 |
Lev CassilProse writer
Date of Birth: 10.07.1905
|
Content:
Early Life and Education
Lev Kassil was born on July 10, 1905, in Poкровskaya Sloboda, present-day Engels, to a doctor and a music teacher. He attended a gymnasium, which later became a Unified Labor School after the revolution. During this time, Kassil was involved in a children's library-reading room that organized various clubs for children, including a handwritten magazine where he served as editor and artist.
Literary Career
In 1923, Kassil moved to Moscow and studied at the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University but never graduated. He began pursuing literature seriously in 1925, and Vladimir Mayakovsky introduced him as a children's writer in the journal "Novy LEF" in 1927.
Kassil's most notable works include "Conduit" (1929) and "Shvambrania" (1931), both based on his autobiographical experiences as a high school student in pre-revolutionary Russia. "The Goalkeeper of the Republic" (1937) was the first Soviet novel about sports. He played a key role in initiating the Knyzhkiny Imeniny (Children's Book Festival), which evolved into the Children's Book Week.
Accolades and Recognition
Kassil was awarded the Third Degree Stalin Prize in 1951 for his novel "Ulica Mladshego Syna" (co-written with M.L. Polyanovsky), dedicated to Volodia Dubinin, a pioneer hero of the Great Patriotic War. He also received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1955), the Order of the Red Star, and the Order of the Badge of Honor.
Personal Life
Kassil married Svetlana Leonidovna Sobinova in 1958, daughter of renowned opera singer Leonid Sobinov. He had two children: Vladimir, a resuscitator and professor, from his first marriage; and Irina, an animator, from his second marriage with Sobinova.
Death and Legacy
Kassil passed away in Moscow on June 21, 1970, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. A museum dedicated to his life and work exists in Engels. His brother, Iosif, was a journalist and literary critic, and his wife's half-brother, Boris, was a concertmaster and composer.
