Alexander Belyaev facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alexander Belyaev
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Alexander Belyaev
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| Born | Александр Романович Беляев 16 March 1884 Smolensk, Russian Empire |
| Died | 6 January 1942 (aged 57) Pushkin, USSR |
| Occupation | Lawyer, Novelist |
| Nationality | Russian (USSR) |
| Genre | Science fiction, adventure novel |
| Notable works | The Air Seller, Professor Dowell's Head, Amphibian Man, Ariel |
Alexander Romanovich Belyaev (born March 16, 1884 – died January 6, 1942) was a famous Russian writer. He is known for his exciting science fiction stories. Many people called him "Russia's Jules Verne" because his books were full of amazing ideas, just like Jules Verne's. Some of his most famous books are Professor Dowell's Head, Amphibian Man, Ariel, and The Air Seller.
Contents
The Life of Alexander Belyaev
Alexander Belyaev was born in a city called Smolensk. His father was a priest. Alexander's family had faced sadness, as two of his siblings had passed away. His father hoped Alexander would also become a priest, so he sent him to a special school called a seminary. However, Alexander was not very religious and later became an atheist. After finishing school in 1906, he decided not to become a priest. Instead, he went to law school. While he was studying law, his father died. Alexander then had to help support his mother and other family members. He did this by giving lessons and writing for the theater.
Becoming a Writer
After graduating from law school in 1906, Belyaev became a successful lawyer. He earned a good reputation and made enough money to travel the world. He enjoyed these trips as a break after finishing big cases. Even while working as a lawyer, he kept writing, though mostly small pieces.
By 1914, writing became more important to him. He decided to stop practicing law and focus completely on his stories. However, around this time, when he was 30 years old, Alexander became very ill with tuberculosis. This illness affected his spine and made his legs unable to move. He was in constant pain and couldn't move his legs for six years. His wife left him during this difficult time.
To find the best treatment, he moved to Yalta with his mother and an old nanny. While he was recovering, he spent his time reading books by famous science fiction writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. He also read about space travel from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. It was during this time, from his hospital bed, that he started writing his own stories.
Moving to Moscow and First Novel
By 1922, Alexander had started to get better. He tried different jobs in Yalta, like being a police inspector and a librarian. But life was still hard. So, in 1923, he moved to Moscow. There, he started working as a lawyer again, helping different Soviet organizations.
At the same time, Belyaev began to write his science fiction novels seriously. In 1925, his first novel, Professor Dowell's Head, was published. This book became very popular. From 1931, he lived in Leningrad with his wife and older daughter. Sadly, his younger daughter passed away from meningitis in 1930 when she was only six years old. In 1934, he even met H. G. Wells, one of his favorite authors, when Wells visited the Soviet Union.
Last Years
In his final years, Belyaev lived in a town near Leningrad called Pushkin. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began during World War II, he chose not to leave. He was still recovering from an operation he had a few months earlier.
Death
Alexander Belyaev died in the town of Pushkin in 1942. The town was occupied by the Nazis at the time, and he died of starvation. A German officer and four soldiers carried his body from his home and buried him. The officer spoke a short speech, saying he had loved reading Belyaev's books when he was a boy. As a sign of respect, they gave him a proper burial. The exact place where he was buried is not known. There is a memorial stone at the Kazanskoe cemetery in Pushkin, marking a mass grave where his body is believed to be.
His wife and daughter survived the war. They were later taken to Poland by the Nazis. After the war, they were sent away to Barnaul in Western Siberia and lived there for 11 years.
Film adaptations
Many of Alexander Belyaev's exciting stories have been made into movies:
- Amphibian Man («Человек-амфибия», 1961)
- The Air Seller («Продавец воздуха» 1967)
- Professor Dowell's Testament («Завещание профессора Доуэля», 1987)
- Island of Lost Ships («Остров погибших кораблей», 1987)
- A Satellite of planet Uranus («Спутник планеты Уран», 1990)
- Ariel («Ариэль», 1992)
- Rains in the Ocean («Дожди в океане», 1994)
- Amphibian Man: The Sea Devil («Человек-амфибия: Морской Дьявол», 2004)
See also
In Spanish: Aleksandr Beliáyev para niños
