Vera Chaplin: biography, creativity, photo

Do you know who Vera Chaplin is? Her biography will surely interest you. This is a famous children's writer, whose work is devoted to the animal world. With him are connected not only her works, but also her life's path. For many years she worked at the Moscow Zoo, Vera Chaplin. Photo and biography of her you will find in this article.

The origin of Vera Chaplina and the first tragic event in her life

Years of life of Vera Chaplin - 1908-1994. She was born in Moscow on April 24. Her family lived on Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Parents of the Faith were hereditary noblemen. Lydia Vladimirovna, her mother, is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory. And Vasily Mikhailovich, father, is a lawyer. In the chaos of the Civil War that followed the 1917 revolution, 10-year-old Chaplin Vera was lost. She was in Tashkent, in an orphanage, like a homeless girl.

The writer later recalled that only the love of animals helped her survive the first great grief. Even in the orphanage, she managed to keep kittens, puppies and chicks. She hid them from the teachers at night, and in the afternoon carried away to the garden. Love for animals, as well as responsibility for their lives, has brought up in the girl the ability to overcome difficulties and determination. These features also determined the creative and life path of Vera Chaplina.

Returning to Moscow

The girl was found in 1923 by her mother and brought back to Moscow. Soon Vera began to visit the zoo and a circle of young biologists, led by P.A. Manteuffel. Vera Chaplin not only fed the nipples of young animals and took care of them. The girl watched them, conducted scientific work. Vera Chaplin sought to create conditions for animals that they did not feel that they were in captivity.

The site created by Vera Vasilyevna

At the age of 25 Chaplin Vera became an innovator of the Moscow Zoo. Her name will always be remembered as the leader and initiator of the site, established in 1933. Here was brought up a strong and healthy young, there were all conditions for different animals to get along with each other. The experiment attracted a great interest of spectators. For many years, the site of the young has become a "visiting card" of the zoo.

First stories

At the same time, the first stories of Chaplina were published in the journal "The Young Naturalist". After their release, the publishing house Detgiz decided to sign a contract with Vera Vasilyevna to create a book about the site of the young. In 1935 it was published. The book was called "Kid from the green area." She was a success, but the writer herself critically evaluated her book. She greatly revised her text and released a new collection of short stories, and this one did not include in subsequent editions.

"My pupils"

For Chaplin, as for many other authors, the second book has become the defining one. In 1937, "My pupils" were printed. Included in this collection of stories found a special style of the writer, have become some of the most successful in her work. This especially applies to such works as "Loska", "Argo", "Tulka". And the story about the lioness Kinuli, brought up in the apartment (in the photo below) became a real bestseller.

World fame

The events described in the story "Kinul" began in 1935, in the spring. And in autumn they became widely known both in the capital and far beyond its borders. Numerous reports in newsreels and newspaper notes did their job. On Vera Vasilievna, a flood of letters from adults and children from various cities of the country collapsed. Vera Chaplin soon became world famous. "The Christian Science Monitor" from America in December published an article dedicated to Kinulu, Vera and the site of the young. With the writer, an agreement was concluded on the publication of works abroad. In London in 1939 there is a book of stories by Vera Chaplina "My animal friends".

Prewar and war years

Vera Vasilievna participated in the first studio broadcast of the Moscow Television Center on April 4, 1938. In 1937, she became the head of the predator section. Vera Chaplina in May 1941 was declared grateful to the shock of the Moscow Zoo. At the beginning of the war, Vera Vasilievna, together with several especially valuable animals, was sent to the Urals for evacuation. So she was in the Sverdlovsk Zoo. There was not enough forage, and we had to make great efforts to save the animals. Chaplin in the difficult conditions of the war showed himself to be a resolute and skilful organizer. She became the summer of 1942 deputy director of the Sverdlovsk Zoo.

In the spring of 1943 Vera returned to Moscow. She now worked as director of manufacturing enterprises in the same Moscow zoo, which Vera Chaplin gave over 30 years of her life.

"Four-legged friends"

In 1946, Vera Vasilievna engaged in constant literary work. A new collection of her works ("Four-legged friends") appeared a year later. In addition to the revised text, "Kinuli" included new stories: "Shango", "Kutsyi", "Volchya pupil", "Fomka-white bear cub" and others. "Four-legged friends" had an extraordinary success. They were re-issued not only in the capital, but also in Prague, Warsaw, Sofia, Bratislava, Berlin. In 1950, Vera Chaplin was admitted to the Writers' Union.

Cooperation with G. Skrebitsky

George Skrebitsky, a naturalist writer, became a literary co-author of Chaplin since the late 1940s. Together they created scripts for the animated cartoon 1951 "Forest Travelers" and 1954 "In the forest more often." In 1949, after their trip to Western Belorussia, a book of essays entitled "In Belovezhskaya Pushcha" was written. In 1955, a new collection of stories by Chaplin's "Pets of the Zoo" was published.

In the 1950-60's. Readers of Japan, France, and the United States got acquainted with the characters of Chaplin's works. The International Book Publishing House published Pet Zoo and Four-legged Friends in Arabic, Hindi, Spanish and other languages.

"Shepherd's Friend" and "Random Encounters"

In 1961 the collection "Friend of the shepherd" appeared. In it, as well as in the cycle of stories of 1976 "Random encounters" we find new features of the creativity of this writer. In place of bright colors and large plans, creating funny, and sometimes dramatic portraits of animals, images appear, at first glance, of smaller scale. However, they appear now as if from the reader's life. Vera Chaplin managed not so much to tell the story as to notice and see the winged and four-legged neighbors, not always noticeable. The stories "Damned vacation", "Funny bear cub", "How good!", "Puska" are full of comic situations, which we sometimes get when we are close acquainted with various "charming" animals. They get up such that they can make even the most calm person out of themselves. Vera Chaplin created interesting works, is not it? Reviews about them are most positive - readers note that Vera Vasilievna wittily tells about all this. It can be seen that she herself often found herself in similar stories. It should be noted that the people whom Vera Vasilyevna shows are angry and confused, are able, despite everything, to maintain a human, kind attitude toward the little "tormentors".

The Importance of Vera Chaplina's Work

More than one generation of readers has grown up on the works of Vera Chaplin. To date, the total circulation of her books is more than 18 million copies. In addition, many art, short and popular science films were created based on works written by Vera Chaplin. A brief biography ends with the last date - on December 19, 1994, a great writer died.