Information about the author:
Maxim V. Skorokhodov
Maxim V. Skorokhodov — PhD in Philology, Senior Researchук, Department of Modern Russian Literature and Russian Literature Abroad, A.M. Gorky Institute of World literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 а, 121069 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6390-5670
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Abstract:
The article introduces the transcripts of the meetings of the literature section of the Committee for Lenin Prizes in Literature and Art under the USSR Council of Ministers held in February and April 1965. The study takes into account the materials revealing the peculiarities of the broad discussion of the candidates nominated for the Lenin Prize in the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The analysis of these documents, stored in the fonds of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, as well as newspaper articles, reveals the polyphony of opinions expressed by the participants. Particular attention is paid to the works whose authors were considered by the Committee members as the most worthy of high honour: the novel “Soldiers Are Not Born Soldiers” by K.M. Simonov, “A Tale of Life” by K.G. Paustovsky and “The Brest Fortress” by S.S. Smirnov. There are statements about these works by A.A. Prokofiev, N.S. Tikhonov, Ch. Aitmatov, I.I. Anisimov, N.M. Gribachev, P.A. Satyukov and other active participants in the literary process of the 1960s, including war participants and war correspondents.
Keywords: K.G. Paustovsky, K.M. Simonov, S.S. Smirnov, Lenin Prize, journalism and publicism.
