The works of Vladimir Popov touch on the theme of the working class. Who can better tell about the work of steelworkers, if not the person who dealt with hot metal? He has come a long way - from a laborer at an open-hearth furnace to an engineer at a metallurgical plant. The difficulties, problems and concerns of the workers, their character and dedication, courage and steadfastness - Vladimir Popov revealed their soul in his novels.
Author Biography
Popov Vladimir Fedorovich was born on July 28, 1907 in Kharkov in the family of an employee. After school, he worked as an auxiliary worker in the open-hearth workshop. In 1938 he graduated from the correspondence department of an industrial institute in Donetsk. He worked at the Yenakiyevo Metallurgical Plant as the deputy head of the workshop and during the Second World War he was evacuated along with the plant to the Urals.
After the war, Vladimir Popov (photo above) began to write novels and essays on production topics, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Since 1975, he was a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR and lived in Moscow. His wife Elena Yakovlevna is a screenwriter and playwright.
Steel and Slag
The novel "Steel and Slag" was founded by the author on his own life experience. In the early days of the war, a third of the workers went to the front and had to work for two. The war rolled closer and closer. Increasingly, trains with evacuated plants passed through the city. But the metallurgy has worked so far. The directors were worried that there was not enough metal for ammunition. These problems, the heroism of those days, are raised in his work by Vladimir Popov.
The biography (photo above) of the author clearly shows that he himself went through these tests and therefore managed to clearly and truly reveal the characters of his heroes. Search and solution of production problems in difficult times for the country - reserves were launched, the turn came to ore dust. For decades, it was compressed in dumps, dust was sintered at the sinter plant and again sent to the furnace. Children and women collected ore in dumps and scrap metal around the city.
Save the factory
The plant was prepared for work in wartime conditions. Enemy aircraft increasingly raided; steel was melted under shelling and bombing. In September 1941, the front approached so much that the plant was forced to evacuate. In the work, Popov described the movement of a metallurgical plant beyond the Urals and workers who worked hard to save the plant. On the partisan activities of those who remained in the occupied territory.
Vladimir Popov tells about the heroic struggle of metallurgists with fascist invaders in this work. At the same time, the writer seeks to find and raise a production problem that is significant and understandable to the reader. The author was always interested in large, whole people - in the novel he emphasized the importance of the party and its role in overcoming difficulties. The work was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949. Later, the continuation of the novel Steel Boiled appeared.
Torn circle
The evacuation of the plant to the Urals, work and return to the post-war Donbass - all this was embodied in the novel "Steel and Slag". The labor and patriotic feats of the Donetsk metallurgists were adequately reflected in it. This novel and its continuation, “Boiling Steel,” determined Vladimir Popov's place in the literary system - he remained true to his theme.
Later he wrote works, the names of which speak for themselves - they confirm the author’s deep creative affection for the production processes and problems of that time. He collects material for his works directly at the factory - meets with workers, oversees industrial processes. In the second novel, Broken Circle, the conflict is connected with a production problem: the plant’s team is fighting for a new technology that increases tire strength.
The novel is not limited only to this side of the conflict, Vladimir Popov reveals the characters and beliefs of his heroes vividly and variedly. In the person of the protagonist, the director of the plant, the author shows a real communist, a person with genuine state thinking.
Today and tomorrow
“And this is called everyday life” - the novel shows the relationship of party leaders and business executives, workers and engineers. Here are working days, full of struggle and drama for new technologies. The novel also reveals the moral problems that occur in human souls. Awarded the First Prize for the best work of the working class.
In one of her articles, journalist Natalya Haraboz wrote about how Vladimir Popov came to them to the newspaper’s editorial office and how the film was shot based on the book “And This Is Called Everyday Life”. There was a festive demonstration in Mariupol. They stood and admired the bright procession. Here came the column. Ahead, as always, were the standard-bearers and leading men.
They would never have paid attention to a tall young man in a crowd of demonstrators if a girl with huge brown eyes had not run out onto the road. She took the young man's arm and they marched on. But their faces seemed familiar. At that time, the demonstrators heard the sound of movie cameras and realized that the film was being shot.
They also learned from filmmakers that they are filming an episode from a film based on a novel by Vladimir Popov. And the young artists, none other than Alexander Mikhailov and the popular Valentina Malyavina. The film is called Today and Tomorrow. The plot focuses on the relationship of the director of the Kadyshev plant with the team and the problem of ecology.
Other works of the author
- “You will gain in battle”;
- "Quiet backwater";
- “The Test of Fire” (short story);
- "Romantic profession" (essay).