working people - sailors, carpenters, Pomor hunters, shipyard workers; That’s why I eagerly listened to people’s speech, that’s why I was constantly interested in the nature of art.
One after another, stories began to appear about the extraordinary adventures of courageous sailors and pilots and about brave Russian revolutionaries. The heroes of Boris Zhitkov’s works were people of bright, sharp characters: he met such people more than once in his eventful life. He had been waiting for forty years for the moment when he could tell about everything he had seen and experienced, and finally, he got it.
Zhitkov loved to talk in his books about birds and animals, the life and habits of which he knew very well. In India, he saw elephants in the forest, at work, watched how they carried logs, how they nursed children; I saw how a small animal, a mongoose, fought with a terrible snake; how smart, playful and annoying monkeys like Yashka are. And the stories “About an Elephant” and “The Stray Cat” could have been written by a person who not only loved animals, but also understood them. How can one not remember that Boris Zhitkov had both a trained wolf and a cat who knew how to “become a monkey.”
Boris Zhitkov has written talented novels, plays, and articles written for adults. Over 15 years of literary work (more precisely, fourteen and a half), he wrote 192 works, including: 74 essays, 59 novellas and short stories, 7 major works, 14 articles. But, perhaps, “he said his own, Zhitkovsky, new word precisely in children’s literature.”
Over the years of work in children's literature, Zhitkov managed to try all genres, all types of books for children and invented and suggested many new ones: he is one of the creators of the scientific and artistic genre; he started a weekly picture magazine for children who could not yet read; he came up with different types of toy books; he took part in the creation of a special calendar for children. He constantly started new sections in children's magazines - in "Pioneer", "Chizhe", "Young Naturalist". He wrote 38 short stories for preschoolers. These are the fairy tales “Mug under the Christmas tree”, “Girl Katya”, these are the stories “Pudya”, “Flood”, “Red Commander”. The writer in the essay told the children about “How Soviet pilots conquered the North Pole”; For the centenary of the death of A.S. Pushkin, he prepared an article in Chizh and was very concerned about telling children intelligibly and clearly about the great poet. “About Pushkin... this is the most difficult thing,” he wrote in a letter. “Here you need to find the heart, and the breath, and the lift, and the heat.”
He told his young listeners and readers about the feat of the Chelyuskinites, and about the lives of children abroad, and about new Soviet sea vessels, and about the Bolshevik S. M. Kirov, and about the events in Spain, and about the friendship of Soviet people. His short stories, such as “Fire”, “How the ship was raised from the bottom”, “Mail is a whole encyclopedia of professions about the work of firefighters, divers, postmen, these are stories about the Soviet man - a worker, a collectivist.
As in childhood, Zhitkov “longed to teach, instruct, explain, explain.” And sometimes the heroes of his works became... an ax and a steamboat. How the author wanted “his hands and brains to itch” from reading these books. For this purpose, he incessantly zealously invented.
Zhitkov’s varied knowledge also came in handy here. No wonder they had a great reputation. He could explain to a housewife how best to salt cabbage, and to the writer K. Fedin how to make barrels. Yes, to explain that he “heard the knocking and hum of work... and was ready... to plan a little together with the wonderful cooper - Zhitkov.”
The pinnacle of Zhitkov’s scientific and artistic mastery and the brightest image of his creative ingenuity is an essay about how books are made - “About this book.” The writer made a brilliantly simple decision - to talk about this using the example of the very book he is writing. And so he begins directly: “So I wrote “About this book,” but there is no book yet. There will be a book yet. I hope that while I’m writing how to make this book, look, I’ll write a whole book...”
In this book by Zhitkov, the principle of clarity is used to the maximum. A facsimile of the manuscript is printed on the first page, then typesetting, layout, proofreading, and editing by the editor are shown. Readers see what absurdities arise if you skip even one operation.
The author skillfully shows the inextricable unity between the hands of a master, a printer who makes a book, and a machine that makes work easier. The book seems to be created before the eyes of the reader, who is convinced that, no matter how far technology has gone, the birth of a book always remains a miracle.
A desperate interest in life did not give the writer Zhitkov peace. Either he undertook to make a film about microbes, then he drew excitedly (“I can’t stop drawing, damn it three times!”), then he returned to the violin. “I’m captivated, I’m in love and at my feet in admiration” - this is about a new instrument with a gentle “female” voice.
Each of his stories, each book is an experience, a search. Vitaly Bianchi called Boris Zhitkov “The Eternal Columbus,” that is, the eternal seeker. What would Columbus be without discoveries! This year, Zhitkov took up an unprecedented book - “an encyclopedia for four-year-old citizens.” He called her "Why". It was an innovative work, because there had been nothing similar either in Russia or in the West until then. The first listener and critic of individual chapters was the real, real why - the neighbor of Boris Zhitkov's older sister - Alyosha, with whom Boris Stepanovich quite often met and talked.
The acute memory of childhood helped Zhitkov to understand the characteristics of small children, the uniqueness of their perception of life phenomena, and to transform into his hero - “the bearer of the feelings of a four-year-old person.” Zhitkov wrote: “I remember the steamship ladder by the way I hurt my shin on it, I remember the turkey by the way it pecked me painfully when I shoved grains at him, and the horse by the way it didn’t bite me when I gave sugar on the palm. And this is exactly what I was waiting for and afraid of. And she sucked on the sugar with her velvet lips, softly and carefully, but could have bitten off my arm up to the elbow.”
Zhitkov in the book “What I Saw” managed to create a hero with whom all children completely identified and identify themselves; he gave his Alyosha Pochemuchka the opportunity to make a wonderful journey, to meet people who, in response to his questions, tell and show a lot of interesting things. This is the “military uncle” who knew all the trees and mushrooms in the forest, knew how to find his way by the sun; this is the sailor Grisha, who showed Alyosha everything on the ship; and the captain, who was no more important on the ship. All the characters - Matvey Ivanov with his stories about the collective farm garden, and the old grandfather in the hut on the collective farm tower, and Marusya, who takes Alyosha to the collective farm garden and treats him to plums, and many others are busy with their work. But each of them leaves a noticeable mark on the boy’s heart.
Zhitkov’s hero is a real, lively, spontaneous boy, with his own character, actions, and whims. Alyosha's journey helps to unite all the events in which the hero participates and make the book a plot-driven one. Interest in the story is maintained by either dramatic or comic situations in which the hero finds himself, and the boy’s very immediate, emotional reaction.
There are no restrictions on the child, but he is being educated for knowledge. Therefore, B. Zhitkov believed: “... Let the “reader” absorb new information day after day, according to adventures, and let them fit into his imagination according to these stages, as if they happened in his life.” Hence it is clear why the book “What I Saw” was and is called a “textbook of life”, and its author is a talented teacher.
In the winter of the year, Boris Stepanovich fell ill. One writer advised Zhitkov to cure himself by starvation. And he began to starve. It is not difficult to imagine what enormous will this, in the words of Boris Stepanovich, “fakir” method of treatment required.
“I’ve been starving for 21 days now,” Zhitkov wrote to an artist he knew. “Imagine that the hunger strike did not affect my performance at all.”
And in fact, he did not stop literary work. Writers and editors came to him. Until late at night, he dictated to his wife, Vera Mikhailovna Arnold, the book “What I Saw” about the journey and adventures of Alyosha Pochemuchka.
On August 1, Zhitkov wrote with satisfaction in his diary: “That night, by five o’clock in the morning, I finished Pochemuchka.” Total – a year of work.” A book for “small readers” called “What I Saw” was published this year. It was the last for Boris Zhitkov.
Alas, starvation treatment did not help Zhitkov. He felt bad, but his thoughts were still tense. While still working on the book “What I Saw,” Zhitkov conceived another book for children - a collection of stories about how, with the help of technology, Soviet people fight natural forces: floods, fires, blizzards. Zhitkov called this book “Help is coming.”
And he wrote another book for preschoolers at this time - “What Happened” - a collection of short stories about various incidents, funny and serious. “You don’t understand,” Zhitkov wrote to the writer N.L. Dilaktorskaya, “what an exceptional difficulty this task is - writing this anthology.”
Not all the books that B. Zhitkov conceived were written by him. He also planned to write a fascinating book about the history of the ship. But I didn’t have time.
Zhitkov did not have time to create a fundamentally new textbook for schoolchildren, although he also dreamed of this. “I think that someone needs to finally start writing real textbooks,” he told the writer I. I. Khalturin. – Textbooks for children. This, too, turns out to be a children's book. And, pray tell me, why is there such demand from a fiction writer: if “nothing begins” on the first half page, then everyone has the right to slam the book and curse. And from the “management” there is no demand, as long as it accommodates the course.”
Zhitkov himself admitted that some of his books are “formal textbooks.” He did not give the titles, but it is not difficult to guess them: at that time he worked mainly on books about technology and similar ones: “Movie in a Box”, “Steam Locomotive”, “Carpenter”, “About this Book”, “Light without Fire” ", "Telegram"... Without simplifying matters from the technical side, he wrote these books lively, excitingly, with inspiration, in the full power of the rich and relaxed Zhitkovsky language. And although different school subjects have their own specifics (Zhitkov would not write about history or literature in the same way as about mathematics and physics), the very principle of creating new textbooks is already clear here. There is something to take as a model.
And is it any wonder that it was from the lips of Boris Zhitkov that the famous words that retain their freshness today came out: “It is impossible for learning to be difficult: it is necessary for learning to be joyful, reverent and victorious.”
Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov died. He lived only fifty-six years, and his writing life was very short - about fifteen years. But he managed to write so much and with such talent as rarely anyone has managed.
