Here are all Dragunsky’s books - a list of his titles best works. But first, let’s learn a little about the author himself. Viktor Yuzefovich Dragunsky was born in 1913 and became known in the USSR as a famous writer and recognizable actor.

His most famous series of books is Deniska’s Stories, which has been reprinted many times since its first publication half a century ago.

Dragunsky devoted his entire youth to working in the theater and circus, and this work did not always bear fruit. The little-known actor could not get serious roles and tried to find a calling in related fields.

The author's first stories were published in 1959, and they became the basis for the future series. The name for the series was not chosen by chance - the writer initially wrote stories for his nine-year-old son Denis. The boy became the main character in his father's stories.

Beginning in the 1960s, the stories became so popular that the publishing house could not even cope with the volume. And the popularity of the main character Denis Korablev was transferred to films.

So, here is a list with descriptions of those very cult stories of Dragunsky.

• The magical power of art (Collection)

Deniska's stories: about how everything really happened

For three generations now they have been admiring Dragunsky’s stories about the boy Deniska Korablev. During the character’s childhood, life was completely different: the streets and cars, shops and apartments looked different. In this collection you can read not only the stories themselves, but also the explanations of the famous author’s son, Denis Dragunsky. He openly shares what really happened to him and what was his father’s invention. Further

Deniska's stories (collection)

Deniska lives her Soviet life - she loves, forgives, makes friends, overcomes insults and deceptions. His life is incredible and filled with adventure. He has his closest friend, Mishka, with whom Denis went to the masquerade; They play pranks together in class, go to the circus and encounter unusual events.

Viktor Yuzefovich Dragunsky is known as the author of the children's collection "Deniska's Stories", and his biography is so extensive that it is not easy, although possible, to briefly collect the most important things from the long life of a famous person. You can get acquainted with the main facts of the writer’s life in the version of the list of main achievements.

Victor was born on November 30, 1913 in America, in New York. The Russian family of the future writer migrated to the USA in search of better life. Not finding decent work in a foreign country, Dragunsky’s parents returned to their homeland, settling in Gomel. It was this city that Viktor Yuzefovich recalled as the place where he spent his childhood. Then the following changes occurred in the life of the future writer:

• after the death of Jozef's father in 1918 from typhus, Victor's mother married a second time, and together with her new actor husband decided to move to Moscow;
• the boy, wanting to help his parents improve their budget, got a job at the Samotochka plant, but was soon fired for violating the rules of behavior in the team;
• in 1930 he went to work at the Sport Tourism factory;
• then he began training as an actor and poet at the Literary and Theater Workshop;
• received a diploma of specialty in a turning point for the country in 1935, became a member of the troupe of the Theater of Transport (currently State Theater them. N.V. Gogol);
• in 1940 he published his first small draft collection of stories, “Iron Character,” and began performing in the circus with his own clowneries;
• during the Great Patriotic War he joined the ranks of volunteers, and in 1943 he experienced death stepbrother on the mother of Leonid Rubin;
• in 1947 he starred in the historical film based on the play by Konstantin Simonov “The Russian Question” in the image of a radio announcer;
• in 1948 he became the artistic director of the Blue Bird ensemble, organizing a small troupe of the most talented artists, which was disbanded after 10 years.

And songs such as “Motor Ship”, “Three Waltzes”, “Berezonka”, “Wonder Song”, “Star of My Fields” are still regularly featured in productions of modern young celebrities on the Russian stage.

Film career of the great author

In 1959, the first stories about the mischievous hero Denis Korablev, familiar to every child, were published, called “Deniska’s Stories”, on the basis of which a number of children’s and family films were made:

• film adaptation of Algimantas Kundelis and other directors “Funny Stories” (1962);
• children's film by Levan Shengelia and Gleb Komarovsky “Girl on a Ball” (1966);
• comedy by Honored Cinematographer Vladimir Khramov “Deniska’s Stories” (1970);
• the project on which Yuri Oksanchenko, Vladislav Popov and other screenwriters and directors worked on “In Secret to the Whole World” (1976);
• the comedy “The Amazing Adventures of Denis Korablev” (1979), filmed in collaboration with Igor Dobrolyubov and numerous colleagues;
• film adaptation by director Valentin Gorlov “Where is it seen, where is it heard” (1973);
• television film of the famous Ayan Shakhmaliev “Captain” (1973);
• children's film by Yevgeny Tatarsky “Fire in the Outbuilding, or a Feat in the Ice” (1973);
• comedy directed by Mark Genin “Spyglass” (1973).

Still from the film “Russian Question”

Exciting adventure films made during the writer's lifetime bring Dragunsky great success. In subsequent years, the author's name is associated among children who grew up under Soviet rule with something cheerful and playful.

Viktor Yuzefovich also becomes a screenwriter of such films as:

• the comedy “The Big Wick” (1963) about the work of machinist Sergei Makhalkov, collected from several of the most popular short stories;
• melodrama " Magic power"(1970), consisting of three original works;
• film-play “Clown” (1971) about the famous clown Anatoly Vetrov and his adventures upon returning from tour.

In subsequent years, such unique works as the stories about the first days of the Great Patriotic War “He Fell on the Grass” (1961) and “Today and Everyday” (1964), which tell about the life of circus workers, came out of the writer’s pen.

Based on the stories and tales of the famous author, issues of the popular children's film magazine “Yeralash” were filmed. Currently, masters of cinema are releasing new films based on stories familiar from childhood, making the footage of the heroes’ adventures more vivid and colorful using modern technology.

Family of a popular writer

Dragunsky died on May 6, 1972 from cardiac arrest and was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery next to others, no less famous people. Victor was married twice and both marriages pleased the writer with the opportunity to become a parent. With actress Elena Petrovna Kornilova, the author of “Deniska’s Stories” had his first child, Leonid, back in 1937. After his parents’ divorce, the boy chose to take his mother’s maiden name, leaving only his middle name in memory of his father.

Subsequently, Leonid graduated from the prestigious Moscow State University and worked as a journalist until his death from natural causes, the date of which is listed as November 5, 2007. After the death of the publicist, he was left with a daughter, Lydia Kornilova, whom her father preferred to call Lika.

The second wife of the famous humorous author was actress Alla Vasilievna Semichastnova. The happy marriage produced two children: son Denis in 1950 and daughter Ksenia 15 years later.

Denis Viktorovich Dragunsky is known to the Russian community as a political scientist, journalist and screenwriter who managed to make all his dreams and desires come true.

His daughter Irina, born in 1974, is a famous Russian artist and designer. Ksenia Viktorovna Dragunskaya continued her father's work, becoming an outstanding writer-playwright, creating magnificent collections for children. Also, the daughter of Viktor Yuzefovich is part of the community of Russian theater workers.

The writer's kind and mischievous stories became classics of children's literature of the Soviet period. They are eagerly read even in the new century, finding them funny, instructive and witty.

Viktor Dragunsky, who gave children a series of positive stories “Deniska's stories”, created with inspiration; adults re-read his prose for a younger readership with pleasure, remembering those carefree years when “the trees were big.”

But the Soviet prose writer wrote not only for the younger generation: his bibliography includes two wonderful autobiographical stories.

The author’s works are so multi-layered, realistic and colorful that a dozen films and performances have been staged based on them. Nowadays, Dragunsky's work is experiencing a rebirth and a surge of reader interest.

Childhood and youth

The future writer was born at the end of 1913 in America, into a family of Jewish emigrants from Belarusian Gomel. But Rita Dragunskaya and Yuzef Pertsovsky did not live long in the one and a half million Bronx: six months after the birth of their first child, the couple returned to their homeland, Gomel.

Victor Dragunsky as a child and his mother

Viktor Dragunsky did not remember his own father: Yuzef Falkovich died of typhus when his son was 4 years old. Soon my mother remarried the red commissar Ippolit Voitsekhovich, but this marriage also ended 2 years later: in 1920 the commissar died.

Viktor Dragunsky was influenced by his mother’s third husband and second stepfather, the artist Menachem Rubin. He appeared on the stage of the Jewish vaudeville theater, which toured the country with comedic musical plays. Together with his stepfather, 8-year-old Vitya and his mother wandered around the cities and villages, absorbing the spirit of creativity and celebration behind the scenes.

In 1924, Viktor Dragunsky had a half-brother, Leonid. Three years later, in 1925, Rubin stopped traveling around the country and stopped in Moscow, agreeing to become the director of Ilya Trilling’s theater. At the end of the 1920s, Rubin and Trilling left Soviet Union and emigrated to the USA, where they opened a new theater.

After graduating from school, Viktor Dragunsky got a job as an assistant turner at a factory. Later he moved to a horse harness factory, where he made blinkers for horses. But the love of creativity, instilled by his stepfather, did not cool down: in 1930, Victor enrolled in the workshop of theater teacher and director Alexei Diky, where he studied for 5 years.

Theater

After completing the course, he appeared on the stage of the Transport Theater on Gorokhovaya Street (now the Gogol Center). Soon the talented artist was noticed and invited to the capital's Satire Theater. Viktor Dragunsky went on stage in the evening, and during the day he wrote feuilletons and humorous monologues, came up with clowneries for the circus and funny sideshows. The actor and writer became friends with circus performers and even entered the arena as a clown.

The Great Patriotic War interrupted the creative flight of Viktor Dragunsky - he defended his homeland in the militia. They were not accepted into the army due to poor health. In 1943, the writer’s brother passed away: Leonid Dragunsky-Rubin died from a serious wound in a hospital near Kaluga.

After the war, the artist and writer got a job in the troupe of the capital's Theater-Studio Film Actor. Creative biography a writer means roles in films. Dragunsky starred in the film “The Russian Question”; viewers recognized him as a radio announcer. He appeared on the theater stage, playing characters in several plays.

Viktor Dragunsky in the film "Russian Question"

The actor was accepted into the drama theater on Povarskaya. But prominent roles went to the masters, and young people were interrupted by appearing in the crowd. Victor, gushing with ideas, in order not to vegetate without work, initiated the creation of an amateur group within the drama theater, which included both young and seasoned artists.

In this “theater within a theater,” Dragunsky led the parody group “Blue Bird,” which appeared on stage for 10 years, starting in 1948. The artist’s humorous performances were a success and “The Blue Bird” was invited to Mosestrad. Victor composed scripts for parodies and lyrics. One of them (“Motor Ship”) entered the pop repertoire.

Literature

The writer combined the feuilletons and humoresques written over 10 years into a collection, which he called “Iron Character.” The book was published in 1960.

Fame came to the writer after the release in 1966 of “Deniska’s Stories” - a series of humorous stories for children and teenagers, the main character of which was. That same year, young readers enjoyed another book - a collection called “The Dog Thief.”

In the 1960s, books in the series were published in millions of copies. The children read the stories “The First Day”, “Childhood Friend”, “Puss in Boots” and “The Secret Becomes Revealed”. Instructive, but not edifying, books by Viktor Dragunsky easily found a way to a child’s heart and instilled a love of reading.

Like all of Dragunsky’s prose, funny stories about Denis and his friend Mishka Slonov are taken from life. The prototype of the main character was the son of the writer Denis.

Many of Viktor Dragunsky's works have been filmed. Soviet directors made films based on Deniska’s stories “The Girl on the Ball”, “The Captain” and “The Amazing Adventures of Denis Korablev”.

The sarcastic story “The Magic Power of Art” was filmed by Soviet director Naum Birman. The comedy script was written by Viktor Dragunsky, and three short stories of the almanac of the same name starred, and.

In 1980, the melodrama “Clown” based on the story of the same name was released. The film stars Anatoly Marchevsky. The sad comedy script was written by the author.

The writer gave two stories to adults: “He Fell on the Grass” and “Today and Everyday.” The first is about the war, the second is about the life of circus performers.

Personal life

In the mid-1930s, Viktor Dragunsky met actress Elena Kornilova. The romance was crowned with a marriage in which the first child was born - son Lenya. But family life cracked, the couple separated. Leonid Kornilov graduated from the university, choosing the Faculty of Economics, but his father's genes won. Publicist Kornilov wrote articles for Izvestia and Nedelya and published 6 books.

The second marriage of Viktor Dragunsky turned out to be happy. A graduate of a theater university, Alla Semichastnova, 10 years younger than her husband, gave birth to Viktor Yuzefovich two offspring - a son, Denis, and a daughter, Ksenia. The couple lived together until the writer's death.

Denis Dragunsky, the prototype of the hero of his father’s famous children’s stories, became a philologist (taught Greek language future diplomats), journalist and writer. He wrote scripts for films science articles and reviews.

Ksenia Dragunskaya also showed a talent for writing: she composed scripts for three dozen plays and became famous as a playwright, art critic and children's prose writer.

Death

Viktor Dragunsky died in the capital at the age of 60, from a chronic illness with which he was struggling long years. Thousands of fans accompanied the bright and kind writer on his final journey.

The grave of the artist, comedian and writer is located on the 14th plot Vagankovskoe cemetery. In 1990, the writer’s widow Alla Dragunskaya published a book of poems by Viktor Yuzefovich.

Bibliography

• 1960 – “Iron Character”
• 1961 – “Tell me about Singapore”
• 1961 – “He fell on the grass”
• 1962 – “The Man with a Blue Face”
• 1964 – “Girl at the Sea”
• 1964 – “The Ancient Mariner”
• 1964 – “Today and Everyday”
• 1966 – “Deniska’s stories”
• 1966 – “The Dog Thief”

Dragunsky Viktor Yuzefovich is a Russian writer of children's stories and short stories. Our message about him was compiled for children in order to familiarize themselves with the life of the famous author. The biography of the writer is briefly outlined, his work is described.

Childhood

V. Dragunsky was born on December 1, 1913 in New York. His mother is Dragunskaya Rita Leibovna, his father is Pertsovsky Yuza Falkovich. They moved to the metropolis from Belarus before their son was born. When Dragunsky was one year old, his parents little Victor decided to return to their home country.

The boy's happy childhood did not last long. Unfortunately, when he was only five years old, his father died of a terrible disease in 1918. Some time later, his mother married again, but even here trouble awaited the family. The boy's stepfather died in 1920. Not wanting to raise her son without a father, Rita Dragunskaya finds her chosen one for the third time - the actor of the Menachem Theater - Mendl Rubin.

Some time later new family moved to Moscow. In 1924, they had another child - a boy, Leonid. Victor was glad to see his brother. He took care of the baby all the time and protected him. But soon after Leni’s birth, her stepfather left the family and went to work in America.

Caring for his mother and brother fell on Victor’s shoulders very early, but he always protected and looked after his family. At the age of 17, he went to work and began to provide for his mother, brother and himself. At the same time, he began to attend a literary circle.

Dragunsy - actor

At the age of 17, Dragunsky was attracted to the theater. In addition to the writers' circle, he also began going to the theater studio. Dragunsky's talent manifested itself early and was immediately noticed by others. Based on his scripts, various performances began to be staged in the theater. The writer himself took part in the show, and once got a job at the circus. Developing his acting talent, Viktor Dragunsky was able to get into the world of cinema. He starred in the film “Russian Question”.

Dragunsky also was in a theater troupe parodies "Blue Bird".

Literary activity

As mentioned above, at the same time as the theater studio, Viktor Dragunsky attended a literary circle. Very he was often in the circle of writers. I took examples from their works and drew inspiration. Soon he began to create his own works. Wrote humoresques short stories, scripts for funny skits and clowning.

• Enchanted letter;
• Girl on the ball;
• Dog Thief;
• Childhood friend;
• The magical power of art;
• 20 years under the bed.

“Deniska’s stories” were published in an impressive number of copies by the publishing house, and were received with a bang by the public. After such an enchanting success, Dragunsky continued working on the collection. In 1970, he supplemented Deniska’s Stories with new works:

• Adventure;
• Red ball in the blue sky;
• First day;
• Colorful stories.

Children liked all these stories so much that several films were made based on their stories.

Family

Dragunsky was married twice. From his first marriage to Lena Kornilova, he had a son, Lenya, who was named after the writer’s younger brother. Kornilov - writer, journalist.

The second wife of the hero of our article was Alla Dragunskaya. This marriage produced two children - Ksenia and Denis.

Death

On May 6, 1972, V. Yu. Dragunsky died. His ashes rest in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

The writer lived a short but fruitful life. His work gave the children a lot of positive emotions, smiles and impressions.

If this message was useful to you, I would be glad to see you

Victor Dragunsky (1913 - 1972) is known to everyone primarily as a classic of Soviet children's literature. "Deniska's Stories", telling about the adventures of a couple of bosom school friends, were warmly received from the very beginning by readers of all ages. Unlike many children's works published in the USSR in the second half of the twentieth century, they did not carry an obvious ideological load. Deniska Korablev (the prototype of the main character was the son of Viktor Dragunsky) and Mishka Slonov studied themselves and taught little readers friendship, mutual assistance, ingenuity, and at the same time instilled in children small useful skills.

However, the writer published his first stories at the age of 46, when he already had an eventful life behind him. It has already included moving from continent to continent, labor, playing in the theater, working as a clown, and war. Like almost all of his peers, Viktor Dragunsky had a chance to take a hard time and experience difficulties, but he did not give up and passed away as a popularly recognized writer and the father of three beautiful children. Here are the key facts from the biography of Viktor Dragunsky:

1. The 20-year-old future mother of the writer Rita Dragunskaya and 19-year-old future father Jozef Pertsovsky emigrated from Gomel to the then North American United States in 1913 along with Rita’s father. There, on December 1, 1913, their son was born. However, in America, things did not work out for the young couple; Rita’s father died of blood poisoning after an unsuccessful tooth extraction, and in the summer of 1914 the family returned to Gomel. Just in time for the start of the First World War.

New York at the beginning of the twentieth century

2. Dragunsky’s father died in 1918. Victor had two stepfathers: Red Commissioner Ippolit Voitsekhovich, who died in 1920, and actor Menachem Rubin, with whom the family lived until 1925. Following Rubin's tours, the family traveled all over Russia. When did Rubin turn up profitable proposition, he, without hesitation, fled first to Moscow and then to the USA, leaving his family with virtually no means of subsistence.

3. Victor Dragunsky had a half-brother Leonid. Before the Great Patriotic War He managed to serve time in prison, and in 1943 he died at the front.

4. Dragunsky himself suffered from a severe form of asthma, and did not get to the front. In the militia, his unit built defensive structures near Mozhaisk. Having almost been surrounded, the militia managed to reach their own after the breakthrough German tanks. After this, Dragunsky went to the front many times with teams of artists.

Moscow militia, 1941. Pay attention to clothes

5. In his free time from school lessons, the future writer worked part-time as a boatman. As soon as he graduated from school, Victor went to work. First, he worked as a turner’s assistant at the Samotochka plant, and then became a saddler, making horse harnesses at the Sport Tourism factory.

6. Childhood and youth spent on the theater stage took their toll, and already at the age of 17, after work, he began studying in the workshop of the outstanding Alexei Dikiy. The master was, firstly, prone to satire and sharp comedy, and secondly, literature was also taught in the workshop. This had a great influence on Dragunsky's work.

Alexey Dikiy as Stalin

7. Dragunsky’s theatrical debut took place in 1935 at the Transport Theater (now it houses the Gogol Center, which has become famous not for its productions, but for its high-profile criminal case of theft). Victor also received roles in the Film Actor Theater, but the work was very irregular - there were many actors, but few roles.

8. In 1944, Dragunsky surprised everyone by going to work in the circus. There he was a red-haired clown, the pier played very successfully. Children especially liked his reprises. Natalya Durova, who saw him as a little girl, remembered Dragunsky’s performances for the rest of her life, although after that she saw thousands of clowns.

Red-haired clown

9. Dragunsky almost single-handedly created a parody group, which had great success among actors and theater lovers. Employment there was not formalized in any way, but the income was good. Moreover, Dragunsky was asked to create a similar small troupe in Mosestrad. Viktor Yuzefovich’s literary career began with writing sketches and lyrics for parodists. In “Blue Bird” - that was the name of the group created by Dragunsky - Zinovy ​​Gerdt, Evgeny Vesnik and Yuri Yakovlev and Rolan Bykov, who were very young at that time, performed.

"Blue Bird" performs

10. Dragunsky’s only experience in film was filming in Mikhail Romm’s acclaimed film “The Russian Question,” where the actor played the role of a radio announcer.

Dragunsky in the “Russian Question”

11. The first 13 “Deniska’s stories” were written in the winter of 1958/1959 at a cold dacha in the Moscow region. According to the recollections of contemporaries, before this he complained about some stagnation in his career. “The Blue Bird” was dissolved - the Khrushchev thaw set in, and the half-hints that so amused the audience in Stalin’s time were now replaced almost by open text, leaving no room for subtle satire. And then the stagnation gave way to a sharp rise.

12. The prototype of Denis Korablev, as already mentioned, was the writer’s son. His friend Misha Slonov also had a real prototype. Denis Dragunsky’s friend’s name was Mikhail Slonim, he died in a car accident in 2016.

Prototypes. Denis on the left

13. In total, Dragunsky wrote 70 “Deniska’s stories.” Based on the stories, 10 films and the plot of the film magazine “Yeralash” were made. In addition, Dragunsky wrote two stories, several film scripts and plays.

14. Viktor and Alla Dragunsky rented a dacha, or rather a temporary hut (later turned into a house) that became the birthplace of Deniskin’s Stories, from the literary critic Vladimir Zhdanov. He, aged over 50, twirled the “sun” on the crossbar and always reproached Dragunsky for excess weight(Dragunsky was not obese, but he had 20 extra kilos). The writer just chuckled good-naturedly. Zhdanov, who was two years older and outlived Dragunsky by 9 years, died from complications after an optional skin surgery that caused cancer.

15. From his marriage to actress Elena Kornilova, which broke up in 1937, Dragunsky had a son who died in 2007. Born in 1937, Leonid bore his mother's surname. He became a famous journalist and editor, for a long time worked at the newspaper Izvestia. Several books came from his pen. Leonid Kornilov founded the famous book publishing house “Maroseyka”. Viktor Yuzefovich’s second wife, Alla Semichastnova, was also involved in the acting world - she graduated from VGIK. In their second marriage, the Dragunskys had a son, Denis, and a daughter, Ksenia. The story “My Sister Ksenia” is dedicated to the arrival of my mother and Ksenia from the maternity hospital.

16. The writer’s second wife, Alla, grew up in a house on Granovsky Street, where many Soviet leaders lived. She was casually familiar with many of their children. When Dragunsky had problems due to the lack of Moscow registration, Alla went to see Vasily as a deputy of the Supreme Council, and the resolution of the leader’s son removed all the problems.

17. Viktor Yuzefovich collected bells. Their three-room apartment, which they received after the success of Deniskin's Stories, was hung with bells. Friends who knew about the writer’s hobby brought them to him from everywhere.

18. Dragunsky was a notorious joker. Once he was on a tour to Sweden and saw a group of Soviet tourists. Taking on, as he understood it, the appearance of a Russian emigrant, the writer tried to speak to them in broken Russian. The tourists fled in fear, but Viktor Yuzefovich still managed to catch one of them. It seemed to be Dragunsky's old school friend, whom they had not seen for more than 30 years.