Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn facts for kids

Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn (Russian: Серге́й Михайлович Голицын; March 14, 1909 — November 7, 1989) was a Russian writer. He is best known for his exciting children's books. He also wrote about his family's experiences during a challenging time in Russian history.

A Life Story

Early Life and Family

Sergei Golitsyn was born on March 14, 1909. This was on a large family estate in the Tula region of Russia. His father, Mikhail Vladimirovich Golitsyn, belonged to a very old and powerful Russian family. His mother was Anna Sergeyevna. Sergei had five sisters and one brother.

During the 1920s and 1930s, life in Russia changed a lot. Many of Sergei's relatives faced difficult times. Some were arrested. He later wrote about these years in his book, Memoirs of a Survivor: The Golitsyn Family in Stalin's Russia. This book tells how the revolution completely changed life for one of Russia's important families. He wrote it in secret. It was published in 1990, after he had passed away. The book describes how the revolution affected his family. It also shows what life was like in Russia during that period.

Education and Early Career

After finishing school in 1927, Sergei decided he wanted to be a writer. He joined special literature courses. After graduating in 1929, he was briefly arrested.

His first stories for children were published in the 1930s. They appeared in different magazines. However, he could not earn enough money from writing alone. So, he worked as a topographer. A topographer is someone who maps out land. He even helped with the building of the Moscow Canal.

In 1934, he married Klavdia Mikhailovna Babykina. They had three children together. Their names were Georgy, Mikhail, and Sergei.

War Service and Later Life

On July 3, 1941, Sergei was called to serve in the army. He worked as a topographer in the sapper troops. Sappers are military engineers. He traveled all the way to Berlin during the war. He was discharged from the army in 1946. For his service, he received important awards. These included the Order of the Patriotic War IInd class and the Order of the Red Star. He also received several medals.

After the war, he worked as a geodesist engineer. A geodesist studies the Earth's shape and gravity. He worked at a State Planning Institute.

From 1959 onwards, he became a full-time writer. He died on November 7, 1989, from a heart attack. He is buried in the churchyard of Lyubets village. This village is in the Vladimir Oblast region.

His Books and Work

Sergei Golitsyn is best known in the former USSR for his children's books. Many of these books were inspired by the life of Soviet Pioneers. Pioneers were like a youth organization. Some of his popular books include "I want to be a topographer" (1953) and "Forty Explorers" (1959).

He also wrote children's books about history. He wrote biographies of famous Russian painters too. These included V.A. Polenov and V.A.Favorsky. In the village of Lyubets, he had a summer house. There, he started a museum for folk art.

From 1979, he worked on his memoirs called "Memoirs of a Survivor". His sons published this book in 1990.

• Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Russian-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 2 May 2010);
• Chronological biography at http://www.sakharov-center.ru/asfcd/auth/author7134.html?id=217 (in Russian)