Which Ostap Bender is the best? The real great schemer: who was the real prototype of Ostap Bender.

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 comes up with simply brilliant plans right in the course of events - so, while 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 painting "Bolsheviks" writing a letter to Chamberlain." And in the end, he meets Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov, who tells him the amazing story of Madame Petukhova’s family diamonds. 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...

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 its title was even 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."

Wikimedia Commons Files on Wikimedia Commons

Ostap Bender- the main character of the novels by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny 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 merchants 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 military service 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, early deceased Soviet writer from Petrograd Lev Lunts, 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 the use of the image, but the writers laughed and explained that the image was a collective one, therefore there could be 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 a 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.

Performer	Film director	Release date
Igor Gorbachev	Alexander Belinsky
Igor Gorbachev is the first Ostap Bender on television. He appeared in 1966 in a teleplay by Leningrad Television "12 chairs".

Sergey Yursky	Mikhail Shveitser
Sergei Yursky became the first Ostap Bender in cinema, starring in the film adaptation "Golden calf" 1968. Counts [ by whom?] that it was Yursky who managed to create the most accurate image of Bender from The Golden Calf. It is noteworthy that at the time of filming, Yursky’s age (born in 1935) was 33 years, in full accordance with the novel: “ I am thirty-three years old - the age of Jesus Christ. What have I done so far?..»

Frank Langella	Mel Brooks
Frank Langella played Ostap Bender in the American film adaptation "12 chairs ". The only performer in the film adaptations of the novel who meets the author’s description: “28 years old” (that is, a young, and not a mature man, like everyone else), “with military bearing.”

Archil Gomiashvili	Leonid Gaidai
Archil Gomiashvili played the role of Ostap twice: in the film by Leonid Gaidai "12 chairs" and in the film “The Comedy of Bygone Days” by Yuri Kushnerev, released in 1980. In Gaidai’s film, Bender speaks in the voice of Yuri Sarantsev, due to the wheezing of the ill Gomiashvili (according to another version, since Gomiashvili’s speech contained a Georgian accent). Although Archil Gomiashvili’s age did not at all correspond to Bender’s age indicated in the novel, some [ Who?] consider his Bender to be the best Bender of all the film adaptations of The Twelve Chairs.

Andrey Mironov	Mark Zakharov
Andrei Mironov played the role of Ostap Bender in a four-part musical film "12 chairs". His role is considered one of Bender's classic performances.

Sergey Krylov	Vasily Pichul
Singer Sergei Krylov played Ostap Bender in the film by Vasily Pichul "Dreams of an Idiot"(). Bender is about 40 years old.

Georgy Deliev	Ulrike Ottinger
In the film by German director Ulrike Ottinger "The twelve Chairs" The main role was played by Odessa resident Georgy Deliev.

Nikolay Fomenko	Maxim Papernik
Nikolai Fomenko played Bender in the production "Twelve Chairs" 2005, shown on television in early January 2005.

Oleg Menshikov	Ulyana Shilkina
An eight-episode series was filmed in 2006. series "Golden Calf", in which the role of Ostap Bender was played by Oleg Menshikov. The acting embodiment of the image of Ostap by Menshikov was recognized as one of the most unsuccessful.

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 a picture 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 Zolotoy Ostap club/restaurant in Moscow.

Notes

M. Odessky, D. Feldman. Literary strategy and political intrigue. “Twelve Chairs” in Soviet criticism at the turn of the 1920s-1930s
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. - ISBN 5-88568-090-6
Khudyakov V.V. 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
Eduard Bagritsky."Smugglers" ()
"The Twelve Chairs", ch. XXX "At the Columbus Theater"
Housing Code of the RSFSR, article 60, part 2, norm 18
Daniel Kluger. The first detective of the Soviet Union
Electronic library - Books for readers and downloaders (; Science Fiction. Fantasy Fantasy Rassadin S., Sarnov. In the land of literary heroes 1-2
Information about Osip Shor
Osip Shor With reference to materials from the newspaper “Novye Izvestia” dated November 6, 1999.
V. Kataev. My Diamond Crown / M., “Soviet Writer”, 1979.
Epoch. Events and people. //TV channel “Belarus”, November 23, 2011, 15:30
Sergey Belyakov. Lonely sail of Ostap Bender / “New World” 2005, No. 12
Levin A. B.“Twelve Chairs” from “Zoyka’s Apartment”
Michael Bulgakov . Collected works in five volumes. Volume 3: Plays. M: Fiction, 1992. “Zoyka’s apartment.” Comments.
“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

On an early spring morning in 1927, a tall middle-aged man in an elegant suit and patent leather boots approached the massive door from the direction of Bolshaya Nikitskaya. 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.

Recently, 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

We decided to make the most of all our acquaintances as literary heroes. 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 him his 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 character. 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 period of 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 a great man appears in the world, every nation rushes to prove that he is 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 at the very end of the 19th century on Kanatnaya Street in Odessa into 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. Ostap and Nathan carried their tender love for Elsa throughout their lives.

Ostap's jokes already at that time bore the characteristic features of 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 out, 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 turned like on 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, English, the troops of Hetman Staropadsky, Petliurists, Haidamaks, the White Army of General Denikin, the Bolsheviks, even the army of some Galician general Sekira-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 of the Russian Empire arrived in the port city. 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 highly developed sense of 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 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, threw 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.

Both bandits and security officers loved to visit the Odessa Opera House

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.

Nathan was killed
a few days before
weddings

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 about Nathan Fioletov, a famous poet and 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 found himself in dangerous troubles. 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. He often appears at 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.

1968
Ostap Shor for a long time
survived both authors
novels about their
adventures

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 had been 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 Ilf’s famous “Notebooks” there was an entry: “Ostap could even now walk across the whole country, giving concerts of gramophone records. And he would live very well, have a wife and 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, both the literary character and his prototype are characterized by the following phrase: “I have had serious disagreements with the Soviet authorities over the past year. 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.

In 1978, Valentin Kataev’s biographical novel “My Diamond Crown” was published. 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 cultural values around the world, he placed it right next door.

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.

BONUS:

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

And Evgeniy Petrov published his adventurous novel “The Twelve Chairs”, it was clear to everyone that the film adaptation of this masterpiece was a matter of time. To date, 10 projects have been filmed based on this story. And also 5 more film adaptations of the novel “The Golden Calf”, which is a continuation of “The Twelve Chairs”. Various artists played the main character named Ostap Bender. The actors tried to create their own unique image of the Great Schemer. Who did it better?

Who is Ostap Suleiman Berta Maria Bender Bey

First of all, it’s worth remembering a little about Ostap Ibrahimovich Bender himself.

He is the main character of two novels: The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf. Little is known about his childhood and teenage years. The hero himself only said about his past that his father was a Turkish subject. Contemporaries of Ilf and Petrov argued that this circumstance indicated that the Great Schemer was from Odessa. In addition, it is likely that his parents were Jewish traders who at that time took Turkish citizenship so that their children would not be forced to fight in the Russian-Turkish wars.

In “The Twelve Chairs” Ostap’s age is 27 years old, and in “The Golden Calf” he is 33. It turns out that Bender was born either in 1897 or 1900.

The outfit in which the Great Schemer first appears on the pages of the novel indicates that he has recently been released from prison: that is why he is dressed out of season, and he does not have housing (at that time the state took away living space from convicts).

At the beginning of The Twelve Chairs, Bender dreams of becoming a polygamist, but he does not have enough money for decent clothes to start this “venture.” Having made friends with the janitor, he witnesses the return of Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov to the city, looking for his mother-in-law's treasures hidden in one of the confiscated chairs. Having agreed to look for the treasure together, the heroes actively begin to search for treasures throughout the USSR.

Throughout the book, Ostap and Ippolit Matveevich, by hook or by crook, obtain 11 chairs, which turn out to be empty. On the eve of the discovery of the latter, Vorobyaninov kills Bender so as not to share. But it turns out that the treasures were found long ago - a new club was built on them.

In "The Golden Calf" it turns out that Ostap manages to survive the assassination attempt. The authors of the novel do not tell how exactly this happened. Most likely, the owner of the apartment where the treasure hunters lived returned home earlier and managed to save the wounded man.

In any case, in “The Golden Calf” Ostap Ibrahimovic appears before the readers alive and ready to earn more. This time he has a whole team of assistants. Together they are trying to collect dirt on the underground Soviet millionaire Alexander Koreiko.

The first film adaptations of novels about Ostap Bender

Soon after publication, the novel “The Twelve Chairs” was translated into foreign languages, gaining popularity outside the USSR. The Poles were the first to film it in 1933. Despite the fact that they retained the original title, the plot was greatly changed, and in addition, the characters in the film had Polish names. Ostap Bender in it is Kamil Klepki performed by Adolf Dymsha.

The Cubans were the second to film the work of Ilf and Petrov in 1962. Like the Poles, they adapted the plot, in connection with which Ippolit Matveyevich turned into Hipólito Garigo, and Ostap Bender was hiding under the name of the clever servant Oscar. The actor who played this role is Reynaldo Miravalles.

In 1963, the Cuban “Twelve Chairs” was shown at the World Festival in Moscow. Probably, this film gave Soviet artists the idea that it was time to film the famous work themselves. And in 1966, the two-part television play “The Twelve Chairs” was released.

The main character was played by Igor Gorbachev. This actor became the first performer of the role of Ostap Bender in the history of Soviet cinema. It is noteworthy that Alisa Freindlich played Ellochka the cannibal. Despite the rather sparse scenery, the picture turned out to be quite worthy for its time, and Gorbachev's Great Schemer was quite funny, but it lacked the lightness and intelligence that subsequent performers brought.

Film "The Golden Calf" 1968

Oddly enough, the first novel about the Great Schemer, on the basis of which a full-length film was made, was The Golden Calf. Chronologically, he is the second.

In this black and white film, the audience saw the cheerful and resourceful Ostap Bender (actor Sergei Yursky), with whom it was simply impossible not to fall in love. Yursky at that time was already known for his role in “Republic of SHKID”. Despite the fact that in some scenes he clearly overacted, he was a great success in the role. Bender Yursky managed to maintain his optimism until the last frames of the film, which clearly contrasted with the book, in which Ostap burned out from the inside, disappointed in himself and his life.

By the way, it was Sergei Yursky who turned out to have the brightest Bender; even Archil Gomiashvili could not achieve such lightness in his acting. Yursky was 33 years old at the time of filming, like Ostap. By the way, at first the actor refused to participate in the project, and Vladimir Vysotsky applied for the role of the descendant of the Janissaries. But later the actor was persuaded to “command the parade.”

Frank Langella in the 1970 American film adaptation of The Twelve Chairs

In the USA, the novels of Ilf and Petrov were also very popular. Therefore, in the early seventies, the young director Mel Brooks, today known for B-category comedies (Spaceballs, Dracula: Dead and Loving), made a film of the same name based on it. It is worth noting that the Americans clearly did not skimp on the decorations, while many funny moments from the novel were not included in the film, and others were greatly distorted.

A pleasant feature of Brooks's The Twelve Chairs was its relatively happy ending. In it, Vorobyaninov does not kill Ostap, but, on the contrary, persuades him to continue traveling together.

The main role in the project was played by Frank Langella (“Dracula” 1979, “Junior”). It is worth noting that he perfectly got used to the image of a resourceful swindler and did not overact. However, Langella's Bender turned out to be too American, and therefore it was not accepted by domestic viewers, like the film adaptation itself.

Film “12 chairs” by Leonid Gaidai 1971

A year later, the film “12 Chairs” was released in the USSR. Its director was Leonid Gaidai. This brilliant comedy creator managed to make a masterpiece that matches the spirit of the book.

Many famous artists auditioned for the role of the tandem treasure hunters, including Andrei Mironov and However, the picky Gaidai rejected them. Instead, he entrusted the role of the boorish one to Sergei Filippov, who starred in the film despite cancer. And a Georgian actor named Archil Gomiashvili was invited to play the descendant of the Janissaries. At first he refused, although he had previously toured Georgia with a musical based on The Golden Calf. Moreover, the filming of “12 Chairs” began with another actor. However, he not only looked unfunny, but also got lost against the background of Filippov. Ultimately, Leonid Gaidai persuaded Gomiashvili to play Bender.

According to the majority, Archil is one of the best performers of this role. The actor managed to create the image of a resourceful and unprincipled, but charming scoundrel. However, he spoke in the film instead of the performer since Gomiashvili himself had a noticeable accent.

Ivan Darvas as Ostap Bender in the Hungarian film adaptation of The Golden Calf

4 years after Gaidai’s two-part film, the rascal Ostap Bender appeared on Hungarian television screens. The actor who played this role is Ivan Darvash. He is very famous in his homeland, but in the USSR and the CIS he is practically unknown. In the case of Darvash, the situation with Frank Langella was repeated, when the actor played his role with dignity, however, not understanding the national specifics of the work, he was unable to truly reveal the inner world of his hero.

“12 Chairs” by Mark Zakharov with Andrei Mironov in the title role

5 years after Gaidai, another famous Soviet director, Mark Zakharov, decided to film his version of the novel by Ilf and Petrov.

This is how the four-part film “12 Chairs” (1976) appeared. Subsequently, Leonid Gaidai often made fun of Zakharov’s film adaptation, calling it a “crime.” But in vain, because most film fans are still arguing with foam at the mouth which of the films is better, because the main role in the new film was played by the brilliant Andrei Mironov.

Ostap Bender in his performance turned out to be completely different from all the previous ones. He was no longer as young and optimistic as Yursky and Langella; so resourceful and charming, like Gomiashvili’s. But the Great Schemer acquired intelligence, which was harmoniously combined with impenetrable arrogance. In addition, the main feature of Mironovsky Ostap was his singing. The song “My Sail Is White” became a real hit and helped the actor reveal the inner world of his character, something that Gomiashvili was deprived of from Gaidai.

It is interesting that the 1976 film “12 Chairs” starred some artists who had previously played in Gaidai’s film. Among them are Savely Kramarov and Georgy Vitsin.

Summarizing the long-term debate about whose film is better, we can say with confidence that although both films were based on the same novel, each of them is unique in its own way. The same thing happened with the leading actors: Mironov and Gomiashvili created two wonderful, but completely different images of the Great Schemer, each of which has its own zest.

Ostap Bender performed by Sergei Krylov in the film “Dreams of an Idiot” 1993

After Mark Zakharov’s film, no one tried to film the works of Ilf and Petrov for 17 years. However, after the collapse of the USSR, film production became commercial, and many directors got the opportunity to film their bold projects. Among the attempts to take a fresh look at classic works was the film “Dreams of an Idiot” (1993), based on “The Golden Calf.”

This film retains the main plot elements of the original. However, they are all adapted to modern times, and the cheerful, charming Ostap has turned into a forty-year-old balding philosopher, who spent the first half of the film trying to get money, and then not knowing how to properly manage it. It is noteworthy that the ending is changed - Bender finds Zosya and confesses his love to her. The girl responds to his feelings, and, taking him with her, they go off into the distance together.

The main character was played by someone famous in the nineties. Despite numerous criticisms, it is worth noting that Bender in his performance is not so bad. Yes, he does not correspond to the book prototype and is much inferior to the previous performers of the role, but it is worth remembering that “Dreams of an Idiot” is a free adaptation of “The Golden Calf”.

Krylov's Bender turned out to be faded and inexpressive, but kind and sincere in his own way. This deviation from the canon is also a variant of reading the novel. Despite the many shortcomings of the film adaptation, the most questionable thing was how Sergei Krylov was able to get this role, because he is more than a weak actor.

as Ostap Bender in The Twelve Chairs by Ulrike Ottinger

11 years after the film “Dreams of an Idiot,” German director Ulrike Ottinger made the film “The Twelve Chairs.” In it, the main role was given to the famous comedian from Odessa Georgy Deliev.

Oettinger's painting was very modernized, but Ostap's costume, and he himself, were too clownish.

It is worth noting that Deliev played very well. He, of course, lacked the lightness and charm of most of his predecessors, but he clearly surpassed not only Krylov, but also an actor named Nikolai Fomenko, who became the next performer of the role of the Great Schemer.

The musical “The Twelve Chairs” 2005 with Nikolai Fomenko in the title role

Speaking about this film adaptation, most viewers asked the question: “Why was it filmed at all?” Despite the constellation of pretty good actors (Ilya Oleynikov, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Dmitry Shevchenko, the film turned out to be very weak.

The actors overacted, especially Nikolai Fomenko, who had previously established himself as a very good artist. Although he quite accurately conveyed Ostap’s boorish character, his character completely lacked charm, and he looked more like a racketeer than a cunning swindler.

Oleg Menshikov as Ostap Bender in the television series “The Golden Calf”

To date, the last film dedicated to the Great Schemer is the eight-episode television series “The Golden Calf” (2006). The talented actor Oleg Menshikov played in it.

Ostap Bender in his performance is considered one of the worst (those who think so are probably not familiar with the works of Deliev, Fomenko and Krylov). However, this opinion is somewhat biased due to the poor quality of the picture as a whole.

Of course, Menshikov is inferior to Yursky, but the version of Ostap Ibrahimovich depicted by him is also very interesting and seems closer to the book original. Many reproach the actor for the excessive softness of his character, but if you remember the novel itself, then the Great Schemer in it is no longer the carefree optimist that in “The Twelve Chairs.” Throughout the book, he begins to show his weaknesses and gradually becomes more and more disillusioned with the surrounding reality and people. However, he constantly tries to keep his cool and continues to joke. This is exactly the kind of Bender Menshikov tried to portray.

Ostap Bender is a hero who has long become a cult hero, and most of his phrases are catchphrases. He has been played by various people in film and television. The debate about who did it better continues to this day. By general opinion, three leaders can be identified: Yursky, Gomiashvili and Mironov. However, each viewer chooses for himself whose performance he likes best. I would like to believe that in future years there will not be another mediocre film adaptation of these famous novels, since it is unlikely that there will be anyone capable of playing the Great Schemer better than what has already been done.

Wikimedia Commons Files on Wikimedia Commons