Ilf and Petrov | |
|---|---|
 Petrov and Ilf, 1929 | |
| Born | Ilf: Iehiel-Leyb Aryevich Feinsilberg 15 October [O.S. 3 October] 1897 Petrov: Yevgeny Petrovich Katayev December 13 [O.S. November 30] 1902 Odessa,Russian Empire (now Odesa,Ukraine) |
| Died | Ilf: 13 April 1937 Moscow,Soviet Union (nowRussia) Petrov: 2 July 1942 Rostov Oblast,Soviet Union (now Russia) |
| Occupation | Novelists, short story writers |
| Notable works | The Twelve Chairs The Little Golden Calf One-storied America |
Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg orRussian:Илья Арнольдович Файнзильберг, 1897–1937) andYevgeny Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Katayev orRussian:Евгений Петрович Катаев, 1902–1942) were twoSoviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s. They did much of their writing together, and are almost always referred to as "Ilf and Petrov". They were natives ofOdessa.
The duo were arguably the most popular satirical writers in the Soviet period,[1] representatives of the "Odessa School" of humorist writers,[2] and some of the very prominent, mostly Jewishodessit (Odessa native) cultural figures along withIsaac Babel andLeonid Utesov, who moved to work in the Soviet capital after the abolition of restrictions on Jewish residence in thePale of Settlement.[3][4]
Ilf and Petrov gained a high profile for their two satirical novels:The Twelve Chairs (1928) and its sequel,The Little Golden Calf (1931). The two texts are connected by their main character,Ostap Bender, acon man in pursuit of elusive riches. Both books follow exploits of Bender and his associates looking for treasure amidst the contemporary Soviet reality. They were written and are set in the relatively liberal era in Soviet history, theNew Economic Policy of the 1920s. The main characters generally avoid contact with the apparently lax law enforcement. Their position outside the organized, goal-driven, productive Soviet society is emphasized. It also gives the authors a convenient platform from which to look at this society and to make fun of its less attractive and less Socialist aspects. These are among the most widely read and quoted books in Russian culture.The Twelve Chairs was adapted forca. twenty movies; in the Soviet Union (byLeonid Gaidai and byMark Zakharov), in the US (in particular byMel Brooks) and in other countries.
From the late 1920s to 1937, the co-authors wrote several theatrical plays and screenplays, as well as many humorous short stories and satirical articles in the magazinesChudak,30 days,Krokodil andOgoniok; and the newspapersPravda andLiteraturnaya Gazeta. In the first years of joint creativity Ilf and Petrov published their stories and satires under parodicpseudonyms:Tolstoevsky (composed of the names of writersTolstoy andDostoevsky),Don Busilio (from Don Basilio, a character in the operaThe Barber of Seville, and the Russian verbbusa – scandal, noise),Cold philosopher and others.[5]
The two writers also traveled across theGreat Depression-era United States. Ilf took many pictures throughout the journey, and the authors produced a photo essay entitled "American Photographs", published inOgoniok magazine.[6] Shortly after that they published the bookОдноэтажная Америка (literally: "One-storied America"), translated asLittle Golden America[7] (an allusion toThe Little Golden Calf). The first edition of the book did not include Ilf's photographs. Both the photo essay and the book document their adventures with their characteristic humor and playfulness. Notably, Ilf and Petrov were not afraid to praise many aspects of the American lifestyle in these works while being highly critical of others. The title comes from the following description.
America is primarily a one-and two-storey country. The majority of the American population lives in small towns of three thousand, maybe five, nine, or fifteen thousand inhabitants.
Vladimir Nabokov considered them to be "wonderfully gifted writers".[8]
Ilf died of tuberculosis a few months after their return from the USA. Petrov became a front line correspondent during the Second World War and, after covering the fighting in Sevastopol, was killed when the airplane he was travelling in back to Moscow crashed while flying low to avoid anti-aircraft fire.
Theminor planet3668 Ilfpetrov, discovered bySoviet astronomerLyudmila Georgievna Karachkina in 1982, is named after them.[13]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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