1. In return, Valentin Kataev insisted that the novel be dedicated to him, in all editions and translations.
14 Facts About Valentin Kataev
1. 2.
Valentin Kataev was born in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire into the family of Pyotr Vasilyevich Valentin Kataev, a Court councillor and a teacher at the Odesa Female seminary, and Eugenia Ivanovna Bachei who belonged to a noble family of the Poltava Governorate.
3.
Valentin Kataev's father came from a long line of Russian clergy originally from Vyatka where Valentin's grandfather served as a protoiereus.
4.
Valentin Kataev's maternal grandfather was a major general in the Imperial Russian Army.
5.
Valentin Kataev began writing while he was still in secondary school.
6.
Valentin Kataev was then a sympathizer of the Union of the Russian People and wrote nationalistic and anti-Semitic poetry.
7.
Valentin Kataev did not finish school, but volunteered for the army in 1915, serving in the artillery.
8.
Valentin Kataev moved to Moscow in 1922, where he worked on the staff of The Whistle, writing humorous pieces under various pseudonyms.
9.
The novel was well received, and the seminal modernist theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski asked Valentin Kataev to adapt it for the stage.
10.
Valentin Kataev's comedy Squaring the Circle satirizes the effect of the housing shortage on two married couples who share a room.
11.
Valentin Kataev wrote its screenplay and took an active part in the filming process, finding locations and acting as a historical advisor.
12.
Valentin Kataev himself developed a style he called "lyrical diary," mixing autobiography and fiction.
13.
Valentin Kataev was proud of being a Soviet writer, and related the following account.
14.
Valentin Kataev calmly produced an elegant envelope exactly like mine from the pocket of his jacket.