Birth of Peter I. Zamoisky, Soviet author

13 (26) June 1896, in the village of Sobolevka, Chembarsky County, Penza Province in a peasant family, was born Peter Ivanovich Zamoyski (real name Zevalkin), a Soviet writer, one of the leaders of the Russian Alliance of Peasant Writers' Union (1926-1929).

Zamoyski attended the village school, was a shepherd, waiter in a restaurant of Penza merchant, N. Evstifeyev. From the provincial center Zamoyski went to the First World War, fought on the Austrian front, but after being seriously wounded in August 1916 was discharged. During the February Revolution of 1917 he was elected secretary of the Sobolev Agriculture Committee and then worked as a secretary at the Chembarsky County district council and chaired the committee to combat illiteracy.

At this post, Zamoyski helped to develop rural libraries, edited the county paper. From 1918 in local newspapers he had been publishing articles, pamphlets, and his first story, "Wealthy peasant and his children," writing plays. From Penza area the future writer went to Moscow, where he successfully graduated from the 1st model technical school, was admitted to the Supreme Literary Art Institute of V. Ya. Brusov, and then entered the literary department of the Moscow Institute.

Zamoyski's first book, "The rural true story" was published in 1924 in Moscow. That same year he became one of the leaders of the Russian Alliance of Peasant Writers' Union and was elected a member of the Moscow City Council. In 1926-1928, he was a member of the Editorial Board of "Millstone", and also worked as a member of the editorial committee of the "Federation" publishing house. In 1929 in the February issue of "Roman-Gazeta" was published his first book, "Bast shoes", on which Zamoyski had worked until 1936. This novel, created on the basis of the dramatic material of the Penza villages, put the name of the author in the front ranks of writers of Russia at that time. According to Zamoyski, the source for the novel "served mostly the way of life ... in the village of Sobolevka and the town of Chembar." In 1939 he published the novel "Shepherd boy," the first part of a trilogy about the village life in 1905-20.

During the Great Patriotic War Zamoyski lived in the village of Sobolevka, published his works in the regional newspaper, magazines, "Peasant Woman", "Red Army Man", "Red Navy Man”, worked on an autobiographical story "Youth", "Sunrise." During these years, the writer also made a series of miniatures for children. The works of Zamoyski analyzed methods of managing collective farms, satirically presented examples of thoughtless administration. His work, to some extent, paved the way for the "village prose" of the 1960s. In his works, the writer described a number of real historical figures, who were shown in a specific situation, the majority of events described by the author are supported by documents.

In 1946, for his literary works Zamoyski was awarded the Order of Labor Red Banner and medals. Many of his books, a total circulation of which was over 4 million copies, have been translated into languages of the peoples of USSR and foreign countries.

Peter Ivanovich Zamoyski died July 21, 1958, and was buried in the cemetery Vagankovsky. Up to the last days he kept in touch with fellow countrymen, kept up a correspondence, sent his books to the library. To commemorate him, one of the streets of Penza (formerly Pushkarskaya) was given his name.

Lit.: Егоров А. А. Пётр Замойский // Октябрь. 1958. № 5; Егоров А. А. Пётр Замойский и его творчество. М., 1964; Замойский Л. П. Слово об отце //Сура. 1996. № 3; Ревякин А. Литературная энциклопедия. Т. 4. М., 1930; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://feb-web.ru/feb/litenc/encyclop/le4/le4-3013.htm; Синеруков А. К. Автобиографический рассказ в творчестве Замойского // Художественное творчество и литературный процесс. Томск, 1983. С. 80–92; Страхов Н. И. Пётр Замойский: Жизнь. Время. Книги. М., 1976; Страхов Н. И. Пётр Замойский. Судьба. Творчество. Память. Пенза, 2001; Трегуб С. Пётр Замойский и его герои // Октябрь. 1966. № 4.

Соч.: Автобиографические рассказы. Пенза, 1956; Избранные произведения: В 2 т. М., 1973; Рассказы / Послесловие С. Трегуба. М., 1972; Собрание сочинений: В 4 т. М., 1959.