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Boris the field. The Tale of the Real Field

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy is a Soviet prose writer, journalist and war correspondent. The author's outstanding works were: “The Tale of a Real Man,” which describes the famous feat of a pilot; collection of short stories “We are Soviet People”, novels “Gold” and “Doctor Vera”. Polevoy was twice awarded the USSR State Prize and received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

Childhood and youth

The writer’s date of birth is March 4, or, according to the new style, March 17, 1908. Boris was born in Moscow, but he considered Tver his hometown, where, as an 8-year-old boy, he moved with his family in 1913. He spent his childhood and teenage years there. Boris's father, Nikolai Petrovich Kampov, was a lawyer. After his death in 1916, he left his home library, which contained the best works of Russian and world classics.

Boris's mother, Lidia Vasilyevna Kampova (nee Mityushina), a doctor by profession, closely monitored the boy's cultural development and education, guiding his reading. The first books Boris read were works, and. Later books, and Nikitin. was Boris Nikolaevich's favorite writer.

From 1917 to 1924, Boris spent his school years in school No. 24 (now Tver Gymnasium No. 6). Already here in 1922, the young man began to get involved in journalism. His first note was published in Tverskaya Pravda when he was still a 6th grade student. Beginning in 1924, his articles regularly appeared in the city newspapers Proletarskaya Pravda, Smena and Tverskaya Derevnya.

Literature

After graduating from the Tver Technical School in 1926, Boris Nikolaevich worked at the Proletarka textile factory as a technologist. In 1927, the first book consisting of essays and received a positive review from Maxim Gorky was published - “Memoirs of a Lousy Man.”


It tells about the life of people at the so-called “bottom”. This book was the only one written under the name Boris Kampov. Subsequently, the editor suggested that the author translate the surname Kampov from Latin into Russian (“campus” means “field”), hence the pseudonym Polevoy, invented not by the native speaker himself, but by outsiders.

Since 1928, Boris Polevoy has been working as a professional journalist. The writer's literary fame was brought to him by his first story published shortly before the Great Patriotic War in the magazine "October", called "The Hot Shop". This is a story about the people of the first five-year plan who worked at the Kalinin Carriage Plant.


Polevoy was a participant in the Soviet-Finnish war (1939–40). In 1941 he moved to live in Moscow, where he worked on the Kalinin Front as a war correspondent. He had to visit hot spots. In articles and essays, he reflected his front-line impressions and the bright events of the greatest battle against fascism, which he witnessed. All of them are collected in the 1945 book “From Belgorod to the Carpathians.”

The material accumulated during the war became the basis for the writer’s future books. Boris Polevoy gained universal fame and worldwide fame in 1946 from a book he wrote while attending the Nuremberg trials as a war correspondent. In 19 days, he wrote “The Tale of a Real Man,” consisting of four chapters. The author was awarded the Stalin Prize for it in 1947. It is based on the feat of the pilot, hero of the Soviet Union A.P. Maresyev, who continued to fight even after he lost both legs.


Later, in 1948, a film of the same name was made based on this story, in which he played the main role. “The Tale of a Real Man” was a favorite book among Soviet youth. This story not only taught courage, it often helped people in those difficult times for the Soviet people. It was known in almost all countries of the world, but in our country it was published more than 100 times.

The books “We are Soviet People,” which was also awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949, “Gold,” are also devoted to military topics. Among the writer’s numerous works, it is worth noting the story “Returned”, travel essays “American Diaries”, for which the author was awarded the International Peace Prize in 1959, “To Far Far Away Lands”, “30,000 Li in the New China”. Wonderful works are the novel “Deep Home Front” and “Doctor Vera”. Based on the documentary essays collected by Boris Polev, the novel “On the Wild Beach” was written in 1962.


In the same 1962, Polevoy took the post of editor-in-chief of the youth magazine “Youth”, and even earlier, in 1952, the writer was vice-president of the European Society of Culture. Since 1967, Boris Nikolaevich was appointed secretary of the board of the former Union of Writers of the USSR. In 1968, the writer was awarded the Gold Peace Medal, and in 1974 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

Personal life

Boris Nikolaevich was married. His wife Yulia Osipovna gave him two sons - Alexei and Andrey and a daughter Elena. Almost nothing is known about the eldest heir Andrei. He is a “secretive” person; he worked in the defense sector for many years. Daughter Elena Borisovna became a doctor, doctor of science, professor, and worked as a specialist in breast cancer surgery in the USSR. And the writer’s youngest son, Alexey Kampov-Polevoy, is quite a famous person in Russia and the USA. He appears on the list of the most influential people from the USSR as a professor at the University of North Carolina and a psychiatrist and narcologist.


His wife Yulia worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature. Her sons were also her students. She was a loving and caring mother, but a strict teacher. Son Alexey recalls in an interview that what he was most afraid of was hearing from his mother the phrase:

“You upset your father.”

The son also often remembers famous guests at his parents’ house. The famous President of Vietnam and his daughter came to the writer Polevoy. The guests left a couple of lines in the book with the homely title “Aleshechnik” - they wrote kind instructions to the writer’s son.

Death

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy died in 1981 on July 12 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.


After the writer’s death in 1983, a street in Tver was named after him. And in 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in which he lived.

Works

  • 1927 - “Memoirs of a lousy man”
  • 1940 - “Hot Shop”
  • 1947 - “The Tale of a Real Man”
  • 1948 - “We are Soviet people”
  • 1950 - “Gold”
  • 1952 - “Contemporaries”
  • 1956 - “American Diaries”
  • 1959 - “Deep Rear”
  • 1961 - “Our Lenin”
  • 1962 - “On the Wild Beach”
  • 1967 - “Doctor Vera”
  • 1973 - “To Berlin - 896 kilometers”
  • 1974 - “These four years (in 2 books)”
  • 1978 - “Silhouettes”
  • 1980 - “Most Memorable”

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy

Polevoy (Kampov) Boris Nikolaevich (1908/1981) - Soviet writer. The most famous works: “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946), which describes the famous feat of the pilot A. Maresyev, and based on his heroic fate, the image of a positive hero was created; collection of stories “We are Soviet People” (1948), novels “Gold” (1949/1950) and “Doctor Vera” (1966). Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1947,1949), Hero of Socialist Labor (1974).

Guryeva T.N. New literary dictionary / T.N. Guryev. – Rostov n/d, Phoenix, 2009, p. 224.

Polevoy (pseud.; real surname - Kampov) Boris Nikolaevich (03/04/1908-07/12/1981), writer. He spent his childhood in Tver (Kalinin). After graduating from industrial technical school, he worked at the Kalinin textile mill. The first book of essays, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man” (1927), was noted by critics. Polevoy's literary fame came from the story “The Hot Shop” (1939).

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Polevoy has been a war correspondent for Pravda. The events of the war are reflected in his essays, published in the newspaper and compiled in the book “From Belgorod to the Carpathians (1945). Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946; Stalin Prize, 1947) gained great popularity in the USSR and abroad. It also revealed a characteristic feature of Polevoy’s creative style - the desire for documentation. The image of a positive hero was created in the story based on the real feat of a pilot A. P. Maresyeva. After the war, Polevoy visited many countries; his book-reports “American Diaries” (1956), “To Far Far Away Lands” (1956) and others tell about this. In the novels “Deep Rear” (1958) and “On the Wild Coast...” (1962) Polevoy showed strong, heroic the characters of Russian people, their bustling daily life. The novel “Doctor Vera” (1966) depicts the unbending courage of the Russian people in the territory occupied by the German fascists.

“The Tale of a Real Man” served as the basis for S. S. Prokofiev’s opera of the same name (1948).

Materials used from the site Great Encyclopedia of the Russian People - http://www.rusinst.ru

Polevoy (real name - Kampov) Boris Nikolaevich (1908 - 1981), prose writer.

Born on March 4 (17 NS) in Moscow in the family of a lawyer. His childhood and teenage years were spent in Tver, in the factory yard of a huge textile mill owned by the Morozovs. There was a good library at home, left by my father (died in 1916), where all the Russian and best foreign classics were collected. His mother, a doctor by profession, guided his reading, and among the first books he read were Gogol, Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Pomyalovsky, and later Turgenev, Goncharov, Nikitin and Chekhov. My favorite writer was M. Gorky.

Even during his school years, he became interested in journalism; his first article appeared in the provincial newspaper Tverskaya Pravda. He became an active reporter for this newspaper several years later, when, after graduating from an industrial technical school, he worked at the Kalinin plant "Proletarka".

In 1927, the first book of essays, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” was published, noted by Gorky.

Since 1928 he became a professional journalist.

Polevoy's literary fame came from the story "The Hot Shop", published before the war in the magazine "October".

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he has been working as a war correspondent on the Kalinin Front, being in the hottest spots. The military events that he witnessed are reflected in his essays, later compiled in the book “From Belgorod to the Carpathians” (1945).

In 1946, the famous “Tale of a Real Man” was published, written in nineteen days (when he was present at the Nuremberg trials as a war correspondent).

The collection of stories "We are Soviet People" (1948) and the novel "Gold" (1949 - 50) are devoted to military themes.

In 1952 he published a collection of stories and essays about the builders of the Volga-Don - "Contemporaries".

In 1956, after a trip to different countries, he wrote book reports “American Diaries”, “To Far Far Away Lands”.

In 1958 - 62 he published the novels "Deep Rear" and "On the Wild Coast..."

In 1966 the novel "Doctor Vera" was published. For many years he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Youth".

B. Polevoy died in 1981 in Moscow.

Materials used from the book: Russian writers and poets. Brief biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.

Polevoy Boris (real name Boris Nikolaevich Kampov) is a prose writer.

His father was a lawyer, his mother a doctor. Soon after Polevoy's birth, the family moved to Tver. Father died early; Mother worked in the factory hospital of the textile mill of the Tver Manufactory Partnership, which belonged to the famous industrialists Morozov. After the death of the father, the family was forced to move from the city to the “house employees” of the Morozov factory. My father collected a large library; My mother instilled a love of literature. Polevoy studied at a technical school, worked at a textile mill, was a raft designer, and a hut owner (he was in charge of a rural club).

The first notes and essays were written while still a schoolboy and first appeared in the Tverskaya Pravda newspaper, then in the youth newspaper Smena, and in other Tver newspapers. Once, on instructions from a newspaper, he spent several days in close communication with the “thieves’ world”, the result of which was a series of essays about the “Tver Day”, published as a separate book - “Memoirs of a Lousy Man” (1927) (this is the only publication signed with the name of B. Kampov) . The pseudonym Polevoy was born as a result of the proposal of one of the editors to “translate the surname Kampov from Latin” (campus - field) into Russian. After the publication of his first book, the aspiring writer received a long letter from M. Gorky, which Polevoy himself considered a turning point in his destiny. It was after Gorky’s benevolent letter that Polevoy devoted himself to literary work and journalism. He worked in Tver newspapers until the very beginning of the war.

In 1939, Polevoy’s first story, “The Hot Shop,” appeared in the magazine “October,” about which he himself spoke as follows: “... in our socialist conditions, it is possible to depict in a book a living, real contemporary, who, if he bears the typical signs of the time, can become a hero of literature" (Looking back at what has happened // Soviet writers. Autobiographies: In 2 volumes. M., 1959. Vol. 2. P. 237). This statement is the credo of the writer, who did not betray his journalistic vision of life even when he created works of art. The story “Hot Shop” is based on the real fate of a “hooligan boy” who set a new record in blacksmithing and “under the pressure of the good will of the team” revealed “his best features” (Ibid.). Polevoy's books were intended to educate a person of the “new society.” These are almost all of Polevoy’s subsequent novels - “Gold” (1949), “Deep Rear” (1958), “On the Wild Beach...” (1962), “Doctor Vera” (1965), the story “Anyuta” (1977), Sat. stories: “Contemporaries” (1952) (dedicated to the builders of the Volga-Don Canal), “Distant Friends” (1959).

During the Great Patriotic War, Polevoy was in the active army. Polevoy went through the entire war as a combat officer and journalist. In the fall of 1941, his reports began to appear in the newspaper Pravda. As a liaison officer and correspondent, he met the last day of the war in rebellious Prague, from where he transmitted his last war report. During the war years, Polevoy became a famous journalist and publicist; His books “From Belgorod to the Carpathians” (1945), “We are Soviet People” (1948), the story “Returned” (1949), “These Four Years” (correspondence from the front - 1974) are widely distributed. In the post-war years, Polevoy’s journalistic activities were also active: “American Diaries” (1956), “30,000 Li in New China” (1957), “Sayan Records” (1963), etc.

Polevoy's most famous work is “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946), which tells about the unbending courage of man. The hero of the book, Alexey Meresyev (the real prototype bore the surname Maresyev), is a pilot who lost the feet of both legs in battle and returned to aviation. Polevoy wrote down the story of A. Maresyev, who was shot down in the forests near Velikiye Luki, in his diary during one of the front-line meetings.

Having been present as a correspondent at the Nuremberg trials, listening to interrogations about fascist atrocities on Soviet soil, Polevoy turned to his front-line notes and, while in Germany, wrote this story in 19 days. The book was a huge success. She helped a generation scarred by war to find strength to return to peaceful life. The documentary principle underlying the book was supplemented by the writer’s reasoning about the special character of the “Soviet man, the communist.” Polevaya’s books, for all their sketchiness and documentary nature, are characterized by an emotional uplift of style and at the same time a certain predicament, a social order, an attempt to create the image of a “positive hero” as an example to follow. In this capacity, Polevoy’s “The Tale of a Real Man” found itself next to N. Ostrovsky’s novel “How the Steel Was Tempered.” The story was filmed in 1948 at Mosfilm (dir. A. Stolper; in the role of Meresyev - P. Kadochnikov). Based on the plot of the story, S. Prokofiev wrote an opera of the same name in 1948.

Creative writing and journalism are only one side of Polevoy’s activity: he was a prominent public figure, was engaged in literary and organizational work, and for many years (1962-81) was the editor-in-chief of the popular youth magazine “Youth”.

The example of Polevoy's literary life is an example of immortality. His life was cut short in 1981, and 1982 began with the publication in No. 1 of the Yunost magazine of the article “Boris Polevoy: man, writer, editor.” Then in the same year, articles dedicated to him by V. Karpov “With faith in man” (October. No. 5), S. Baruzdin “The Charm of the Individual” (Friendship of Peoples. No. 10) were published. Later, articles by Yu. Osipov “Memory of a real person: To the 75th anniversary of the birth of B.N. Polevoy” (Ogonyok. 1983. No. 16), Yu. Yakovlev “On this street once” (Youth. 1984) were published . No. 1). A. Nurshaikhov published “The Tale of Boris Polevy” in his book “Tales, Memoirs, Essays,” published in Alma-Ata in 1986; in “Literary Review” an article by N. Zheleznova “The Girl and a Soldier” (1989. No. 2) appeared, in “Altai” - an article by B. Meshtaev ““Campo” - in Latin field: Touches to the portrait of Boris Polevoy” (1990. No. 2).

“The Tale of a Real Man” continued its victorious march. It was published as separate books in 1982 in Novosibirsk and Chisinau, in 1983 - in Kyiv (with a foreword by G.G. Shevchenko), Kharkov and Kaunas, in 1984 - in Petrozavodsk and Kyiv, in 1985 - in Perm, Dnepropetrovsk, Yoshkar- Ole, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, in 1986 - in Kyiv (after G.G. Shevchenko) and in Dushanbe, in 1987 - in Ufa, Minsk and Baku. In Moscow, “The Tale of a Real Man” was published in separate editions in 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 2001. The 1985 edition opened with a preface by V. Karpov, “Textbook of Courage,” the 1989 edition was accompanied by a preface. and after. N. Zheleznova “Real people of Boris Polevoy” and “Talent is born twice”, in the 2001 edition the introductory article by P.A. Nikolaev “Feat as a moral norm” and the afterword were published. N. Zheleznova “A person is when they live proudly...”

G.K. Kaurova

Materials used from the book: Russian literature of the 20th century. Prose writers, poets, playwrights. Biobibliographical dictionary. Volume 3. P - Y. p. 86-88.

Read further:

Note from the USSR Writers Union to the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.A. Suslov on the organization of the Pen Club in the USSR, [No later than September 22, 1956]

Letter from B.N. Polevoy with a request for instructions from the CPSU Central Committee in connection with the upcoming release of the novel Doctor Zhivago. [No later than September 17, 1958]

Russian writers and poets (biographical reference book).

Essays:

Polevoy B. On the wild shore. Novel. "Roman-newspaper" No. 21 (475)-22 (476). 1962.

SS: in 9 volumes / intro. article by V. Ozerov. M., 1981-86;

Autobiography // Sov. writers. T. 2. M., 1959;

30,000 li in China. M., 1959;

Near and far. (New diaries). M., 1960;

Closest: Fav. stories. M., 1961.

These four years: From the notes of a war correspondent. M., 1978;

The most memorable: The history of my reporting. M., 1980;

Commander. M., 1983;

A story about a real person. M., 2001.

Literature:

Galanov B.E. Boris Polevoy: Critical-biographical essay. M., 1957;

Zheleznova N.L. Real people of Boris Polevoy: Essay on creativity. M., 1978;

Rubashkin A.I. These four years // Rubashkin A.I. Direct speech: essays. L., 1980. P.192-196;

Zheleznova N.L. Boris Polevoy: Prose. Journalism. Memoirs. M., 1984.

Boris Polevoy (real name - Kampov Boris Nikolaevich) was born on March 17 (4), 1908 in Moscow, in the family of a lawyer. In 1913 the family moved to Tver. After graduating from high school and industrial college, he worked at the Tver textile factory “Proletarka”.

B.N. Kampov (Polevoy) developed a passion for journalism very early. Back in 1922, as a sixth-grade student, he published his first correspondence in the Tverskaya Pravda newspaper. Since 1924, his notes and correspondence about the life of the city were regularly published on the pages of Tver newspapers.

In 1928, B.N. Polevoy left his job at a textile factory and began professional journalistic activity in the Tver newspapers “Tverskaya Pravda”, “Proletarskaya Pravda”, “Smena”.

In 1927, the first book of essays by B.N. Polevoy, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” was published in Tver – about the life of people from the “bottom.” This is the only publication signed with the name of B. Kampov. The pseudonym Polevoy was born as a result of the proposal of one of the editors to “translate the surname Kampov from Latin” (campus - field) into Russian.

In 1939, B.N. Polevoy’s first story, “Hot Shop,” was published about the people of the first five-year plan who worked at the Kalinin Carriage Plant.

During the Great Patriotic War, B.N. Polevoy was in the active army as a correspondent for Pravda, including on the Kalinin Front (1942). The events of the war were reflected by him in correspondence of these years. B.N. Polevoy wrote many talented journalistic articles near the walls of Rzhev.

Front-line impressions and meetings formed the basis of his books: “From Belgorod to the Carpathians” (1944), “The Tale of a Real Man” (1946), “We are Soviet People” (1948), “Gold” (1949–1950).

In 1949, the story “Returned” was published. From the notes made during the construction of the Volga-Don Canal, the cycle of stories “Contemporaries” (1952) was born.

Best of the day

The genre of travel diaries and essays occupied a large place in the work of B.N. Polevoy: “American Diaries” (1956), “To Far Far Away Lands” (1956), “30,000 Li in New China” (1957).

As a correspondent for central newspapers, B.N. Polevoy traveled a lot around the country. The result of these trips were diaries and essays about construction sites: “Angarsk Records” (1959), “Sayan Records” (1963). The novel “On the Wild Beach” (1962) was also written on the basis of documentary essays.

Creative writing and journalism are only one side of B.N. Polevoy’s activity. He was a prominent public figure, was engaged in literary and organizational work, and for many years (1962–1981) was the editor-in-chief of the youth magazine “Yunost”. Died July 12, 1981.

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy - pseudonym, real name - Boris Nikolaevich Kampov; Moscow, Russian Empire; 03/04/1908 – 07/12/1981

Boris Polevoy's books became widely known after the end of World War II. It was then that Boris Polevoy’s work “The Tale of a Real Man” was published. It was this that brought the writer all-Union fame, which was expressed in numerous awards, as well as a film adaptation of the book. And even after many years, B. Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man” occupies a significant place among.

Biography of Boris Polevoy

Boris Polevoy was born in Moscow. Later his family moved to Tver, where the boy went to school. Already at the age of 14, he developed a passion for literature. He tries to write short notes for local newspapers. After graduating from school, Boris enters the Tver Industrial College and here he becomes more and more interested in journalism. By the age of 16, his notes were published in local newspapers with enviable regularity. Therefore, when, after graduating from college, he got a job at a local textile factory, everyone understood this not for long. And so it happened. Already in 1928, Boris left the factory and devoted himself entirely to journalism.

This was preceded by Boris Polevoy’s first book, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” which was published in 1927. By the way, she was highly appreciated by the government, which was then in very good standing in power. After the release of his debut book, Boris Kampov decided to take the pseudonym Polevoy. It was formed by translating his native surname from Latin.

During World War II, Boris Polevoy became a war correspondent for the newspaper Pravda. Polevoy’s hands at that time produced many good articles. But here he also heard many war stories, which he began to reproduce in books immediately after the end of the war. The first of them was Boris Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man,” which was filmed the very next year after the book was published. Subsequently, many more books, diaries, essays and articles came from the writer’s pen, but none of them became as beloved as the book “The Tale of a Real Man.” At the same time, Boris Polevoy occupied a very high position in the literary horizon. This allowed him to head the Yunost magazine in 1962, which he headed almost until the day of his death.

Books by Boris Polevoy on the Top books website

Of the books by Boris Polevoy, only “The Tale of a Real Man” is mostly known. But reading this work is so popular, especially on the eve of May 9, that it allowed B. Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man” to take a high place in the ranking. At the same time, interest in this book is quite stable, and among the best books about the war, the story probably took one of the highest places.

Boris Polevoy list of books

  1. Came back
  2. Deep rear
  3. Hot shop
  4. Doctor Vera
  5. Gold
  6. Memoirs of a lousy man
  7. We are Soviet people
  8. On the wild shore
  9. From Belgorod to the Carpathians

Diaries-essays:

  1. 30 thousand li in new China
  2. American Diaries
  3. Angarsk records
  4. Far away
  5. White light
  6. Sayan records
  7. Cycle of stories "Contemporaries"

Polevoy Boris Nikolaevich

Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy is a Soviet Russian prose writer and journalist. He was born on March 4 or, according to the new style, March 17, 1908. Despite the fact that he was born in Moscow, the writer always considered Tver to be his hometown, where, as an eight-year-old boy, he moved with his family in 1913. It was there that his most carefree childhood and teenage years passed. His father, Nikolai Kampov, was a lawyer. After his death in 1916, he left a wonderful home library, which contained the best works of Russian and world classics. Boris's mother, a doctor by profession, closely monitored the boy's cultural development and education, guiding his reading. As a result, the first books Boris read were the works of Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, Nekrasov, and a little later Goncharov, Turgenev, Chekhov and Nikitin. Maxim Gorky was Boris Nikolaevich’s favorite writer.

From 1917 to 1924, Boris spent his school years at school No. 24, currently Tver Gymnasium No. 6. Already here in 1922, the young man began to get involved in journalism. His first note was published in Tverskaya Pravda (provincial newspaper) when he was still a sixth grade student. Beginning in 1924, his articles regularly appeared in the city newspapers Proletarskaya Pravda, Smena, and Tverskaya Derevnya.

After graduating from the Tver Technical School in 1926, Boris Nikolaevich worked at the Proletarka textile factory as a technologist.

In 1927, the first book consisting of essays and received a positive review from Maxim Gorky, “Memoirs of a Lousy Man,” was published. It tells about the life of people at the so-called “bottom”. This book was the only one written under the name Boris Kampov. Subsequently, one of the editors suggested that the author translate the surname Kampov from Latin into Russian (campus means field), hence the pseudonym Polevoy, one of the few invented not by the native speaker himself, but by outsiders.

Since 1928, Boris Polevoy has been working as a professional journalist.

The writer gained real literary fame when he published his first story, called “The Hot Shop,” shortly before the Great Patriotic War in the magazine “October.” This story is about the people of the first five-year plan who worked at the Kalinin Carriage Plant.

Polevoy was a participant in the Soviet-Finnish war (1939 - 40). In 1941, he moved to live in Moscow, where he worked on the Kalinin Front as a war correspondent. He had to visit the hottest spots. In his articles and essays, he reflected his front-line impressions and the most striking events of the greatest battle against fascism, which he witnessed. All of them are collected in the 1945 book “From Belgorod to the Carpathians.”

The material accumulated during the war became the basis for the writer’s future books. Boris Polevoy gained universal fame and world fame in 1946, written during his presence at the Nuremberg trials as a war correspondent in just 19 days, consisting of four chapters, “The Tale of a Real Man.” The author was awarded the Stalin Prize for it in 1947. It is based on the real feat of the famous pilot, hero of the Soviet Union A.P. Maresyev, who continued to fight even after he lost both legs. Somewhat later, in 1948, this story was adapted into a film of the same name by Sergei Prokofiev, in which P. Kadochnikov played the main role. “The Tale of a Real Man” was a favorite book among Soviet youth. This story not only taught courage, it often helped people in those difficult times for the Soviet people. It was known in almost all countries of the world, but in our country it was published more than a hundred times.

The books “We are Soviet People” (1948), which was also awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949, “Gold” (1949 - 1950), are also devoted to military topics. Among the writer’s numerous works, one cannot fail to note the story “Returned” (1949), the 1956 travel essays “American Diaries”, for which the author was awarded the International Peace Prize in 1959, “To Far Far Away Lands”, “30,000 Li in New China” "(1957). Wonderful works are the novel “Deep Rear” (1958) and the novel “Doctor Vera” (1966), “Angarsk Records” (1959) and “Sayan Records” (1963). Based on the documentary essays collected by Boris Polev, the wonderful novel “On the Wild Beach” was written in 1962.

In the same 1962, Polevoy took the post of editor-in-chief of the famous youth magazine called “Youth”, and even earlier, in 1952, the writer was vice-president of the European Society of Culture. Since 1967, Boris Nikolaevich was appointed secretary of the board of the former Union of Writers of the USSR. For his active social work, the writer was awarded the Gold Peace Medal in 1968, and in 1974 he was awarded the important title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

Boris Nikolaev Polevoy died in 1981 on July 12 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. After the writer’s death in 1983, a street in Tver was named after him. And in 2006, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in which he lived.