Birthday of a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Tyumen writer, author of Siberian fairy tales Ivan Mikhailovich Ermakov

Ivan Mikhailovich Ermakov, Tyumen writer, participant in the Great Patriotic War, author of Siberian tales, was born on January 27, 1924 in the village of Mikhailovka, Ishim district, Ural Region (now Kazan district, Tyumen Region) into a large peasant family.

After finishing the seven-year school in his native village (1939), he began to study in Omsk in a creative studio at the regional drama theater, while simultaneously working as a puppeteer at the Omsk Puppet Theater. The war changed his plans. In August 1942, I. M. Ermakov graduated from the accelerated course of the 2nd Omsk Military Infantry School (1942–1943). After completing his studies, in March 1943, he was sent to the front as a rifle platoon commander. He fought on the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts and was wounded twice. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star. He finished the war in Estonia and was transferred to the internal troops of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs (1945–1947). 

After demobilization, he worked in Tartu until 1949. In 1951 he returned to his homeland. In 1951–1953 he studied at the Tobolsk Library College (since 1958 - Tyumen Regional Cultural and Educational School, since 1959 - Regional Cultural and Educational School; now Tobolsk Multidisciplinary College, Department of Arts and Culture named after A. A. Alyabyev). While studying in Tobolsk, he began working in various positions in the cultural sector: first as the head of a club in his native village, then as the director of the House of Culture in the village. Kazanskoe (1953–1954).

The first tale by I. M. Ermakov was published in 1956 in the newspaper Tyumenskaya Pravda, then reprinted in the magazine Siberian Lights. Since that time, he has been actively published in various periodicals. The genres of publications are varied: essays, stories, novellas. At the same time, I. M. Ermakov continues to write tales that readers love. The writer creatively developed the fairy tale tradition in Russian literature, using Siberian dialectisms, relying on the speech of residents of the post-war village, using a variety of expressive techniques.

I. M. Ermakov’s works include his contemporaries: villagers, blacksmiths, carpenters, foresters, soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. The narrator is an eyewitness to the events he narrates, he jokes with pleasure and makes fun, but at the same time he respects and loves his heroes, and these feelings are transmitted to the reader. “We need to get published. A writer cannot live without publications” - was the conviction of I. M. Ermakov, who considered it critically important to be able to present his heroes and their stories to his contemporaries.

The writer’s first collection, including seven tales, “The Goddess in an Overcoat” was published in 1961, and in the same year the tale “The Blue Dragonfly” was published. In 1962, I. M. Ermakov was one of the first in Tyumen Region to become a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. During the writer’s lifetime, collections of fairy tales “Avrorin’s tobacco” (1968) and “A village stands between the forests” (1973), collections of essays and stories were published: “Sergius and Vasily” (1965), “What the little deer whispered about” (1966), “Avka listens to the winds" (1970), "Dawn forges happiness" (1973), etc. Often the works were published on the pages of periodicals in Tyumen Region.

I. M. Ermakov died on June 20, 1974 in Tyumen. 

After the writer’s death, the collections “Soldier’s Tales” (1978), as well as “Teach Me, Blacksmiths” (1984) (Ural Library series), published in Sverdlovsk and representing the most complete edition of tales, were published. The series “Tyumen. World Literature" published the book "Memory: Selected Works" (Tyumen, 2016), which includes the best tales and essays of the writer.

In 1988, the Kazan District Executive Committee of Tyumen Region established the Ivan Ermakov Literary Prize. The Central City Library of the village is named after the writer. Kazanskoe and one of the city libraries of Tyumen.

Лит.: Ермаковские перезвоны: сборник статьей преподавателей филологического факультета Тюменского государственного университета. Тюмень, 1996; Лагунов К. Я. Портреты без ретуши. Тюмень, 1994; Ольков Н. М. Иван Ермаков. Страницы биографии и творчества: к 90-летию со дня рождения И. М. Ермакова. Шадринск, 2012.

Избранная библиография И. М. Ермакова (Ермаков И. М. Авка слушает ветры: очерки. Свердловск, 1970; Ермаков И. М. Аврорин табачок: сказы. Свердловск, 1968; Ермаков И. М Атаманово подаренье: современные сибирские сказы. Новосибирск, 1964; Ермаков И. М. Богиня в шинели: сибирские сказы. Тюмень, 1962; Ермаков И. М. Володя-Солнышко: документальная повесть и рассказы. Свердловск, 1971; Ермаков И. М. Голубая стрекоза: сказ: [для сред. и старш. шк. возраста]. М., 1962; Ермаков И. М. Сергей да Василий: очерки. Свердловск, 1965; Ермаков И. М. Солдатские нескучалки: сказы. [Тюмень], 1964; Ермаков И. М Солдатские сказы : для старшего школьного возраста. Свердловск, 1978; Ермаков И. М Учите меня, кузнецы: сказы; составитель С. И. Ермакова; послесловие Н. А. Полозковой. Свердловск, 1984).

Based on the Presidential Library's materials:

Ермаков И. М. Сколкова бригада: сказ / И. М. Ермаков // Сибирские огни. 1956. №3, май-июнь. С.43–48 (Доступно в электронном читальном зале)

The article has been prepared by the Tyumen branch of the Presidential Library