Sever Feliksovich Gansovsky (; 15 December 1918 – 6 September 1990) was a

Soviet 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 ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author. He mostly wrote

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Biography

Sever Gansovsky was born in the family of Ella-Johanna May, a singer from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. During one of the tours in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

she met Felix Gansovsky and married him. In 1918 they had two children, Sever and Veronika. Felix disappeared soon after their birth, and Ella moved to

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 ...

. During Stalinist repressions in the 1930s she was arrested and shot in prison. Sever Gansovsky worked as a

cabin boy A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant. Duties Cabin boys ...

and sailor in Murmansk, and later as an electrician in Leningrad. He graduated from the evening school. In 1940 he entered the

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

, but in 1941 volunteered to join the army for the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

. He served as a marine sniper and the scout. Gansovsky was seriously wounded in 1942, but survived, although his relatives were initially told that he had been

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

and buried. After

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...

he worked as a postman, teacher, and had some other jobs. He graduated from the Leningrad State University in 1951 (Faculty of Philology). In 1954 he married Evgenia Sergeyeva, in 1955 they had a daughter called Ilona. He started publishing his written works in magazines in 1950, while studying at the university. In 1959 he was awarded the First Prize at the USSR All-Union Competition for the short play ''To the Northwest of Berlin'' () and the Second Prize for another play ''People in This Hour'' (). In the 1960s he switched to science fiction. His first published work in that genre was ''The Guest from the Stone Age'' (; 1960).

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, copy editing, editor and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome ...

compared his "A Day of Wrath" to the works of

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death and wa ...

. In 1989 he won the

Aelita Prize The Aelita Award is an award for science fiction writers founded by the Union of Writers of Russia (formerly the Union of RSFSR Writers) and " Uralsky Sledopyt Magazine" in 1981. It was named after the classic Russian science fiction novel '' Aelita ...

for his collection of short stories ''Instinct?'' (). Several of his works were adapted into films. Gansovsky was also famous for his illustrations, particularly to the first edition of

Boris and Arkady Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works i ...

's novel ''

Snail on the Slope ''Snail on the Slope'' (Russian - "Улитка на склоне") is a science fiction novel by Soviet authors Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. The first version of the novel was written in 1965 (during March 6 and 20), but then it was significant ...

''. His daughter Ilona became a painter and illustrator. She died in a car crash on December 23, 2008.

Works

Short fiction

"Vincent Van Gogh", published in ''Aliens, Travelers and Other Strangers: New Science Fiction from the Soviet Union'', edited by

Collections

''The Day of Wrath''.

Film

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' (AKA The Firing Range).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gansovsky, Sever Russian male novelists Russian science fiction writers Soviet science fiction writers Soviet male writers Russian people of Polish descent 20th-century Russian male writers 1918 births 1990 deaths Saint Petersburg State University alumni Soviet novelists Soviet military personnel of World War II