Chukovsky, Korney Ivanovich
A great friend of boys and girls, Chukovsky was always happy to communicate with children, his house constantly received little guests, the owner played with them, ran races, launched boats in spring streams. And it doesn’t matter whether they were the children of his friends, his ideological opponents, or children he barely knew.
At his dacha in Peredelkino, Korney Ivanovich started the custom of organizing “bonfires”, where all the surrounding children were invited. Entry cost 3 cones and 2 potatoes. There Chukovsky himself and everyone else read poetry, artists performed, and round dances took place.
Despite the fact that fairy tales are only a small part of Chukovsky’s work (his main work is “adult” literature: translations, journalism and criticism), they brought the author the most grief and joy.
Joy - after all, he wrote them for his four children. Thanks to these tales, he became known to the general public and received the love and recognition of young readers.
But those same fairy tales brought him plenty of troubles. And political figures, including Krupskaya, and other writers (and among them Barto) denounced Chukovsky and called for saving children from his poems. Some of his books were banned, others were printed in large editions and then withdrawn from sale. Many saw political overtones in his fairy tales, but Chukovsky himself wanted to stay away from politics and at first hoped that children's literature was just that quiet haven in which to wait out all the storms. In "Crocodile" someone saw it as a satire on the Kornilov rebellion, "Fedorino's Grief" was called a bourgeois fairy tale, in which the old woman does not think about the fate of the world, but worries about the dishes, "Moidodyr" was considered a bourgeois fairy tale, where the main character calls for staying clean at the expense of hard working chimney sweeps.
But “The Cockroach,” the most seemingly provocative work, which during the years of repression they were afraid to quote even in a whisper, passed this fate. Although it was written long before Stalin became secretary general, Chukovsky had serious reasons for fear. It is assumed that repressions did not follow precisely because of the obvious (but accidental!) similarity between Stalin and the main character. Like, if Stalin had ordered Chukovsky to be removed, he would have openly recognized himself as a Cockroach.
But enough politics, it has no place here! Let's end on a cheerful note - a story from the lives of two great children's authors:
Marshak once complained about the small salaries of children's writers.
- Chukovsky and I have to work part-time at the zoo on the second shift, he as a crocodile, I as a gorilla.
- And how much do you get paid? - they asked him.
- I am 300, he is 250.
Having heard this story from mutual friends, Chukovsky was offended: “Why do I have 50 rubles less? After all, it’s more difficult to work as a crocodile!”
