Vladimir Popov. "People I Love"

The works of Vladimir Popov touch upon the theme of the working class. Who can better tell about the work of steelmakers, but not the person who dealt with hot metal? He went a long way - from the assistant worker at the open-hearth furnace to the engineer of the metallurgical plant. The difficulties, problems and concerns of workers, their character and dedication, courage and perseverance - their soul was revealed in their novels by Vladimir Popov.

Author Biography

Popov Vladimir Fedorovich was born July 28, 1907 in Kharkov in the family of an employee. After school he worked as an auxiliary worker in the open-hearth shop. In 1938 he graduated from the correspondence department of the industrial institute in Donetsk. He worked at the Enakievo Metallurgical Combine as deputy head of the shop and during the Great Patriotic War he was evacuated together with the plant to the Urals.

After the war, Vladimir Popov (photo above) began to write novels and essays on production topics, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Since 1975, he was a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR and lived in Moscow. His wife Elena Yakovlevna is a screenwriter and playwright.

Steel and slag

The novel "Steel and Slag" was founded by the author on his own life experience. A third of the workers left the front during the first days of the war and had to work for two. The war was getting closer and closer. Increasingly passed through the city trains with evacuated factories. But the metallurgical industry was still working. The directorate was concerned that there was not enough metal for ammunition. These problems, the heroism of those days is raised in his work by Vladimir Popov.

The biography (photo above) of the author clearly shows that he himself went through these tests and therefore managed to clearly and truthfully reveal the characters of his characters. The search and solution of production tasks in a difficult time for the country - the reserves were put into operation, the queue reached the ore dust. For decades in dumps it was pressed, dust was sintered at the sinter plant and again sent to the stove. Children and women gathered ore on dumps and scrap metal around the city.

Save the factory

The plant was prepared to work in wartime conditions. Enemy aircraft increasingly raided, steel melted under bombardment and bombardment. In September 1941 the front approached so much that the plant was forced to evacuate. In the work Popov described the movement of the metallurgical plant beyond the Urals and workers who exerted much effort to save the plant. On the partisan activities of those who remained in the occupied territory.

The heroic struggle of metallurgists with fascist invaders is described in this work by Vladimir Popov. The writer at the same time seeks to find and raise a meaningful and understandable for the reader the production problem. The author was always interested in large, solid people - in the novel he stressed the significance of the party and its role in overcoming difficulties. The work was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949. Later there was also the continuation of the novel "The Steel Boil".

Broken circle

The evacuation of the plant to the Urals, work and return to the post-war Donbass - all this was embodied in the novel "Steel and slag." It found a worthy reflection of the labor and patriotic exploits of the Donetsk metallurgists. This novel and its sequel "Boiling Steel" determined the place of Vladimir Popov in the literary system - he remained true to his theme.

Later he wrote works whose names speak for themselves - they confirm the author's deep creative attachment to the production processes and problems of that time. He collects material for his works directly at the plant-he meets workers, watches industrial processes. In the second novel, The Broken Circle, the conflict is related to the production problem: the plant team is fighting for a new technology that increases the strength of tires.

The novel is not confined to this side of the conflict, Vladimir Popov reveals the characters and the convictions of their heroes in a vivid and diverse manner. In the person of the protagonist, the director of the plant, the author shows a real communist, a man with genuine state thinking.

Today and tomorrow

"And this is called everyday life" - the novel shows the relationship between party leaders and business executives, workers and engineers. Here labor days are full of struggle and drama for new technologies. The novel also reveals the moral problems that occur in human souls. He was awarded the First Prize for the best work of the working class.

In one of her articles, journalist Natalia Kharakoz wrote about how Vladimir Popov came to them to the newspaper's office and how the film was shot on the book "And this is called everyday life." There was a festive demonstration in Mariupol. They stood and admired the bright procession. Here the column appeared. Forward, as always, were standard-bearers and front-rankers.

They would never have paid attention to the tall young man in the crowd of demonstrators, if a girl with huge brown eyes had not run out onto the road. She took the young man by the arm and they passed on. But their faces seemed familiar. At this time, the demonstrators heard the chatter of the movie cameras and guessed that the film was being shot.

From the filmmakers and learned that they are shooting an episode from the film, based on a novel, authored by Vladimir Popov. And young artists, none other than Alexander Mikhailov and the popular Valentina Malyavina. The film is called "Today and Tomorrow". In the center of the plot is the relationship between the director of the Kadyshev plant and the team and the problem of ecology.

Other works of the author

• "You will find in battle";
• "Quiet Creek";
• "Trial by fire" (novel);
• "Romantic profession" (essay).