Biography. Key dates in the life and work of M.A. Sholokhov Literary business cards about the life and work of Sholokhov

26.06.2020

Mikhail Sholokhov is the greatest writer of the 20th century, the author of cult works (“ Quiet Don", "Virgin Soil Upturned"), which were published not only on the territory of the USSR, but also in foreign countries. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov was born on May 11 (24 according to the new style) in 1905 in the north of the Rostov region, in the picturesque village of Veshenskaya.

The future writer grew up and was raised as the only child in the family in a small house in the Kruzhilinsky farmstead, where commoner Alexander Mikhailovich Sholokhov and his wife Anastasia Danilovna lived. Due to the fact that Sholokhov’s father worked for hire and had no official income, the family often traveled from place to place.

Anastasia Danilovna is an orphan. Her mother came from a Cossack family, and her father came from serf peasants in the Chernigov province, and later moved to the Don. At the age of 12, she went to serve a certain landowner Popova and was married not out of love, but out of convenience, to the rich village ataman Kuznetsov. After the woman’s daughter was stillborn, she did an extraordinary thing for those times - she went to Sholokhov.

Anastasia Danilovna was an interesting young lady: she was original and illiterate, but at the same time she was naturally endowed with a sharp mind and insight. The writer’s mother learned to read and write only when her son entered the gymnasium, so that she could independently write letters to her child, without the help of her husband.

Mikhail Alexandrovich was considered an illegitimate child (in the Don, such children were called “nakhalenki”, and, it is worth saying, the Cossack guys did not like them), initially had the surname Kuznetsov and thanks to this he had the privilege: he received “Cossack” land plot. But after the death of Anastasia Danilovna’s previous husband in 1912, the lovers were able to legitimize their relationship, and Mikhail became Sholokhov, the son of a tradesman.

Alexander Mikhailovich’s homeland is the Ryazan province, he comes from a rich dynasty: his grandfather was a merchant of the third guild, engaged in buying grain. Sholokhov Sr. worked as a cattle buyer and also sowed grain on Cossack lands. Therefore, there was enough money in the family; at least the future writer and his parents did not live from hand to mouth.

In 1910, the Sholokhovs left the Kruzhilinsky farm due to the fact that Alexander Mikhailovich went to serve a merchant in the village of Karginskaya, which is located in the Bokovsky district of the Rostov region. At the same time, the future writer studied preschool literacy, home teacher Timofey Mrykhin was invited for these purposes. The boy liked to pore over textbooks, he studied writing and learned to count.

Despite his diligence in his studies, Misha was mischievous and loved to play in the street with the neighboring boys from morning to evening. However, Sholokhov’s childhood and youth are reflected in his stories. He meticulously described what he had to observe, and what gave inspiration and endlessly pleasant memories: fields with golden rye, the breath of a cool breeze, the smell of freshly cut grass, the azure banks of the Don and much more - all this provided a basis for creativity.

Mikhail Sholokhov with his parents

Mikhail Alexandrovich entered the Karginsky parish school in 1912. It is noteworthy that the young man’s teacher was Mikhail Grigorievich Kopylov, who became the prototype of the hero from the world famous “Quiet Don”. In 1914, he fell ill with eye inflammation, after which he went to the capital for treatment.

Three years later he was transferred to the Bogucharsky gymnasium for boys. Graduated from four classes. During his studies, the young man became engrossed in the works of the great classics, and especially adored the works of and.

In 1917, the seeds of revolution began to appear. Socialist ideas, and, which wanted to overthrow and get rid of the monarchical system, were not easy for the peasants and workers. The demands of the Bolshevik revolution were partially fulfilled, and the life of the common man changed before our eyes.

In 1917, Alexander Mikhailovich became the manager of a steam mill in the village of Elanskaya, in the Rostov region. In 1920, the family moved to the village of Karginskaya. It was there that Alexander Mikhailovich died in 1925.

As for the revolution, Sholokhov did not take part in it. He was not for the Reds and was indifferent to the Whites. I took the winning side. In 1930, Sholokhov received a party card and became a member of the All-Union Communist Bolshevik Party.

Showed himself with best side: did not participate in counter-revolutionary movements, had no deviations from the ideology of the party. Although there is a “black spot” in Sholokhov’s biography, at least the writer did not refute this fact: in 1922, Mikhail Alexandrovich, being a tax inspector, was sentenced to death for exceeding his official powers.

Later, the punishment was changed to a year of compulsory labor thanks to the cunning of the parents, who brought a fake birth certificate to the court so that Sholokhov could be tried as a minor. After this, Mikhail Alexandrovich wanted to become a student again and get higher education. But young man was not accepted into the preparatory courses at the workers' faculty because he did not have the appropriate papers. Therefore, the fate of the future Nobel Prize laureate was such that he earned his living through hard physical labor.

Literature

Mikhail Alexandrovich began to write seriously in 1923, he creative career began with small feuilletons in the newspaper “Yunosheskaya Pravda”. At that time, three satirical stories were published under the signature of Mich. Sholokhov: “Test”, “Three”, “Inspector”. The story by Mikhail Sholokhov, entitled “The Beast,” tells the story of the food commissar Bodyagin, who, upon returning to his homeland, learned that his father was an enemy of the people. This manuscript was being prepared for publication in 1924, but the almanac “Molodogvardeets” did not consider it necessary to print this work on the pages of the publication.

Therefore, Mikhail Alexandrovich began to collaborate with the newspaper “Young Leninist”. He was also published in other Komsomol newspapers, where stories included in the “Don” series and the collection “Azure Steppe” were sent. Speaking about the work of Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, one cannot help but touch upon the epic novel “Quiet Don,” which consists of four volumes.

It is often compared in importance to another work of Russian classics - the manuscript “War and Peace”. “Quiet Don” is one of the key novels in the literature of the 20th century, which to this day is required reading in educational institutions and universities.

Mikhail Sholokhov's novel "Quiet Don"

But few people know that because of the book telling about the life of the Don Cossacks, Sholokhov was accused of plagiarism. However, the debate about Mikhail Alexandrovich’s literary theft has not subsided to this day. After the publication of “Quiet Don” (the first two volumes, 1928, “October” magazine), discussions began in literary circles regarding the problem of the authorship of M. A. Sholokhov’s texts.

Some researchers, and simply lovers of literature, believed that Mikhail Alexandrovich, without a twinge of conscience, appropriated for himself the manuscript, which was found in the field bag of a white officer who was shot by the Bolsheviks. Rumor has it that anonymous calls were received. An unknown old woman spoke into the telephone receiver to the editor of the newspaper A. Serafimovich that the novel belonged to her murdered son.

Alexander Serafimovich did not react to provocations and believed that such a resonance occurred due to envy: people could not understand how a 22-year-old author acquired fame and universal recognition in the blink of an eye. Journalist and playwright Joseph Gerasimov pointed out that Serafimovich knew that “Quiet Don” did not belong to Sholokhov, but did not want to add fuel to the fire. Sholokhov scholar Konstantin Priyma was sure that in fact stopping the publication of the third volume was beneficial to Trotsky’s comrades: the people should not have known about the real events that took place in Veshenskaya in 1919.

It is noteworthy that the eminent Russian publicist has no doubt that the true author of “Quiet Don” is Mikhail Sholokhov. Dmitry Lvovich believes that the technique underlying the novel is very primitive: the plot revolves around the confrontation between the Reds and the Whites and the main character’s tossing between his wife and his mistress.

“A very simple, absolutely constructive children's scheme. When he writes the life of the nobility, it is clear that he does not know it absolutely... When, therefore, dying, an officer on the battlefield bequeaths his wife to a friend, it is clear that he has shortchanged the French,” said literary critic on the program "Visiting".

In the 1930-1950s, Sholokhov wrote another brilliant novel dedicated to the collectivization of peasants, “Virgin Soil Upturned.” War works were also popular, for example “The Fate of Man” and “They Fought for the Motherland.” Work on the latter was carried out in several stages: 1942-1944, 1949 and 1969. Shortly before his death, Sholokhov, like Gogol, burned his work. Therefore, the modern reader can only be content with individual chapters of the novel.

Mikhail Sholokhov's novel "Virgin Soil Upturned"

But with the Nobel Prize, Sholokhov had a very original story. In 1958, he was nominated for the prestigious award for the seventh time. In the same year, members of the Writers' Union visited Sweden and learned that Sholokhov and other authors were being nominated along with Boris Leonidovich. In the Scandinavian country, there was an opinion that the prize should go to Pasternak, but in a telegram addressed to the Swedish ambassador, it was said that in the USSR the award to Mikhail Alexandrovich would be widely appreciated.

It was also said that it is high time for the Swedish public to understand that Boris Leonidovich is not popular among Soviet citizens and that his works are not worthy of any attention. It’s easy to explain: Pasternak was repeatedly harassed by the authorities. The prize awarded to him in 1958 added firewood. The author of Doctor Zhivago was forced to refuse the Nobel Prize. In 1965, Sholokhov also received laurels of honor. The writer did not bow to the Swedish king, who presented the award. This was explained by the character of Mikhail Alexandrovich: according to some rumors, such a gesture was made intentionally (Cossacks do not bow to anyone).

Personal life

Sholokhov married Maria Gromoslavskaya in 1924. However, he wooed Lydia, her sister. But the girls’ father, the village ataman P. Ya. Gromoslavsky (postman after the revolution), insisted that Mikhail Alexandrovich should offer his hand and heart eldest daughter. In 1926, the couple had a girl, Svetlana, and four years later, a boy, Alexander, was born.

It is known that during the war the writer served as a war correspondent. Received the First Class Patriotic War award and medals. By character, Mikhail Alexandrovich was similar to his heroes - courageous, honest and rebellious. They say that he was the only writer who was not afraid and could look the leader straight in the eyes.

Death

Shortly before his death (the cause was laryngeal cancer), the writer lived in the village of Veshenskaya, was engaged in writing very rarely, and in the 1960s he actually abandoned this craft. loved to walk on fresh air, was fond of hunting and fishing. The author of "Quiet Flows the Don" literally gave away his prizes to society. For example, the Nobel Prize “went” to build a school.

Great writer Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov died in 1984. Sholokhov's grave is not in the cemetery, but in the courtyard of the house in which he lived. An asteroid was named in honor of the master of the pen, filmed documentaries and monuments were erected in many cities.

Bibliography

"Don Stories" (1925);
"Azure Steppe" (1926);
"Quiet Don" (1928–1940);
“Virgin Soil Upturned” (1932, 1959);
“They Fought for the Motherland” (1942–1949);
"The Science of Hate" (1942);
“The Word about the Motherland” (1948);
"Man's Fate" (1956)

Russian Soviet writer and screenwriter, journalist, colonel

Mikhail Sholokhov

Brief biography

Youth

M. A. Sholokhov born on May 24, 1905 in the Kruzhilin farmstead of the village of Vyoshenskaya (now the Kruzhilinskiy farmstead, Sholokhov district, Rostov region). At birth he received the surname Kuznetsov, which he changed to the surname Sholokhov in 1912.

Father - Alexander Mikhailovich Sholokhov (1865-1925) - came from the Ryazan province, did not belong to the Cossacks, was a “shibai” (livestock buyer), sowed grain on purchased Cossack land, served as a clerk in commercial enterprise farm scale, manager of a steam mill, etc. My father’s grandfather was a merchant of the third guild, originally from the city of Zaraysk, he moved with his big family to the Upper Donshchina in the mid-1870s, purchased a house with a yard and started buying grain.

Mother - Anastasia Danilovna Chernyak (1871-1942) - Cossack on her mother’s side, the daughter of a peasant migrant to the Don, a former serf in the Chernigov province. For a long time she was in service on the master's estate Yasenevka. The orphan was forcibly married by the landowner Popova, for whom she served, to the son of the village ataman Kuznetsov. But later she left her husband and went to Alexander Sholokhov. Their son Mikhail was born illegitimate and was recorded in the surname of his mother’s official husband, Kuznetsov. Only after the death of the official husband, in 1913, were the boy’s parents able to get married in the church of the Kargin farmstead (now the village of Karginskaya), and Mikhail received the surname Sholokhov.

In 1910, the family left the Kruzhilin farm: Alexander Mikhailovich entered the service of a merchant in the village of Karginskaya. The father invited a local teacher, Timofey Timofeevich Mrykhin, to teach the boy to read and write. In 1914, he studied for one year in Moscow in the preparatory class of a men's gymnasium. From 1915 to 1918, Mikhail studied at the gymnasium in the city of Boguchar, Voronezh province. He graduated from four classes of the gymnasium (at the same desk he sat with Konstantin Ivanovich Kargin, a future writer who wrote the story “The Bakhchevnik” in the spring of 1930). Before the German troops arrived in the city, according to Mikhail, he dropped out of school and went home to a farm. In 1920, the family moved to the village of Karginskaya (after the arrival of Soviet power), where Alexander Mikhailovich received the position of head of the procurement office of the Don Food Committee, and his son Mikhail became the clerk of the village revolutionary committee.

In 1920-1921 he lived with his family in the village of Karginskaya. After completing the Rostov tax courses, he was appointed to the position of food inspector in the village of Bukanovskaya, then joined the food detachment and participated in food appropriation. In 1920, a food detachment led by 15-year-old Sholokhov was captured by Makhno. Then he thought that he would be shot, but he was released.

On August 31, 1922, while working as a village tax inspector, M. A. Sholokhov was arrested and was under investigation in the regional center. He was sentenced to death. “I drove a cool line, and the time was cool; I was a commissioner very well, I was tried by the revolutionary tribunal for abuse of power... - the writer later said. “I waited for death for two days... And then they came and released me...” Until September 19, 1922, Sholokhov was in custody. His father gave him a large cash bail and took him home on bail until the trial. His parents brought a new metric to the court, and he was released as a minor (according to the new metric, his age decreased by 2.5 years). This was already in March 1923. The “troikas” were tried then, and the sentences were harsh. It was not difficult to believe that he was a minor, since Mikhail was short and looked like a boy. The execution was replaced by another punishment - the tribunal took into account his minority. He was given one year of correctional labor in a juvenile colony and sent to Bolshevo (near Moscow).

In Moscow, Sholokhov tried to continue his education, and also tried his hand at writing. However, it was not possible to enroll in the preparatory courses at the workers' faculty due to the lack of work experience and Komsomol direction required for admission. According to some sources, he worked as a loader, laborer, and mason. According to others, he worked in the house management of the workers’ housing-construction cooperative “Take an Example!”, the chairman of which was L. G. Mirumov (Mirumyan). Engaged in self-education, took part in work literary group“Young Guard”, attended training sessions taught by V. B. Shklovsky, O. M. Brik, N. N. Aseev. Joined the Komsomol. Active assistance in organizing the daily life of M. A. Sholokhov in Moscow and in promoting the first literary works with his autograph was provided by a staff member of the EKU GPU, a Bolshevik with pre-revolutionary experience - Leon Galustovich Mirumov (Mirumyan), whom M. A. Sholokhov met in the village of Veshenskaya even before arriving in Moscow.

In September 1923, signed “Mich. Sholokh" in the Komsomol newspaper "Yunosheskaya Pravda" ("Young Leninist") (now - "Moskovsky Komsomolets") a feuilleton was published - "Test", a month later a second feuilleton appeared - "Three", and then a third - "The Inspector General". In December 1923, M.A. Sholokhov returned to Karginskaya, and then to the village of Bukanovskaya, where he wooed Lydia Gromoslavskaya, one of the daughters of the former village ataman Pyotr Yakovlevich Gromoslavsky. But the former chieftain said: “Take Maria, and I will make a man out of you.” On January 11, 1924, M. A. Sholokhov married his eldest daughter, Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaya (1901-1992), who worked as a primary school teacher (in 1918, M. P. Gromoslavskaya studied at the Ust-Medveditsk gymnasium, whose director at that time consisted of F.D. Kryukov).

The first story “Beasts” (later “Food Commissar”), sent by M. A. Sholokhov in the almanac “Molodogvardeets”, was not accepted by the editors. On December 14, 1924, the newspaper “Young Leninist” published the story “Mole”, which opened the cycle of Don stories: “Shepherd”, “Ilyukha”, “Foal”, “Azure Steppe”, “ Family man”, “Mortal Enemy”, “Bigwife”, etc. They were published in Komsomol periodicals, and then compiled three collections, published one after another: “Don Stories”, “Azure Steppe” (both 1926) and “About Kolchak, nettles and other things" (1927).

After returning to Karginskaya, the family had the eldest daughter Svetlana (1926, Karginskaya station), then sons Alexander (1930-1990, Rostov-on-Don), Mikhail (1935, Moscow), daughter Maria (1938, Vyoshenskaya).

In 1938, Sholokhov was under threat of going to prison because the security officer Evdokimov petitioned Stalin for arrest.

Family

1923, December. M.A. Sholokhov’s departure from Moscow to the village of Karginskaya, to his parents, and with them to Bukanovskaya, where his fiancee Lydia Gromoslavskaya and future wife Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaya lived (since their father Pyotr Yakovlevich Gromoslavsky insisted on M.A.’s marriage. Sholokhov on the eldest daughter Maria).

1924, January 11. The wedding of M. A. and M. P. Sholokhov in the Intercession Church of the village of Bukanovskaya. Marriage registration in the Podtyolkovsky registry office (Kumylzhenskaya village).

1930, May 18. Birth of son Alexander. Place of birth - Rostov-on-Don. Alexander was married to Violeta Gosheva, the daughter of Bulgarian Prime Minister Anton Yugov.

1942, June. During the bombing of the village of Vyoshenskaya in the courtyard of M. A. Sholokhov’s house, the writer’s mother died.

Works

"Birthmark" (story)
"Don Stories"
"Quiet Don"
"Virgin Soil Upturned"
"They fought for their homeland"
"The Fate of Man"
"The Science of Hate"
"The Word about the Motherland"

Early stories

In 1923, M. A. Sholokhov’s feuilletons were published in newspapers. Beginning in 1924, his stories appeared in magazines, later collected into the collections “Don Stories” and “Azure Steppe” (1926).

"Quiet Don"

Sholokhov was brought to Russian and world fame by the novel “Quiet Don” (1928 - 1-2 volumes, 1932 - 3 volumes, 4 volumes published in 1940) about the Don Cossacks in the First World War and Civil War Oh; this is a work that combines several storylines, called epic. Communist writer, who was on the side of the Reds during the Civil War, Sholokhov significant place in the novel is devoted to the white Cossacks, and his main character- Grigory Melekhov - at the end of the story he never “comes to the Reds”. This caused criticism from communist critics; however, such a controversial novel was personally read by I.V. Stalin and approved by him for publication.

During World War II, "Quiet Don" was translated into European languages and gained popularity in the West, and after the war it was translated into Eastern languages; the novel was also a success in the East.

"Virgin Soil Upturned"

The novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” (vol. 1 - 1932, vol. 2 - 1959) is dedicated to collectivization on the Don and the “25-thousander” movement. Here the author's assessment of the progress of collectivization is expressed; The images of the main characters and the pictures of collectivization are ambiguous. The second volume of “Virgin Soil Upturned” was lost during the Great Patriotic War and was restored later.

War works

Subsequently, M. A. Sholokhov published several excerpts from the unfinished novel “They Fought for the Motherland” (1942-1944, 1949, 1969), the story “The Fate of a Man” (1956). In 1941-1945, while working as a war correspondent, he published several essays (“On the Don”, “In the South”, “Cossacks”, etc.) and the story “The Science of Hate” (1942), and in the first post-war years- several journalistic texts of a patriotic nature (“The Word about the Motherland”, “The Struggle Continues” (1948), “Light and Darkness” (1949), “The executioners cannot escape the judgment of the people!” (1950), etc.).

Nobel Prize

In 1958 (for the seventh time) at Nobel Prize Boris Pasternak was nominated for literature. In March 1958, a delegation from the USSR Writers' Union visited Sweden and learned that among those nominated along with Pasternak were the names of Sholokhov, Ezra Pound and Alberto Moravia. Secretary of the Board of the Union of Writers of the USSR Georgy Markov said: "that among the highest circles<Шведской>The Academy has a definite opinion in favor of Pasternak.", which would need to be countered by the publication of materials “about the international popularity of Sholokhov, about his wide popularity in the Scandinavian countries”.

It would be desirable, through cultural figures close to us, to make it clear to the Swedish public that the Soviet Union would highly appreciate the award of the Nobel Prize to Sholokhov.

It is also important to make it clear that Pasternak as a writer does not enjoy recognition among Soviet writers and progressive writers from other countries.

In 1958, Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In official Soviet circles, the award of the prize to Pasternak was perceived negatively and resulted in persecution of the writer; under the threat of deprivation of citizenship and deportation from the USSR, Pasternak was forced to refuse the Nobel Prize.

In 1964 French writer and the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre refused the Nobel Prize in Literature. In his statement, in addition to personal reasons for refusing the prize, he also indicated that the Nobel Prize had become "Western highest cultural authority" and expressed regret that the prize was not awarded to Sholokhov and that “The only Soviet work to receive a prize was a book published abroad and banned in home country» . The refusal of the prize and Sartre’s statement predetermined the choice Nobel Committee next year.

In 1965, Sholokhov received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for artistic power and the integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.” Sholokhov is the only Soviet writer who received the Nobel Prize with the consent of the USSR leadership. Mikhail Sholokhov did not bow to Gustav Adolf VI, who was presenting the prize. According to some sources, this was done intentionally, with the words: “We, Cossacks, do not bow to anyone. In front of the people, please, but I won’t do it in front of the king, that’s all...”

In 2016, the Swedish Academy published a list of 90 nominees for the 1965 award on its website. It turned out that academicians discussed the idea of dividing the prize between Anna Akhmatova and Mikhail Sholokhov.

Sholokhov vs. Sinyavsky and Daniel

In 1966, he spoke at the XXIII Congress of the CPSU and spoke about the trial of Sinyavsky and Daniel:

If these young men with a dark conscience had been caught in the memorable 1920s, when they were judged not based on strictly demarcated articles of the criminal code, but guided by a revolutionary sense of justice... (stormy applause)... Oh, these werewolves would not have received the same punishment! (stormy applause). And here, you see, they are still talking about the severity of the sentence! I would also like to appeal to foreign defenders of libels: don’t worry, dear ones, for the safety of our criticism. We support and develop criticism; it resonates sharply at our current congress. But slander is not criticism, and dirt from a puddle is not paint from an artist’s palette!

This statement made the figure of Sholokhov odious for some of the creative intelligentsia in the USSR and in the West.

Sholokhov M.A. v. Solzhenitsyn, Sakharov, 1973

Sholokhov M.A. signed a Letter from a group of Soviet writers to the editors of the newspaper Pravda on August 31, 1973 about Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov.

Recent years

Until the end of his days he lived in his house in Vyoshenskaya (nowadays a museum). He donated the Stalin Prize to the Defense Fund, and donated the Lenin Prize for the novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” to the Karginsky village council of the Bazkovsky district of the Rostov region for construction new school, Nobel - for the construction of a school in Vyoshenskaya. He was fond of hunting and fishing. Since the 1960s, he actually moved away from literature. The writer died of laryngeal cancer on February 21, 1984. Mikhail Sholokhov was buried in the village of Veshenskaya on the banks of the Don, but not in the cemetery, but in the courtyard of the house in which he lived.

Membership in organizations

All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1932, delegate of the XVIII-XXVI Congresses;
Central Committee of the CPSU since 1961;
Deputy of the USSR Supreme Council of the 1st-10th convocations (since 1937);
full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939).

Awards and prizes

Lenin Prize (1960) - for the novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” (1932-1960).
Stalin Prize, first degree (1941) - for the novel “Quiet Don” (1928-1940).
Nobel Prize in Literature (1965) - “For the artistic strength and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.”
International Peace Prize for Culture of the World Peace Council.
international literary prize"Sofia".
International Prize "Lotus" for writers from Asia and Africa.
twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1967, 1980).
six Orders of Lenin (1939, 1955, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1980).
Order of the October Revolution (1972).
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1945).
medal "For the Defense of Moscow".
Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad"
medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War" Patriotic War 1941-1945."
medal "Twenty years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
medal "For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
gold medal named after Alexander Fadeev (1972).
Order "Georgi Dimitrov" (1975) (Bulgaria).
Order of Cyril and Methodius, 1st degree (1975) (Bulgaria).
Order of the People's Friendship Star, 1st degree (German Democratic Republic).
Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia).
Honorary Doctor of Sciences of Rostov state university, Karl Marx University Leipzig, University of St. Andrews (Scotland).

Memory

Lilac "Sholokhov"

Memorial museums

State Museum-Reserve M. A. Sholokhova (Rostov region)
Memorial Museum of M.A. Sholokhov in Western Kazakhstan
House-Museum of M. A. Sholokhov in Nikolaevsk, Nikolaevsky district (Volgograd region)

In philately

Postage stamps

The problem of text authorship

The problem of the authorship of texts published under the name of Sholokhov was raised back in the 1920s, when Quiet Don was first published. The main reason for opponents’ doubts about Sholokhov’s authorship (both then and later) late time) was the unusually young age of the author, who created, and in a very short time, such a grandiose work, and especially the circumstances of his biography: the novel demonstrates a good acquaintance with the life of the Don Cossacks, knowledge of many areas on the Don, the events of the First World War and the Civil War that took place when Sholokhov was a child and teenager. To this argument, researchers respond that the novel was not written by Sholokhov at the age of 20, but was written over almost fifteen years. The author spent a lot of time in the archives, often communicating with people who later became the prototypes of the heroes of the novel. According to some sources, the prototype of Grigory Melekhov was Sholokhov’s father’s colleague Kharlampy Ermakov, one of those who led the Veshensky uprising; he spent a lot of time with the future writer, talking about himself and what he had seen. Another argument of opponents is the low, according to some critics, artistic level of Sholokhov’s “Don Stories”, which preceded the novel.

In 1929, on the instructions of I.V. Stalin, a commission was formed under the leadership of M.I. Ulyanova, which investigated this question and confirmed the authorship of M. A. Sholokhov based on the manuscripts of the novel provided by him. Subsequently, the manuscript was lost and was discovered only in 1999. The main argument of supporters of Sholokhov’s sole authorship until 1999 was considered to be a rough autograph of a significant part of the text of “The Quiet Don” (more than a thousand pages), discovered in 1987 and stored at the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Supporters of Sholokhov's authorship have always argued that this manuscript testifies to the author's careful work on the novel, and the previously unknown history of the text explains the errors and contradictions noted by their opponents in the novel. In addition, in the 1970s, the Norwegian Slavist and mathematician Geir Hjetso conducted a computer analysis of the indisputable texts of Sholokhov, on the one hand, and “Quiet Don”, on the other, and came to the conclusion about Sholokhov’s authorship. A weighty argument was also that the action of the novel takes place in Sholokhov’s native places, and many of the characters in the book are based on people whom Sholokhov knew personally. In 1999, after many years of searching, the Institute of World Literature named after. A. M. Gorky RAS managed to find the manuscripts of the 1st and 2nd books of “Quiet Don” that were considered lost. Three examinations were carried out: graphological, textological and identification, certified the authenticity of the manuscript, its belonging to its time and with scientific validity solved the problem of the authorship of “Quiet Don”, after which supporters of Sholokhov’s authorship considered their position unconditionally proven. In 2006, a facsimile edition of the manuscript was released, giving everyone the opportunity to verify the true authorship of the novel.

Nevertheless, a number of supporters of the version of plagiarism based on own analysis texts remained unconvinced. It boils down to the fact that Sholokhov, apparently, found the manuscript of an unknown white Cossack and revised it, since the original would not have passed Bolshevik censorship and, perhaps, the manuscript was still “raw”. Thus, Sholokhov created his own manuscript, but on someone else’s material.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was born on May 24, 1905 in the Kruzhilina farm of the village of Vyoshenskaya, Donetsk district of the Don Army region (now Sholokhovsky district of the Rostov region).

At the same time, Sholokhov took part in the handwritten newspaper " New world", played in performances of the Karginsky People's House, for which he anonymously composed the plays "General Pobedonostsev" and "An Extraordinary Day".

In October 1922 he moved to Moscow, where he worked as a loader, mason, and accountant in the housing administration on Krasnaya Presnya. At the same time, he attended classes at the Young Guard literary association.

In December 1924, his story “Mole” was published in the newspaper “Young Leninist”, which opened the cycle of Don stories: “Shepherd”, “Ilyukha”, “Foal”, “Azure Steppe”, “Family Man” and others. They were published in Komsomol periodicals, and then compiled three collections, “Don Stories” and “Azure Steppe” (both 1926) and “About Kolchak, Nettles and Others” (1927). “Don Stories” was read in manuscript by Sholokhov’s fellow countryman, writer Alexander Serafimovich, who wrote the preface to the collection.

In 1925, the writer began to create the novel “Quiet Don” about the dramatic fate of the Don Cossacks during the First World War and the Civil War. During these years, he lived with his family in the village of Karginskaya, then in Bukanovskaya, and from 1926 in Vyoshenskaya. In 1928, the first two books of the epic novel were published in the magazine "October". The release of the third book (sixth part) was delayed due to a rather sympathetic depiction of participants in the anti-Bolshevik Verkhnedon uprising of 1919. To release the book, Sholokhov turned to the writer Maxim Gorky, with the help of whom he obtained permission from Joseph Stalin to publish this part of the novel without cuts in 1932, and in 1934 he basically completed the fourth and final part, but began to rewrite it again, not without toughening ideological pressure. The seventh part of the fourth book was published in 1937-1938, the eighth in 1940.

The work has been translated into many languages.

In 1932, the first book of his novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” about collectivization was published. The work was declared a perfect example of literature socialist realism and soon became part of everything school programs, becoming a must-learn.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), Mikhail Sholokhov worked as a war correspondent for the Sovinformburo, the newspapers Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda. He published front-line essays, the story "The Science of Hate" (1942), as well as the novel "They Fought for the Motherland" (1943-1944), which was conceived as a trilogy, but was not completed.

The writer donated the State Prize, awarded in 1941 for the novel "Quiet Don", to the USSR Defense Fund. own funds acquired four new missile launchers for the front.

In 1956, his story “The Fate of Man” was published.

In 1965, the writer won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the artistic power and integrity of the epic about Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia." Sholokhov donated the prize to the construction of a school in his homeland - in the village of Vyoshenskaya, Rostov region.

IN recent years Mikhail Sholokhov worked on the novel “They Fought for the Motherland.” At this time, the village of Veshenskaya became a place of pilgrimage. Sholokhov had visitors not only from Russia, but also from various parts of the world.

Sholokhov was studying social activities. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the first through ninth convocations. Since 1934 - member of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR. Member of the World Peace Council.

In the last years of his life, Sholokhov was seriously ill. He suffered two strokes, diabetes, then throat cancer.

On February 21, 1984, Mikhail Sholokhov died in the village of Veshenskaya, where he was buried on the banks of the Don.

The writer was an honorary doctor philological sciences Rostov and Leipzig universities, honorary doctor of law from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Since 1939 - full academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Mikhail Sholokhov was twice awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1967, 1980). Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1941), Lenin Prize (1960), and Nobel Prize (1965). Among his awards are six Orders of Lenin, the Order October Revolution, Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, medals “For the Defense of Moscow”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”.

In 1984, in his homeland in the village of Vyoshenskaya, Rostov region, the State Museum-Reserve of M.A. was founded. Sholokhov.

Since 1985, the Sholokhov Spring, an All-Russian literary and folklore festival, has been held annually in the village of Veshenskaya. dedicated to the day writer's birth.

The great Soviet writer M. A. Sholokhov was born on May 11 (24), 1905 in the Kruzhilin farmstead, once in Donetsk, and now in Rostov region. Considering the topic “Biography of Sholokhov, briefly about the main things,” it is certainly worth noting that the future writer was born under the name Kuznetsov, but then in 1912 he changed it to Sholokhov, but more on that later. Yours primary education he received it in Moscow, back in the First World War, but then continued his studies at the gymnasium in the city of Boguchar (Voronezh province). Then, in 1922, he returned to Moscow again to go to college, but without going there, in order to support himself, he began working as a laborer. Sholokhov spent his free time from work on self-education.

Biography of Sholokhov. Briefly the most important things

His father, Alexander Mikhailovich Sholokhov, was from the Ryazan province. He bought livestock, sowed grain, was a clerk at a commercial enterprise, and then a manager at a mill. The writer's grandfather was a merchant of the third guild.

The writer's mother was Anastasia Danilovna Chernikova, the daughter of a former serf and immigrant to the Don. Having become an orphan, she was married off by her landowner Popova to the son of the Cossack village ataman Kuznetsov.

But then she left her husband for Alexander Sholokhov. Their son was born illegitimate, and therefore at first bore the surname Kuznetsov. After her official husband died in 1912, she was able to marry Sholokhov and rewrite her son in his last name.

Sholokhov's biography briefly and without exaggeration tells about the difficult life of people who survived wars, poverty and devastation. The writer saw all this with his own eyes, and his fate was no different from the fate of millions of other Russian people who had arrests, exiles and captivity, but Sholokhov was unusually lucky, and he was able to live a decent life for him. Soviet man life.

The beginning of creativity

He began publishing in 1923. At that time these were feuilletons, but then they were followed by stories, which later, in 1926-1927. compiled three collections: “Azure Steppe”, “Don Stories”, “About Kolchak, Nettles and Others”.

But the epic work “Quiet Don” (1928-1940) brought Sholokhov the greatest popularity. This work was translated into many languages and became widely known not only in the Soviet Union, but also beyond its borders.

"Virgin Soil Upturned"

And then came another equally famous literary masterpiece, a two-volume book about the times of collectivization - “Virgin Soil Upturned” (1932-1959). For him the writer received the Lenin Prize.

Sholokhov’s biography briefly tells that during the Second World War he served as a war correspondent and wrote several essays and stories: “The Science of Hate”, “Cossacks”, “On the Don”, etc.

Very famous works Sholokhov became “The Fate of a Man” (1956) and a novel that remained unfinished, “They Fought for the Motherland” (1942-1969).

Nobel Prize and recent years

Sholokhov’s biography (briefly) also notes the fact that in 1965, for the novel “Quiet Flows the Don,” he was awarded one of the most prestigious world awards in the world of literature - the Nobel Prize. In general, the writer Sholokhov had many awards from the government, including the Stalin Prize (1941), Lenin Prize (1960). He was an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1967, 1980). In 1943 he was given the rank of colonel.

In the 60s, Sholokhov wrote practically nothing; he loved to go fishing and hunting. He donated the bulk of his funds to charity.

In the winter of February 21, 1984, the writer passed away. He died of laryngeal cancer. Sholokhov was buried in the courtyard of his house in the village of Veshenskaya, located on the banks of the Don River, which he made famous.

With his wife M.P. Gromoslavskaya - the daughter of one of the Cossack chieftains - he lived in marriage for 60 years. He married her in 1924, and four children were born into their family.

Sholokhov: brief biography. Table

	M. A. Sholokhov was born
	First began publishing in newspapers
	The books “Don Stories”, “About Kolchak, Nettles and Others”, “Azure Steppe” were published.
	The literary epic “Quiet Don” was created
	The novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” has been written
	The work “The Fate of Man” was published
	Received the Lenin Prize for the work “Virgin Soil Upturned”
	Sholokhov was given the Nobel Prize for “Quiet Don”
1967, 1980	Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, twice
02/21/1984	Died of cancer and was buried in the village of Veshenskaya near the Don

Mikhail Alexandrovich became one of the few Soviet writers who were allowed to tell the truth to the leader. His life and work were organically intertwined with the period of building socialism. Studying Sholokhov's biography briefly, it is impossible to doubt his talent and love for his land. But one day, doubts arose in Soviet society about his authorship of the works he wrote. However, a commission created by order of Joseph Vissarionovich himself, having carefully studied his drafts and manuscripts, confirmed the authorship of his works.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was born on May 24, 1905 in the Kruzhilina farm of the village of Vyoshenskaya, Donetsk district of the Don Army Region (now Sholokhovsky district of the Rostov region).

In 1910, the Sholokhov family moved to the Kargin farm, where at the age of 7 Misha was admitted to a men's parish school. From 1914 to 1918 he studied at men's gymnasiums in Moscow, Boguchar and Vyoshenskaya.

In 1920-1922. works as an employee in the village revolutionary committee, a teacher to eliminate illiteracy among adults in the village. Latyshev, a clerk in the procurement office of the Donfood Committee in Art. Karginskaya, tax inspector in Art. Bukanovskaya.

In October 1922 he left for Moscow. He works as a loader, mason, and accountant in the housing administration on Krasnaya Presnya. He meets representatives of the literary community, attends classes at the Young Guard literary association. The first writing experiments of the young Sholokhov date back to this time. In the fall of 1923, “Youthful Truth” published two of his feuilletons - “Test” and “Three”.

In December 1923 he returned to the Don. On January 11, 1924, he got married in the Bukanovskaya Church to Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaya, the daughter of the former village ataman.

Maria Petrovna, having graduated from the Ust-Medveditsk Diocesan School, worked in Art. Bukanovskaya was first a teacher in elementary school, then a clerk in the executive committee, where Sholokhov was an inspector at that time. Having got married, they were inseparable until the end of their days. The Sholokhovs lived together for 60 years, raising and raising four children.

December 14, 1924 M.A. Sholokhov publishes the first work of art- story “Birthmark” in the newspaper “Young Leninist”. Becomes a member of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers.

Sholokhov’s stories “Shepherd”, “Shibalkovo Seed”, “Nakhalyonok”, “Mortal Enemy”, “Alyoshkin’s Heart”, “Two Husband”, “Kolovert”, the story “Path-Road” appeared on the pages of central publications, and in 1926 they published collections “Don Stories” and “Azure Steppe”.

In 1925, Mikhail Alexandrovich began creating the novel “Quiet Don”. During these years, the Sholokhov family lived in Karginskaya, then in Bukanovskaya, and since 1926 - in Vyoshenskaya. In 1928, the magazine “October” began publishing “Quiet Don”.

After the publication of the first volume of the novel, difficult days begin for the writer: the success among readers is stunning, but an unfriendly atmosphere reigns in writing circles. Envy of to a young writer, who is called a new genius, gives birth to slander and vulgar fabrications. The author's position in describing the Verkhnedon uprising is sharply criticized by RAPP; it is proposed to remove more than 30 chapters from the book and make the main character a Bolshevik.

Sholokhov is only 23 years old, but he endures attacks steadfastly and courageously. Confidence in his abilities and in his calling helps him. In order to stop malicious slander and rumors of plagiarism, he turns to the executive secretary and member of the editorial board of the newspaper “Pravda” M.I. Ulyanova with an urgent request to create an expert commission and transfers to her the manuscripts of “Quiet Don”. In the spring of 1929, writers A. Serafimovich, L. Averbakh, V. Kirshon, A. Fadeev, V. Stavsky spoke in Pravda in defense of the young author, based on the conclusions of the commission. The rumors stop. But spiteful critics will more than once make attempts to denigrate Sholokhov, who honestly speaks about the tragic events in the life of the country and does not want to deviate from the historical truth.

The novel was completed in 1940. In the 30s, Sholokhov began work on the novel “Virgin Soil Upturned.”

During the war years, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was a war correspondent for the Sovinformburo, the newspapers Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda. He publishes front-line essays, the story “The Science of Hate,” and the first chapters of the novel “They Fought for the Motherland.” Sholokhov donated the state prize awarded for the novel “Quiet Don” to the USSR Defense Fund, and then purchased four new missile launchers for the front with his own funds.

For participation in the Great Patriotic War he received awards - the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, medals “For the Defense of Moscow”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, “Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War”. Patriotic War."

After the war, the writer finishes the 2nd book of “Virgin Soil Upturned”, works on the novel “They Fought for the Motherland”, writes the story “The Fate of a Man”.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov - laureate of the Nobel, State and Lenin Prizes in literature, twice Hero of Socialist Labor, full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, holder of an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Leipzig in Germany, Doctor of Philology from Rostov State University , deputy of the Supreme Council of all convocations. He was awarded six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, and other awards. During his lifetime, a bronze bust was erected in the village of Veshenskaya. And this is far from full list prizes, awards, honorary titles and public duties writer.