Marshak, Samuil Yakovlevich
Just as Pushkin is called the creator of the modern Russian language, Marshak can be considered the founder of new children's literature. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this genre was dominated by low-quality doggerel, tabloid stories from the lives of college girls, and artisanal translations of foreign fiction. Worthy works for children appeared rarely and, as a rule, from the pen of non-children’s writers: Tolstoy, Kuprin, Gorky. Dealing exclusively with children's literature was considered too petty and superficial.
Samuel Yakovlevich Marshak in his youth enjoyed the patronage of major artistic figures who were able to discern great literary talent in a very young boy. Marshak was taken under his protection by Stasov, Chaliapin paid for his education at the gymnasium, and Marshak, who had serious lung problems, lived for several years at Gorky’s dacha in Yalta. Having become famous, Marshak himself continued the good tradition of supporting talent. He gathered around him a brilliant company of the best translators, poets, writers, artists, many of whom admitted that without Marshak their work would not have happened. He gave his wings to Evgeniy Schwartz, Alexei Tolstoy, Vitaly Bianchi, Sergei Mikhalkov, Tamara Gabbe, artists Lebedev and Konashevich... We can list dozens of equally famous names, and many of the named authors can boast of their equally remarkable students. All this wide variety of children's literature of the highest standard became possible thanks to the activities of Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak in children's publishing houses. And, of course, thanks to his best human qualities: talents were drawn to him, and he considered it his duty to help those who were nearby in everything.
