Arkady Gaidar

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Arkady Gaidar

Arkady Petrovich Golikov (Russian: Арка́дий Петро́вич Го́ликов; (January 22 [O.S. January 9] 1904 — October 26, 1941), better known as Arkady Gaidar (Арка́дий Гайда́р), was a Soviet writer, whose stories were very popular among Soviet children.

He was born in Lgov town, Imperial Russia (now in Kursk Oblast, Russia), to a family of a teacher. Gaidar spent his childhood in Arzamas. In 1918 he volunteered for the Red Army. During the Russian Civil War, at the age of 16 he became commander of a regiment. He participated in the suppression of several anti-communist uprisings, among them the Antonovshchina uprising. On several occasions Gaidar was wounded in combat. He retired from the army in 1924 due to a contusion. A year later, Gaidar began publishing his literary works. His story "RVS" (1926) defined his further life in many respects: Gaidar found his vocation in writing children's literature, telling stories of front-line camaraderie and the romanticism of the revolutionary struggle. His story "Timur and his squad" (1940) made Gaidar famous. The character Timur was named after and partially based on Gaidar's son. A captivating account of an altruistic pioneer youth gave birth to the mass Timur movement among Young Pioneers and other child organizations all over the Soviet Union.

In the first days of the Great Patriotic War Gaidar was sent to the front as a special correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda. In the fall of 1941, Gaidar and other soldiers were surrounded by the German troops. He joined the partisans and became a machine gunner. On October 26, Gaidar died in combat.

He was buried in the town of Kanev, where a monument honoring him was erected in 1953. Gaidar was awarded two orders and several medals.

Three biographical movies about Arkady Gaidar were released in the USSR:Serebryanye truby (1970), Konets imperatora taygi (1978) and Ostayus s vami (Staying with you in English, 1981, it's about Arkady Gaidar's last days). And also a number of films was made based on his stories. Gaidar’s books are translated into many languages.

Russian economist Yegor Gaidar is Arkady Gaidar's grandson (Yegor Gaidar's father, Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar, was the son of Arkady Gaidar and his first wife, Ruva-Leah Solomyanskaya).