Il'ia Il'f
Il'ia Il'f, born Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg in October 1897 in Odessa, was a prominent figure in Soviet literature and journalism. Initially trained in technical fields, he transitioned into writing, contributing to various newspapers in Odessa before moving to Moscow in 1923. There, he became an editor for the Gudok newspaper and produced a mix of satirical prose, film reviews, and articles. His notable literary partnership began in 1925 with Evgeny Petrov, leading to the creation of several influential works. Their most famous collaboration, "Dvenadtsat stulyev" (The Twelve Chairs), introduced the iconic character Ostap Bender and critiqued Soviet life through satire. The duo's later work, "Odnoetazhnaya Amerika" (One-Storied America), explored American life and highlighted cultural contrasts. Il'f's career ended with his untimely death from tuberculosis in 1937, but his literary contributions gained recognition in the 1950s, establishing him as a significant voice of the New Economic Period in Russian literature.
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Subject Terms
Il'ia Il'f
Writer
- Born: October 15, 1897
- Birthplace: Odessa, Russia
- Died: April 13, 1937
- Place of death: Moscow, Russia
Biography
Il’ia Il’f was born Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg, the son of a bank clerk, in October, 1897, in Odessa. Before becoming a journalist, he completed technical school in Odessa and worked as a factory laborer, a draftsman, and a telephone operator. After that, he had the opportunity to write for three papers: the Yugrosta, Moryak, and Sindetikon. In 1923, Il’f moved to Moscow, where he continued a career in journalism as an editor for the Gudok. He also published film reviews, short satirical prose and general articles in various journals.
Two years later, Il’f went to Central Asia. In 1927, he began a literary collaboration that would last until 1937 with another Odessan with whom he worked on the Gudok, Evgeny Petrovich Katayev (who wrote under the pseudonym Evgeny Petrov). Their first joint novel was Dvenadtsat stulyev, a picaresque novel whose hero, Ostap Bender, became one of the most memorable creations in Soviet literature.
Much of what Il’f and Petrov wrote jointly satirized various aspects of Soviet life, but some of the stories satirize American life and contrast it with life in the Soviet Union. The final major joint work of Il’f and Petrov, Odnoetazhnaya Amerika (one-storied America) published in 1936, was also about life in the United States. In this work, they used new methodology. Il’f and Petrov each wrote twenty stories; they wrote the other seven together as they had earlier: They sat beside each other and worked together on every sentence. Their collaboration came to a close on April 13, 1937, when Il’f died of tuberculosis in Moscow. For some fifteen years after his death, critics disparaged his satiric works, but that changed in 1956; since than, he has been acknowledged as a worthy representative of the New Economic Period (NEP) in Russian literature between the two world wars.