Samuil Marshak | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1887-11-03)3 November 1887 Voronezh, Russian Empire |
| Died | 4 July 1964(1964-07-04) (aged 76) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow |
| Language | Russian |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | University of London |
| Genre | Poetry |
Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Marchak) (Russian:Самуил Яковлевич Маршак; 3 November [O.S. 22 October] 1887 – 4 July 1964) was a Soviet writer of Belarusian Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. He translated the sonnets and some other of the works ofWilliam Shakespeare, English poetry (including poems for children), and poetry from other languages.Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of Russia's (Soviet)children's literature".[1]
Marshak was born to a Jewish family on 3 November 1887 inVoronezh.[1] His father was a foreman at a soap-making plant.[1] He had a good home education and later studied at the gymnasium (secondary school) ofOstrogozhsk, a suburb of Voronezh. He started to write poetry during his childhood years in Voronezh.[2]
Marshak grew up with 2 brothers and 3 sisters. His older brother- Moisey (1885—1944) became an economist. His older sister- Susanna (1889—1985) became Schwartz after marriage. His younger brother Ilya (who wrote under the pseudonymM. Ilin) (1896—1953) became a chemical engineer and apopular science writer. His younger sister Liliya (who wrote asElena Ilina) (1901—1964) also became Soviet author. Finally, his youngest sister Yudif' (1893) was pianist and a memoire writer.
In 1902, the Marshak family moved to Saint Petersburg. There was a complication: as a Jew, Marshak could not legally live outside thePale of Settlement, thus he could not attend school while living in the city. Philanthropist and scholar BaronDavid Günzburg took an interest in Marshak and introduced him to the influential criticVladimir Stasov.[1] Stasov was so impressed by the schoolboy's literary talent that he arranged an exception from the Pale laws for Samuil and his family.[2] He also introduced Marshak toMaxim Gorky andFeodor Chaliapin.[3]
In 1904, Samuil was diagnosed withtuberculosis and could no longer continue to live in the cold climate of Saint Petersburg. Maxim Gorky arranged for Samuil to live with his family in theBlack Sea resort town ofYalta inCrimea (1904–1907). Gorky and Chaliapin also paid for his education and therapy. However, he spent much of this period inKerch also inCrimea, living with the Fremerman family.
In 1904, he published his first works in the magazineJewish Life and in the mid- to late 1900s, Marshak created a body of Zionist verse, some of which appeared in such periodicals asYoung Judea.[1] In 1907 he returned to Saint Petersburg and subsequently published numerous works in the popular magazineSatyricon.
Marshak failed to gain admission at a university in Russia due to 'political insecurity' and earned his living giving lessons and writing for magazines.[3] From his first trip to the Middle East he brought back many impressions, poems and a beautiful wife.[3]
In 1912 he moved to England and studied philosophy at theUniversity of London.[3] He fell in love with English culture and with poetry written in English.[3] In his senior year at the university, he published his translations of the poems written byWilliam Blake,Robert Burns andWilliam Wordsworth, published in Russia.[3] His 1913 visit to an experimental "free" school inWales (led by the Tolstoyan Philip Oyler) is noted as the event that sparked his professional interest in children.
Shortly beforeWorld War I, in 1914, he returned to Russia and devoted himself to translation.
In 1914 Marshak and his wife worked with children of Jewish refugees in Voronezh.[1] The death of Marshak's young daughter in 1915 directed him toward children's literature.[1] In 1920 he moved to Yekaterinodar (nowKrasnodar) to head the province's orphanages and it was there that he and a group of enthusiasts, including Yelena Vasilyeva, organizedChildren's town that included a children's theater, library, and studios.[1] For this theater, he co-wrote plays that later became the bookTheater for Children.[1]
In 1922, Marshak moved back to what was then Petrograd to become the head of the Children's Literature Studio. He published the following works at theRaduga (Радуга; in English, "rainbow") publishing house:Детки в клетке (Kids in a cage),Пожар (Fire) 1923,Сказка о глупом мышонке (The Tale of a Silly Mouse),Синяя птица (Blue bird),Цирк (Circus),Мороженое (Ice Cream),Вчера и сегодня» (Yesterday and today) 1925,Багаж (Luggage) 1926,Пудель (Poodle),Почта (Post Office) 1927, andВот какой рассеянный (What an absent-minded guy) 1930.[4]
Marshak had a prolific career in children's literature. Soviet criticViktor Shklovsky wrote that "Samuil Marshak understood that many new writers would appear in the new Soviet republic. He stood at the door of literature, a benevolent angel, armed not with a sword or with a pencil, but with words on work and inspiration."[5] Marshak's contributions to the field of children's literature was not just limited to his own writings. In 1924, he became the head of the children's branch of the state publishing house Gosizdat (GIZ), a position he held for over a decade. Through his role as editor, Marshak attracted some of Russia's best writers to try their hand at writing for children, includingEvgeny Schwartz andOBERIU memberDaniil Kharms.
Among his Russian translations there areWilliam Shakespeare's sonnets and songs from Shakespeare's plays,The Merry Wives of Windsor (together with Mikhail Morozov, who translated prosaic scenes), poems ofRobert Burns,William Blake,Lord Byron,Percy Bysshe Shelley,John Keats,William Wordsworth,Alfred, Lord Tennyson,Robert Browning,Robert Louis Stevenson,W. B. Yeats,Edward Lear,Lewis Carroll,Rudyard Kipling,T. S. Eliot,A. A. Milne, English and Scottish folk ballads, poems fromNursery rhymes. Besides English poetry, he translated poems ofHeinrich Heine,Sándor Petőfi,Gianni Rodari andHovhannes Tumanyan.[6][7]
His main work in this area is translation of Shakespeare's sonnets (1948). This translation has enjoyed great success over the years. Some Shakespeare sonnets in Marshak's translation have been set to music (in classical style byDmitry Kabalevsky, in pop style byTikhon Khrennikov,Mikael Tariverdiev,Alla Pugacheva and others, even in rock style —Cruise). His translations are considered classics in Russia. But many of Marshak's poetic translations became so entrenched in Russian culture, that it was often quipped that he was not so much a translator as a co-author.[3]
In 1937 Marshak moved toMoscow, where he worked on children's books and translations. ComposerGalina Konstantinovna Smirnova set some of his work to music.[8] DuringWorld War II, he published satires against theNazis. After the war he continued to publish children's books including:Разноцветная книга (Multicolored book) 1948,Круглый год (All year round) 1948,Тихая сказка (A Quiet tale) 1956, etc.
In the last years of his life, he wrote aphoristic verses that he namedlyrical epigrams. They were published in his last book,Selected Lyrics (Избранная Лирика) in 1963. He also published three tale plays:The Twelve Months 1943,Afraid of Troubles - Cannot Have Luck 1962, andSmart Things 1964.
Although not widely known, in the Soviet era, Marshak was on a (political) razor's edge and barely escaped death in 1937.[3] His name was often mentioned in the documents of the eliminatedJewish Anti-Fascist Committee.[3] However, the process of the committee ended in August 1952 (12 executed and 98 subjected to repression) and Marshak was not accused.[9]
Samuil Marshak died on 4 July 1964 and was buried in Moscow inNovodevichy Cemetery. He survived by one son Immanuil Marshak (1917—1977), a physicist. His other son and daughter did not survive till adulthood.
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