Alexander Romanowitsch Belyayev

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Belyayev 1915

Alexander Belyaev ( Russian Александр Романович Беляев ; born March 4 . Jul / 16th March  1884 greg. In Smolensk ; †  6. January 1942 in Pushkin ) was a Russian writer and one of the first science fiction -Autoren the Soviet Union . Outside the Soviet Union, he was best known for his novel The Amphibian Man, which was filmed in the 1960s.

biography

Belyayev was born in Smolensk as the son of a clergyman. Against the wishes of his father, who had the wish that his son would also pursue the priestly career, Belyayev took up a study at the legal lyceum in Yaroslavl in 1901 , which he also completed five years later. He then worked for a law firm for several years. In addition, however, he devoted himself more and more to acting, a hobby that he had had since his youth. In 1914 he finally gave up his legal practice in favor of art after he had become financially independent as a result of a major lawsuit. He undertook extensive trips through Europe and then worked, among other things, as a music and theater critic for a children's magazine.

Due to severe spinal tuberculosis , from which Belyayev did not recover properly in his life, he had to move to Yalta in 1916 to receive hospital treatment there. Unable to work for years - he was in a plaster bed from 1917 to 1921 - he began to write poetry in Yalta; at the same time he read a lot, including science fiction classics such as Jules Verne or HG Wells , from which he was later inspired.

After completing the medical treatment, Belyayev worked in a crime department and educator in a children's home, for a short time he went to sea as a fisherman. In 1923 Belyayev moved to Moscow . There he was again active as a lawyer and received a post in the People's Commissariat for Post and Telegraphy, but began at the same time with his writing. Some of his most famous SF works date from this period, including The Head of Prof. Dowell (1925) and The Amphibian Man (1928). In 1928 Belyayev moved with his family to Leningrad , where he has since worked primarily as an author. In the 1930s, Belyayev was probably the best-known exponent of the SF genre in Russia and wrote over ten novels and dozens of short stories during this time. Beljajev's works received positive feedback not only from many fellow writers, but also from renowned scholars such as Konstantin Ziolkowski and Alexander Fersman . In 1934 Belyayev met HG Wells in Leningrad, who also praised his work.

Belyayev spent his last years in the Leningrad suburb of Pushkin . After the start of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, he refused to be evacuated to the Soviet hinterland, although his health was badly damaged. This was fatal for him and his family: the city of Pushkin was occupied by the German Wehrmacht , and the wife and daughter of Belyayev were deported to the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland. Belyayev himself probably died of malnutrition in January 1942; his exact burial place is still unknown today.

Copyrights

According to the Soviet legislation in force until October 1, 1964, Belyayev's works became public property 15 years after the author's death. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the copyright legislation in Russia was changed and the corresponding period of validity was extended first to 50, and after 2004 to 70 years from the date of death of the author. In addition, the Russian “Law on Copyright and Related Rights” extended these deadlines by a further four years for authors who were active during the Great Patriotic War or who were members of the military.

In 2008 the “Terra” publishing house had signed a contract with Belyayev's heiress for the publication of his works. Then "Terra" filed a lawsuit against the publishers "AST Moscow" and "Astrel". The two publishers belong to the AST publishing group and have published Belyayev's texts even after the “Terras” contract was signed. The Moscow Commercial Court had upheld the claim with the value in dispute of over 7.5 billion rubles and forbade the "Astrel" publishing house from "distributing the illegally published copies of A. Belyayev's works". The first revision instance revoked the decision clause on compensation payment and state tax. The Court of Cassation revoked the decisions of the subordinate instances and dismissed the lawsuit in its entirety by recognizing Beljajev's works as public property since January 1, 1993, which is currently not subject to any protective rights.

In the meantime, the Krasnodar Regional Court had recognized that Belyayev's works were public property.

Works (selection)

Novels
  • Последний человек из Атлантиды ( Posledni tschelowek is Atlantidy , 1927)
  • Борьба в эфире ( Borba w efire , 1928)
  • Вечный хлеб ( Wetschny chleb , 1928)
  • Властелин мира ( Wlastelin mira , 1928)
  • Человек-амфибия ( Tschelowek-amfibija , 1928)
    • German: Der Amphibienmensch. Translated by Gisela Frankenberg. New life, 1984.
  • Продавец воздуха ( Prodawez wosducha , 1929)
  • Звезда «КЭЦ» (Zvezda KEZ , 1936)
  • Голова профессора Доуэля ( Golowa professora Douelja , 1937)
  • Человек, нашедший своё лицо ( Tschelowek, naschedschi swoio lizo , 1940)
  • Ариэль ( Arijel , 1941)
stories
  • Голова профессора Доуэля ( Golowa professora Douelja , 1926)
  • Остров погибших кораблей ( Ostrow pogibschich korablei , 1927)
  • Мёртвая голова ( Myortvaya golowa , 1928)
  • Ни жизнь, ни смерть ( Ni schisn, ni smert , 1928)
    • German: Neither life nor death. In: Erik Simon, Olaf R. Spittel (ed.): Duel in the 25th century: stories of happy worlds and times to come. Das Neue Berlin, 1987, ISBN 3-360-00083-8 .
  • Светопреставление ( Swetoprestawlenije , 1929)
  • Золотая гора ( Solotaja gora , 1929)
    • German: Das Goldgebirge (Translator: Gerd-Michael Rose) in: Wilko Müller jr. (Ed.): The moon metal. Edition SOLAR-X, 2015
  • Мистер Смех ( Mister Smech , 1937)

Professor Wagner stories:

  • Гость из книжного шкафа ( Gost is knischnowo shkafa , 1926)
  • Человек, который не спит ( Tschelowek, kotory ne spit , 1926)
  • Над бездной ( Nad besdnoi , 1927)
  • Творимые легенды и апокрифы ( Tworimyje legendy i apokrify , 1929)
  • Чертова мельница ( Tschertowa melnitsa , 1929)
  • Амба ( Amba , 1929)
  • Хойти-Тойти ( Choiti-Toiti , 1930)
    • German: Hoity-Toity. In: The messenger from space: Tales of Soviet writers . Publishing house for foreign language literature, Moscow 1960. Additional edition: Edwin Orthmann (ed.): Der Diamantenmacher . New life, Berlin 1972.
  • Ковер-самолет ( Kower-samolet , 1936)
  • Невидимый свет ( Newidimy swet , 1938)
    • German: The invisible light. In: Olaf R. Spittel, Erik Simon (ed.): The dream manufacturer: Stories of amazing inventions and fantastic adventures. The New Berlin, 1985.
  • Изобретения профессора Вагнера ( Isobretenija professora Wagnera , 1988; collection of eight Professor Wagner stories, it is missing Невидимый свет )
Works
  • Избранные научно-фантастические произведения ( Isbrannyje nautschno-fantastitscheskije proiswedenija , 3 vols. Moscow, 1956–1957)

Film adaptations

  • The amphibian man (USSR, 1962)
  • Seller of the Air (USSR, 1967)
  • Professor Dowell's will ("Завещание профессора Доуэля", 1984, USSR)

literature

Web links

Commons : Alexander Belayev  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The date of the introduction of the Civil Code of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic), according to Article 496 of which the period of validity of copyright was set at 25 years from January 1 of the year following the author's death.
  2. ↑ See decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR u. People's Commissariat of the USSR of May 16, 1928, item 15, “Principles of Copyright”.
  3. ↑ See Article 137 of the “Principles of Civil Legislation in the USSR”, later Article 27 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (GsUVS) of September 9, 1993, No. 5351-1, GsUVS. "The principles ..." were valid throughout the territory of the Russian Federation from August 3, 1992, No. 3301-1 and March 3, 1993 No. 4604-1 until August 3, 1993 (the date of entry into force of the GsUVS).
  4. ↑ See Federal Law, Art. 1, Paragraph 5 of July 20, 2004 No. 72-F3, “On the amendment of the GsUVS”.
  5. ↑ See GsUVS, Art. 27, Paragraph 5.
  6. ↑ Order of the Moscow Commercial Court of July 27, 2010 on Court Case No. А40-99593 / 09-110-659, page no longer available , search in web archives:@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / kad.arbitr.ru
  7. ↑ Order of the 9th Revision Instance of the Moscow Commercial Court No. 09AP-22940/2010 of October 25, 2010 on Court Case No. A40-99593 / 09-110-659, page no longer available , search in web archives:@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / kad.arbitr.ru
  8. ↑ Order of the Federal Commercial Court of Moscow District No. KG-A40 / 675-11 of March 5, 2011 on Court Case No. А40-99593 / 09-110-659, page no longer available , search in web archives:@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / kad.arbitr.ru
  9. ^ Decision of the revision body of the Krasnodar Regional Court, source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/07/22/belyaev/
personal data
SURNAME Beljajew, Alexander Romanowitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Беляев, Александр Романович
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Smolensk
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1942
Place of death Pushkin