Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky ( rus, Корне́й Ива́нович Чуко́вский, p=kɐrˈnʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ tɕʊˈkofskʲɪj, a=Kornyey Ivanovich Chukovskiy.ru.vorb.oga; 31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most popular
children's poets
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
in the
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
. His catchy rhythms, inventive rhymes and absurd characters have invited comparisons with the American children's author
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss" '' Chukovsky's poems ''Tarakanishche'' (" The Monster Cockroach"), ''Krokodil'' ("The Crocodile"), ''Telefon'' ("The Telephone") and ''Moydodyr'' ("Wash-'em-Clean") have been favorites with many generations of
Russophone
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derussi ...
children. Lines from his poems, in particular ''Telefon'', have become universal catch-phrases in the Russian media and everyday conversation. He adapted the
Doctor Dolittle
Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 ''The Story of Doctor Dolittle''. He is a physician who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in the ...
stories into a book-length Russian poem as ''
Doctor Aybolit
Doctor Aybolit (russian: Доктор Айболит, ''Doktor Aibolit'') is a fictional character from the children's poems ''Aybolit'' (1929) and ''Barmaley'' (1925) by Korney Chukovsky, as well as from the children's fantastic novella ''Doctor ...
'' ("Dr. Ow-It-Hurts"), and translated a substantial portion of the
Mother Goose
The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...
canon into Russian as ''Angliyskiye Narodnyye Pesenki'' ("English Folk Rhymes"). He also wrote very popular translations of
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
,
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
,
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
,
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
, O. Henry, and other authors, and was an influential
literary critic
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
and
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
ist.
Early life
Originally named Nikolay Vasilyevich Korneychukov (russian: Николай Васильевич Корнейчуков), the writer reworked his original family name into his now familiar pen-name while working as a journalist at ''
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
News'' in 1901. He was born in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
as the illegitimate son of Ekaterina Osipovna Korneychukova and of Emmanuil Solomonovich Levenson, a man from a wealthy Russian
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family (his legitimate grandson was mathematician Vladimir Rokhlin). Levenson's family did not permit his marriage to Korneychukova, and the couple was eventually forced to separate. Korneychukova moved to Odesa with her two children, Nikolay and his sister Marussia. Levenson supported them financially for some time, until his marriage to another woman. Nikolay studied at the
Odesa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
gymnasium, where one of his classmates was Vladimir
Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
. Later, the gymnasium expelled Nikolay for his "low origin" (a euphemism for illegitimacy). He had to obtain his secondary-school and
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
diplomas by correspondence.
He taught himself
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and, in 1903–05, he served as the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
of an Odesa newspaper, although he spent most of his time at the British Library instead of in the parliamentary press gallery. Back in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, Chukovsky started translating English works and published several analyses of contemporary European authors, which brought him in touch with leading personalities of
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...
and secured the friendship of
Alexander Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...
. Chukovsky's English was not idiomatic - he had taught himself to speak it by reading and he thus pronounced English words in a distinctly odd manner, and it was difficult for people to understand him in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. His influence on Russian literary society of the 1890s is immortalized by satirical verses of
Sasha Chorny
Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg ( rus, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Гли́кберг, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲikbʲɪrk, a=Alyexandr Mikhaylovich Glickbyerg.ru.vorb.oga), better known as Sasha Chorny ( rus, ...
, including ''Korney Belinsky'' (an allusion to the famous critic
Vissarion Belinsky
Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky ( rus, Виссарион Григорьевич БелинскийIn Belinsky's day, his name was written ., Vissarión Grigórʹjevič Belínskij, vʲɪsərʲɪˈon ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʲɪˈlʲinskʲ ...
(1811-1848)). Korney Chukovsky published several notable literary titles, including ''From Chekhov to Our Days'' (1908), ''Critique stories'' (1911) and ''Faces and masks'' (1914). He also published a satirical magazine called ''Signal'' (1905–1906) and was arrested for "insulting the ruling house", but was acquitted after six months of investigative incarceration.
Later life and works
It was at that period that Chukovsky produced his first fantasies for children. The girl from his famous novel 'The Crocodile' was inspired by Lyalya, daughter of his long-time friend, publisher
Zinovii Grzhebin
Zinovii Isaevich Grzhebin (russian: Зиновий Исаевич Гржебин (French transliteration Grjebine) was a Russian publisher and caricature illustrator. He represented more than 20% of the publishing market in Russia in the early 191 ...
. As the 2004 ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'' put it, "clockwork rhythms and air of mischief and lightness in effect dispelled the plodding stodginess that had characterized pre-revolutionary children's poetry." Subsequently, they were adapted for theatre and
animated films
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
, with Chukovsky as one of the collaborators.
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
and other composers even adapted some of his poems for
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
and
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
. His works were popular with emigre children as well, as
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
's complimentary letter to Chukovsky attests.
During the Soviet period, Chukovsky edited the complete works of
Nikolay Nekrasov
Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publi ...
and published ''From Two to Five'' (1933), a popular guidebook to the language of children. As his invaluable diaries attest, Chukovsky used his popularity to help the authors persecuted by the regime including
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
,
Mikhail Zoshchenko
Mikhail Mikhailovich Zoshchenko (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Зо́щенко; – 22 July 1958) was a Soviet and Russian writer and satirist.
Biography
Zoshchenko was born in 1894, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, according to h ...
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...
. He was the only Soviet writer who officially congratulated
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
on winning the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
. His daughter,
Lydia Chukovskaya
Lydia Korneyevna Chukovskaya ( rus, Ли́дия Корне́евна Чуко́вская, p=ˈlʲidʲɪjə kɐrˈnʲejɪvnə tɕʊˈkofskəjə, a=Lidiya Kornyeyevna Chukovskaya.ru.vorb.oga; – February 7, 1996) was a Soviet writer, poet, ed ...
, is remembered as a noted writer, memoirist, philologist and lifelong assistant and secretary of the poet
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
. Chukovsky's son Nikolai was a military writer, his son Boris lost his life while serving in the army during World War II, and his daughter Maria died in her childhood from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.
At one point his writings for children were under severe criticism.
Nadezhda Krupskaya
Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya ( rus, links=no, Надежда Константиновна Крупская, p=nɐˈdʲeʐdə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə ˈkrupskəjə; 27 February 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and the wife of Vladimir Lenin ...
was an initiator of this campaign, but criticism also came also from
children's writer
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
Agniya Barto
Agniya Lvovna Barto ( rus, А́гния Льво́вна Барто́, p=ˈaɡnʲɪjə ˈlʲvovnə bɐrˈto, a=Agniya L'vovna Barto.ru.vorb.oga; – 1 April 1981) was a Soviet poet and children's writer of Russian Jewish origin.
Biography
Agniya ...
.
Chukovsky extensively wrote about the translation process and critiqued other translators. In 1919, he co-wrote with
Nikolay Gumilyov
Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov ( rus, Никола́й Степа́нович Гумилёв, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ɡʊmʲɪˈlʲɵf, a=Nikolay Styepanovich Gumilyov.ru.vorb.oga; April 15 NS 1886 – August 26, 1921) was a poe ...
a brochure called ''Printsipy khudozhestvennogo perevoda'' (English: ''Principles of Artistic Translation''). In 1920, Chukovsky revised it, and he substantially rewrote and expanded it numerous times throughout his life without Gumilyov. Chukovsky's subsequent revisions were done in 1930 (re-titling it ''Iskusstvo perevoda'' nglish: ''The Art of Translation'', 1936, 1941 (re-titling it ''Vysokoe iskusstvo'' nglish: ''A High Art'', 1964, and his final revision was published in his ''Collected Works'' in 1965-1967. In 1984, Lauren G. Leighton published her English translation of Chukovsky's final revision, and titled it ''The Art of Translation: Kornei Chukovsky's A High Art''.
Starting in the 1930s, Chukovsky lived in the writers' village of
Peredelkino
Peredelkino ( rus, Переде́лкино, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈdʲelkʲɪnə) is a dacha complex situated just to the southwest of Moscow, Russia.
History
The settlement originated as the estate of Peredeltsy, owned by the Leontievs (maternal rela ...
near
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, where he is now buried.
For his works on the life of Nekrasov he was awarded a
Doktor nauk
Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...
in philology. He also received the Lenin Prize in 1962 for his book, ''Mastery of Nekrasov'' and an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
in 1962.
References
Sources
*
External links
Works by Chukovsky
Popular works by Chukovsky , at Ryfma.com (in Russian) ''Живой как жизнь'' ('Alive as life itself'), a humorous and anti-prescriptivist discussion of the Russian language at the Stikhiia poetry archive
Works about Chukovsky
Chukfamily.ru Materials about three generations of the Chukovsky family: Korney, Lidiya and
Elena
Elena may refer to:
People
* Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
* Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician
* Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet
Geography
* Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...
Dmitrii Bykov
Dmitry Lvovich Bykov ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Львович Быков, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪdʑ ˈbɨkəf, a=Dmitriy L'vovich Bykov.ru.vorb.oga; born 20 December 1967) is a Russian writer, poet, literary critic and journalist.< ...