The writer of detective stories, relating himself to the "anti-totalitarian branch of Russian literature", is Friedrich Evseevich Neznansky. Years of life - 1932-2013. This article is about him.
What was he like? Mankind is deeply decent, challenging his totalitarianism and injustice. To the smallest detail, he represented the nature of both Soviet and Russian crime, he knew the bottlenecks of the judicial system.
His favorite quote was Kant's words, saying that without justice there is nothing left that adds value to human life. How relevant it sounds now!
Lawyer and writer
His desire to become a writer arose during his studies at the Moscow Law Institute. As a student, the future writer attended a literary seminar, where he learned to write little prose. The dream remained ... But Friedrich Neznansky came to literature, already having a solid work experience:
- investigator of the prosecutor's office of the Krasnodar Territory (1954-1957) and the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office - in 1960-1969;
- Attorney at the Metropolitan City Bar Association (1969-1977).
More precisely, Friedrich Neznansky began writing prose since 1969, while working in the Moscow prosecutor’s office. But that was just a breakdown of the pen ... Twenty years of professional legal activity of Friedrich Evseevich were surrounded by investigators, prosecutors and field investigators, who eventually turned into characters in his detective novels. The future writer wanted to create novels on topics professional, really important and relevant, but forbidden in the USSR.
Political detective about Russia from an emigrant writer
From September 27, 1977, Frederick Neznansky abruptly changed his life. The biography of the emigrant began its countdown for a 45-year-old man. He flew to permanent residence in the United States. Qualifications, erudition and knowledge of the language have done their job. The former Soviet metropolitan lawyer was also in demand on the other side of the Atlantic. He taught at American universities: Harvard, Columbia, New York. He worked hard. From his pen came 5 monographs relating to directive law of the USSR.
While in America, he writes the novels Red Square (1983) and Journalist for Brezhnev (1981) in collaboration with Eduard Topol. This is a bold prose, revealing the unpleasant nuances of Soviet politics. The writer works in the genre of political detective. Knowing the practice of falsification of criminal cases by Soviet law enforcement agencies, he paints a convincing picture of lawlessness Friedrich Evseevich Neznansky. He dared to recklessness and completely deprived of the "internal editor". He is not afraid, calling true names, to show when Soviet high politics turned out to be closely connected with dirty and low criminality. The latter, of course, was denied by Soviet propaganda.
Police detectives about Russian crime
In the future, Neznansky departed from co-authorship with Topol, starting independent work in the genre of a police detective story, invariably turning for real-life criminal practices of the USSR and Russia for stories. The writer reasonably departs from the canons of the Soviet police novel. He achieves a dynamic narrative.
In 1984, Neznansky wrote the novel "Fair in Sokolniki", in 1989 - "Notes of the investigator." Thus, Neznansky goes on to write books in the format of mass culture. He becomes successful in creating bestsellers. The writer's works are printed in large print runs in the USA, Germany, Britain, France, Japan.
Cycles of detectives that brought glory to Neznansky
The writer’s popularity was brought by the cycles of the novels “Mr. Lawyer” (31 books), “Turkish March” (116 books), “Gloria Agency” (26 books), “Winners Are Not Judged” (7 books), “Turkish Return” (25 books )
The series “Mr. Advocate” tells of the difficult work of a member of the Bar Association, Yuri Gordeev, who had previously served in the General Prosecutor's Office. This series of books captures the reader by the intricacies of corruption and intrigue present in the judicial world (bribery, blackmail, false acquittals and convictions, contract killings, “alibi of justice”). This series of novels tells about the side of the lawyer's activity that is hidden from prying eyes.
The series of books “Turetsky March” tells the story of Alexander Borisovich Turetsky, investigator for particularly important cases of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia. He is not entrusted with simple matters. This is the most beloved image of the writer Frederick Neznansky. He created it, consolidating his personal impressions of his most respected colleagues, with whom, as they say, he did the same job earlier: investigators of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Alexander Borisovich Turetsky, Yevgeny Sidorenko, other operatives and investigators, including people whose real surnames entered into the novels without proofs (meaning General Gryaznov).
The series of novels Gloria Agency is not without humor about investigations by the private detective agency of the same name, headed by Denis Gryaznov.
Filmography
The filmography of the writer is quite extensive. It all started fifteen years ago. According to the script of the novel “Fair in Sokolniki”, the film “Black Square” was made by director Yuri Moroz. The script, written by Friedrich Neznansky, gathered an excellent team of actors: Vasily Lanovoy, Vitaly Solomin, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Elena Yakovlev ... In a word, the first pancake turned out to be solid, without becoming lumpy.
However, the nationwide love for the author was brought by the Turetsky March series, where Alexander Domogarov played the role of investigator of the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office for especially important matters. The actor lived the life of his character Turetsky, giving his best as if playing Hamlet.
Friedrich Neznansky not once in an interview expressed his gratitude to the actor.
Relocation to Germany, death
In 1985, a successful writer admitted to the elite American writers club Edgar Allan Poe moved to live in Frankfurt. He is actively involved in politics, joining the NTS (People's Labor Union). Here Neznansky works at the publishing house of the newspaper Posev.
In 1986 he was awarded the "Man of Achievement".
Friedrich Evseevich died at the age of 80 in the small Bavarian alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The master of the modern detective, unfortunately, is no longer with us ...
Instead of a conclusion
Friedrich Evseevich Neznansky is a Russian writer with amazing productivity. In a year, 8-9 detective novels with a unique, non-repeating plot were often released from his pen.
The writer himself did not shroud his creative laboratory in secrecy. The professional vision of the hidden aspects of the surrounding reality, which was characteristic of the lawyer and the prosecutor, who has a great practice of investigations, was helped by the writer's skill. The information obtained by reading newspapers between the lines, sometimes gave him up to 70% of the plot! The insight of the master detective simply surprised. For example, he described in advance the situation of the State Emergency Committee in the novel “Pandora's Box”. Creating novels, Friedrich Neznansky selflessly worked (the photo below allows you to see it in your office).
The writer was able to extremely reliably describe the work of the investigator. His “Turkish March” is perhaps the best cycle of books that have been written now, telling about the real affairs of Russian law enforcement in the dashing 90s ...