19 August 1906 year
В Tripoli Ottoman Empire (now Northern Lebanon) was born Leonid Soloviev — Soviet writer, popularizer of Eastern folklore. Author of the Hodja Nasreddin dilogy.
A half-truth is the worst lie
Truth does not fade with repetition
The parents worked in the East on an educational mission, teaching Russian in Arab schools. When their son was three years old, they returned to their homeland, Samara province. In 1920, during the famine and devastation of the Civil War, they moved to Kokand (Uzbekistan).
At 16, Leonid Solovyov left his parents in search of work: he helped farmers and artisans, painted signs for shops, and gave Russian language lessons.
At 17, he became a correspondent for the Tashkent newspaper "Pravda Vostoka." He began writing stories and collecting Eastern folklore.
In 1932, at 26, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Cinematography, in the literary and screenwriting department. While still a student, he published a collection of works, "Lenin in the Works of the Peoples of the East," in which he compared the leader to Alexander the Great.
Allah turned the tear-stained eyes to the earth
And in a remote corner he saw a boy.
Here he is, whose name is Lenin,
Who is called to liberate the earth?
(Soloviev's translation from Uzbek)
Success came in 1940 with the book "Troublemaker," about Khoja Nasreddin, a wise man from Eastern folklore who is sharp-tongued, flexible, abhors injustice, and makes the rulers of Central Asia tremble. Solovyov was able to transform tales and anecdotes into a work of high literature. The book was immediately quoted, and in 1943, at the height of the war, a film adaptation, "Nasreddin in Bukhara," was released.
During the war, he served as a war correspondent on the front lines, fought, and suffered a concussion. He wrote stories and essays about the front.
How many people have died prematurely simply because they did not want to live strongly enough!
In 1946 he was arrested on false charges of preparing a terrorist attack.
Instead of execution and Kolyma, he was sent to the Mordovian Dubrovlag for 10 years.
I must be a dervish [an ascetic in Islam] - nothing superfluous... This is where, it turns out, I need to escape to in order to work well - to the camp!.. No temptations, and a life conducive to wisdom
(from a letter to parents and sister)
He continued writing thanks to the protection of the camp commander (he was a fan of Solovyov). In 1950, he completed the second part of the book, the novella "The Enchanted Prince." As an allegory for his criminal case, he included 86 questions, the answers to which could turn anyone into a villain.
In 1954, after serving eight years of a ten-year sentence, he was released on parole. He lived in Leningrad, avoiding his fellow writers, he never found out who imprisoned him or why.
It is better to walk barefoot than in tight shoes, it is better to endure all the hardships of the journey than to sit at home.
After Stalin's death, he was rehabilitated. In 1956, his "Tale of Hodja Nasreddin" was published in two parts by Lenizdat.
Due to poor health and a stroke, he died in 1962, at the age of 55, in Leningrad.
There are not so many days given to us that we can waste them with such recklessness, allowing the future to devour the present.