Background
Rybakov, Anatolii was born on January 14, 1911 in Chernigov. Son of an engineer.
Rybakov, Anatolii was born on January 14, 1911 in Chernigov. Son of an engineer.
In 1934, graduated from the Moscow Institute of Railroad Engineers. Fought in World War II, 1941 — 45. His first children’s book The Dagger was published in 1948 (filmed in 1958).
Won a Stalin Prize in 1951 for his novels The Drivers and Ekaterina Voronina (a film adaptation of the latter was made in 1955). All his books published in the 1960s (The Adventures of Krosh, The Innocent Games, The Unknown Soldier) have been turned into films. Received the Vasil’ev Brothers Prize in 1973.
Suddenly emerged as a major modern writer with Children of the Arbat, published by a Moscow literary magazine in 1987. The book gives a detailed picture of Kremlin intrigues in the early 1930s and implies that Stalin ordered the murder of his rival, Sergei Kirov, in 1934. Apparently he had started the novel in 1967 without any hope of ever publishing it in the Soviet Union.
Children of the Arbat has been hailed by liberal literary circles as a work of major importance for its honest treatment of themes until recently barred by official censors. Visited London, 1988, in connection with the publication of the English translation of this book. Other books: Kortik, Bronzovaia Ptitsa, Povesti, Voditeli.