Ivan Sergeyevich Sokolov-Mikitov (; May 30, 1892 – February 20, 1975) was a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n/Soviet writer and journalist who took part in numerous journeys and expeditions (including the famous

Otto Schmidt Otto Yulyevich Shmidt (born Otto Friedrich Julius Schmidt; – 7 September 1956), better known as Otto Schmidt, was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, and academician. Biography He was born in the town of ...

-led trip to the Arctic Circle on icebreaker ''Georgiy Sedov'' in 1929-1930). Sokolov-Mikitov, best known for his engaging traveller's sketches, was also regarded as a fine nature-observing stylist, in the line of

Konstantin Paustovsky Konstantin Georgiyevich Paustovsky (, ; – 14 July 1968) was a Soviet writer nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968. Early life Konstantin Paustovsky was born in Moscow. His father was a railroad statist ...

and

Mikhail Prishvin Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (; 4 February 1873 – 16 January 1954) was a Russian and Soviet novelist, prose writer and publicist. Prishvin himself defined his place in literature this way: " Rozanov is the afterword of Russian literature, and I ...

. Following the tradition of Russian realism (that of

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

and

Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

authors (mostly

Aleksey Remizov Aleksey Mikhailovich Remizov (; in Moscow – 26 November 1957 in Paris) was a Russian modernist writer whose creative imagination veered to the fantastic and bizarre. Apart from literary works, Remizov was an expert calligrapher who sought to ...

, his good friend and mentor), Sokolov-Mikitov developed his individual style of writing, incorporating elements of traditional Russian folk tales,

bylina A (, ; ), also popularly known as a ''starina'' (), is a type of Russian oral epic poem. deal with all periods of Russian history. narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. or ...

s and fables. Autobiographical novel ''Childhood'' (1931) is regarded as one of his finest.

Biography

Ivan Sokolov was born in Oseki,

Kaluga Governorate Kaluga Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed in 1796–1929. Its capital was Kaluga. Administrative division Kaluga Governorate consisted of the following ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, to a family of the manager of a timber estate of wealthy merchant family of Konshins. Sergey Nikitich Sokolov (a variation on whose father's name, kita, he later used as a second part to his nom-de-plume), and Maria Ivanovna Sokolova (1870—1939), a peasant woman. He spent his early years in

Smolensk Governorate Smolensk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It existed, with interruptions, between 1708 and 1929. Smolensk Governorate, together with seven o ...

, at Kislovo village, his father's homeland. In 1903 Ivan Sokolov entered the Alexandrovsky school in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, dropped in 1910 (for alleged participation in local revolutionary circles) and moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

where he enrolled at the State agricultural management's four-year courses. In Petersburg he met

Aleksandr Kuprin Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (; – 25 August 1938) was a Russian writer best known for his novels ''The Duel'' (1905)Kuprin scholar Nicholas Luker, in his biography ''Alexander Kuprin'', calls ''The Duel'' his "greatest masterpiece" (ch ...

and started to write; his debut ''Salt of the Earth'' short story, a complicated folklore-influenced piece, was dedicated to Remizov, his friend and critic. In the early 1910s Sokolov moved to Revel where he started to contribute to the ''Revelsky listok'' newspaper; by this time he developed new passions, to seafaring and aviation. In 1913 Sokolov-Mikitov started working as a sailor, then in 1915 he finished aviator's courses and as a motorist during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

made several flights alongside the well-known ace Gleb Alekhnovich on an ''

Ilya Muromets Ilya Muromets or Murometz, also known as Ilya of Murom, is a ''bogatyr'' (hero) in a type of Russian oral literature , oral epic poem called ''bylina'' set during the time of the Kievan Rus'. He is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobry ...

'' bomber. In 1920 Sokolov-Mikitov, than an ocean liner ''Omsk''

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

, got stuck in the

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, port, due to a dockers' strike, then, after the ship had been sold from the auction by some authorities linked to the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

, found himself an unwilling émigré. In 1921 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, started to contribute to the immigrant magazines and published several books (''Kuzovok'', ''Where a Bird Won’t Nest''). Among his regular correspondents of the time were Ivan Bunin and Alexander Kuprin; he communicated with

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

, Aleksey Tolstoy,

Sergei Yesenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (, ; 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century. One of his narratives was "lyrical evocations ...

, Aleksey Remizov and

Boris Pilnyak Boris Andreyevich Pilnyak (''né'' Vogau ; – April 21, 1938) was a Russian and Soviet writer who was executed by the Soviet Union on false claims of plotting to kill Joseph Stalin and Nikolay Yezhov. Biography He was born Boris Andreyevich V ...

. In the summer of 1922 Sokolov-Mikitov returned to Russia and settled in Kochany, near Smolensk where he spent next 7 years which proved to be his most productive. There he wrote several short stories cycles: ''On Nevestnitsa River'', ''On My Own Land'' and ''Sea-faring Stories''; novellas ''Siskin's Bay'' and ''Yelenh''. In 1929-1930 Sokolov-Mikitov took part in

's ''Sedov'' expedition to

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (, ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Kara Sea i ...

and

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land () is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of , stretching from east ...

. As an ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

'' correspondent he was part of another mission, that of rescuing the ''Malygin'' ice-breaker. In 1930-1931 he published ''The Overseas Stories'', ''On White Land'' and autobiographical novel ''Childhood'', his own personal favourite. On July 1, 1934, Sokolov-Mikitov became the member of the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

. After the personal invitation from

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, Sokolov-Mikitov received a flat in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(all in all, he's had three of them). As the war broke out, Sokolov-Mikitov asked to be mobilized but has been evacuated instead to

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places * Perm, Russia, a city in Russia **Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 ** Perm Governorate, an administr ...

where he started working as ''Izvestia''s Ural special correspondent. In the summer of 1945 he returned to Leningrad. For the next two decades he's been travelling all over the country, and published more books: ''The Hunter's Stories'', ''By the Blue Sea'', ''Over the Light River'', ''By Forests and Fields'', ''On Warm Land'', among them. Sokolov-Mikitov died in Moscow on February 20, 1975. By his request, he was cremated and his ashes were buried in

Gatchina Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...

, near Saint Petersburg.

References

External links

''Childhood''
autobiography (1929–1952). (Russian text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolov-Mikitov, Ivan 1892 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers People from Peremyshlsky Uyezd Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Journalists from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Nature writers Russian male journalists Soviet journalists Soviet male writers