Evgeny Petrov's real surname. E

Few people know that the writer Yevgeny Petrov, the one who, together with Ilya Ilf, wrote The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf, had a very strange and rare hobby: throughout his life he collected envelopes from his own letters.

And he did it like this - he wrote a letter to some country at a fictitious address, a fictitious addressee, and after a while he received a letter back with a bunch of different foreign stamps and the indication "Address not found" or something like that. But this interesting hobby once turned out to be just mystical...

In April 1939, Evgeny Petrov decided to disturb the New Zealand post office. According to his scheme, he came up with a city called "Hydebirdville" and the street "Rightbeach", the house "7" and the addressee "Merrill Augene Weisley".

In the letter he wrote in English: “Dear Merrill! Please accept our sincere condolences on the passing of Uncle Pete. Brace yourself, old man. Forgive me for not writing for a long time. I hope Ingrid is all right. Kiss my daughter for me. She's probably quite big. Your Eugene.

More than two months have passed since the letter was sent, but the letter with the appropriate mark has not been returned. The writer decided that it was lost and began to forget about it. But then August came, and the letter arrived. To the great surprise of the writer, it was a reply letter.

At first, Petrov decided that someone had played a joke on him in his own spirit. But when he read the return address, he was in no mood for jokes. On the envelope was written: "New Zealand, Hydebirdville, Wrightbeach, 7, Merrill Augene Weisley." And all this was confirmed by a blue postmark “New Zealand, Hydebirdville Post”!

The text of the letter read: “Dear Eugene! Thank you for your condolences. The ridiculous death of Uncle Pete, unsettled us for six months. I hope you will forgive the delay in writing. Ingrid and I often think back to those two days you were with us. Gloria is very big and will go to the 2nd grade in the fall. She still keeps the bear you brought her from Russia.”
Petrov had never traveled to New Zealand, and therefore he was all the more amazed to see a man in a photograph of a strong build who was hugging himself, Petrov! On the reverse side of the picture was written: "October 9, 1938."

Here the writer almost became ill - after all, it was on that day that he was admitted to the hospital in an unconscious state with severe pneumonia. Then, for several days, doctors fought for his life, not hiding from his relatives that he had almost no chance of surviving.

To deal with these misunderstandings, or mysticism, Petrov wrote another letter to New Zealand, but he did not wait for an answer: the Second World War had begun. E. Petrov from the first days of the war became a war correspondent for Pravda and the Information Bureau. Colleagues did not recognize him - he became withdrawn, thoughtful, and stopped joking altogether.

The end of this story is not funny at all.

In 1942, Yevgeny Petrov flew by plane from Sevastopol to the capital, and this plane was shot down by the Germans in the Rostov region. Mysticism - but on the same day when it became known about the death of the plane, a letter from New Zealand arrived at the writer's home.

In this letter, Meryl Weasley admired the Soviet soldiers and worried about Petrov's life. Among other things, the letter contained the following lines:

“Do you remember, Eugene, I got scared when you started swimming in the lake. The water was very cold. But you said you were destined to crash your plane, not drown. I ask you to be careful - fly as little as possible.

Based on this story, the film "The Envelope" with Kevin Spacey in the title role was recently shot.

According to the rules in force at all times, the biography of a creative person consists of facts, conjectures and outright fictions. The biography of the famous Soviet writer Yevgeny Petrov was no exception. It is true that the child was born in Odessa, a city by the Black Sea. The father's surname is Kataev. Even many readers of our days know about the writer Valentin Kataev. But not everyone knows that Valentin is the older brother, and Eugene is the younger. In life, it so happened that the youngest had to work under a pseudonym in order to avoid confusion on a historical scale and in solving everyday issues.

Education Kataev Jr. received in a classical gymnasium. In the early 20s of the last century, after the end of the Civil War, Eugene came to Moscow after his older brother. Before that, he managed to work at home in the criminal investigation department. The work left its mark on the memory for a long time, and on the basis of these “traces”, the young writer wrote the story “The Green Van”, based on which the film of the same name was made twice. Due to the circumstances, the career of a detective in the capital did not work out, and the visiting Odessa resident had to retrain as a journalist. He was initially good at humorous and satirical essays.

It should be emphasized that natural data - intelligence and excellent memory - allowed Yevgeny to quickly get used to the literary environment of the capital. The first humoresques and sketches from life saw the light on the pages of the Red Pepper magazine. After some time, Petrov took the position of executive secretary of this publication. At that time, a young and energetic journalist was called a “multi-station operator”. He had the strength and imagination to write several texts at once and send them to different editions. A similar practice is used today, but such a load is not within the power of every subject who stains paper.

Creativity is like life

The personal life of Evgeny Petrov has developed simply and even tritely. In the turmoil of editorial affairs, he fell in love with the girl Valentina, who turned out to be eight years younger than the groom. Husband and wife, as they say, coincided in character, upbringing and temperament. The family was formed once and for all. And each child was born as a unique product. The Petrovs had two sons. And each literary work was prepared for release, like a beloved child. Such harmony in family relationships is extremely rare.

Meanwhile, life in the country flowed and seethed. Already accomplished writer and journalist Yevgeny Petrov set himself and solved large-scale tasks. Some critics note that the novels "12 Chairs" and "The Golden Calf" created in collaboration with a colleague in writing Ilya Ilf became the pinnacle of his work. For a significant number of connoisseurs, the names of the authors - Ilf and Petrov - have become an idiom, a stable combination. Among those noticed and appreciated is their book One-Storied America. Before reading these travel notes, Soviet people knew little about how the American people live in the outback.

When the war began, Evgeny Petrov began to work as a correspondent in the Soviet Information Bureau - the Soviet Information Bureau. At the same time, he sent his materials from the army to the newspapers Pravda, Krasnaya Zvezda, and the Ogonyok magazine. War correspondent Petrov died in a plane crash in 1942, returning from a mission to Moscow. After his death, collections of his works "Moscow is behind us" and "Front diary" were published.

The Russian satirist Yevgeny Petrovich Petrov (real name Kataev) was born on December 13 (November 30 according to the old style), 1903 (according to some sources, in 1902) in Odessa.

His father, Pyotr Vasilyevich Kataev, was the son of a priest from the city of Vyatka, a teacher at the diocesan and cadet schools in the city of Odessa. Mother - Evgenia - a Ukrainian from Poltava, who bore the surname Bachey as a girl, died shortly after the birth of her second son. The elder brother is Valentin Kataev, a future writer.

The Kataevs had an extensive family library, but classical literature did not attract Yevgeny. He read books by Gustave Aimard, Robert Louis Stevenson and others. He dreamed of becoming a detective, he was attracted by adventures.

In 1920, Yevgeny Kataev graduated from the fifth Odessa classical gymnasium. He worked as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency, then as a criminal investigation inspector in Odessa.

In 1923 he moved to Moscow, where he continued his education and took up journalism.

In 1924, the first feuilletons and stories appeared in the satirical magazine "Red Pepper" under the pseudonym Petrov, also under the name of Gogol's "Foreigner Fedorov". Used satirist and other pseudonyms. He did not want another writer with the surname Kataev to appear.

Before starting cooperation with Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov published more than fifty humorous and satirical stories in various periodicals and released three independent collections.

In 1926, while working for the Gudok newspaper, Yevgeny Petrov met Ilya Ilf. Their joint work began: they processed materials for the Gudok newspaper, composed themes for drawings and feuilletons in the Smekhach magazine.

In the summer of 1927, Ilf and Petrov made a trip to the Crimea and the Caucasus, visited Odessa. They kept a joint travel diary. Later, some impressions from this trip were included in the novel "The Twelve Chairs", which was published in 1928 in the monthly literary magazine "30 Days". The novel was a great success with readers, but was rather coldly received by literary critics. Even before the first publication, censorship severely reduced it. Soon the novel began to be translated into many European languages, and it was published in many European countries.

Their next novel was The Golden Calf (1931). Initially, it was published in parts in the monthly "30 days".

In September 1931, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov were sent to the exercises of the Red Army in the Belarusian military district, based on the materials of the trip, the essay "Difficult Topic" was published in the magazine "30 Days".

Since 1932, Ilf and Petrov began to be published in the Pravda newspaper.

In 1935-1936, the writers made a trip to the United States, which resulted in the book One-Story America (1937).

In collaboration with Ilya Ilf, the short stories "Unusual Stories from the Life of the City of Kolokolamsk" (1928-1929), the fantastic story "A Bright Personality" (1928), the short stories "1001 Days, or New Scheherazade" (1929) and others were written.

The death of Ilf in 1937 interrupted the creative collaboration of writers.

Petrov did a lot to perpetuate the memory of his friend. In 1939, he published Ilya Ilf's Notebooks, and later decided to write a novel called My Friend Ilf. The novel was not completed, only separate sketches and detailed versions of the plan have been preserved.

Peru Yevgeny Petrov owns a number of screenplays. In collaboration with Ilya Ilf, "The Black Barracks" (1933), "Once in the Summer" (1936) were created, in collaboration with Georgy Moonblit - "Musical History" (1940), "Anton Ivanovich Gets Angry" (1941), etc. Independently Petrov scripts were written for the films "Quiet Ukrainian Night" and "Air Carrier". He worked on the script for the film "The Circus", but in the end demanded that his name be removed from the credits.

In 1941, Petrov became a war correspondent for Pravda and the Soviet Information Bureau. Often and for a long time he was at the front.

On July 2, 1942, Yevgeny Petrov died while returning by plane from the besieged Sevastopol to Moscow. The writer was buried in the Rostov region in the village of Mankovo-Kalitvenskaya.

Many films based on the works of Ilf and Petrov were staged: The Golden Calf (1968), The Twelve Chairs (1971), Ilf and Petrov Ride in a Tram (1972) and others. Based on the play by Evgeny Petrov The Island of the World (published in 1947) filmed the cartoon "Mr. Walk" (1950).

Evgeny Petrov was awarded the Order of Lenin and a medal.

The writer's wife was Valentina Grunzaid. Their children: Pyotr Kataev (1930-1986) - a famous cameraman who shot almost all the films of Tatyana Lioznova; Ilya Kataev (1939-2009) - composer, author of a number of popular songs and music for films.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

The Russian satirist Yevgeny Petrov became famous after the publication of the books "The Twelve Chairs", "The Golden Calf", "One-Story America" ​​and "At War", written in tandem with.

Evgeny Petrovich Kataev (real name of the publicist) was born on December 13, 1902 in Odessa. When people who are not familiar with the work and life of Yevgeny read his autobiography, they get the impression that the creator did not live in the real, but in the ideal Soviet Union. He was free, wrote what he wanted, traveled all over the world and miraculously escaped arrest and repression at a time when everyone was imprisoned.

True, if you dig deeper, it turns out that the real life of a journalist differed from the official biography. It is known that for a couple of years no one knew for sure the true date of birth of Eugene, therefore October 1903 was indicated in all encyclopedias. Only when, in the 1960s, employees of the Odessa archives found a register of births, in which the date of birth and baptism was recorded, did everything fall into place.

The writer's father, Petr Vasilyevich Kataev, worked as a teacher at the diocesan and cadet Odessa schools. Eugene's mother, a Ukrainian from Poltava, died of pneumonia a couple of months after the birth of her second son (the writer has an older brother).

It is known that the Kataevs had an extensive family library, but classical literature did not attract Yevgeny. An inquisitive guy read books by Gustav Emar, and.

In 1920, Evgeny graduated from the 5th Odessa classical gymnasium, in which Alexander Kozachinsky was his classmate and best friend (the boys even took an oath of brotherly fidelity: they cut their fingers with a piece of glass and mixed the blood). Then the future publicist worked for a couple of months as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency, and after that as an inspector of the criminal investigation department in Odessa.

Few people know, but in 1922, during a chase with a shootout, Kataev personally detained his friend Kozachinsky, who led a gang of raiders. Subsequently, the writer achieved a review of his criminal case. As a result, Alexander was not shot, but sent to a camp.

This story later formed the basis of the adventure story "The Green Van", the prototype of the main character of which - Volodya Patrikeev - was Petrov. Also, films of the same name were made based on the work in 1959 and 1983.

Three years later, Kataev moved to Moscow. There the young man took up self-education and journalism. Already in 1924, the first feuilletons and stories under the pseudonym Petrov appeared in the satirical magazine Red Pepper. During the period of his literary career, the satirist used other pseudonyms. This was done because the writer did not want his works to be attributed to his brother.

Before starting cooperation with Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov published more than fifty humorous and satirical stories in various periodicals and released three independent collections. In 1926, while working in the Gudok newspaper, the publicist met Ilya Ilf, with whom at the initial stages he processed materials for the Gudok newspaper, and also composed themes for drawings and feuilletons in the Smekhach magazine.

When the war began, Petrov became a war correspondent in the Soviet Information Bureau. He wrote for Soviet printed publications and at work, often for a long time, was at the front. Once the writer returned from under Maloyaroslavets shell-shocked by a blast wave.

Despite the fact that the publicist practically did not speak, he hid his condition from colleagues and relatives as best he could. It is known that as soon as he felt a little better, the journalist immediately began to write about the battles for Maloyaroslavets.

Who happened to be with Petrov on one of the longest front-line trips to the Northern Front, recalled that it was extremely difficult for Yevgeny to travel long distances on foot due to a weak heart. Young Simonov often offered Kataev help, but Petrov flatly refused and was happy when a halt was made or they reached the headquarters.

Literature

In the summer of 1927, Ilf and Petrov made a trip to the Crimea, the Caucasus and visited Odessa. They kept a joint travel diary. Later, the impressions from this trip were included in the novel The Twelve Chairs, which was published in 1928 in the monthly literary magazine 30 Days. The novel was a great success with readers, but was rather coldly received by literary critics. Even before the first publication, censorship severely reduced it. Soon the novel began to be translated into European languages, and it was published in many European countries.

Their next novel was The Golden Calf (1931). Initially, the work was published in parts in the monthly "30 days". In September 1931, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov were sent to the Red Army exercises in the Belarusian military district. Based on the materials of the trip, the essay "Difficult Topic" was published in the magazine "30 days". Since 1932, Ilf and Petrov were published in the Pravda newspaper.

In 1935-1936, the writers made a trip to the United States, which resulted in the book One-Story America (1937). Also, in collaboration with Ilya Ilf, the short stories "Unusual Stories from the Life of the City of Kolokolamsk" (1928–1929), the fantastic story "A Bright Personality" (1928), the short stories "1001 Days, or New Scheherazade" (1929) and the great many other great works.

The creative cooperation of writers was interrupted by the death of Ilf in 1937. Kataev did a lot to perpetuate the memory of his friend. In 1939, he published Ilya Ilf's Notebooks, and later decided to write a novel called My Friend Ilf. True, the novel was not completed and only separate sketches and detailed versions of the plan have been preserved.

Peru Yevgeny Petrov owns a number of screenplays. In collaboration with Ilya Ilf, Black Barracks (1933), Once Upon a Summer (1936) were created. Later, in collaboration with Georgy Moonblit, “Musical History” (1940), “Anton Ivanovich Gets Angry” (1941) appeared.

Independently Kataev wrote scripts for the films "Quiet Ukrainian Night" and "Air Carrier". It is also known that the writer worked on the script for the film "The Circus", but in the end demanded not to indicate his last name in the credits.

Among other things, films based on the works of Ilf and Petrov were staged: The Golden Calf (1968), The Twelve Chairs (1971), Ilf and Petrov Were Riding a Tram (1972). Also based on Kataev's play "Island of Peace", the cartoon "Mr. Walk" (1949) was shot.

Personal life

Eugene's wife's name was Valentina, she was eight years younger than him. Petrov surprised his beloved every day and did everything so that a smile did not leave the face of the chosen one. Young people legalized relationships when the girl was barely nineteen. After the wedding, the writer retained the same reverent attitude towards his wife. It is also worth noting that marriage was not influenced by the fashion for open relationships that spread in the 1920s in the bohemian environment.

In this union, two sons were born - Peter (named after his father) and Ilya (named after a friend). According to the memoirs of the writer's granddaughter, her grandmother continued to love her husband until her death (in 1991) and never took off the ring he gave her from her finger.

The eldest son of Evgeny and Valentina became a cameraman, shot many popular Soviet films. The younger Ilya worked as a composer, wrote music for a couple of films and TV shows.

Death

Petrov survived his friend Ilya by five years. After the death of Ilf, death literally followed Evgeny on his heels. Once a writer in the gymnasium laboratory swallowed hydrogen sulfide, and he was barely pumped out in the fresh air. Then, in Milan, the publicist was hit by a cyclist and nearly hit by a passing car.

During the Finnish War, a shell hit the corner of the house where the author of the story "Prodigal Dad" spent the night. Near Moscow, the journalist came under German mortar fire and barely survived. In the same year, the screenwriter got his fingers pinched by the door of the front-line emka. This happened when German aircraft attacked the writer, and he urgently needed to leave the car and run into a ditch.

The creator died during the Great Patriotic War. When Yevgeny was returning by plane to Moscow on July 2, 1942, the pilot, moving away from the bombardment, lowered the flight altitude and crashed into the mound. Of the several people on board, only Petrov, who at that time was 38 years old, died.

The remains of the writer were buried in the Rostov region in the village of Mankovo-Kalitvenskoye.

Bibliography

• 1922 - "Real work"
• 1924 - "Not burned out"
• 1926 - "Joys of Megas"
• 1927 - "Without a report"
• 1928 - "Twelve Chairs"
• 1928 - "Bright personality"
• 1929 - "Hat"
• 1931 - "The Golden Calf"
• 1934 - "Recipe for a Quiet Life"
• 1936 - "One-story America"
• 1942 - "At War"
• 1942 - "Front Diary"
• 1965 - "Journey to the Land of Communism" (unfinished)

Brother of the writer Valentin Kataev. Father of cameraman Pyotr Kataev and composer Ilya Kataev. Wife - Valentina Leontievna Grunzaid, from the Russified Germans.

Evgeny Petrovich Petrov(real name Kataev) was born in Odessa in the family of a history teacher. In Odessa, the Kataevs lived on Kanatnaya Street.

In 1920 he graduated from the 5th Odessa classical gymnasium. During his studies, he was a classmate who later wrote the adventure story "", the prototype of the main character of which - Volodya Patrikeev - became Evgeny Petrov.

He worked as a correspondent for the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency.

For three years he served as an inspector of the Odessa Criminal Investigation Department (in the autobiography of Ilf and Petrov (1929) it is said about this period of life: “His first literary work was a protocol for examining the corpse of an unknown man”).

In 1922, during a chase with a shootout, he personally detained his friend Alexander Kozachinsky, who led a gang of raiders. Subsequently, he achieved a review of his criminal case and the replacement of A. Kozachinsky with the highest measure of social protection - execution - for imprisonment in a camp.

In 1923 Petrov arrived in Moscow, where he became an employee of the Red Pepper magazine. In 1926, he came to work for the Gudok newspaper, where he arranged A. Kozachinsky as a journalist, released by that time under an amnesty.

Significant impact on Evgenia Petrova rendered by his brother Valentin Kataev. Valentina Kataev's wife recalled:

I have never seen such affection between the brothers as Valya and Zhenya have. Actually, Valya forced his brother to write. Every morning he started by calling him - Zhenya got up late, began to swear that he had been woken up ... “Okay, swear further,” said Valya and hung up.

In 1927, joint work on the novel "" began a creative community Evgenia Petrova and Ilya Ilf (who also worked for the Gudok newspaper).

The novel "Twelve Chairs" (1928);
novel "" (1931);
short stories "" (1928);
fantasy story "" (screened)
short stories "" (1929);
documentary story "" (1937).

In 1932-1937 Ilf and Petrov wrote feuilletons for the Pravda newspaper. In 1935-1936 they made a trip to the United States, which resulted in the book One-Storied America (1937). The books of Ilf and Petrov were repeatedly staged and filmed.

In 1938 Petrov persuaded his friend A. Kozachinsky to write the story "The Green Van". In 1939 he joined the CPSU (b).

Petrov made a lot of efforts to publish Ilf's notebooks, conceived a large work "My friend Ilf". In 1939-1942 Petrov worked on the novel Journey to the Land of Communism, in which he described the USSR in 1963 (excerpts were published posthumously in 1965).

During the Great Patriotic War Petrov became a front correspondent.

Evgeny Petrov died on July 2, 1942 - the plane on which he was returning to Moscow from Sevastopol was shot down by a German fighter over the territory of the Rostov region, near the village of Mankovo. A monument has been erected at the site of the plane crash.