Nikolai Ostrovsky

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Nikolai Ostrovsky
Born	Nikolai Alexeevich Ostrovsky (1904-09-29)29 September 1904 Viliya, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	22 December 1936(1936-12-22) (aged 32) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Soviet
Genre	Socialist realism
Notable works	How the Steel Was Tempered

Nikolai Alexeevich Ostrovsky (Russian: Николай Алексеевич Островский

29 September 1904 – 22 December 1936) was a Soviet socialist realist writer and novelist. He is best known for his novel How the Steel Was Tempered, which is considered one of the most influential works of Soviet literature.

Early Life

Nikolai Ostrovsky was born in the village of Viliya in the Volhynian Governorate of the Russian Empire. His family was of Ukrainian descent. Ostrovsky's early life was marked by hardship and poverty, which influenced his later works. He joined the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) in 1919 and participated in the Russian Civil War on the side of the Red Army.

Career

Ostrovsky's literary career began in the early 1930s. Despite suffering from a debilitating illness that left him bedridden and eventually blind, he continued to write. His most famous work, How the Steel Was Tempered, was published in two parts between 1932 and 1934. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of a young revolutionary, Pavel Korchagin, and his struggles during the Russian Civil War and the early years of the Soviet Union.

Legacy

Nikolai Ostrovsky's work has had a lasting impact on Soviet literature and socialist realism. How the Steel Was Tempered became a model for socialist realist literature and was widely read in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Ostrovsky's life and work were celebrated in the Soviet Union, and he was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin.

Personal Life

Ostrovsky married Raisa Porygina in 1927. Despite his illness, he remained active in Soviet cultural and political life until his death in 1936.

Death

Nikolai Ostrovsky died on 22 December 1936 in Moscow, Soviet Union. He was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery, one of the most prestigious cemeteries in Moscow.

See Also

• How the Steel Was Tempered
• Socialist realism
• Soviet literature
• Russian Civil War
• Komsomol