Konstantin Aleksandrovich Fedin ( rus, Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Фе́дин, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈfʲedʲɪn, a=Konstantin Alyeksandrovich Fyedin.ru.vorb.oga; – 15 July 1977) was a Soviet and Russian novelist and literary functionary.

Biography

Born in

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

, Fedin studied in Moscow and Germany and was interned there 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 ...

. After his release, he worked as an interpreter in the first Soviet embassy in Berlin. On returning to Russia, he joined the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s and served in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. After leaving the Party in 1921, he joined the literary group called the Serapion Brothers, who supported the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, but wanted freedom for literature and the arts. His first story, "The Orchard", was published in 1922, as was his play ''Bakunin v Drezdene'' (Bakunin in Dresden). His first two novels were ''Goroda i gody'' (1924; tr. as ''Cities and Years'', 1962, "one of the first major novels in Soviet literature") and ''Bratya'' (Brothers, 1928). Both deal with the problems of intellectuals at the time of the October Revolution, and include "impressions of the German bourgeois world" based on his wartime imprisonment. His later novels include ''Pokhishchenie Evropy'' (The rape of Europe, 1935), ''Sanatorii Arktur'' (The Arktur sanatorium, 1939), and the historical trilogy, ''Pervye radosti'' (First joys, 1945), ''Neobyknovennoe leto'' (An unusual summer, 1948), and ''Kostyor'' (The Fire, 1961–67). He also wrote a memoir ''Gorky sredi nas'' (Gorky among us, 1943). Edward J. Brown sums him up as follows: "Fedin, while he is probably not a great writer, did possess in a high degree the talent for communicating the atmosphere of a particular time and place. His best writing is reminiscent re-creation of his own experiences, and his memory is able to select and retain sensuous elements of long-past scenes which render their telling a rich experience."Brown, ''Russian Literature Since the Revolution'', p. 100. From 1959 until his death in 1977, he served as chair of the Union of Soviet Writers.

Awards

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

(1967) * Four Orders of Lenin * Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

* Stalin Prize, 1st class (1949) – for the novel "First Joy" (1945) and "No Ordinary Summer" (1947–1948)

English Translations

*''No Ordinary Summer'', 2 vols, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1950. *''Sanatorium Arktur'', Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1957. *''Early Joys'', Vintage, 1960. *''The Conflagration'', Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1968. *''Cities and Years'', Northwestern University Press, 1993.

References

Sources

''Encyclopædia Britannica''
* A.K. Thorlby (ed.), ''The Penguin Companion to Literature: European'' (Penguin, 1969).

External links

* http://www.spartacus-educational.com/RUSfedin.htm * http://www.sovlit.net/bios/fedin.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich 1892 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers Bolsheviks Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Eighth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Heroes of Socialist Labour Ninth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Writers from Saratov Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Russian male novelists Russian male poets Russian male short story writers Seventh convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Sixth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Soviet male writers Soviet novelists Soviet poets Soviet short story writers Recipients of the Stalin Prize