Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky - author of the novel How Steel Was Tempered. This work immortalized the name of the writer. Pavel Korchagin, the protagonist of the book, has become for many generations of Soviet people a model of selfless heroism, firm will, stamina and unbending courage. The creation of the novel was a great test for the writer who was blind and bedridden.
From the biography of Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky
The future writer was born on September 29, 1904 in the village of Viliya (Ukraine). His father was formerly a military man, and then worked at a distillery. Mother was a cook. The Ostrovsky family brought up six children: Nikolai had four sisters and a brother. Two younger sisters died at an early age.
Need followed the family on the heels: feeding the six kids was not easy. Children started earning a living early by helping their parents. Nikolai went to a parish school, and his older sisters already taught. School teachers immediately discerned a capable student in the boy: he quickly grasped any material. Nikolai received his school leaving certificate at the age of nine. The appendix to it was a commendation sheet.
Subsequently, the family moved to Shepetivka. In this city, Nikolai entered the school. In 1915, having studied two courses, Ostrovsky went to work. Here are just a few of his professions:
- fireman;
- assistant in the station kitchen;
- kubovschik.
This hard, exhausting work made it possible to help parents a little.
Work was time consuming. But Nikolai was determined to get an education. Therefore, in 1918 he went to study at the Higher Primary School. In his student years, Nicholas realized the justice of the communist idea. He joined the underground activities, performed a dangerous role as a liaison, participated in the distribution of leaflets.
Gradually, the fighting revolutionary spirit completely engulfed the young man. In 1919, Ostrovsky became a Komsomol member and went to the front. In battle, he was seriously wounded in the head and stomach, fell from a horse, severely damaging the spine. For health reasons, the young fighter could not remain in the army. He was demobilized.
Ostrovsky after demobilization
However, Ostrovsky was in no hurry to complain about the difficult fate. And he could not sit idle. Behind the rear, Nikolai actively helped the security officers. Then he moved to Kiev, where he got a job as an assistant electrician. At the same time, Ostrovsky once again went to study. This time - to the electrical school.
However, injuries were not the only misfortunes of Nicholas. In 1922, Ostrovsky spent several long hours in ice water during an emergency rafting. Such a test could not pass without a trace for health. The next day, the young man fell ill with a severe form of fever. He developed rheumatism. And then the weakened body could not resist typhoid. This disease nearly brought Nick to the grave.
Ostrovsky was still able to cope with the disease. Typhoid and fever are a thing of the past. But all these diseases finally undermined the health of Nicholas. He gradually began to develop muscle paralysis, complicated by damage to the joints. It was getting harder to move. The forecasts of the doctors were disappointing.
Creativity of Nikolai Ostrovsky
Nikolai Alekseevich loved to read since childhood. He swallowed books eagerly, many of them re-read over and over again. His favorite authors:
- Walter Scott;
- Fenimore Cooper;
- Jules Verne;
- Raffaello Giovagnoli;
- Ethel Lilian Voynich.
Ostrovsky began to engage in his own literary work in a hospital bed. In order not to waste time spent in hospitals, Nikolai Alekseevich began to compose short plays and short stories.
Since 1927, Ostrovsky could no longer walk independently. Diagnosis: ankylosing spondylitis and polyarthritis. Nikolai had several complicated operations. But his condition did not improve from this.
The disease did not break the young man. He continued to intensively engage in self-education and even graduated in absentia from Sverdlovsk University. At the same time, Ostrovsky tried to write. So the manuscript of the book “Born of the Storm” was born. It was the first version of the future novel, “How Steel Was Tempered.” The author devoted several months to this work. But a big nuisance happened: the manuscript was lost in transit.
All work had to be started anew. But then a new disaster arose: Ostrovsky began to lose his sight. For some time, courage left Nicholas. He even thought about suicide. But the iron will of a professional revolutionary prevailed over weakness. Ostrovsky began to restore the lost manuscript. At first he tried to write blindly. Then he began to help relatives and wife, whom he dictated the text. Subsequently, the writer began to use a special stencil. Thanks to this device, he could write out even lines. Work went faster.
Ostrovsky sent the finished manuscript to one of the publishing houses of Leningrad. There was no response. Then the manuscript was sent to the publishing house "Young Guard". After some time, a refusal came: the characters of the book seemed to the editor “unrealistic”.
Another would have stepped back in place of Nikolai. But Ostrovsky was not a timid dozen. He ensured that the manuscript was re-reviewed. Only after that the work was decided to publish. However, the source code was rewritten in places by the editors. Sometimes it was necessary to defend each paragraph. After a tense struggle with the publishing house, the first part of the novel How Steel Was Tempered was published in 1932. After some time I saw the light and the final part of the book.
The success of the work was overwhelming. Queues lined up in the country's libraries for the novel. People discussed the book in groups, read out selected places from the novel aloud. Only during the life of Ostrovsky, his book was reprinted several dozen times. Encouraged by the success, Ostrovsky began to work on a new work, but did not manage to complete his creative plan.
