Yevgeny Shvarts

Yevgeny Lvovich Schwartz was an outstanding Russian Soviet writer, playwright, screenwriter, and journalist. He took part in General Lavr Kornilov’s Ice March. He was the author of numerous books for children, as well as the cult plays The Naked King, The Snow Queen, The Shadow, The Dragon, and An Ordinary Miracle.

Yevgeny Schwartz was born in Kazan, into the family of Lev Borisovich Schwartz (baptized as Lev Vasilyevich, after his godfather, 1874–1940) and Maria Fyodorovna Shelkova (1875–1942). After completing his studies at the Yekaterinodar Gymnasium, his father entered the medical faculty of Kazan University and graduated with a degree in surgery. His mother graduated from obstetric courses. Schwartz’s early childhood was spent in constant moves: his father was repeatedly accused of revolutionary activity, was arrested and exiled several times, and was forbidden to live in provincial cities. Baptized into Orthodoxy at the age of seven, Yevgeny considered himself Russian.

In 1914 Yevgeny entered the law faculty of Moscow University, but two years later he abandoned the profession, dedicating his life to theatre and literature. In the spring of 1917 he was drafted into the army and served in a reserve battalion in Tsaritsyn. In August he served in Moscow as a cadet, and on October 5 he was promoted to ensign. He took part in Kornilov’s campaign; during the capture of Yekaterinodar he suffered a concussion, which left him with a tremor in his hands for the rest of his life.

He was demobilized and entered the university in Rostov-on-Don, where he began working in the “Theatrical Workshop.” At the same time he worked as a feuilletonist for the provincial newspaper All-Union Stoker, where fate brought him together with Nikolai Oleinikov, who later became a close friend and coauthor. In 1921 he came to Petrograd as part of the Rostov theatre troupe. For some time he worked as a secretary to Korney Chukovsky, and