Marshak S.Ya. - Russian poet, translator, playwright, screenwriter, literary critic, popular author of children's works. Thanks to easy rhyme and simple style, his books find a lively response among the growing generation, open up the facets of the world around them, and teach goodness and justice. The given list of Marshak's works for children includes various poetic genres: plays, poems, fairy tales, jokes, nursery rhymes, tongue twisters.

Bus number twenty six

The work is an alphabet with the names of animals from the letter “B” to “Z”. The animals are traveling on the bus, and some of them behave rudely and discourteously. The poem not only broadens the child’s horizons and teaches the alphabet, but also calls for compliance with the rules of conduct in public transport and mutual politeness.

Baggage

The satirical work “Baggage” is known and loved by many generations of readers. The poem tells the story of a lady who checked in, among other things, a small dog and received back a huge, angry dog. “The dog could have grown up during the journey!” - they tell the woman. The piece attracts children with the repeated refrain of the lady's luggage, making it easy to remember.

Large pocket

The work tells the story of a thrifty boy, Vanya, who puts everything he can get his hands on into his pocket: nuts, nails, an old faucet. The mother takes the baby to the nursery, but there are so many things there... The boy’s pocket turns into a suitcase, in which they find: a broken spoon, slippers, a pancake, a matryoshka doll, a canvas drum and much more.

A funny alphabet about everything in the world

The work will help the child learn the letters of the alphabet. A simple syllable and rhyme contribute to better memorization and assimilation of the alphabet. The poem broadens the child’s horizons, talks about animals, birds, plants, insects, natural phenomena, people and their activities, and much more. The book is suitable for first independent reading.

A fun journey from A to Z

Marshak in his work invites children on a journey through the alphabet. A fascinating journey along the lines of the ABC book will not only help your child remember letters and learn to read, but also get to know the world around him. The book is intended for reading by adults to preschool children. Thanks to the fun content, the learning process arouses interest in the child. The poem is suitable for the first independent reading.

Fun account

Marshak's work is intended to teach children how to count from 0 to 10. The poem presents stories about each number. Educational and fun text introduces children to the world around them and promotes quick memorization of numbers. The book is suitable for first independent reading.

War with the Dnieper

Marshak’s work “War with the Dnieper” tells children about the confrontation between man and the mighty river. The poem tells about the great construction work and powerful equipment being carried out on the Dnieper. The author extols the human mind, the strength of people, their desire to replenish the country's reserves with natural resources.

Volga and Vazuza

Marshak’s work “Volga and Vazuza” tells about the rivalry between 2 river sisters. They constantly argue about who is stronger, faster, more cunning, etc. And the rivers decided to run to the sea in the morning; whoever reaches it first is the main one. But Vazuza deceived her sister and set off on her journey earlier. The Volga caught up with its rival, she completely ran out of strength, and the two rivers united. Since then, Vazuza wakes up her sister every spring to make her way to the sea.

That's how absent-minded

The work tells about an absent-minded man living on Basseynaya Street. He finds himself in ridiculous situations, confusing things, household items, words in phrases. A simple trip from Leningrad to Moscow becomes a problem for a person. He goes to the station and spends 2 days in an uncoupled carriage, believing that he is on his way. The age of the work is approaching a century, but the expression “scattered from Basseynaya Street” still remains a household word.

To be afraid of grief - you won’t see happiness

The work “Fearing Grief - Not Seeing Happiness” tells about Grief-Misfortune, which traveled around the world, fraudulently passing from person to person. Having reached the king and ruined the state, Misfortune falls to the soldier, who refuses to deceive people and pass on misfortunes further. Grief tries to intimidate the servant with various troubles, but he does not give in to fears. By deception, the servant locks Misfortune in the snuffbox and returns to his bride Nastya. The snuff box subsequently remains with the greedy king, woodcutter and merchant, and Grief takes them to hell. The soldier and Nastya are getting married.

Twelve months

The work “Twelve Months” tells about a hardworking and sympathetic girl living with a cruel stepmother and her arrogant daughter. On a cold January evening, an evil woman sends her stepdaughter into the forest to get snowdrops and tells her not to return without them. In the bitter cold, she meets 12 months in the guise of people who decide to help the frozen girl, briefly switching roles. The stepdaughter returns home with flowers, but this is not enough for the stepmother and her daughter, they want richer gifts. The evil sister goes to the forest at 12 months, but behaves rudely and impolitely, for which she receives punishment - she is covered with snow. The stepmother is looking for her daughter, but she herself is freezing. A kind girl grows up, starts a family, lives happily ever after.

Kids in a cage

The work “Children in a Cage” is popular among preschool children. The book tells about the life of the Zoo and its inhabitants. The author talks about many animals: lions, kangaroos, crocodile, camel, elephant, hyena, bear, monkey and others. Cheerful quatrains are replaced by lines with sad and touching shades.

If you are polite

The work “If You Are Polite” teaches generally accepted rules of decency and behavior. A well-mannered person will give up his seat on public transport, help a disabled person, will not make noise in class, will not interrupt adults, will free his mother from household chores, will not be late, and so on. The poem teaches us to protect the weak, not to be timid in front of those who are stronger, and not to take other people’s things without asking.

Jafar's Ring

The tale tells of old Jafar, who moved with the help of porters. One day, on the way home from the market, the sage lost his ring. He asked his servants to look for the jewel, but they refused, arguing that this was not their responsibility. Then Jafar replied that in this case he would look for the ring himself and sat on the shoulders of the porters. The servants had to not only go in search of the jewel, but also carry the old sage on themselves.

The cat and the quitters

Marshak’s work “The Cat and the Idlers” tells about lazy people who went to the skating rink instead of school. And they met a cat, upset that they had not invented a school for animals, and at his age he was not taught either writing or literacy, and without them you would be lost in life. The slackers answered that they were already in their twelfth year, but they didn’t know how to do anything because they were too lazy to study. The cat was very surprised and replied that it was the first time he had met such lazy people.

furrier cat

The work tells the story of a dog who brings a sheep skin to a furrier cat and asks him to sew a hat. The dog regularly comes for the order, but it is still not ready. The dog realizes the deception and quarrels with the cat. Animals are judged. After this, the furrier runs away, taking all the furs with him. Since then, cats and dogs have not gotten along.

cat house

The work “Cat's House” tells the story of a rich cat living in a luxurious house. She receives guests, but denies food and shelter to her poor kitten nephews. One day a fire started in the house and it was impossible to save it: everything burned to the ground. The cat and the janitor cat Vasily ask for shelter from former guests. However, everyone refuses fire victims under various pretexts. The cat and her companion are helped by beggar kitten nephews. They live together all winter, and in the spring they build a new luxurious house.

All year round

Marshak’s work “All Year Round” tells the reader about the 12 months, their features and symptoms. The poem helps the child remember the seasons and learn to distinguish between them. By rereading the lines, the child will learn the months and their order. The book is recommended for reading by adults and children of preschool age. Suitable for first independent reading.

Master craftsman

The work tells the story of a boy who considers himself an excellent carpenter, but does not want to study. He decided to make a buffet, but could not handle the saw. I decided to make a stool, but I couldn’t handle the axe. I set about making a frame for the portrait, but only ruined the material. All that was left of the boards was a pile of wood chips for kindling the samovar. Eh, master craftsman!

Miller, boy and donkey

A comic fairy tale tells about people who, no matter how hard they try, cannot please public opinion. An old man rides a donkey, a boy walks next to him - people gossip that this is wrong. Then the miller makes room for his grandson, and he goes on foot. But even now people are unhappy - the young man is forcing the old man to go. Then the boy and the miller sit on the donkey together, but now the people feel sorry for the animal. As a result, the baby and grandfather walk, the donkey sits astride the miller. But even now the people do not let up: “The old donkey brings the young donkey!”

Mister Twister

The satirical poem "Mr. Twister" satirizes racism. The anti-bourgeois feuilleton tells about a wealthy banker who came with his family on vacation to the USSR. Mr. Twister, seeing a black man in the hotel, did not want to stay there any longer, and the family went to look for another place to stay, but to no avail. As a result, the doorman arranged for them to spend the night in the Swiss room, in the hallway on a chair and on the buffet counter. Twister dreams that he is not allowed back to America. In the morning, the family agrees to live in the 2 rooms offered, despite the presence of people of a different race as neighbors.

Why doesn't the month have a dress?

The work tells the story of a tailor's attempts to sew a dress for the month. However, the figure of the celestial body was constantly changing: now it became a full moon, now a crescent, now a thin sickle. The tailor had to take measurements again and alter the clothes several times, but as a result he gave up and recommended staying without a dress for a month.

First day of the calendar

Marshak’s work “The First Day of the Calendar” talks about September 1st. The author describes the first day of school after the summer holidays, when children from different countries, cities, villages, villages, auls, and kishlaks go to school. For some of the guys it is in the mountains or on the seashore, for others it is among fields or in large populated areas. All the girls and boys are in a hurry to start the new school year.

Fire

The work “Fire” talks about the complex and hard work of firefighters who are always ready to fight fire. Events in the poem develop rapidly: mother goes to the market, Helen opens the stove door, and flames burst into the apartment. The brave and kind fireman Kuzma selflessly fights the fire and saves a girl and a cat.

Mail

The work “Mail” tells about the work of postmen, about a registered letter that flew around the world for its recipient. The poem tells children about the joy of people receiving long-awaited news, about the time when a man with a “thick bag on his shoulder” delivered mail from house to house and was practically the only link between populated areas.

The Adventures of Cipollino

The work tells about the cheerful Cipollino, his homeland, where lemons, oranges, mangoes and other fruits ripen. The onion boy tells about his origin and relatives: grandfather Cipollone, father, brothers and sisters. Cipollino's family lives in poverty, and he goes in search of a better life.

About two neighbors

The work tells the story of a beggar who asks his neighbor for a donkey so he can go to the market. At this time, the cry of an animal is heard from the barn, but the rich man continues to deceive the poor man. The beggar leaves with nothing, but on the way home he sees a neighbor's sheep that has strayed from the herd. He hides the animal in his home. Now the poor neighbor is deceiving the rich man who came for the ram.

Poodle

Marshak's funny poem "Poodle" tells about an old woman and her funny dog. Reading the adventures of the heroes, it is impossible not to laugh: either a poodle climbs into a cupboard, then the owner loses him and searches for 14 days, while he runs behind her, then a chicken pecks the dog on the nose, then he wraps the whole apartment, grandma and the cat in a ball. thread And one day the old woman decided that the dog had died and ran for the doctors, but he turned out to be alive and unharmed.

A story about an unknown hero

The work tells about the search for a young man who saved a girl from a fire and wished to remain anonymous. He passed a burning house on a tram and saw the silhouette of a child in the window. Jumping out of the carriage, the guy reached the burning apartment through a drainpipe. Arriving firefighters could not find the child, but the hero came out of the gate with the girl in his arms, gave her to her mother, jumped on the tram's footboard and disappeared around the corner. The reason for writing the poem was a similar case of a citizen saving a woman from a fire in 1936.

The Tale of a Stupid Mouse

The work tells about a mouse who could not lull the little mouse to sleep. The baby did not like her voice, and he asked to look for a nanny for him. However, no one's lullaby pleased him: not a duck, not a toad, not a horse, not a chicken, not a pike. And only the mouse liked the sweet voice of the cat. The mother returned, but the stupid baby was not on the bed...

The Tale of a Smart Mouse

The work is a continuation of the sad “Tale of a Stupid Mouse”. The cat takes the baby out of the hole and wants to play, but he runs away from the predator into a hole in the fence. There, a new danger awaits the mouse - a ferret. But the baby deceives him and hides under an old stump. On the way home, the mouse encounters a hedgehog and an owl, but he manages to outwit them all and return unharmed to his mom, dad, brothers and sisters.

Tale about a goat

A fairy tale-play in 2 acts tells about a goat helping a woman and grandfather on the farm. A kind animal cooks food, lights the stove, chops wood, brings water, and spins yarn. While the grandfather and woman were resting, the goat went into the forest to pick mushrooms, and 7 wolves attacked him. The animal was afraid that the old people would disappear without it, and began to desperately defend itself. At this time, the grandfather and woman went to look for an assistant and scared off the predatory flock with shouts. The old people are happy that the goat is alive and well, and he promises to bake them a mushroom pie.

Old woman, close the door!

The comic work tells about a stupid argument between an old man and an old woman about who will close the door. They decide that whoever speaks first will do it. It's midnight and the door is still open. Strangers entered the dark house, took away the food the old woman had prepared, and the grandfather’s tobacco, but they did not object, fearing to argue with each other.

Quiet fairy tale

In the work “A Quiet Tale,” the author talks about the quiet life of a family of hedgehogs. They were very quiet, walking through the forest at night while the other inhabitants were sleeping peacefully. However, two wolves cannot sleep and attack the family. The needles reliably protect the hedgehogs, and the evil predators retreat. The family quietly returns home.

Teremok

Marshak in his play “Teremok” slightly changes the traditional fairy tale plot, contrasting the peaceful inhabitants of the house with aggressive forest inhabitants - the Bear, the Fox, the Wolf. The story tells of weak, but friendly and brave friends who managed to repel evil predators. The aggressors are left with nothing and run away back into the forest, while the frog, mouse, hedgehog, and cockerel remain happily living in the little house.

Ugomon

The work tells about the older brother of peaceful sleep - Ugomon. He calms those who do not want to go to bed, make noise and disturb others. Ugomon visits trolleybus and tram depots, pavements, forests, trains, ships, and airplanes. And he even manages to put baby Anton to sleep. But not only does Ugomon come at night, he is also indispensable at school to calm noisy students.

Mustachioed - Striped

The touching story “Mustachioed and Striped” tells about a girl caring for a kitten like a child who does not want to bathe, sleep in a crib, or learn to read. The work combines poetry and prose; word play attracts young readers. Next to a stupid kitten, children feel big and smart.

Smart things

The comedy fairy tale “Smart Things” tells the story of a trading shop where an old man sold outlandish items: a self-assembled tablecloth, an invisible hat, running boots, and so on. One day, a kind and honest musician liked a pipe and a mirror, but he had no money. The seller of the outlandish shop gave him the items for free with the condition of returning them in a year. However, the musician was deceived by a greedy merchant who took possession of his things and sent him to prison. However, smart objects did not serve the new owner and did not bring him any benefit. Good conquers evil: the musician was freed, and the greedy merchant was punished.

A good day

The poem "Nice Day" is about a boy who is happy that his dad has a day off and they will spend time together. Father and son make grandiose plans and then bring them to life: they go to a shooting range, a zoo, ride a pony, a car, a trolleybus, a subway, a tram. After an adventure, a tired boy and his dad return home with a bouquet of lilacs.

Six units

The work “Six Units” tells the story of a student who received 6 lowest marks for his answers in class: he called the baobab a bird, the hypotenuse a river, the zebra an insect, and, according to the boy, kangaroos grow in the garden bed. Upset parents send their son to bed. And the careless student had a dream in which his incorrect answers were embodied.

Popular poems

The poems of Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak will interest children in grades 1-2-3 and preschoolers.

• A, Be, Tse
• Artek
• White cat
• Grandma's favorites
• Drum and pipe
• Lamb
• Bye-bye, kids
• White page
• Vanka-Vstanka
• Giant
• Visiting the Queen
• In the underground
• Wolf and fox
• Meeting
• At the theater for children
• Where did you have lunch, sparrow?
• Two cats
• Ten Little Indians
• Orphanage
• Rain
• Doctor Faustus
• Friends and comrades
• Fools
• Greedy
• The hare wooed the fox
• Punctuation marks
• Captain
• Ship
• Kittens
• Who will find the ring?
• Who fell
• Blacksmith
• Moonlit evening
• Little fairies
• Bubble
• About boys and girls
• Why was the cat called a cat?
• What were the horses, hamsters and chickens talking about?
• Gloves
• Song about the Christmas tree
• Petya the parrot
• Piglets
• Adventure on the road
• The Adventures of Murzilka
• Signs
• About the hippopotamus
• Rainbow
• Rainbow-arc
• Talk
• Conversation with first class
• Robin-Bobin
• Robinson Crusoe
• Guinea pig
• The Tale of the King and the Soldier
• old lady
• Counting book
• Three wise men
• Three gifts
• Smart Vasya
• A Lesson in Politeness
• Fomka
• Round dance
• Brave men
• Four eyes
• Humpty Dumpty
• As a keepsake for the student
• I have seen

Translations of Marshak

Marshak is recognized as one of the best translators, thanks to his ability to preserve the richness of the Russian language, without changing the character of the foreign original.

• Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll
• Alice in the Wonderland. Lewis Carroll
• The Ballad of the Royal Sandwich. Alan Milne
• The house that Jack built. Jonathan Swift
• Heather honey. Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Lyrics. Robert Burns
• Fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm
• Fairy tales. Rudyard Kipling
• Sonnets. William Shakespeare
• Cold heart. Wilhelm Hauff

It was not by chance that the theme of children arose in Marshak’s work. By the will of fate and the tragic vicissitudes of the beginning of the century, he was continuously connected with helping children. Marshak was involved in charity work, worked in educational institutions, founded and edited children's magazines, and stood at the origins of the famous Detgiz, which published a lot of works for children.

The children immediately enjoyed reading the poems of Samuil Marshak. This was facilitated by the poet’s excellent ability to write poetry in simple language, observing meter and rhyme. Therefore, almost all of Marshak’s poems for children are not only easy to read, but also well remembered. These advantages of the poet's works are explained not only by his talent. Marshak was very demanding about children's works. He believed that children's poems and books should be works of high art. He even called short children's poems “Great literature for little ones.” At the same time, Marshak sought to avoid excessive moralizing and glossing over the actions of his heroes, with which children's works were overloaded before him.

Among Marshak’s most popular poems for children are such works as “The Cat’s House”, “He’s So Absent-Minded”, translated “Robin-Bobin”, “Humpty Dumpty” and “The House That Jack Built”. Translations of children's poems performed by Marshak often sound much better than in the original language. This once again shows how seriously the poet took even the work of translating short children's poems. It was this serious approach to work that made the poems of Samuil Marshak so popular and beloved.

Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (1887-1964) - Russian Soviet poet, playwright, translator, literary critic.

Winner of the Lenin Prize (1963) and 4 Stalin Prizes (1942, 1946, 1949, 1951).

Samuel Marshak was born on November 3, 1887 in Voronezh in the Chizhovka settlement, into a Jewish family. His father, Yakov Mironovich Marshak (1855-1924), worked as a foreman at a soap factory; mother - Evgenia Borisovna Gitelson - was a housewife. The surname “Marshak” is an abbreviation (Hebrew: מהרש"ק‏‎‎‎) meaning “Our teacher Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Kaydanover” and belongs to the descendants of this famous rabbi and Talmudist (1624-1676).

Samuel spent his early childhood and school years in the town of Ostrogozhsk near Voronezh. He studied in 1899-1906 at the Ostrogozh, 3rd St. Petersburg and Yalta gymnasiums. At the gymnasium, the literature teacher instilled a love for classical poetry, encouraged the future poet’s first literary experiments and considered him a child prodigy.

One of Marshak’s poetic notebooks fell into the hands of V.V. Stasov, a famous Russian critic and art critic, who took an active part in the fate of the young man. With the help of Stasov, Samuil moves to St. Petersburg and studies at one of the best gymnasiums. He spends whole days in the public library where Stasov worked.

In 1904, at Stasov’s house, Marshak met Maxim Gorky, who showed great interest in him and invited him to his dacha in Yalta, where Marshak lived in 1904-1906. He began publishing in 1907, publishing the collection “The Zionids,” dedicated to Jewish themes; one of the poems was written on the death of Theodor Herzl. At the same time, he translated several poems by Chaim Nachman Bialik from Yiddish and Hebrew.

When Gorky's family was forced to leave Crimea due to repression by the tsarist government after the 1905 revolution, Marshak returned to St. Petersburg, where his father, who worked at a factory behind the Nevskaya Zastava, had by that time moved.

In 1911, Samuel Marshak, together with his friend, the poet Yakov Godin, and a group of Jewish youth made a long journey through the Middle East: from Odessa they sailed by ship, heading to the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean - Turkey, Greece, Syria and Palestine. Marshak went there as a correspondent for the St. Petersburg General Newspaper and the Blue Journal. The lyrical poems inspired by this trip are among the most successful in the work of the young Marshak (“We lived in a camp in a tent…” and others).

On this trip, Marshak met Sofia Mikhailovna Milvidskaya (1889-1953), with whom they married soon after their return. At the end of September 1912, the newlyweds went to England. There Marshak studied first at the Polytechnic, then at the University of London (1912-1914). During the holidays, he traveled a lot on foot around England, listening to English folk songs. Even then he began working on translations of English ballads, which later made him famous.

In 1914, Marshak returned to his homeland, worked in the provinces, and published his translations in the journals “Northern Notes” and “Russian Thought”. During the war years he was involved in helping refugee children.

In 1915, he lived with his family in Finland in the natural sanatorium of Dr. Lübeck.

In 1918, he lived in Petrozavodsk, worked in the Olonets provincial department of public education, then fled to the South - to Yekaterinodar, where he collaborated in the newspaper “Morning of the South” under the pseudonym “Doctor Fricken”. He published poems and anti-Bolshevik feuilletons there.

In 1919 he published (under the pseudonym “Doctor Fricken”) the first collection “Satires and Epigrams”.

In 1920, while living in Yekaterinodar, Marshak organized a complex of cultural institutions for children there, in particular, he created one of the first children's theaters in Russia and wrote plays for it. In 1923, he published his first poetic children's books (“The House That Jack Built,” “Children in a Cage,” “The Tale of the Stupid Mouse”). He is the founder and first head of the English language department of the Kuban Polytechnic Institute (now Kuban State Technological University).

In 1922, Marshak moved to Petrograd, together with folklorist Olga Kapitsa, he headed the studio of children's writers at the Institute of Preschool Education of the People's Commissariat for Education, organized (1923) the children's magazine "Sparrow" (in 1924-1925 - "New Robinson"), where among Others published were such masters of literature as B. S. Zhitkov, V. V. Bianki, E. L. Schwartz. For several years, Marshak also headed the Leningrad edition of Detgiz, Lengosizdat, and the Molodaya Gvardiya publishing house. He was associated with the magazine “Chizh”. He led the “Literary Circle” (at the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers). In 1934, at the First Congress of Soviet Writers, S. Ya. Marshak made a report on children's literature and was elected a member of the board of the USSR Writers' Union. In 1939-1947 he was a deputy of the Moscow City Council of Workers' Deputies.

In 1937, the children's publishing house created by Marshak in Leningrad was destroyed, its students were repressed at different times - in 1941 A. I. Vvedensky, in 1937 N. M. Oleinikov, in 1938 N. A. Zabolotsky, in 1937 T. G. was arrested . Gabbe, Kharms was arrested in 1942. Many have been fired. In 1938, Marshak moved to Moscow.

During the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940) he wrote for the newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland.”

During the Great Patriotic War, the writer actively worked in the genre of satire, publishing poems in Pravda and creating posters in collaboration with the Kukryniksy. Actively contributed to fundraising for the Defense Fund.

In 1960, Marshak published the autobiographical story “At the Beginning of Life”, in 1961 - “Education with Words” (a collection of articles and notes on poetic craft).

Almost throughout his literary career (more than 50 years), Marshak continued to write both poetic feuilletons and serious, “adult” lyrics. In 1962, he published the collection “Selected Lyrics”; He also owns a separately selected cycle “Lyrical Epigrams”.

In addition, Marshak is the author of classic translations of sonnets by William Shakespeare, songs and ballads of Robert Burns, poems by William Blake, W. Wordsworth, J. Keats, R. Kipling, E. Lear, A. A. Milne, J. Austin, Hovhannes Tumanyan, as well as works of Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Armenian and other poets. He also translated poems by Mao Zedong.

Marshak's books have been translated into many languages ​​of the world. For his translations from Robert Burns, Marshak was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Scotland.

Marshak stood up for Brodsky and Solzhenitsyn several times. From the first he demanded “to quickly get translations of texts on Lenfilm”; for the second he stood up for Tvardovsky, demanding that his works be published in the magazine “New World”. His last literary secretary was V.V. Pozner.

Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak died on July 4, 1964 in Moscow. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 2).

Family
In 1915, the Marshak family suffered a misfortune: in Ostrogozhsk, their daughter Nathanael (born in 1914 in England) died from burns after knocking over a samovar with boiling water.

The eldest son Immanuel (1917-1977), Soviet physicist, winner of the Stalin Prize of the third degree (1947) for developing a method of aerial photography, as well as a translator (in particular, he owns the Russian translation of Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”).
Grandson - Yakov Immanuelevich Marshak (b. 1946), narcologist.
The youngest son Yakov (1925-1946) died of tuberculosis.
Sister Leah (ps. Elena Ilyina) (1901-1964), writer.
Brother Ilya (ps. M. Ilyin; 1896-1953), writer, one of the founders of Soviet popular science literature.

According to Korney Chukovsky, poetry for Marshak was “a passion, even an obsession.” Marshak not only wrote poetry for children and adults, but also translated poets from different countries, participated in the creation of one of the first children's theaters in the Soviet Union and the first publishing house for children.

“I started writing poetry even before I learned to write”

Samuil Marshak was born in 1887 in Voronezh. The family moved several times, and in 1900 they settled in Ostrogozhsk for a long time. Here Marshak entered the gymnasium, and here he began to write his first works. “I started writing poetry even before I learned to write”, - the poet recalled. Fascinated by ancient Roman and Greek poetry, Marshak, already in the junior classes of the gymnasium, translated Horace’s poem “In Whom is Salvation.”

When the father of the future poet, Yakov Marshak, found work in St. Petersburg, the whole family moved to the capital. Only Samuel Marshak and his younger brother remained in Ostrogozhsk: their Jewish origin could prevent them from entering the capital’s gymnasium. Marshak came to his parents for the holidays. During one of his visits, he accidentally met Vladimir Stasov, a famous critic and art critic. Stasov helped the future poet transfer to the St. Petersburg gymnasium - one of the few where, after the education reform, ancient languages ​​were taught.

While visiting Stasov, Samuil Marshak met the creative intelligentsia of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg - composers and artists, writers and professors. In 1904, the critic introduced Marshak to Fyodor Chaliapin and Maxim Gorky. A month later, Gorky got him into the Yalta gymnasium: since moving to St. Petersburg, Samuil Marshak was often sick. The next year the young poet lived at the Peshkovs' dacha near Yalta. After the revolution of 1905, the writer’s family left Yalta abroad, and Marshak returned to St. Petersburg.

Samuel Marshak. 1962 Photo: aif.ru

Samuel Marshak. Photo: s-marshak.ru

Samuil Marshak with children. Photo: aif.ru

"Playground"

In 1911, Samuil Marshak traveled through Turkey, Greece, Syria, and Palestine. The poet traveled to the Mediterranean countries as a correspondent for the St. Petersburg publications “Vseobschaya Gazeta” and “Blue Journal”. Returning from the trip, he wrote a cycle of poems “Palestine”.

The open taverns are noisy,
The melodies of distant countries sound,
He goes, swinging, to the ancient city
Behind the caravan is a caravan.
But let the visions of mortal life
Covered up the past like smoke
Thousands of years remain unchanged
Your hills, Jerusalem!
And there will be slopes and valleys
Keep the memory of antiquity here,
When the last ruins
They will fall, swept away by centuries.

Samuel Marshak, excerpt from the poem “Jerusalem”

On the trip, Samuil Marshak met his future wife Sofia Milvidskaya. Soon after the wedding, the young couple went to England to study at the University of London.

“Perhaps the university library made me most familiar with English poetry. In the cramped rooms, completely lined with cabinets, overlooking the busy Thames, teeming with barges and steamships, I first learned what I later translated - Shakespeare's sonnets, poems by William Blake, Robert Burns, John Keats, Robert Browning, Kipling.

During the holidays they traveled around England, the poet studied English folklore and translated ballads. He wrote: “I translated not by order, but out of love - just as I wrote my own lyric poems”.

Samuil Marshak and Karpis Surenyan. Photo: krisphoto.ru

Writer Samuil Marshak, artist Pyotr Konchalovsky and actor Solomon Mikhoels. 1940 Photo: aif.ru

Samuil Marshak and Alexander Tvardovsky. Photo: smolensklib.ru

In 1914, Samuil Marshak returned to Russia. He published his translations in the journals “Northern Notes” and “Russian Thought”. During the war years, the family often moved from place to place, and after the revolution, the Marshaks settled in Ekaterinodar (today Krasnodar): the poet’s father served there.

In 1920, Krasnodar writers, artists and composers, among whom was Marshak, organized one of the first theaters for children in the country. Soon it turned into a “Children's Town” with a kindergarten, school, library and clubs.

“The curtain is opening. We are ready for Parsley to pull the children closer to him - to the screen. Samuil Yakovlevich - the main “responsible” for this moment - feels that the moment has come, that the children are about to rise and run to the screen and thereby disrupt the course of the action. And then he gets up and makes, attracting attention to himself, a mischievous gesture - they say, let's go closer, but quietly and silently. Parsley involves the children in a common game. All spectators and actors merge into one. The laughter is mighty, the children's imagination flares up. Everything is real! Everyone understands!”

Actress Anna Bogdanova

"Other Literature"

In the 1920s, Samuil Marshak and his family returned to St. Petersburg. Together with folklorist Olga Kapitsa, he headed the studio of children's writers at the Institute of Preschool Education. Marshak began writing his first poetic fairy tales - "Fire", "Mail", "The Tale of a Stupid Mouse" - and translating English children's folklore.

The poet became the de facto editor of one of the first Soviet magazines for children - “Sparrow” (later it became known as “New Robinson”). The magazine talked about nature, technical achievements of those years and offered young readers answers to many questions. The publication published a permanent column - “Wandering Photographer” by Boris Zhitkov, “Forest Newspaper” by Vitaly Bianki, “In the Laboratory of the “New Robinson” M. Ilyin (Ilya Marshak, who worked under a pseudonym). One of the first editorials said: “A fairy tale, fairies, elves and kings will not interest a modern child. He needs a different kind of literature - realistic literature, literature that draws its source from life, calling to life.". In the 30s, Samuil Marshak, together with Maxim Gorky, created the first Children's Literature Publishing House (Detizdat).

In 1938, the poet moved to Moscow. During the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, the poet collaborated with newspapers: he wrote epigrams and political pamphlets. For poetic captions to posters and cartoons in 1942, Samuil Marshak received the first Stalin Prize. Cover of Samuil Marshak’s book “Smart Things.” Artist Mai Miturich. Publishing house "Children's Literature". 1966

In the post-war years, books of his poems were published - “Military Mail”, “Fairy Tale”, an encyclopedia in verse “From A to Z”. Theaters for children staged performances based on Marshak’s works “Twelve Months,” “Cat’s House,” and “Smart Things.”

In the 1950s, Samuel Marshak traveled around England, he translated sonnets by William Shakespeare, poems by Rudyard Kipling, George Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and works by Alan Milne and Gianni Rodari. For his translation of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, Samuel Marshak received the title of honorary citizen of Scotland.

In 1963, Samuil Marshak’s last book, “Selected Lyrics,” was published. The writer died in Moscow in 1964. He is buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Great ones about poetry:

Poetry is like painting: some works will captivate you more if you look at them closely, and others if you move further away.

Small cutesy poems irritate the nerves more than the creaking of unoiled wheels.

The most valuable thing in life and in poetry is what has gone wrong.

Marina Tsvetaeva

Of all the arts, poetry is the most susceptible to the temptation to replace its own peculiar beauty with stolen splendors.

Humboldt V.

Poems are successful if they are created with spiritual clarity.

The writing of poetry is closer to worship than is usually believed.

If only you knew from what rubbish poems grow without shame... Like a dandelion on a fence, like burdocks and quinoa.

A. A. Akhmatova

Poetry is not only in verses: it is poured out everywhere, it is all around us. Look at these trees, at this sky - beauty and life emanate from everywhere, and where there is beauty and life, there is poetry.

I. S. Turgenev

For many people, writing poetry is a growing pain of the mind.

G. Lichtenberg

A beautiful verse is like a bow drawn through the sonorous fibers of our being. The poet makes our thoughts sing within us, not our own. By telling us about the woman he loves, he delightfully awakens in our souls our love and our sorrow. He's a magician. By understanding him, we become poets like him.

Where graceful poetry flows, there is no room for vanity.

Murasaki Shikibu

I turn to Russian versification. I think that over time we will turn to blank verse. There are too few rhymes in the Russian language. One calls the other. The flame inevitably drags the stone behind it. It is through feeling that art certainly emerges. Who is not tired of love and blood, difficult and wonderful, faithful and hypocritical, and so on.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

-...Are your poems good, tell me yourself?
- Monstrous! – Ivan suddenly said boldly and frankly.
- Do not write anymore! – the newcomer asked pleadingly.
- I promise and swear! - Ivan said solemnly...

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. "Master and Margarita"

We all write poetry; poets differ from others only in that they write in their words.

John Fowles. "The French Lieutenant's Mistress"

Every poem is a veil stretched over the edges of a few words. These words shine like stars, and because of them the poem exists.

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok

Ancient poets, unlike modern ones, rarely wrote more than a dozen poems during their long lives. This is understandable: they were all excellent magicians and did not like to waste themselves on trifles. Therefore, behind every poetic work of those times there is certainly hidden an entire Universe, filled with miracles - often dangerous for those who carelessly awaken the dozing lines.

Max Fry. "Chatty Dead"

I gave one of my clumsy hippopotamuses this heavenly tail:...

Mayakovsky! Your poems do not warm, do not excite, do not infect!
- My poems are not a stove, not a sea, and not a plague!

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky

Poems are our inner music, clothed in words, permeated with thin strings of meanings and dreams, and therefore, drive away the critics. They are just pathetic sippers of poetry. What can a critic say about the depths of your soul? Don't let his vulgar groping hands in there. Let poetry seem to him like an absurd moo, a chaotic pile-up of words. For us, this is a song of freedom from a boring mind, a glorious song sounding on the snow-white slopes of our amazing soul.

Boris Krieger. "A Thousand Lives"

Poems are the thrill of the heart, the excitement of the soul and tears. And tears are nothing more than pure poetry that has rejected the word.