Veniamin Aleksandrovich Kaverin (russian: link=no, Вениами́н Алекса́ндрович Каве́рин; Вениами́н А́белевич Зи́льбер (Veniamin Abelevich Zilber); ,

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

– May 2, 1989, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian writer, dramatist and screenwriter associated with the early 1920s movement of the

Serapion Brothers The Serapion Brothers (or Serapion Fraternity, russian: Серапионовы Братья) was a group of writers formed in Petrograd, Russian SFSR in 1921. The group was named after a literary group, ''Die Serapionsbrüder'' (The Serapion Brethr ...

Biography

Kaverin was born to the

kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

of the 96th Infantry Regiment out of

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

, Abel Abramovich Zilber and his wife, Khana Girshevna Desson, who owned a chain of music stores. His elder sister, Leah Abelevna Zilber, married

Yury Tynyanov Yury Nikolaevich Tynyanov ( rus, Ю́рий Никола́евич Тыня́нов, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ tɨˈnʲænəf; October 18, 1894 – December 20, 1943) was a Soviet writer, literary critic, translator, scholar and scre ...

, who was a classmate of Kaverin's older brother, Lev Zilber. Kaverin studied at the Pskov Governorate Gymnasium and in 1923 graduated the Leningrad Institute of Living Oriental Languages, specializing in Arabic. In 1924, he also graduated the history and philology faculty of the

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

. During that time he was close with members of

OPOJAZ OPOJAZ (ОПОЯЗ) (russian: Общество изучения Поэтического Языка, ''Obščestvo izučenija POètičeskogo JAZyka'', "Society for the Study of Poetic Language") was a prominent group of linguists and literary crit ...

. Kaverin also married the younger sister of Yury Tynyanov, Lidia, and had two children, Natalia and Nikolay. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

evacuation in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

, Kaverin completed his best-known novel, ''

The Two Captains ''The Two Captains'' (russian: Два Капитана) is a novel written by Soviet author Veniamin Kaverin between 1938 and 1944. It is Kaverin's best known work and is considered one of the most popular works of Soviet literature, winning the ...

'' (1938–44), which colorfully recounts the adventures of Russian polar explorers before and after the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. The book, awarded the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

in 1946, was reissued 42 times in 25 years and was adapted for the screen twice, in 1955 and 1976. In 1966, Kaverin published a revised version of his 1929 study of

Osip Senkovsky Osip Ivanovich Senkovsky (russian: О́сип Ива́нович Сенко́вский), born Józef Julian Sękowski ( in Antagonka, near Vilnius – in Saint Petersburg), was a Polish-Russian orientalist, journalist, and entertainer. Life S ...

, ''Baron Brambeus''. Later, he worked on his reminiscences about the literary milieu of the 1920s, which contained passages highly critical of Soviet policies in literature. As ''The Moscow News'' commented on his centenary, "Kaverin showed that even under the worst of conditions it is possible to retain one's human qualities and decency. His example is a reproach to so many other Soviet writers who sold their souls to the regime and committed reprehensible public acts". He is buried at the

Vagankovo Cemetery Vagankovo Cemetery (russian: Ваганьковское кладбище, Vagan'kovskoye kladbishche), established in 1771, is located in the Presnya district of Moscow. It started in the aftermath of the Moscow plague riot of 1771 outside the cit ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

English translations

*''Open Book'', Lawrence & Wishart, 1955. *''The Unknown Artist'', Hyperion Press, 1973. *''Two Captains'',

Raduga Publishers Raduga Publishers (russian: радуга, English: "rainbow") was a Soviet publishing house of innovative children's books, which has been described as "one of the most important book publishers of its type" during the early twentieth century.And ...

, 1989. *''Two Captains'', Fredonia Books, 2003.

References

External links

*
Veniamin Kaverin
in the Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers 1902 births 1989 deaths 20th-century memoirists 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian novelists 20th-century Russian screenwriters 20th-century Russian short story writers People from Pskov Saint Petersburg State University alumni Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Pseudonymous writers Jewish Russian writers Russian Jews Russian male dramatists and playwrights Russian male novelists Russian male short story writers Russian male writers Russian memoirists Russian screenwriters Soviet dramatists and playwrights Soviet Jews Soviet male writers Soviet memoirists Soviet novelists Soviet screenwriters Soviet short story writers Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery {{Russia-writer-stub