Background
Zhitkov was born in Novgorod. His father was a mathematics teacher and his mother a pianist.
Zhitkov was born in Novgorod. His father was a mathematics teacher and his mother a pianist.
1906 graduate Natural Sciences Department, Novorossiysk University, Odessa. 1916 graduate Shipbuilding Department, Petrograd Polytcch Institute.
His books are based on his rich experience as a sailor, ship captain, scientist, traveler and explorer. Between 1916 and 1924 he was a sailor and, later, a ship"s captain. He also worked as a navigator, an ichthyologist, a metal worker, a shipbuilding engineer, a teacher of physics and drafting, and a technical college headmaster.
In 1924 Zhitkov started to be published and soon became a professional writer
He is best known for the hugely successful children"s travel book What I Saw (Russian: Что я видел) about the summer vacation adventures of a curious little boy nicknamed Pochemuchka. Zhitkov is all upset about the self-flagellation going on among critics at the Writers" Union.
He says that at the meeting where Eikhenbaum was asked to practice self-criticism, Eikhenbaum responded, "Self-criticism should be practiced before one writes, not after." Zhitkov"s interpretation of the now famous meeting runs as follows: "We"re all just so many sons of bitches, so let"s pull down our pants and let ourselves be whipped."
Zhitkov"s 1941 historical novel about the 1905 Revolution, Viktor Vavich (Russian: Виктор Вавич), was immediately destroyed and republished in 1999 only thanks to Lydia Chukovskaya having saved a copy. Boris Pasternak called it "the best thing that has ever been written about 1905.
lieutenant"s shameful that nobody knows this book"
Zhitkov also featured as a character in Samuil Marshak"s children"s poem "Post".
The poem was adapted for screen in a 1964 animated film, where Zhitkov was voiced by actor Erast Garin.