Konstantin Georgijewitsch Paustowski

Konstantin Georgijewitsch Paustovsky ( Russian Константин Георгиевич Паустовский , scientific transliteration Konstantin Georgievič Paustovskij ; * May 19 ^July / May 31,  1892 ^greg. In Moscow ; † July 14, 1968 there ) was a Russian writer and journalist .

Konstantin Paustowski (around 1915)

Life

His father, a descendant of Cossacks , was employed as a statistician for the railroad. His mother came from a Polish intellectual family. Due to the father's job, the family often moved in the early years until they finally settled in Kiev , where Konstantin Paustowski attended high school. One of his classmates was Mikhail Bulgakov . During his school days, the father left the family, which resulted in significant restrictions. 1912 Konstantin Paustovsky took up a study at the local university on. After initially choosing mathematics and physics , he soon switched to philosophy . Two years later he moved to Moscow University ; However, the First World War interrupted the study for the time being.

During the war Paustowski worked as a medic in a hospital train . His unit had to retreat through Poland and Belarus . After two of his brothers died at the front, he returned to his mother in Moscow. He soon left Moscow and took various jobs in Yekaterinoslav , today's Dnipro , and in Taganrog . He worked in metal processing factories and as a fisherman .

The February Revolution and the October Revolution experienced Paustovsky in Moscow. After the victory of the Soviet power, he began to work as a journalist. As a result, he stayed for some time in Odessa and Tbilisi . In 1930 he returned to Moscow and began working as an editor . In the 1930s he began to work as a journalist for Pravda and for various magazines such as 30 days, our achievements and others.

During the Second World War Paustowski was used as a war correspondent on the southern front. From 1948 to 1955 he taught literature at the Maxim Gorki Institute .

Marlene Dietrich was visiting Moscow in the early 1960s. When asked what she wanted to do in Moscow, the actress replied that she had been planning to meet Paustovsky for a long time. When Paustowski attended her concert, Dietrich fell on his knees in front of the writer and kissed his hand.

He died on July 14, 1968 in Moscow.

Literary work

Konstantin Paustowski made his first attempts at writing while still at school. After having tried his hand at poetry , he soon switched to prose . First stories were published, such as Am Wasser (На воде) and Die Vier in 1911 and 1912. His first writings were influenced by Alexander Grin and the writers of the Odessa School , such as Isaak Babel , Valentin Katajew and Juri Olescha . During the First World War he created a few skits , some of which were published. His first book, Tales of the Sea , was published in 1925, but received little attention. Minetosa followed in 1927 and, two years later, the romantic novel Leuchtende Wolken . In the 1930s Paustowski visited various construction sites and extolled the industrial transformation of the country. The stories Kara-Bugas (Кара-Бугаз - 1932) and Kolchida (Колхида) from 1934 fell during this creative period . Paustowski received several awards for Kara-Bugas.

In 1935 his story Romances (Романтики) was published - written between 1916 and 1923. It is a reflection of the experiences and feelings of his youth. In his later stories, Conversation about the Fish , Harbor in the Grass, and others, he described the time he spent in Taganrog . Paustowski began to concentrate increasingly on historical subjects , as in the Northern Novella from 1938. In the late 1930s, Russian nature increasingly became a central theme and leitmotif. This can be seen in the story Summer Days from 1937. In 1948 he wrote the fairy tale of the woods .

Paustowski's most important work is his six-volume autobiography Tales of Life (Повесть о жизни), which was written between 1945 and 1963. At the moment, however, only volumes three and four are available as a joint edition in Germany. Paustowski is also known as a writer of plays and fairy tales .

Works (selection)

• Tales of Life ("Повесть о жизни"), published in six volumes as:
  • Distant Years ("Далекие годы"), 1946
  • Restless youth ("Беспокойная юность"), 1954
  • Beginning of an Unknown Age ("Начало неведомого века"), 1956
  • The time of great expectations ("Время больших ожиданий"), 1958
  • Leap to the South ("Бросок на юг"), 1960
  • Book of walks ("Книга скитаний"), 1963
• Nineteen Stories, Nymphenburger, Munich 1969
• Isaac Levitan
• Encounters with poets
• The Colchis
• The golden rose
• Rain at dawn
• Precious dust
• Warm bread
• The Constellation of the Hounds (Selected Stories I), Diogenes, 1979
• The Wind Rose (Selected Stories II), Diogenes, 1979
• Restless Youth (Tales of Life), Fischer Paperback, July 1983
• Beginning of an Unknown Age (Tales of Life), Fischer Taschenbuch, August 1983
• The time of great expectations (Tales of Life), Fischer Taschenbuch, September 1983

literature

• Konstantin Paustowskij: The beginning of a vanished age . Eichborn Verlag, Die Other Bibliothek , Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-8218-4523-6 .
• Frank Westermann: Engineers of the Soul. Writers under Stalin - A journey of exploration . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-86153-304-9 .

Web links

Commons : Konstantin Paustowski  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Konstantin Georgijewitsch Paustowski in the catalog of the German National Library
• sovlit.net - Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers (English)
• Revolution in Russia : Olga Martynova on the memories of Konstantin Paustowski in DIE ZEIT, 03/2003.