Smirnov, Vasilii

Smirnov, Vasilii Aleksandrovich 

Born Dec. 20, 1904 (Jan. 13, 1905) in the village of Sinitsyno, now in Mysh-kino Raion, Yaroslavl Oblast. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU since 1925.

Smirnov began publishing in 1924. He fought in the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). From 1960 to 1965 he was editor of the journal Druzhba narodov (Friendship of Peoples). His novels A Smell of Burning (1927) and Sons (1940) and his most important novel, The Discovery of the World (books 1–4, 1947-73), poetically depict Russian rural life before the Revolution and also portray the reorganization of the countryside during the Revolution.

Smirnov’s books have been translated into a number of foreign languages. From 1954 to 1959, Smirnov was secretary of the administrative board of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. He has been awarded four orders and several medals.

REFERENCES

Smirnova, V. “Novaia vesna Shurki Sokolova.” Druzhba narodov, 1968, no. 6.
Russkie sovetskie pisateli-prozaiki: Biobibliograficheskii ukazatel’. vol. 4. Moscow, 1966.