Ivan Dmitrievich Vasilenko (, ; January 20, 1895 – May 26, 1966), was a Soviet writer of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

Early years

Ivan Dmitrievich Vasilenko was born January 20, 1895, in the village of

Makiivka Makiivka (, ), formerly Dmytriivsk () until 1931, is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, located east from Donetsk. The two cities are practically a conurbation. It has a population of It hosts the administration of Makiivka ...

, in

Don Host Oblast Don Host Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Russian Empire which consisted of the territory of the Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with present-day Rostov Oblast in Russia. Its administrative center was Cherkassk, and later Nov ...

(in present-day

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) in the family of a ''

volost Volost (; ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Russian Empire. History The '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (1890–1907) states that the origins of the concept is unc ...

'' scribe (deputy ''volost'' elser). Seven years later, his family moved to the city of

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

. In 1912 Ivan Vasilenko graduated from the 4-year college and became teacher at a village school. He entered the

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

pedagogical institute, but was soon dismissed for organization of a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

group, and because of that the further route for Vasilenko to teaching was closed and he worked as an accountant in the Taganrog Land bank. After

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, he held a position in a trade union, later worked in public education. He began hi writing career at the age of 39 while bedridden due to severe

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he contributed to Soviet military newspapers.

The literary career of Ivan Vasilenko

The literary talent of Vasilenko was discovered by Russian writer Vikenty Veresaev in 1937. All of his tales and stories written for 30 years of creative life, such as ''Magic Box'', ''Childhood of the Actor'', ''The Little Mouse'', ''The Gordian Knot'', ''Cocks'', ''Green Trunk'', ''Golden Shoes'', ''Sunrise is only Once a Day'', ''Merimes Watch'', ''Family Council'', ''Misha and Masha'' and others, were reissued by local, republican and central publishing houses and used large popularity both for children and for adults. Ivan Vasilenko Museum

In 1949, Vasilenko was awarded a

State Stalin Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

for the story "The Little Star" about life of trade school’s students. Many books have been translated into 27 languages of

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

nations, and into

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, Bulgarian,

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

, French and English languages. His novels ''The Little Star'', ''Artyomka in the Circus'', ''Magic Box'', ''Little Golden Shoes'' were released as motion pictures. He died in

on May 26, 1966.

Awards and remembrance

*1950:

of 3rd degree for the 1948 novel ''Little Star'' *1950:

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

* Memorial museum was inaugurated in the house on Ulitsa Chekhova 88 in

, where Ivan Vasilenko and his family lived from 1923 until 1966. * One of Taganrog Public Chekhov Library's branches is named after Vasilenko. * In May 2010 a monument "Artyomka" was inaugurated in front of the memorial museum on Chekhov Street.

Works

During the life of Vasileko were prited 1`30 times, in 27 languages of the Soviet Union, as well as into German, Czech, Polish and Romanian. *A series of novels about a boy Artyomka:Дом-музей И.Д. Василенко. Таганрог
[ I.D. Vasilenko House-Museum.

] ** ''Magic Box'' («Ростиздат», Ростов, 1938) **''Actor's Childhood - Artyomka in the Circus'' **''Artryomka Visiting Gymnasists'' ** ''Encnanted Play'' ** ''Little Golden Shoes'' * ''Little Star'' («Молодая гвардия», М., 1948). **The 1952 film '' The Encounter of a Lifetime'' was based on the novelНавстречу жизни
/ref> *''Amazing Stories'' («Ростиздат», Ростов, 1946). *''My friends'' (novels and stories) («Сов. писатель», М., 1946). *''Captain's Order'' («Детизд», М., 1953). *''Selected Stories'' («Сов. писатель», М., 1956). *''The Life and Adventures of Starveling'' (1959) *''Selected Stories of Children'' («Детизд», М., 1960). *''Novels'' (Душанбе, 1966)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilenko, Ivan 1895 births 1966 deaths People from Makiivka People from Don Host Oblast Soviet children's writers Soviet male writers Recipients of the Stalin Prize