Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Mikhail Sholokhov" - New World
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[[Image:300px-Sholohov-Mikhail-Aleksandrovich.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov]] | [[Image:300px-Sholohov-Mikhail-Aleksandrovich.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov]] | ||
| − | '''Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Шо́лохов [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|[mʲɪxʌˈil əlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʂoləxəf]}}) ({{OldStyleDate|May 24|1905|May 11}}) - | + | '''Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Шо́лохов [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|[mʲɪxʌˈil əlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʂoləxəf]}}) ({{OldStyleDate|May 24|1905|May 11}}) - February 21, 1984) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]/[[Russia]]n novelist and winner of the 1965 [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. |
==Life and work== | ==Life and work== | ||
| − | Sholokhov was born in the | + | Sholokhov was born in the Kamenskaya region of [[Russia]], in the "land of the [[Cossacks]]" - the Kruzhlinin hamlet, part of ''stanitsa Veshenskaya'', the former Region of the [[Don Cossack]] Army. His father was a member of the lower middle class, at times a farmer, cattle trader, and miller. Sholokhov's mother came from [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] [[peasant]] stock and was the widow of a Cossack. She was illiterate but learned to read and write in order to correspond with her son. Sholokhov attended schools in Kargin, [[Moscow]], Boguchar, and Veshenskaya until 1918, when he joined the side of the revolutionaries in the [[Russian civil war]]. He was only 13 years old. |
| − | Sholokhov began writing at 17. ''The Birthmark'', Sholokhov's first story, appeared when he was 19. In | + | Sholokhov began writing at 17. ''The Birthmark'', Sholokhov's first story, appeared when he was 19. In 1922 Sholokhov moved to Moscow to become a journalist, but he had to support himself through manual labor. He was a stevedore, stonemason, and accountant from 1922 to 1924, but he also intermittently participated in writers "seminars." His first work to appear in print was the satirical article ''A Test'' (1922). |
| − | In | + | In 1924 Sholokhov returned to Veshenskaya and devoted himself entirely to writing. In the same year he married Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaia; they had two daughters and two sons. |
| − | His first book ''Tales from the [[Don River, Russia|Don]]'', a volume of stories about the Cossacks of his native region during World War I and the Russian Civil War, was published in 1926. In the same year Sholokhov began writing | + | His first book ''Tales from the [[Don River, Russia|Don]]'', a volume of stories about the Cossacks of his native region during [[World War I]] and the Russian Civil War, was published in 1926. In the same year Sholokhov began writing ''And Quiet Flows the Don'' which took him fourteen years to complete (1926-1940), earning him the [[Stalin Prize]]. It became the most-read work of Soviet fiction and was heralded as a powerful example of [[socialist realism]], and won him the 1965 [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. ''Virgin Soil Upturned'', which earned the [[Lenin Prize]], took 28 years to complete. It was composed of two parts: ''Seeds of Tomorrow'' (1932) and ''Harvest on the Don'' (1960), and reflects life during collectivization in the Don area. The short story ''The Fate of a Man'' (1957) was made into a popular Russian film and his unfinished novel ''They Fought for Their Country'' is about the [[World War II|Great Patriotic War]]. |
| − | During | + | During World War II Sholokhov wrote about the Soviet war efforts for various journals. |
His collected works was published in eight volumes between 1956 and 1960. | His collected works was published in eight volumes between 1956 and 1960. | ||
| − | Sholokhov has been accused, by [[ | + | Sholokhov has been accused, by [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] among others, of plagiarizing ''And Quiet Flows the Don''. The evidence was largely circumstantial: Sholokhov's age at the time of its composition and, in particular, the gulf in quality between his masterpiece and his other works. To complicate matters, Sholokhov could produce no rough drafts of ''Don'', claiming that they had been destroyed by the Germans during World War II. A 1984 monograph by Geir Kjetsaa and others demonstrated through computer study that Sholokhov was indeed the likely author of ''Don''. And in 1987, several thousand pages of notes and drafts of the work were discovered and authenticated. |
==Party and state activities== | ==Party and state activities== | ||
| − | Sholokhov joined the [[CPSU]] in 1932, and in 1937 he was elected to the [[Supreme Soviet]]. In 1959 he accompanied Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] on a trip to Europe and the United States. He became a member of the [[CPSU Central Committee]] in 1961, | + | Sholokhov joined the [[CPSU]] in 1932, and in 1937 he was elected to the [[Supreme Soviet]]. In 1959 he accompanied Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] on a trip to Europe and the United States. He became a member of the [[CPSU Central Committee]] in 1961, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939, and was a member of the [[USSR Supreme Soviet]]. He was twice awarded [[Hero of Socialist Labor]], and later became vice president of the [[Association of Soviet Writers]]. |
| + | ==And Quiet Flows the Don== | ||
{{Infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] —> | {{Infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] —> | ||
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| − | '''''And Quiet Flows the Don''''' (1934) is the first part of | + | '''''And Quiet Flows the Don''''' (1934) is the first part of Shokholov's great [[Don River (Russia)|Don]] epic (''Tikhii Don'' / ''Тихий дон''). It originally appeared in serialized form between 1928 and 1940. The English translation of the first half of this monumental work appeared under this title in 1934. |
==Plot Summary== | ==Plot Summary== | ||
| − | The novel deals with the life of the Cossack peoples living in the Don river valley around the early 20th century, prior to World War I. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of Tatarsk, who are descendants of a prominent soldier who, to the horror of many, took a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] female captive as a wife and started a family with her. His descendants, who are the protagonists of the story, are therefore often nicknamed "[[Turkish people|Turks]]". Nevertheless, they command a high amount of respect among people in Tatarsk. The second eldest son of the house, Gregori Melekhov, is a promising young soldier who falls in love with Aksinia, the wife of a family friend. Their romance and elopement raises a feud between her husband and his family. The outcome of this romance is the focus of the plot as well as the impending World War which draws up the best young Cossack men for what will be one of Russia's bloodiest wars. | + | The novel deals with the life of the Cossack peoples living in the Don river valley around the early 20th century, prior to [[World War I]]. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of Tatarsk, who are descendants of a prominent soldier who, to the horror of many, took a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] female captive as a wife and started a family with her. His descendants, who are the protagonists of the story, are therefore often nicknamed "[[Turkish people|Turks]]". Nevertheless, they command a high amount of respect among people in Tatarsk. The second eldest son of the house, Gregori Melekhov, is a promising young soldier who falls in love with Aksinia, the wife of a family friend. Their romance and elopement raises a feud between her husband and his family. The outcome of this romance is the focus of the plot as well as the impending World War which draws up the best young Cossack men for what will be one of Russia's bloodiest wars. |
==Literary significance & criticism== | ==Literary significance & criticism== | ||
| − | + | An epic novel, it is often compared to ''War and Peace'' by [[Leo Tolstoy]]. Like the Tolstoy novel, ''And Quiet Flows the Don'' covers a panorama of Russian life during a time of crisis and examines it through both political, military, romantic, and civilian lenses. | |
==Awards and nominations== | ==Awards and nominations== | ||
Revision as of 02:51, 9 April 2007
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (Russian: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Шо́лохов IPA: [mʲɪxʌˈil əlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʂoləxəf]) (May 24 [O.S. May 11] 1905) - February 21, 1984) was a Soviet/Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Life and work
Sholokhov was born in the Kamenskaya region of Russia, in the "land of the Cossacks" - the Kruzhlinin hamlet, part of stanitsa Veshenskaya, the former Region of the Don Cossack Army. His father was a member of the lower middle class, at times a farmer, cattle trader, and miller. Sholokhov's mother came from Ukrainian peasant stock and was the widow of a Cossack. She was illiterate but learned to read and write in order to correspond with her son. Sholokhov attended schools in Kargin, Moscow, Boguchar, and Veshenskaya until 1918, when he joined the side of the revolutionaries in the Russian civil war. He was only 13 years old.
Sholokhov began writing at 17. The Birthmark, Sholokhov's first story, appeared when he was 19. In 1922 Sholokhov moved to Moscow to become a journalist, but he had to support himself through manual labor. He was a stevedore, stonemason, and accountant from 1922 to 1924, but he also intermittently participated in writers "seminars." His first work to appear in print was the satirical article A Test (1922).
In 1924 Sholokhov returned to Veshenskaya and devoted himself entirely to writing. In the same year he married Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaia; they had two daughters and two sons.
His first book Tales from the Don, a volume of stories about the Cossacks of his native region during World War I and the Russian Civil War, was published in 1926. In the same year Sholokhov began writing And Quiet Flows the Don which took him fourteen years to complete (1926-1940), earning him the Stalin Prize. It became the most-read work of Soviet fiction and was heralded as a powerful example of socialist realism, and won him the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. Virgin Soil Upturned, which earned the Lenin Prize, took 28 years to complete. It was composed of two parts: Seeds of Tomorrow (1932) and Harvest on the Don (1960), and reflects life during collectivization in the Don area. The short story The Fate of a Man (1957) was made into a popular Russian film and his unfinished novel They Fought for Their Country is about the Great Patriotic War.
During World War II Sholokhov wrote about the Soviet war efforts for various journals.
His collected works was published in eight volumes between 1956 and 1960.
Sholokhov has been accused, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn among others, of plagiarizing And Quiet Flows the Don. The evidence was largely circumstantial: Sholokhov's age at the time of its composition and, in particular, the gulf in quality between his masterpiece and his other works. To complicate matters, Sholokhov could produce no rough drafts of Don, claiming that they had been destroyed by the Germans during World War II. A 1984 monograph by Geir Kjetsaa and others demonstrated through computer study that Sholokhov was indeed the likely author of Don. And in 1987, several thousand pages of notes and drafts of the work were discovered and authenticated.
Party and state activities
Sholokhov joined the CPSU in 1932, and in 1937 he was elected to the Supreme Soviet. In 1959 he accompanied Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on a trip to Europe and the United States. He became a member of the CPSU Central Committee in 1961, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939, and was a member of the USSR Supreme Soviet. He was twice awarded Hero of Socialist Labor, and later became vice president of the Association of Soviet Writers.
And Quiet Flows the Don
| 1936 English trans. edition
| |
| Author | Mikhail Sholokhov |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tikhii Don/Тихий дон (part 1) |
| Translator | Garry Stephen |
| Country | USSR |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf (Eng. trans. USA) |
| Released | 1928 and 1940 (in serial) & 1934 (this volume in book form) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-58963-312-1 (2001 English translation) |
| Followed by | The Don Flows Home to the Sea |
And Quiet Flows the Don (1934) is the first part of Shokholov's great Don epic (Tikhii Don / Тихий дон). It originally appeared in serialized form between 1928 and 1940. The English translation of the first half of this monumental work appeared under this title in 1934.
Plot Summary
The novel deals with the life of the Cossack peoples living in the Don river valley around the early 20th century, prior to World War I. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of Tatarsk, who are descendants of a prominent soldier who, to the horror of many, took a Turkish female captive as a wife and started a family with her. His descendants, who are the protagonists of the story, are therefore often nicknamed "Turks". Nevertheless, they command a high amount of respect among people in Tatarsk. The second eldest son of the house, Gregori Melekhov, is a promising young soldier who falls in love with Aksinia, the wife of a family friend. Their romance and elopement raises a feud between her husband and his family. The outcome of this romance is the focus of the plot as well as the impending World War which draws up the best young Cossack men for what will be one of Russia's bloodiest wars.
Literary significance & criticism
An epic novel, it is often compared to War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Like the Tolstoy novel, And Quiet Flows the Don covers a panorama of Russian life during a time of crisis and examines it through both political, military, romantic, and civilian lenses.
Awards and nominations
The novel won the Stalin Prize in 1941 and its author won the Nobel Prize in 1965.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel has been adapted for TV screen three times, in 1931 by Ivan Pravov and Olga Preobrazhenskaya, in 1957 by Sergei Gerasimov (starring Elina Bystritskaya) and in 1992-1993 by Sergei Bondarchuk (starring Rupert Everett).
Release details
- 1934, USA, Alfred A. Knopf (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1934, hardback (First Eng. trans edition)
- 1934, UK, Putnam (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1934, hardback
- 1977, USSR, Progress Press (ISBN ?), Pub date ? ? 1974, hardback (in 4 volumes & in Russian)
Footnotes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Scammell, Michael. The Don Flows Again. Retrieved 2006-09-05.
External links
- Tikhiy Don at the Internet Movie Database (The 1931 version.)
- And Quiet Flows the Don at the Internet Movie Database (The 1957 version.)
- Quiet Flows the Don at the Internet Movie Database (The 2004 version.)
Selected writings
- Donskie Rasskazy, 1925 - Tales of the Don
- Lazurevaja Step, 1926
- Tikhii Don, 4 vol., 1928-1940 (The Silent Don) - And Quiet Flows the Don, 1934 - The Don Flows Home to the Sea, 1940 - best English translation apperared under the tile of Quiet Flows the Don in 1966 - film 1957-1958, dir. Sergei Gerasimov, starring P. Glebov, L. Khityaeva, Z. Kirienko and E. Bystrltskaya
- Podnyataya Tselina, 1932-1960 - Virgin Soil Upturned, 1935 - Harvest on the Don, 1960
- Oni Srazhalis Za Rodinu, 1942 - They Fought for Their Country
- Nauka Nenavisti, 1942 - Hate / The Science of Hatred
- Slovo O Rodine, 1951
- Sudba Cheloveka, 1956-1957 - The Fate of a Man - film 1959, dir. by Sergei Bondarchuk, starring Sergei Bondarchuk, Pavlik Boriskin, Zinaida Kirienko, Pavel Volkov, Yuri Avelin, K. Alekseev
- Sobranie Sochinenii, 1956-1958 - collected works (8 vols.)
- Oni Srazhalis Za Rodinu, 1959 - They Fought for their Country
- Sobranie Sochinenii, 1962 - collected works (8 vols.)
- Early Stories, 1966
- One Man's Destiny, and Other Stories, Articles, and Sketches, 1923-1963, 1967
- Fierce and Gentle Warriors, 1967
- Po Veleniju Duši, 1970 - At the Bidding of the Heart
- Sobranie Sochinenii, 1975 (8 vols.)
- Rossiya V Serdtse, 1975
- SLOVO O RODINE, 1980
- Collected Works, 1984 (8 vols.)
- Sobranie Sochinenii, 1985 (collected works)(8 vols.)
- Sholokhov I Stalin, 1994
External links
- nobel-winners.com's article on Michail Sholokhov
- Mikhail Sholokhov at the Internet Movie Database
- On-line Sholokhov texts (Russian)
- Politicians Praise Soviet-Era Writer Mikhail Sholokhov’s Contribution to World Literature
- Sholokhov Moscow State University for Humanities
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1951: Pär Lagerkvist | 1952: François Mauriac | 1953: Winston Churchill | 1954: Ernest Hemingway | 1955: Halldór Laxness | 1956: Juan Ramón Jiménez | 1957: Albert Camus | 1958: Boris Pasternak | 1959: Salvatore Quasimodo | 1960: Saint-John Perse | 1961: Ivo Andrić | 1962: John Steinbeck | 1963: Giorgos Seferis | 1964: Jean-Paul Sartre | 1965: Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov | 1966: Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Nelly Sachs | 1967: Miguel Ángel Asturias | 1968: Yasunari Kawabata | 1969: Samuel Beckett | 1970: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | 1971: Pablo Neruda | 1972: Heinrich Böll | 1973: Patrick White | 1974: Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson | 1975: Eugenio Montale |
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