Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva is a Soviet and Russian writer. Poetess, artist and screenwriter. She is best known for her books The Adventures of the Yellow Suitcase, Patchwork and the Cloud. And a big cycle about the adventures of Snow White. The biography of Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva, her personal life, family and work are in this article.
early years
Sofya Leonidovna Feinberg was born on May 14, 1928 in Moscow in the family of the artist, poet and art critic Leonid Evgenievich Feinberg. Sophia's mother died shortly after the birth of her daughter. The father remarried Vera Markova, a poetess and translator from Japanese, who became a real friend and mentor for little Sonya and her older brother Seryozha. Not only her father and stepmother, but the whole family of Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva was very creative and talented: her uncle and aunt were famous pianists Samuel Feinberg and Bella Maygur, his brother subsequently became known by the name of Severtsev, becoming a poet and translator. And, besides, such celebrities as Maximilian Voloshin and Marina Tsvetaeva, father’s best friends, constantly visited the house.
Of course, in such an environment, Sophia began to write poetry at school. Her first poetic cycle, entitled "Ancient Poems," was completed when the girl was barely 15 years old. Through Tsvetaeva, the collection reached Pasternak, and he very highly appreciated the work of the young poetess.
However, the girl showed great interest in drawing - in particular, for illustrations, so she decided not to go to a literary, but to an art university. She became a student of the graphic department at the Surikov Institute, where she studied on the course of Boris Dekhterev, the chief artist of Detgiz. The graduation work of the future children's writer Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva began to illustrate the poems of Samuel Yakovlevich Marshak - even as a graphic artist, she was closely associated with children's literature. By the way, Marshak really liked the drawings of Prokofieva, and the book was published. After that, Sofia Leonidovna worked for several years as an illustrator, not even suspecting that this was not the main path of her life.
Literary work
Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva wrote the first fairy tales for her son Seryozha, who was born in 1954. She did not write them for publication, but everyone who heard them reiterated with one voice - that other children should also hear! In 1957, Prokofieva gave up and took to the editorial office her poetic tale, "Who is better?" The book was published the same year, receiving high reviews from colleagues in children's literature. Especially praised the beginning writer Lev Kassil, whom Prokofiev subsequently called her first literary mentor. In the same year, the book "The Wizard's Apprentice", which became the first in the big cycle "Lord of the Magic Keys," was released.
The real success came to Sofya Leonidovna in 1965, when she released her book "The Adventures of the Yellow Suitcase". The book immediately interested a wide audience of readers, and after the film adaptation in 1970, it completely became the handbook of every child. But the writer herself was more inclined to fairy tales in the medieval style - she liked to transfer on paper her fantasy world of princesses, knights, wizards and kings. But such literature was not to the liking of censorship, and for the writer came decades of rare editions and small print runs.
In the 80s, some books by Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva were revered even for rarity - the children dreamed of receiving a treasured book of “other” fairy tales as gifts, in which pioneers do not appear, and actions unfold in unexpected places and times.
From the late 90s to 2010, Prokofieva wrote a huge cycle of fairy tales about the adventures of Snow White, one of the most popular in modern children's literature. Reading new stories about the long-known Snow White, the children received real pleasure, comparing it even with the main children's hit of the present - Harry Potter.
In 2001, the Antique Cycle collection was released - the very one that Sofya Leonidovna wrote as early as 15 years old, and the verses from which Pasternak himself quoted. In the preface to the publication, the following words were written:
The last book of the silver age, lost in our iron.
Despite his advanced years, the life of Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva, who, for a second, turned 90 this year, continues. She does not cease to write new and recycle old works, she is engaged in translations and meets with children - her fans and future writers or poets.
Personal life
The first husband of Sofya Leonidovna was Oleg Prokofiev, a famous artist and son of the great composer Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev. They married in the early 50s, and in 1954, the couple gave birth to a son, Sergei. The boy, like his mother, father and grandfather, at first was also fond of painting, but later became interested in mystical science - anthroposophy - and devoted his life to studying it. He passed away in 2014. Sofya Leonidovna and her son are presented below in the article.
Sofya Leonidovna and Oleg Sergeyevich divorced in the late 50s, and already in 1960 the writer became the wife of Viktor Viktorovich Bely, the scientist and son of the composer Viktor Arkadyevich Bely. However, the writer decided to leave the name of Prokofiev forever - because the reader already recognized her under her name. In 1962, Sophia and Victor had a daughter, Maria. She followed in the footsteps of her father and is currently a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences.
The cycle "Lord of the magic keys"
This cycle, consisting of five books, began with one of the first works of Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva - with "The Apprentice of the Wizard". The magician Aleshka and his cat, Vaska, were so fond of little readers that they literally overwhelmed the writer with letters asking them to continue. Twenty years later, in 1977, Prokofieva wrote a sequel - and thereby laid the foundation for a whole cycle. It was the book "Captain's Island". Behind her, in 1985, the book “Eye and Crystal Key” was published, in 1989 - “Astrel and the Keeper of the Forest”, and in 1992 - “Princess Wenny”.
"The Adventures of the Yellow Case"
Initially, this iconic book was released under the name Green Pill in 1964. The plot was based on a case from the biography of Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva - she rode on the train, carrying manuscripts in a brand new yellow leather case. A medical scientist rode in the compartment with the writer, and, imagine, he was carrying devices in the exact same yellow suitcase. He went out earlier and almost took Prokofieva's suitcase with him. And Sofya Leonidovna began to fantasize - and what would happen if the suitcases were really messed up - so the legendary book appeared. In 1965, the "Green Pill" with a slightly changed plot was re-released already under the familiar name. And in 2000, unexpectedly for everyone, Prokofieva filled the counters with a sequel - a book called "The New Adventures of the Yellow Suitcase" or "The Magic Pill."
"Patchwork and the Cloud"
Another cult work by Sofya Leonidovna Prokofieva was published in 1972 and became one of the few tales of the time that managed to go through censorship. This book, written in the best traditions of Yuri Olesha, tells the story of a girl named Patchwork who made friends with a real heavenly Cloud. As in The Three Fat Men, in this tale there is an evil tyrant - King Fontanius, and there is an uprising organized by the common people. However, despite the plot similarity, the style of storytelling, the characters are completely original, and they have no analogues in any other fairy tale.
Snow White cycle
The largest cycle in the bibliography of Prokofieva, as mentioned above, is a collection of fairy tales about Snow White. The cycle includes as many as 18 books. The very first of them - "Snow White and Prince Theodore" - was written in 1997, and as a whole contains the plot of the original tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with some authorial revisions. All other books are completely copyrighted, and contain stories about Snow White meeting with the little Elf, the underwater kingdom, the cave of horrors, the Crystal Heart robot and the golden bee. The latest to date is the book Snow White and the Silver Hedgehog, released in 2011.
Sofya Leonidovna herself admitted more than once that in this cycle she was able to realize all her childhood fantasies on the theme of her beloved fairy-tale princess. Once again, reading the “Snow White” of the Grimm brothers, she began to come up with a continuation of this story. And only by the end of the 90s did the writer decide to write down these sequels.
Ghost Ring
This book, which Prokofiev wrote in 2012, was the first non-child work in the bibliography of the writer. The book came out with a bright mark "Russian fantasy" and was well received by already grown fans of children's books by Sofia Leonidovna. They were pleased to again encounter the beautiful syllable of the author, in which an adult and unexpected plot was now dressed.
Screen adaptations of works
In the 70-80s, three feature films were shot based on the works of Prokofieva.
The first was filmed "The Adventures of a Yellow Suitcase." At the international festival of children's cinema in Venice, the picture received a silver medal and an honorary diploma of the jury, and at the international film festival in Iran - a special prize from the children's panel of judges.
The second film - “While the Clock Strikes” - was released in 1976 and combined “The Tale of the Wind on a Windless Day” and “Glasastic and Crystal Key”.
The third film - “Without Witnesses” - turned out to be not childish and was staged by Nikita Mikhalkov in the play “Conversation without Witnesses” in 1983. This is a chamber film, which includes only two nameless heroes who do not leave their apartment throughout the entire action.
Animation
In addition to films, 13 cartoons were shot in scripts or based on the works of Sofia Prokofieva in the 60-80s. Among them: "Big Friend" (1968), "Cuckoo Clock" (1973), "Green Pill" (1974), "Patchwork and Cloud" (1977), "My Friend Traffic Light" (1978), "Masha no longer lazy "(1978)," Apprentice Wizard "(1983)," Magic Bells "(1987).
The most famous of them is "Masha is no longer a lazy person", thanks to the comical presentation of the plot by the animator director Lev Milchin.