Konashkov, Fedor Andreevich

Konashkov, Fedor Andreevich 

Born in 1860, in the village of Semenovo, in present-day Pudozh Raion, Karelian ASSR; died there in 1941. Soviet Russian narrator of folktales.

Konashkov came from a peasant family; he himself was a peasant and a fisherman. He learned his by liny (epic folktales) from his grandfather and uncle. He was illiterate. In 1928 a total of 19bylina texts were written down based on versions given by Konashkov. Later, in addition to byliny, fairy tales, true stories, and spiritual verses were also recorded in written form. As far as the diversity of his repertoire and authenticity of texts are concerned, Konashkov can be included among the best Russian narrators of folktales. He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.

REFERENCE

Skazitel’ F. A. Konashkov. Preparation of texts, introduction, and commentary by A. M. Linevskii. Petrozavodsk, 1948.