Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky
Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky (1904-1936) was a Ukrainian writer best known for his novel *How the Steel Was Tempered*, a seminal work of socialist realism. Born in Viliya, Ukraine, to a family of modest means, Ostrovsky's early life was marked by hardship, including the loss of his vision and severe health issues that ultimately left him bedridden. Despite these challenges, he remained committed to the ideals of communism, actively participating in the Komsomol and the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.
His literary career began while he was physically incapacitated, leading to the creation of *How the Steel Was Tempered*, which follows the life of Pavel Korchagin, a dedicated Komsomol member. This novel, while initially overlooked, later gained recognition as a model of socialist realism, emphasizing the triumph of the proletariat and the importance of collective struggle. Ostrovsky's legacy is complex; while he is celebrated as a symbol of resilience and commitment to socialist ideals, debates about the authenticity of his authorship persist. His contributions to literature were acknowledged posthumously, including the award of the Order of Lenin. In 2004, the centenary of his birth was commemorated, reflecting his ongoing influence in Russian literary and cultural history.
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Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky
- Born: September 29, 1904
- Birthplace: Vilya, Ukraine
- Died: December 22, 1936
- Place of death: Moscow, Russia
Biography
Nikolai Alexeevich Ostrovsky was born September 29, 1904, in Viliya, Ukraine. His father was a seasonal laborer; his mother was the daughter of a forest worker. Nikolai attended the village church school until he was nine, then herded sheep. In 1914, the family moved to Shepetovka, a railroad town, where Nikolai attended elementary school. After being expelled by a scripture teacher, he worked in the railroad station kitchen until he was fired for sleeping on the job.
In 1918, he became a stoker’s mate and electrician at the local power station. When the Germans occupied the town in the spring, Ostrovsky did odd jobs for the Bolshevik underground. In July, he joined the Komsomol (All-Union Leninist Communist League of Youth), and, a month later, a cavalry brigade in the Red Army. He was twice wounded in battle and soon contracted typhus. In October, he received a medical discharge from military service. In 1921, he began working in Kiev as an electrician and as secretary of the local Komsomol.
Ostrovsky’s typhus persisted and he also suffered from rheumatism. In August, 1922, he went to a resort on the Sea of Azov for treatment. In October, the government gave him invalid status, although he continued working for the Komsomol in positions of increasing responsibility; in 1924, he joined the Communist Party. Despite intensified medical treatment, advancing polyarthritis severely restricted his mobility, until he became bedridden at the end of 1926. The following year, however, he enrolled in a correspondence course at the Moscow’s Sverdlov Communist University, completing it in June, 1929, just weeks before he lost his vision.
In 1930, blind and paralyzed but determined, Ostrovsky began work on How the Steel Was Tempered, the novel for which he is remembered. He also earned income through newspaper articles and radio speeches. Already known for devotion to the socialist vision despite his personal dilemma, he joined the Association of Proletarian Writers and later the Union of Soviet Writers. On October 1, 1935, he was awarded the Order of Lenin. Deeply moved, Ostrovsky wrote to Josef Stalin, vowing to “strike blows at the enemy with a different weapon”—his position as a Soviet writer. But Ostrovsky died on December 22, 1936, aged thirty-two. His second novel, Rozhdennye burei, 1936 (Born of the Storm, 1939), about the civil war in Ukraine, remained unfinished.
How the Steel Was Tempered presents the heroic Pavel Korchagin, a committed Komsomol member striving to demolish the old social order in a hostile world. It is a leading example of socialist realism, which sought to educate readers in the tenets of Communism through concrete, optimistic portrayal of life subordinated to the proletarian cause. Critical opinions vary as to the novel’s literary merit. It went unacclaimed for two years after publication, until the Soviet state declared socialist realism the model for literature, and Ostrovsky’s book the model for the genre. At the same time, a well-known journalist wrote an article publicizing Ostrovsky’s crippling illness. To generations of Soviet schoolchildren, the bedridden Ostrovsky was held up as a real-life Korchagin, devoting life energy to “the highest thing on Earth—the struggle for the liberation of mankind.” Some skeptical Russians believe that it was actually Maxim Gorky—another leading proponent of socialist realism—who ghostwrote the novel while the languishing Ostrovsky became a poster child for the genre. In September, 2004, the Moscow Times commemorated the centennial of Ostrovsky’s birth.