Sever Feliksovich Gansovsky (russian: Се́вер Фе́ликсович Гансо́вский; 15 December 1918 – 6 September 1990) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

author. He mostly wrote

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

Biography

Sever Gansovsky was born in the family of Ella-Johanna May, a singer from

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. During one of the tours in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

she met Felix Gansovsky and married him. In 1918 they had two children, Sever and Veronika. Felix disappeared soon after their birth, and Ella moved to

Leningrad 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 ...

. During

Stalinist repressions Stalinist repressions is a period in Soviet history during the Stalin era. Examples include: * Anti-cosmopolitan campaign (late 1948) * Dekulakization (1929–1933) * Doctor's Plot (1951–1953) * Great Purge (1936–1938), the most usual meaning * ...

in the 1930s she was arrested and shot in prison. Sever Gansovsky worked as a

cabin boy ''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...

and sailor in Murmansk, and later as an electrician in Leningrad. He graduated from the evening school. In 1940 he entered the

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

, but in 1941 volunteered to join the army for the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

. He served as a marine sniper and the scout. Gansovsky was seriously wounded in 1942, but survived, although his relatives were initially told that he had been killed in action and buried. After

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

he worked as a postman, teacher, and had some other jobs. He graduated from the Leningrad State University in 1951 (Faculty of Philology). In 1954 he married Evgenia Sergeyeva, in 1955 they had a daughter called Ilona. He started publishing his written works in magazines in 1950, while studying at the university. In 1959 he was awarded the First Prize at the USSR All-Union Competition for the short play ''To the Northwest of Berlin'' (russian: Северо-западнее Берлина) and the Second Prize for another play ''People in This Hour'' (russian: Люди этого часа). In the 1960s he switched to science fiction. His first published work in that genre was ''The Guest from the Stone Age'' (russian: Гость из каменного века; 1960).

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

compared his "A Day of Wrath" to the works of

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

. In 1989 he won the

Aelita Prize The Aelita Award is an award for science fiction writers founded by the Union of Writers of the Russian Federation (formerly the Soviet Writers Union) and " Uralsky Sledopyt Magazine" in 1981. It was named after the classic Russian science fiction ...

for his collection of short stories ''Instinct?'' (russian: Инстинкт?). Several of his works were adapted into films. Gansovsky was also famous for his illustrations, particularly to the first edition of

Boris and Arkady Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky (russian: Аркадий Натанович Стругацкий; 28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky ( ru , Борис Натанович Стругацкий; 14 A ...

's novel ''

Snail on the Slope ''Snail on the Slope'' (Russian - "Улитка на склоне") is a science fiction novel by Soviet authors Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. The first version of the novel was written in 1965 (during March 6 and 20), but then it was significant ...

''. His daughter Ilona became a painter and illustrator. She died in a car crash on December 23, 2008.

Works

Short fiction

"Vincent Van Gogh", published in ''Aliens, Travelers and Other Strangers: New Science Fiction from the Soviet Union'', edited by

Collections

''The Day of Wrath''.

Film

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' (AKA The Firing Range).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gansovsky, Sever Russian male novelists Russian science fiction writers Soviet science fiction writers Soviet male writers Russian people of Polish descent 20th-century Russian male writers 1918 births 1990 deaths Saint Petersburg State University alumni 20th-century novelists Soviet military personnel of World War II