Background
OSTROVSKIY, Nikolay was born on November 29, 1904 in village Viliya, Volhynian Province. Son of a worker
OSTROVSKIY, Nikolay was born on November 29, 1904 in village Viliya, Volhynian Province. Son of a worker
Completed village parish school. Studied at higher primary college.
Expelled from college for rowdiness. Errand boy in kitchens of station restaurant. Assistant stoker at electr power plant.
1919 joined Communist Youth League and volunteered for front. Fought in Civil War as private in Kotovskiy’s brigade and with Budyonnyy’s 1st Cavalry Army. Fall 1920 seriously wounded in action at L’vov.
1921-1924 worked for local Extraordinary Commission Against Counterrevolution, Sabotage and Speculation organs. Head, Communist Youth League Organization(s), Kiev’s Main Railroad Workshops. Secretary, rayon Communist Youth League comt in Berezdov and Izyaslavl’.
1924 began to suffer progressive arteriosclerosis, then blindness. 1930, though bed-ridden and completely blind, began to dictate his autobiographical novel Kak zakalyalas’ stal' (How the Steel Was Tempered), about Communist Youth League members in the 1920’son 1932 this work was serialized in journal “Molodaya gvardiya”, was published as a monograph in 1935 and became extremely popular among young people in 1930’son
1934 began work on novel about Civil War in Ukraine entitled Rozhdyonnyye burey (Born of Storm), but which had less success than his first novel. A few days before his death he managed to complete volume 1 of this novel. His novel “How the Steel Was Tempered” was used as the basis for a film of the same name (1942), for the film “Pavel Korchagin” (1956), for the ballet Yunost’ (Youth) (1950) and for the opera “Pavel Korchagin” (1961).
Communist Party member from 1924.