Lev Kassil - biography

Lev Abramovich Kassil (Russian: Лев Абрамович Кассиль; 27 June 1905, Engels – 21 June 1970, Moscow) was a Soviet writer of juvenile and young adult literature, depicting Soviet life, teenagers and their world, school, sports, cultural life, and war. His books were often "development novels" – describing how young people could, despite their mistakes, reach a mature view of life. Modesty, unselfishness, endurance, and courage were virtues that Kassil held dear.

Biography

In 1923 Kassil entered Moscow State University, where he studied aerodynamics. He published his first tale in 1925, and eventually became a REF and LEF member. In 1927 Mayakovsky invited him to share in the magazine called New LEF.

In 1950 he received the Stalin Prize for his book «Улица младшего сына» (1949, co-authored with M. Polyanovsky), the life story of young Volodia Dubinin and his struggle during the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

Kassil taught at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute for a long period. In 1965 he was elected member of the Academy of Pedagogical Science of the Soviet Union. A minor planet, 2149 Schwambraniya, discovered in 1977 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, is named after the fictional land from his novel The Black Book and Schwambrania.

Selected works

• The Black Book and Schwambrania (1930-1933) - «Кондуит и Швамбрания»
• The Great Opposition
• The Goalkeeper of the Republic (1938) - «Вратарь республики»