Nikolay Nikolayevich Nosov (, ; – 26 July 1976) was a Soviet writer of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, the author of a number of humorous short stories, a school novel, and the popular trilogy of

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

novels about the adventures of

Dunno Dunno, or Know-Nothing (, ''Neznayka'' that is Don'tknowka (ka - the Russian suffix here for drawing up the whole name in a cheerful form); from the Russian phrase "" ("''ne znayu''", ''don't know'') is a character created by Soviet children's w ...

and his friends.

Early life

He was born in a family of an estrada artist. From 1927 to 1929 he was a student of Kyiv Institute of Art, from where he moved to

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...

, from which he graduated in 1932.

Career

The literary debut of Nosov was in 1938. In 1932 – 1951 he worked as a producer of animated and

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which films should count as the first educational fil ...

s, including ones for 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 ...

, having earned the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

in 1943. In 1938 Nosov began to publish his stories, including ''Zatejniki'' (, roughly translates as ''Jokers''); ''Alive Hat'', ''Cucumbers'', ''Miraculous Trousers'', and ''Dreamers''. These stories were published mainly in the magazine for children ''

Murzilka ''Murzilka'' () is a popular Soviet/Russian illustrated magazine for 7-13 year old children. It has been published since May 1924. History and profile At the end of the 19th century, the Canadian illustrator and writer Palmer Cox created a cyc ...

'' and many of them make up the foundation of the Nosov's first collection ''Rat-tat-tat'', 1945). Nosov introduced a new hero, naïve and sensible, naughty and curious fidget obsessed by craving for activities and always getting into unusual, often comic situations – into children's literature. The most popular works became his stories for teenagers ''Merry Family'' (1949), ''The Kolya Sinitsyn's Diary'' (1950), ''Vitya Maleev at School and at Home'' (1951). This last one received Stalin Prize in 1952. Long-term fame and love of readers were gained by his fairy stories about ''

'' (''Neznaika''). The first of those is the fairy tale ''Vintik, Shpuntik and vacuum cleaner''. Further the hero appeared in the famous trilogy consisting of fairy tale novels '' The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends'' (1953–1954), '' Dunno in Sun City'' (1958), and '' Dunno on the Moon'' (1964–1965). The writer is also the author of an autobiographical work ''Story about My Friend Igor'' (1971–1972) and a memoirs narrative ''Mystery on a Well Bottom'' (1977). He died in Moscow at the age of 67, and was buried at

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery () is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation of the Kutuzovsky Prospekt). The local five-domed church was commissioned in 16 ...

Works

Tribute

On 23 November 2018, a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

was displayed to celebrate his 110th birthday.

References

External links

Neznaika
* ttp://layla.miltsov.org/reviews/nosov Reviews of Neznaika trilogy booksby Layla AR
Jolly FamilySchool BoysKolya Sinitsin's DiaryMishka's Porridge and Other Stories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nosov, Nikolay 1908 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Russian male writers Writers from Kyiv Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Stalin Prize Socialist realism writers Russian children's writers Russian male dramatists and playwrights Russian short story writers Soviet children's writers Soviet dramatists and playwrights Soviet male writers Soviet short story writers Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery