Daniil Granin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Daniil Granin
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Granin in 2009
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| Born | Daniil Aleksandrovich Granin 1 January 1919 Volyn, Kursk Governorate, Russian SFSR |
| Died | 4 July 2017 (aged 98) Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Occupation | Engineer, soldier, writer |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | Leningrad Polytechnical Institute |
| Genre | Fiction |
Daniil Aleksandrovich Granin (Russian: Дании́л Алекса́ндрович Гра́нин; born January 1, 1919 – died July 4, 2017) was a famous Soviet and Russian author. His original family name was German (Russian: Ге́рман). He wrote many books and stories, often about science, technology, and the challenges people faced in his time.
Life and Career
Daniil Granin started writing in the 1930s. At that time, he was a student studying engineering at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute. After he finished his studies, Granin worked as a senior engineer. When World War II began, he bravely volunteered to join the army as a soldier.
One of Granin's first popular stories was "Variant vtoroi" (which means "The Second Variant"). It was about students who had just finished their studies. This story was published in a magazine called Zvezda in 1949. Before he became a very successful writer, Granin continued to study engineering and wrote technical articles.
His big breakthrough came with his novel Iskateli (The Seekers) in 1955. This book was inspired by his own experiences as an engineer. It talked about how the old Soviet system sometimes made it hard for new and good ideas to be used. Granin was an important member of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Writers. He received many awards, including the USSR State Prize for Literature in 1978. He also received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor in 1989. Granin kept writing even after the Soviet Union ended.
Writing Themes
Granin's books often explored the exciting world of science and technology. He wrote about the passion and creativity involved in scientific discoveries. His stories also showed the struggles between honest and dedicated scientists and those who were not fair or creative. This theme can be seen in his novels like Those Who Seek (1954) and Into the Storm (1962).
In 1979, Granin published Blokadnaya kniga (translated as A Book of the Blockade). He wrote this book with Ales Adamovich. It tells the stories of people who lived through the terrible Siege of Leningrad. The book focuses on a 16-year-old boy and an academic, showing their lives during the siege from 1941 to 1944. The authors gathered information for the book from interviews, diaries, and personal memories of those who survived. In 2004, the book was nominated for the Lettre Ulysses Award. A film based on A Book of the Blockade was released in Moscow cinemas on September 8, 2021.
Another very popular book by Granin is The Bison (1987). This novel tells the true story of a Soviet geneticist named Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky.
Honours and Awards
Daniil Granin received many important awards for his writing and his service:
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1989)
- Order of St. Andrew (2008) – for his great contributions to Russian literature.
- Order of Lenin
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Order of the Red Star
- Order of Friendship of Peoples
- State Prize of the Russian Federation (2017)
Works Translated into English
Here are some of Daniil Granin's works that have been translated so you can read them in English:
- Those Who Seek (1954)
- Into the Storm (1962, translated in 1965)
- The House on the Fontanka (1967, translated in 1970)
- A Book of the Blockade (1979, translated in 1983)
- The Bison: A Novel about the Scientist Who Defied Stalin (1987, translated in 1990)
