Mikhail Vasilyevich Isakovsky (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Исако́вский; – 20 July 1973) was a Soviet and Russian poet, lyricist and translator. Hero of Socialist Labour (1970).

Biography

Mikhail Isakovsky was born in the village of Glotovka, Yelninsky Uyezd,

Smolensk Governorate Smolensk Governorate (russian: Смоленская губерния, Smolenskaja gubernija), or the Government of Smolensk, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It ex ...

, to a poor peasant family of ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

. A local priest taught him to read and write. Later he studied at a gymnasium for two years. His first poem, ''Просьба солдата'', was published in 1914 in Russian newspaper ''Nov (Новь)''. In 1918, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1921 until 1931, he worked in Smolensk newspapers. In 1927, his first book of poems, ''Провода в соломе'', was published. In 1931, he left for Moscow. Many poems of Isakovsky are set to music. The most famous are " Katyusha (''Катюша'')" (music by

Matvey Blanter Matvey Isaakovich Blanter (russian: Матве́й Исаа́кович Бла́нтер) (27 September 1990) was a Soviet composer, and one of the most prominent composers of popular songs and film music in the Soviet Union. Among many other work ...

), "The Enemy Burned My Native Hut (''Враги сожгли родную хату'')" (music by Matvey Blanter), "In the Frontier Forest (''В лесу прифронтовом'')", and "Migrant Birds Fly (''Летят перелётные птицы'')", and "Lonely Accordion (''Одинокая гармонь'')". His songs "What You Were Is What You Are (''Каким ты был, таким ты и остался'')" and "Oh, Arrowwood Is Blooming (''Ой, цветет калина'')", set to music by Isaak Dunayevsky, were used in the film ''Cossacks of the Kuban (Кубанские казаки)'' (1949). The song "The Enemy Burned My Native Hut (''Враги сожгли родную хату'')" (1945) was officially criticized for "pessimism" and was not printed or sung until 1956. As a result of cooperation with :ru: Захаров, Владимир Григорьевич, Vladimir Zakharov, Isakovsky's poems set to music appear in the repertoire of the Pyatnitsky Choir. The most widely known of them are "Along the Village (''Вдоль деревни'')", "Seeing Off (''Провожанье'')" and "You Can Never Tell (''И кто его знает'')". According to Alexandra Permyakova, chief musician of the Pyatnitsky Choir, these songs made the Choir famous. He twice received the USSR State Prize, Stalin Prize for his songwriting (1943, 1949). In 1970, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour. He was also awarded four Order of Lenin, Orders of Lenin, in addition to other orders and medals. He also published a book on the subject of poetry, ''О поэтическом мастерстве'' ('On Poetic Mastery'). Mikhail Isakovsky died in Moscow on 20 July 1973, and he was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isakovsky, Mikhail 1900 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian translators People from Yelninsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1947–1951 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1951–1955 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1955–1959 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1959–1963 Heroes of Socialist Labour Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Bolsheviks Socialist realism writers Translators from Belarusian Ukrainian–Russian translators Russian lyricists Russian male poets Russian translators Soviet male poets Soviet translators Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery