A man with an unusual old name, Flor Vasiliev, became famous in Udmurtia with his soulful lyric poems, mainly in his native language. He praised the nature of his native land, good human feelings - love and friendship, kindness, patriotism. The tragic death at age 44 cut short the creative flight of a talented poet.
Childhood and years of study
Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev was born in the Udmurt village of Berdyshi near the city of Yar. The date of his birth is February 15, 1934, however, the documents always were listed on February 19, since it was on this day that the child’s father registered the fact of his birth in the village council. The boy was given a rare ancient name, the meaning of which is "blooming". Flora also had two younger brothers and a sister. The family father Ivan Alekseevich worked as a rural teacher.
Flor grew up very curious and curious, was interested in nature, early addicted to books. By the age of seven, he was fluent in speaking, reading and reciting verses by heart in two languages - Udmurt and Russian. When the boy was 7 years old, the Great Patriotic War began. Father Ivan Alekseevich was taken to the front, and the care of the family fell on the shoulders of the mother of Alexandra Ivanovna and her older brother Flora. Sometimes you had to endure a need and even starve.
Until the third grade, the boy studied at a school in his native village, and then began to attend classes at a secondary school in the village of Ukan. He studied very well, for the whole time of schooling he managed to get only one "deuce" for letting in the class of sunbeams, and then he was ashamed for a long time. In 1948, Flor graduated from the 7th grade of a comprehensive school and came to the Udmurt regional center - the city of Glazov, to continue his education at a pedagogical school. From this moment, the life of Flora Vasiliev will be closely connected with Glazov, but at first the 14-year-old boy was afraid to get lost in a huge city, as it seemed to him. At the school, Vasiliev joined the ranks of the Komsomol. Immediately began his vigorous social activity: first as a Komsomol member of the group, and then as part of the Komsomol committee of the Glazov Pedagogical School.
Higher education
After graduating from college, Flor Vasiliev did not work for a long time at school - he taught drawing, drawing and physical education, and was also a secretary in the editorial office of the newspaper Leninsky Put in Glazov. And in 1953, Flor Ivanovich became a student at the Glazov Pedagogical Institute, the faculty of language and literature. Here, the young man also showed good results in his studies. He was immediately elected secretary of the Komsomol committee of the institute, and then until 1959 Vasiliev was secretary of the city committee of the Komsomol.
Vasiliev was so active and active man that he managed to do a lot. In addition to studying and Komsomol activities, he seriously engaged in music - he played fine violin, mandolin and domra, performed with a student orchestra or duet with his friend Gennady Pozdiaev, who later became rector of the Glazovsky Pedagogical Institute.
Vasiliev was the editor-in-chief of the institute newspaper Growing Power, and he designed the covers himself and drew illustrations perfectly. Flor was involved in sports and was chairman of the sports society. He played on the stage of the student theater. And, of course, he wrote poetry. His friends and classmates recalled that Vasilyev’s pockets were always stuffed with notes and quatrains, mainly in the Udmurt language. The young poet always signed his poetry "Flor Vasya".
One of the important events in the biography of Flora Vasiliev was the acquaintance and the beginning of a romantic relationship with classmate Faina Salamatova - his future wife. The wedding of young people has become the apotheosis of student life.
Career, creativity and party work
In 1958, Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev graduated with honors from the Glazov Pedagogical Institute. The young specialist again appeared in the newspaper Leninsky Put, but now in the position of deputy director. Later, he moved to the newspaper Komsomolets Udmurtia, first as a deputy and then as editor-in-chief.
The creative activity of the young poet was gaining momentum, and when the question arose about the publication, Vasiliev sent several of his poems to the Udmurt Book Publishing House. In 1960, the first author's collection of poems by Flora Vasiliev "Stars Shine" was released.
The editor of the Udmurt publishing house in those years was the famous Udmurt literary critic Aleksey Afanasevich Ermolaev, who discerned a huge talent and originality in Vasiliev’s work. Vasiliev and Ermolaev became not only colleagues, but also good friends. Aleksei Afanasevich translated many of Vasiliev’s poems into Russian, and was also an editor, compiler, and author of the preface to many of the poet’s books.
In the early 1960s, Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev moved with his family to the city of Izhevsk - the capital of Udmurtia. Here, until 1969, he worked as deputy editor in the newspaper Sovetskaya Udmurtia. And then, at the invitation of his colleagues, he became a literary consultant in the Union of Writers of Udmurtia; in 1972 he was elected head of this Union. In addition, he was also the editor-in-chief of the literary almanac "Hammer". In 1964 he became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. Vasiliev also continued to conduct public work: he held high posts in the district committee and city committee of the CPSU of Izhevsk, was a deputy of the Supreme Council of Udmurtia.
Also, Flor Vasiliev continued to write poetry and publish collections: “Bird cherry”, “Bright autumn”, “River and field”, “Taste of the sun”, “Quiet lines” and many others. His contribution to the development of national Udmurt poetry is so great that fellow countrymen named a street in Glazov in honor of the famous poet. Vasiliev’s poems were translated not only into Russian, but also into many languages of the peoples of the former USSR and other countries.
Personal life
In 1957, in the last year of the Glazov Pedagogical Institute, Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev married Faina Filippovna Salamatova, his classmate. The wedding was played right at the institute, it was youth friendly and fun. Friends of the Vasilyev family said that the newly-made husband and wife were as if created for each other - both cheerful, kind and bright, restless and easy-going. On January 1, 1959, Faina gave her husband a "New Year's gift" - she gave birth to a son, Sergei. The Vasiliev family was very friendly and strong.
