Agniya Barto | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 1969 | |
| Born | Gitel Leybovna Volova 17 February [O.S. 4 February] 1901 |
| Died | 1 April 1981(1981-04-01) (aged 80) |
| Resting place | Novodevichy Cemetery |
| Occupation | Writer, screenwriter,radio narrator |
| Genre | Poetry, Screenplay |
Agniya Lvovna Barto (Russian:А́гния Льво́вна Барто́,IPA:[ˈaɡnʲɪjəˈlʲvovnəbɐrˈto]ⓘ; 17 February [O.S. 4 February] 1901 – 1 April 1981) was a RussianSoviet poet andchildren's writer ofBelarusian Jewish origin.
Agniya was born Gitel Leybovna Volova[1] inMoscow to aBelarusian Jewish family. Her father, Lev Nikolayevich Volov, was aveterinarian fromŠiauliai, and her mother, Maria (née Blokh), was fromKaunas,Lithuania. Her mother's brother wasGrigory Blokh [ru], a famous otolaryngologist and phthisiologist. Agniya studied at aballet school. She liked poetry and soon started to write her own, trying to imitateAnna Akhmatova andVladimir Mayakovsky. She read her poetry at the graduation ceremony from the ballet school. Among the guests was theMinister of EducationAnatoly Lunacharsky who remarked that instead of becoming aballerina she should be a professional poet. According to legend, despite the fact that all of Barto's poetry at that time was about love and revolution, Lunacharsky predicted that she would become a famous children's poet.
Agniya marriedornithologist and poet Pavel Barto, grandson of an English-born merchant Richard Barto. Some of her children's poems were published under two names: Agniya Barto and Pavel Barto. In 1925 she published her first books:Chinese boy Wang-Li (Китайчонок Ван-Ли) andMishka the Petty Thief (Мишка-Воришка). Subsequently, she publishedThe First of May (Первое мая), 1926 andBrothers (Братишки), 1928 which received a positive review fromKorney Chukovsky. After publishing a book of poetic miniatures for toddlers entitledToys (Игрушки) in 1936, she suddenly became one of the most popular children's authors, with millions of published copies.
DuringWorld War II, she wrote patriotic anti-Nazi poetry, often directly addressed to theleader of the Soviet Union,Joseph Stalin. She also worked as a Western Front correspondent for the newspaperKomsomolskaya Pravda. In 1949, she was awarded theStalin Prize for her bookPoetry for Children.
During the 1960s, Barto worked in anorphanage that inspired her to write the poemZvenigorod (Звенигород, written in 1947, first published in 1966). For nine years, Barto was the anchor of the radio programFind a Person (Найти человека), which helped people find family members lost during World War II. During that time she helped to reunite no fewer than a thousand families. She wrote a book about it in 1966. In 1977, she publishedTranslations from the Children's Language (Переводы с детского) composed of her translations of poetry written by children of different countries.
She was the author of the script for the children's filmsFoundling (Подкидыш, 1940),An Elephant and a Rope (Слон и верёвочка) 1945,Alyosha Ptitsyn builds his character (Алёша Птицын вырабатывает характер), 1953,10,000 Boys (10 000 мальчиков), 1962,Find a Person (Найти человека), 1973.
She lived at theHouse of Writers [ru] in Moscow. She died in Moscow in 1981 and buried at theNovodevichy Cemetery.
