Sergey Grigorievich Ostrovoy (Сергей Григорьевич Островой; b. September 6, 1911 - d. December 3, 2005) was a Soviet poet, known for writing the lyrics to the various popular songs during the Soviet period.

Early life

Sergey Ostrovoy was born on September 6, 1911, in Novonikolaevsk, later renamed

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, in a Jewish family. His father was a taiga prospector and a fur merchant, and disapproved of Sergey's literary interests. After finishing 9th grade in school in 1929, Ostrovoy moved to

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

, where he worked as a reporter for the newspaper "Krasnoe Znamya" ("Red Banner"). Two years later he moved to Moscow. In Moscow he became a correspondent for the newspaper "Gudok" ("Horn") and traveled widely around the country.

Literary career

While in Moscow, Ostrovoy participated in a competition for a military

komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

song where his poem "Nalivalis' topoli" ("Poplars were pouring") was picked by two composers and received two prizes. After the competition, Ostrovoy was sent on a military journalistic assignment to the Far Eastern Military District of Russia, commanded by

Vasily Blyukher Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher (; 1 December 1889 – 9 November 1938) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1938, Blyukher was arrested during the period of military purges under Joseph Stalin. He was tortured an ...

. There Ostrovoy wrote a song "We won't give up the Soviet Primoriye" that caught the attention of Blyukher. At Blyukher's suggestion, Ostrovoy toured the Russian Far East as far as

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

and wrote 12 songs in the process. Ostrovoy's first essay was published in 1931, and his literary work was regularly published from 1934 onwards. Ostrovoy's first song lyrics collection "Na strazhe granitz" ("Guarding the borders") appeared in 1935. In July 1941, shortly after the Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union, Ostrovoy enlisted as a volunteer 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 ...

and was sent to the front. A year later he became a correspondent for the newspaper of the 31st Army "Na vraga" ("Against the enemy"). He was wounded near Staritsa and spent some time recovering in a hospital. During the war Ostrovoy continued publishing poetry in various military newspapers, and a book of his poetry was published in 1944. In the post-war period Ostrovoy became widely known as the author of lyrics for many popular songs in the Soviet Union. Some of his well-known songs include “Blackbirds” ("Дрозды"), “Wait for the soldier” ("Жди солдата"), “How ships are escorted” ("Как провожают пароходы"), “Near the village of Kryukovo” ("У деревни Крюково"), “Heart song” ("Сердечная песенка"), “The song stays with a man” ("Песня остается с человеком"), “Ice ceiling, creaky door” ("Потолок ледяной, дверь скрипучая"), and others. In 1969-1988 Ostrovoy was the chairman of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

federation of

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Sergey Ostrovoy died on December 3, 2005, in Moscow.

Personal life

Ostrovoy was married to Nadezhda Nikolaevna Tolstaya (born 1923,

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

), a noted harpist. The marriage, Ostrovoy's second, lasted over half a century; his wife Nadezhda was the only person to whom Ostrovoy ever dedicated his poetry.

Honors and awards

* Maxim Gorky State Prize of RSFSR (1984)

References

External links

Sergey Ostrovoy discography
at Discogs.com
Sergey Ostrovoy reads his poetry
during Pesnya goda-1971
1982 Film-concert "Sergey Ostrovoy. Poems and songs"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrovoy, Sergey Soviet poets Soviet war correspondents 20th-century Russian poets 1911 births 2005 deaths