Alexander Belyaev - works and biography of a science fiction writer

In 2014, marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of the famous Russian writer Alexander Romanovich Belyaev. This outstanding creator is one of the founders of the genre of science fiction literature in the Soviet Union. Even in our time it seems simply incredible that a person in his works can display events that will happen after several decades.

Early years of the writer

So, who is Alexander Belyaev? The biography of this man is simple and unique in its own way. But unlike the millions of copies of the author's works, there are not many written about his life.

Alexander Belyaev was born on the fourth of March 1884 in the city of Smolensk. In the family of an Orthodox priest, the boy was introduced from childhood to love music, photographs, developed interest in reading adventure novels and learning foreign languages.

Having finished the spiritual seminary at the insistence of his father, the young man chooses his way to jurisprudence, which is a good success.

The first steps in literature

Earning decent money in the legal field, Alexander Belyaev began to be more interested in works of art, travel and theater. He also actively joins directing and drama. In 1914, the Moscow children's magazine "Protalinka" published his debut play "Grandma Moira".

Insidious disease

In 1919, tuberculous pleurisy suspended the plans and actions of the young man. For more than six years, Alexander Belyaev fought against this disease. The writer struggled to eradicate this infection. Because of unsuccessful treatment, tuberculosis of the spine developed, which led to paralysis of the legs. As a consequence, out of six years spent in bed, the patient lay in a cast for three years. The indifference of the young wife further undermined the writer's morale. In this period, it is not a carefree, cheerful and cheerful Alexander Belyaev. His biography is full of tragic moments of life. In 1930, his six-year-old daughter Luda died, the second daughter Svetlana fell ill with rickets. Against the background of these events, the agony of Belyaev aggravates.

Throughout his life, fighting with his illness, this man found strength and immersed himself in the study of literature, history, foreign languages and medicine.

The long-awaited success

In 1925, while living in Moscow, the beginning writer published in the Rabochaya Gazeta the story "The Head of Professor Dowell." And from that moment on, the works of Alexander Belyaev massively appear in the well-known magazines "World Pathfinder", "Knowledge is Power" and "Around the World".

During his stay in Moscow, a young talent creates many great novels - "Amphibian Man", "The Last Man from Atlantis", "The Island of the Lost Ships" and "Struggle in the Air".

At the same time, Belyaev is published in the unusual newspaper Gudok, in which such Soviet writers as MA Bulgakov, E.P. Petrov, I.A. Ilf, V.P. Kataev, M.M. Zoshchenko.

Later, after moving to Leningrad, he published the books "Miraculous Eye", "Underwater Farmers", "The Lord of the World", as well as stories "Inventions of Professor Wagner", with which Soviet citizens were ecstatic.

The last days of life prose writer

When the Great Patriotic War began, the Belyaev family lived in the suburbs of Leningrad, the city of Pushkin, and found themselves in occupation. The weakened body could not stand the terrible hunger. In January 1942, Alexander Belyaev was gone. The native writer was later deported to Poland.

Until now, it remains a mystery where Alexander Belyaev was buried, whose brief biography is full of the constant struggle of man for life. Nevertheless, in honor of the talented prose writer a memorial stele was installed in Pushkin at the Kazan cemetery.

The novel "Ariel" is the last creation of Belyaev, he was published by the publishing house "Contemporary Writer" shortly before the author's death.

"Life after death

More than 70 years have passed since the Russian science fiction disappeared, but the memory of him lives in his works to this day. At one time, the work of Alexander Belyaev was severely criticized, at times he heard mocking comments. However, the ideas of the science fiction, which used to seem ridiculous and scientifically impossible, eventually convinced the worst of the most skeptical skeptics.

The author's works continue to be published these days, they are quite popular with the reader. Belyaev's books are instructive, his works call for kindness and courage, love and respect.

Based on the novels of the prose writer many films have been shot. So, since 1961, eight films have been screened, some of them are part of the classics of Soviet cinema - "Amphibian Man", "Professor Dowell's Will", "The Island of the Lost Ships" and "The Seller of Air".

The story of Ichthyander

Perhaps the most famous work of A.R. Belyaeva is the novel "The Amphibian Man," which was written in 1927. It was him, along with "Head of Professor Dowell," very highly appreciated by Herbert Wells.

To create the "Amphibian Man," Belyaev was inspired, firstly, by the recollection of the novel by the French writer Jean de la Ira "Iqtăner and Moisetta", secondly, a newspaper article about the trial in Argentina on the case of a doctor who conducted various experiments Over people and animals. To date, it is almost impossible to establish the name of the newspaper and the details of the process. But this proves once again that while creating his science fiction works, Alexander Belyaev tried to rely on real life facts and events.

In 1962 the directors V. Chebotarev and G. Kazanskiy filmed the "Amphibian Man".

"The Last Man from Atlantis"

Not gone unnoticed in Soviet and world literature is one of the earliest works of the author - "The Last Man from Atlantis." In 1927, it was included in the first author's collection of Belyaev, along with the "Island of the Lost Ships". From 1928 to 1956 the work was forgotten, and only since 1957 it was repeatedly reprinted in the territory of the Soviet Union.

The idea of searching for the vanished Atlantean civilization illuminated Belyaev after reading a note in the French newspaper Figaro. Its content was such that in Paris there was a society for the study of Atlantis. In the early twentieth century, such associations were fairly common, they enjoyed the increased interest of the population. This is what the shrewd Alexander Belyaev decided to use. The science fiction writer used the note as a prologue to "The Last Man from Atlantis." The work consists of two parts, it is perceived by the reader quite simply and exciting. The material for writing the novel is drawn from the book by Roger Devin "The Vanished Continent. Atlantis, the sixth part of the world. "

The prophecies of the science fiction writer

Comparing the predictions of representatives of science fiction, it is important to note that the scientific ideas of the books of the Soviet writer Alexander Belyaev were realized by 99 percent.

Thus, the main idea of the novel "The Head of Professor Dowell" was the possibility of revitalizing the human body after death. A few years after the publication of this work, Sergei Bryukhonenko - a great Soviet physiologist, made similar experiments. The widespread achievement of medicine today - surgical restoration of the lens of the eye - was also foreseen by Alexander Belyaev more than fifty years ago.

The novel "Amphibian Man" became prophetic in the scientific development of technologies for prolonged human stay under water. So, in 1943 the French scientist Jacques-Yves Cousteau patented the first scuba gear, thereby proving that Ichthyander is not such an unattainable image.

Successful tests of the first unmanned aerial vehicles in the thirties of the twentieth century in the UK, as well as the creation of psychotropic weapons - all this was described by a science fiction writer in the book "The Lord of the World" back in 1926.

The novel "The Person Who Loses Face" tells about the successful development of plastic surgery and the ethical problems that have arisen in connection with this. According to the plot, the governor of the state is reincarnated as a Negro, assuming all the hardships of racial discrimination. Here you can draw a parallel in the fate of the hero and the famous American singer Michael Jackson, who, escaping from unjust persecution, made a considerable number of operations to change the color of the skin.

Throughout his creative life Belyaev struggled with the disease. Disadvantaged by physical abilities, he tried to reward the heroes of books with unusual abilities: to communicate without words, to fly like birds, to swim no worse than fish. But to infect the reader with an interest in life, to something new - is not this the real talent of the writer?