Russian writer Natalya Ilyina: biography and photos

Ilyina Natalia Iosifovna (1914-1994) is a famous Russian writer and journalist, the author of biographical works, in whose life the two opposite sides of the world inexplicably joined: East and West. A remarkable woman is a vivid example of the fate of one of the Russian people scattered around the world by the will of cruel circumstances.

Biography of Natalia Ilyina

Natalia Ilyina was born May 19, 1914 in Simbirsk Province (Russia). Her mother Elena Dmitrievna Voeikova owned several languages, was engaged in translation and teaching activities. Pope Joseph S. was a hereditary naval officer, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Marine Corps, was a staunch supporter of the White Guard movement. Great-grandfather - the hero of the war of 1812, grandfather - journalist and scientist in one person, and uncle - the famous geographer, friend and associate of D. Mendeleyev and Yu. Shokalsky.

In 1920, the family was forced to emigrate to the then-huge "Russian" city of China - Harbin. There she received an excellent education, studying at the Institute of Oriental and Commercial Sciences. At the same time Natalia took an active part in the activities of the city theater studio.

Long life in China

Not graduating from an educational institution, the girl moved to Shanghai, where she got a job in the emigrant newspaper "Shanghai Dawn". Their feuilletons, imbued with subtle humor, sarcastic and apt, first published under the pseudonym Miss Pan. These satirical articles truly described the exact and bitter pictures of the life of Russian people in Harbin and Shanghai. Then Natalia and several friends formed the weekly newspaper "Shanghai Bazaar"; As the author herself believed - it was a fun edition on topical topics. Many Russian emigrants took part in the work on the newspaper, in addition to Ilyina, among whom was her friend A. Vertinsky.

With the attack on the USSR, Natalia Ilyina began to succumb more and more to the patriotic mood. "Shanghai Bazaar" entered into open hostility with dissident emigre societies and publications, was persecuted by the police and ceased its activities in 1941. Essays on life in China, where Natalia Ilyina spent as much as 27 years, are collected in the book "Other eyes", published in 1946. Since then there have been no reprints, and at the moment the book is a bibliographic rarity. Natalia did not remember her homeland-Russia-and returned only in 1947.

Hello, Russia! Writer Ilyina Natalya

Moscow was the next stop in its busy, full of new moves and unforgettable impressions of life. In the capital, on the recommendation of Konstantin Simonov, she entered in absentia at the Gorky Literary Institute . This opened the way to professional employment in literary work. The style of her feuilletons, which absorbed pro-Soviet moods and illusions about Soviet life, has changed. In addition, Natalia Ilyina felt the need to put on paper her life, so unlike the lives of ordinary Soviet citizens.

The young woman began to write the autobiographical novel "Return", the key idea of which was the difficult fate of the emigrant. After all, whatever you have achieved on a foreign land, all this is ephemeral and shaky, built on sand and depends on any wind blowing. In emigration you are a man without a passport, second-rate and often humiliated. The first work on the Russian overseas, written on the example of their own experience, aroused sincere reader interest.

Ilyina's creativity is a vivid reminder that there are values in life that should not be renounced: self-esteem, inner freedom, sincerity, common sense. Talking about the history of his noble family, the very intonation of prose, the author awarded the reader a forgotten sense of the norm inherent in the Russian intelligentsia and culture.

The popularity of Natalia Ilyina

Widespread fame for Ilyina came after the "Khrushchev thaw", when periodicals actively began to print her caustic, witty satirical articles that ridiculed the negative processes of literary and state life ("Doubtful Freshness", "Automobile Psychosis", "Belogorsky Fortress", "Tales of Bryansk Forest ", "Birthday").

Ilyina Natalia Iosifovna (photo of the Russian period of life see above) was characterized by a natural ironic mentality, she had a fine sense of humor, she could laugh at herself. With a cheerful, extravagant courage, she easily made enemies, unlike most, wrote aptly about the absurdities and absurdities of the Soviet economy, about the mediocre "secretarial" literature. Being a free person, Natalia lived in harmony with her conscience. In life she was a wonderful storyteller and an interesting interlocutor: perceptive, light, sharp.

Books by Ilyina Natalia

In 1960, the satirical works of the author began to be issued in separate editions: "Everything is written there", "Laughter is a serious matter", "Luminous scoreboard", "Something is not glued on." Her parodies, tart and thick, loved to read out loud Korney Chukovsky, and Tvardovsky with pleasure printed brilliant articles in the "New World". Also actively published by Ilyina were the magazines Krokodil and Yunost.

Roads and Fates Ilyina Natalia Iosifovna

Russian writer Ilyina Natalia Iosifovna did not keep diaries, but over the years she made notes on the desktop calendar, hastily wrote on separate sheets and put them in one folder. Sometimes part of the contents of the diaries appeared in books, but the main texts remained unpublished. In the final book of the memoirs "Roads and Fates" the author told about the hard life of Russian emigrants who were forced into Shanghai by a revolutionary wave, the bitter life in a foreign land and the joy of return.

Lyrical writing, the style of this thing helps to feel in a single stream the various fates of people met by Natalia Ilyina on the roads of life. It is easy to read, characterized by great taste and a huge amount of self-irony. The descriptions of the heroes of the book are accurate and carefully verified, without the use of stamps and artificiality.

Life features of a Russian writer

Writer Ilyina Natalia Iosifovna loved to create from nature. Such was her life: common and personal, funny, bitter, with an unsettled way of life. The writer was interested in the fate of different people: popular and unknown, good and not very old and young, old acquaintances and casual fellow travelers. With ease, making contact with people, she was the first to reach out her hand. Among her friends, writers and artists, there were many celebrities. Natalia Ilyina had a friendship with Anna Andreevna Akhmatova, Alexander Vertinsky, Korney Chukovsky. In her family life Natalia was happy with Alexander Reformatsky - an outstanding Russian linguist.