Schwartz Evgeny Lvovich - an outstanding writer, playwright, literary publicist, screenwriter. And today Schwartz's works remain in demand and relevant. With constant success, on the stages of many theaters, there are his plays. There are few people who do not know Cinderella, the Dragon, or the Ordinary Miracle.
The writer in all his works invited people to think about eternal values: love, friendship, betrayal, stupidity, good and evil. He did not teach anyone, only gently advised to be kind and wise, to be able to make decisions in difficult life situations. The writer suffered a lot of difficulties, because he lived in a difficult time. His biography abounds with interesting and curious facts.
The childhood and youth of the writer
In Kazan, in 1896, on October 9, the future famous writer and playwright Evgeny Schwartz was born. His family was not involved in creative professions. Parents were doctors. Maria Fyodorovna - mother Eugene - worked as a midwife, and dad - Lev Borisovich - a Zemsky surgeon.
In 1898, the boy's father was arrested on suspicion of aiding revolutionaries. Because of this, the family was persecuted and was forced to constantly move from city to city. Having reached Maykop, they settled there for a long time.
Eugene spent his childhood and youth in the aforementioned small town. In the same place, the parents of the second child - Zhenya's younger brother - Valentine.
The boy receives primary education at the school, and then, at the request of his parents, leaves for Moscow to enter a public university in order to receive the profession of a lawyer. Schwartz later transferred to state university, but never became a lawyer.
Eugene was drafted into the army in the fall of 1916, and at the beginning of 1917 he went to study at a military school, where he received the rank of cadet, and later - ensign.
At the beginning of 1918, Schwartz participated in the battles in the Kuban, joining the Volunteer Army, and in one of them received a serious shell shock. After treatment at the hospital, he was demobilized. Eugene decides not to return to the military profession and goes to Rostov to go to university. It was during his studies at this university that Schwartz is fond of theatrical activities and begins to participate in performances.
Creative playwright career
Schwarz began his career in Theater Workshop, where he played in many productions. Together with her, he goes to St. Petersburg and begins to write his first reports and children's stories there. His works are published in the magazine "Siskin and Hedgehog". At the same time, Eugene moonlighted in bookstores, and then got a job as a secretary to Korney Chukovsky.
To publish his works, Schwartz chooses a literary pseudonym - Grandfather Sarai. He writes a lot of feuilletons for the publication "All-Russian Stoker." After some time, Schwartz is sent for an internship in Bakhmut, where the publishing house’s branch, the literary newspaper Zaboy, is located.
After an internship, the writer returned to St. Petersburg, where he wrote "The Story of the Old Balalaika" for the almanac "Sparrow". The work interested S. Marshak, who invited Schwartz to the State Publishing House, where his work as an editor begins. This happened in 1924. Schwartz Publishing House was loved and respected; he was committed to helping young, creatively gifted newcomers to start their careers, easily and naturally supplementing the writers' creative ideas with their thoughts and comments.
Schwartz’s first play, Underwood, was staged on the stage of the Leningrad Youth Theater in 1929. A straightforward story about a student who took home a typewriter that they tried to steal from him, and Marusya, a pioneer, prevented the crooks from doing this. The director liked the play, who saw in it an image that personifies selflessness, honesty and friendship, good, conquering evil forces.
Since the 30s, Schwartz has written many works. Among them: "Trivia", "Princess and the Swineherd", "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Naked King". Scenarios were written for the films "Commodity 717", "Wake Helen", "On Vacation", "Helen and Grapes." After such fruitful work, Evgeny Lvovich was invited to the Union of Writers of the USSR.
The director of the Comedy Theater - Nikolai Akimov - invites Schwartz to try writing comedy for adults. So a fairy-tale play appeared, with elements of satire - “The Adventures of Hohenstaufen”, the actions of which take place in an ordinary institution run by a real “ghoul” by the name of Upyrev, and a kind fairy in the person of cleaning lady Kofeykina confronts him.
In 1940, the famous play "Shadow" was born. The premiere took place, but only once. The leadership did not like the political satire and ideological content of the work, and it was immediately banned for further production. Schwartz returns to writing ordinary stories and before the war itself there appears a work about the feat of Soviet people who saved children from ice captivity - “Brother and Sister”. Together with Zoshchenko, he creates the anti-fascist work Under the Linden of Berlin, which is staged in 1941.
A little later the play “Our Hospitality” was released, and in 1942 - “One Night” and “Far Land” about the Leningrad blockade.
From the besieged city, Eugene was evacuated first to Kirov, and then to Uzbekistan. In the evacuation, he began working on the play "Dragon", which was staged after the end of the war at the Comedy Theater. But this play was also destined to lie on a shelf until the mid-60s. She was banned from showing right after the premiere.
Enormous success in the country was the film "Cinderella", put on the play of Eugene Schwartz in 1947. Starring: Yanina Zheimo, Vasily Merkuryev, Faina Ranevskaya, Erast Garin. To this day, this film is loved by viewers and admire the talented play of the actors and the work itself.
Schwartz continues to write his plays, despite the fact that the leadership of the country practically does not recognize him as a playwright and writer. His works are prohibited for productions in all theaters. Only in 1954, the poetess O. Berggoltz defended the writer at the next congress. A few years later, a collection of Schwartz’s plays was published and they were again staged and shown on stage.
By the end of 1956, Schwartz was finishing writing one of his most famous works, Ordinary Miracle.
The writer's work to this day inspires filmmakers. Schwartz plays are still loved by viewers of all ages. They are staged in many leading theaters in the country: Youth Theater, Comedy Theater, Sovremennik, MDT and others. On the TV screens still show films made based on the works of Yevgeny Lvovich Schwartz.
