Leonid Vasilyevich Solovyov (russian: Леони́д Васи́льевич Соловьёв) (August 19, 1906 – April 9, 1962) was a Russian writer and playwright.
Life and works
Born in
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
,
Syria (now
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
) where his father taught at the Russian consulate, he began writing as a newspaper correspondent (in
Uzbek) for the ''Pravda Vostoka,'' published in
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
. His first stories and sketches of life in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
appeared in that newspaper and led to several collections of short stories.
His first book was ''Lenin in Eastern Folk Art'' (Moscow, 1930), which he described as "a volume of Central Asian post-revolutionary folklore." He is known for ''The Book of My Youth,'' and ''Tale of
Hodja Nasreddin''. It is based on the tales of the Middle Eastern folk hero
Nasreddin
Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (other variants include: Mullah Nasreddin Hooja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin) (1208-1285) is a character in the folklore of the Muslim world from Arabia to Central Asia ...
(much as the 19th Century Belgian
Charles De Coster based his own "
Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak" on the similar North European folk hero
Till Eulenspiegel
Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore.
Eulenspiegel is a ...
).
During the Second World War, Solovyov served as a
war correspondent and produced several wartime stories and screenplays. He also served for some time during that war in the
Russian Navy, and several novels grew from his experiences there.
In 1946, Solovyov was accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism against the Soviet state. He was interned in several prison camps until 1954, when he was cleared of all charges and released. The second part of ''The Tale of Hodja Nasreddin'', subtitled "The Enchanted Prince", was written in the
Dubravlag
The Dubravny Camp, Special Camp No.3 (), commonly known as the Dubravlag (russian: Дубравлаг), was a Gulag labor camp of the Soviet Union located in Yavas, Mordovia from 1948 to 2005.
The Dubravlag was founded as one of several Gulag s ...
forced labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espe ...
and completed around 1950. After his release, Solovyov settled in Leningrad. The two parts of ''The Tale of Hodja Nasreddin'' were published together for the first time in 1956 and enjoyed a very favorable reception.
The ''Tale of
Hodja Nasreddin,'' contains two novels: ''Disturber of the Peace, or
Hodja Nasreddin in Bokhara'' (Возмутитель спокойствия) and ''The Enchanted Prince'' (Очарованный принц). The whole novel has been translated into dozens of languages including Turkish, Persian, Hindi, Uzbek and Hebrew.
Both volumes were translated into English, the first appearing in the United States as ''Disturber of the Peace'' (1940), reprinted in 1956 as ''The Beggar in the Harem. Impudent Adventures in Old Bukhara'' (in England as ''Adventures in Bukhara''). A new translation was released in 2009 under the title ''The Tale of Hodja Nasreddin: Disturber of the Peace'' (Translit Publishing, November 2009).
The second volume appeared in 1957 as ''The Enchanted Prince.''
The book was translated into
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and adapted as a very successful
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
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* P ...
in presented by the
Cameri Theater
The Cameri Theater ( he, התיאטרון הקאמרי, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.
History
The Cameri theater was found ...
in Tel Aviv, and revived on several later occasions. The satirical song "In Beautiful Bokahara" (בבוכרה היפה), derived from the play, gained a life of its own, being performed by various well-known Israeli singers such as
Arik Lavi and
Nissim Garameh Nissim or Nisim may refer to:
People Given name
*Nissim (rapper) (born 1986), American Jewish rapper
* Nissim of Gerona (1320–1376), talmudist and authority on Jewish law
* Nisim Aloni (1926–1998), Israeli playwright and translator
* Nissim B ...
[בבוכרה היפה]
/ref>
Leonid Solovyov also wrote many screenplays including one based on Nikolai Gogol's story "The Overcoat
"The Overcoat" (russian: Шине́ль, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Me ...
".
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solovyev, Leonid
20th-century Russian male writers
1906 births
1962 deaths
Soviet male writers
Soviet Navy personnel
Soviet military personnel of World War II
People from Tripoli, Lebanon
Russian male novelists
Russian male dramatists and playwrights
Male screenwriters
20th-century Russian novelists
20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Russian screenwriters
Dubravlag detainees