Alexander Neverov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Sergeyevich Neverov , (December 20, 1886 – December 24, 1923), was a Russian/Soviet writer and teacher. Neverov was his pseudonym; his real last name was Skobelev.
. His father was a farmer, a former non-commissioned officer of the Life Guard Lancers who later withdrew from the village and served as a doorman in the city. Neverov spent his childhood, until the age of 16, living in the home of his grandfather. This was due mostly to his father's military service.
He received his earliest education at a local church school. In 1903 he was accepted at a secondary school in Ozerkino. He graduated after three years of study with a diploma which gave him the qualifications of an elementary school teacher. In his third year in Ozerkino he published his first story in The Temperance Messenger, a St Petersburg newspaper.
he became friendly with members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but in 1919 joined the Bolsheviks, and held significant positions in various institutions of Samara. He was one of the founders of the local folk theater, and in 1919 he wrote his first plays, one of which, "Baba", won first place in a contest in Moscow.
During the famine years of 1920-1921, together with a mass of hungry people, he fled from the Volga Region
into Tashkent
. In the fall of 1921, after the death of one of his three children, he conceived a plan of moving to Moscow. He travelled first to Tashkent in order to obtain food for his family. This harrowing journey was the inspiration for his novel City of Bread. In spring of 1922 he moved to Moscow where he joined the group "The Forge". He affiliated himself with a number of revolutionary periodicals, wrote short stories, published his earlier stories in book form, and began work on a novel, Story of Women, which he never finished.
Neverov died suddenly of heart failure on December 24, 1923 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery
.
His complete works, released in 1926, were reprinted five times before 1930.
"Taschkent, die brotreiche Stadt", the German translation of City of Bread, was burned by Nazis
during the extensive Nazi book burnings
in 1933.
Early life
Neverov was born on December 20, 1886 in the village of Novikovka Melekess, Samara ProvinceSamara Oblast
Samara Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Samara. Population: In 1936–1990, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast , after the Soviet name of Samara .-Demographics:Population:...
. His father was a farmer, a former non-commissioned officer of the Life Guard Lancers who later withdrew from the village and served as a doorman in the city. Neverov spent his childhood, until the age of 16, living in the home of his grandfather. This was due mostly to his father's military service.
He received his earliest education at a local church school. In 1903 he was accepted at a secondary school in Ozerkino. He graduated after three years of study with a diploma which gave him the qualifications of an elementary school teacher. In his third year in Ozerkino he published his first story in The Temperance Messenger, a St Petersburg newspaper.
Career
After 1906, Neverov worked as a rural teacher, while at the same time publishing stories in magazines. He married in 1912. In 1915 he spent time as a nurse in Samara. During the RevolutionRussian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
he became friendly with members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but in 1919 joined the Bolsheviks, and held significant positions in various institutions of Samara. He was one of the founders of the local folk theater, and in 1919 he wrote his first plays, one of which, "Baba", won first place in a contest in Moscow.
During the famine years of 1920-1921, together with a mass of hungry people, he fled from the Volga Region
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
into Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
. In the fall of 1921, after the death of one of his three children, he conceived a plan of moving to Moscow. He travelled first to Tashkent in order to obtain food for his family. This harrowing journey was the inspiration for his novel City of Bread. In spring of 1922 he moved to Moscow where he joined the group "The Forge". He affiliated himself with a number of revolutionary periodicals, wrote short stories, published his earlier stories in book form, and began work on a novel, Story of Women, which he never finished.
Neverov died suddenly of heart failure on December 24, 1923 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagan'kovskoye Cemetery , established in 1771, is located in the Krasnaya Presnya district of Moscow...
.
His complete works, released in 1926, were reprinted five times before 1930.
"Taschkent, die brotreiche Stadt", the German translation of City of Bread, was burned by Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
during the extensive Nazi book burnings
Nazi book burnings
The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the authorities of Nazi Germany to ceremonially burn all books in Germany which did not correspond with Nazi ideology.-The book-burning campaign:...
in 1933.
English translations
- Hunger, (Play), Soviet Russia (Monthly magazine), Russian Soviet Government Bureau, NY, 1922. from Google Books
- City of Bread, (Novel), George H. Doran Co, 1927. (Reprinted by Hyperion Press, 1973.)
- The Music and On the Land, (Stories), from The Salt Pit, Raduga Publishers, Moscow, 1988.