Fazil Abdulovich Iskander

And what to hide - the conscience is tiring.

But, casting aside conscience,

man becomes an indefatigable animal.

Russian writer and poet. Born in the family of the former owner of a brick factory, a native of Iran, by origin - half Persian. In 1938, the father of the future writer was deported from the USSR, since then Fazil has not seen his father. He was brought up by relatives of an Abkhazian mother in the village of Dzhgerda. Graduate of the Russian school in Abkhazia, gold medalist. Literary Institute named after A. M. Gorky graduated in 1954.

In 1954 - 1956 he worked as a journalist in Kursk and Bryansk. In 1956, he became the editor of the Abkhaz branch of the State Publishing House, where he worked until the early 1990s. And from the beginning of the 1990s, he constantly lived in Moscow.

The first book of poems "Mountain Paths" was published in Sukhumi in 1957, in the late 1950s it began to be published in the magazine "Youth". He began writing prose in 1962. Fame came to the writer in 1966 after the publication of the story “Constellation of Kozlotur” in the Novy Mir.

Iskander's main books are written in a peculiar genre: the epic novel "Sandro from Chegem", the epic "Chik's Childhood", the story-parable "Rabbits and Boas", the essay-dialogue "Thinking about Russia and an American". Also popular are his novels and stories “A Man and His Surroundings”, “School Waltz, or the Energy of Shame”, “Poet”, “Human Parking”, “Sofichka”, “Remzik”, “Sea Scorpion”, “Childhood Tree”, “ The thirteenth feat of Hercules”, “Beginning”, “Rooster”, “The Story of the Sea”, “Grandfather” and other works. In 1979, he participated in the creation of the uncensored almanac "Metropol" (the story "The Little Giant of Big Sex"). Published in the publications "Literary Abkhazia", ​​" New world”, “Week” and a considerable number others. The plot of many of his works takes place in the village of Chegem, where the author spent a significant part of his childhood.

Among the significant poetic books of Fazil Iskander, readers and critics often include these publications: “The Kindness of the Earth”. (Sukhumi, 1959), Green Rain. (M., 1960), "Youth of the Sea". (M., 1964), "Dawns of the Earth". (M., 1966), "Summer Forest". (M., 1969, "The Way". (M., 1987), "Poems. (M., 1993).

Fazil Abdulovich repeatedly spoke in defense small peoples. In 1989, he was elected from the opposition forces consisting of 11 deputies from the Abkhaz ASSR to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 12th convocation. The election campaign was intensified, but Fazil Iskander won and worked as a deputy until the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council in 1991. In the future, he was no longer involved in politics. He delicately distanced himself from the first president of Abkhazia, Vladislav Ardzinba.

Iskander himself admired the poetry of Alexander Pushkin and Joseph Brodsky, the prose of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Ivan Turgenev.

Fazil's wife is the poet Antonina Khlebnikova (Iskander). Having celebrated the golden wedding, in the spring of 2011, Fazil and Antonina released a joint book of poems "Snow and Grapes". The couple raised a son and a daughter.

In 2011, on the day of his 82nd birthday, Fazil Iskander said: “I am definitely a Russian writer who glorified Abkhazia a lot. Unfortunately, I did not write anything in Abkhazian. The choice of Russian culture was unequivocal for me.”

Fazil Abdulovich died on July 31, 2016 in Peredelkino as a result of acute cardiovascular failure.

Awards and prizes:

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (September 29, 2004)

USSR State Prize (1989) - for the novel "Sandro from Chegem"

Pushkin Prize (1993)

State Prize Russian Federation (1994)

State Prize of the Russian Federation - for contribution to development domestic literature (2014)

Triumph Prize (1999)

Honorary Member Russian Academy arts

In honor of Fazil Iskander, the astronomer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Lyudmila Karachkina named the asteroid (5615) Iskander, discovered on August 4, 1983.

In 2009, the Bank of Abkhazia issued a commemorative silver coin from the series " Prominent figures Abkhazia”, with a denomination of 10 apsars, dedicated to Fazil Iskander.

Although Fazil was considered an Abkhazian, he also had Iranian blood, Persian, as they say. And he considered himself a Russian poet. And he knew the Russian language well, had a brilliant command of the Russian language, poetic rhymes.

And here's the stanza that stood out to me:

And let it be hot breathing in my face,

Throwing open the door,

A sheepdog will rush on my chest.

I am recognized. best gift

No need. Twisted cigar.

It's easy, I'm calm now.

What love! How freely this stanza was written. And I immediately realized that he was a real poet. And I undertook to edit his first book. She came out, in my opinion, in 1951-1952. It was a thin book, but charming...

Gradually, Fazil came to the novel or story "Sandro from Chegem" that made him famous. This is a brilliant satire, but an intertwining satire, a satire, perhaps, of Stalin's time, of Stalin's banquets in Ritsa, and at the same time - with a whole gallery of portraits of peasants, unique Caucasian types. He somehow became one of the embodiments of the diversity of the Caucasus.

And then one day he shocked me even more. He just sent me a manuscript, which was rather difficult to pass censorship. It was the novel "Rabbits and Boas". It was written like a fairy tale, well, even children could read it, and one could live with this book all one's life and, each time reading it again, as one grows older, each time one opens up new and new horizons... Because it was a novel against the cult of personality, against people born of the cult of personality, people who were either half rabbits or half boas. I mean, it was a wonderful piece of work. And I realized that this is a great work, universal. Here he entered the world literature. And so he remained. And this novel is recognized, translated into all civilized languages ​​and recognized throughout the world.

In memory of Fazil Iskander

There is a pre-life. And it's not instant.

We, Fazil, were embraced together by the Caucasus.

We are all human beings, we are all the same.

For we have a common Lord.

You and I are of the same coin.

Our sixties.

I flew to you from Chegem

from his waterfalls and widows.

And any of the vulgar politicians

in their noisy hoarseness,

worse than the simplest donkey,

honestly pulling a load on the ridge.

Don't make fake odes

in honor of the instigators never -

those who pit peoples

only enmity deserves a curse.

Fragments from an interview given to Alexander Gamov, Komsomolskaya Pravda

He really was a master of aphorism. We called one of our conversations with him a quote: “If there is nothing to cut the chains with, spit on them, maybe they will rust.” That must have been his philosophy. He was not an open fighter. He knew what the Soviet Union and its feasts of Belshazzar were. But he managed to say a lot even within those limits. He had practically only one book printed abroad - "Rabbits and Boas", which was not published in the USSR. And, of course, the full text of "Sandro from Chegem" was published by the Ardis publishing house, because several chapters were published in the Soviet version ...

He has remarks that not a single entertainer, even the great Zhvanetsky, would have come up with. In a chapter that was not published in Novy Mir, a certain cosmonaut suggested in a remote Abkhazian village to drink to "the Komsomol who raised us!" In response, the young owner, a simple peasant, “coming out of his stupor and acquiring the gift of speech, with an expression of painful guess, said in Abkhazian:“ Isn’t he stupid for an hour? “No, that’s how they are taught,” Uncle Sandro strictly corrected him in Abkhazian.”

This is a brilliant replica. If you read the books of Fazil Iskander, then you can find a lot of such masterpieces. His prose is close to people. She is not arrogant. She is not vicious. She is not offensive. There is no such thing as “Oh, horror! See what's going on in the world!" He understands what is happening in the world. But, nevertheless, according to Fazil, what kind of world there is, in such a world one must still live.

The only thing that can be done for him now is to take and re-read his books. All his books. Because he does not have passing or opportunistic things. You see, the last classic is gone. Shukshin, Aksyonov, Astafiev - he is in this row.

Evgeny Popov

Excerpts from an article in Rossiyskaya Gazeta

He had his own social utopia, which was brushed aside by many, considering Iskander's point of view to be 100% idealistic. Meanwhile, it is only traditionalist. It was based on two things traditional for the Caucasus. However, Iskander himself did not like talking about national character. He often repeated: “Why say “Caucasian”? Simply put: archaic.” The utopia was this: as in the Caucasus everything is decided by the elders, so in the administration of the state you just need to listen to the intellectuals. And when you look today at what Russia has become, having consistently ousted all intellectuals from power, you understand that Iskander's utopia is not at all naive.

I remember well how Iskander, who was invited to visit, argued with Yegor Yakovlev in the editorial office of Obshchaya Gazeta. Yakovlev reminded: remember your useless deputy, booing Sakharov, the complete collapse of dissidents who tried to at least write humane laws here. Iskander insisted: the state should be managed in the same way as a house. And in the house the elder and smart decide. I remember his then phrase: the situation of the gap between the intelligentsia and the authorities leads only to mutual irresponsibility. I don't know if it's too late to remember this advice today. Power is compromised in such a way that a decent person will not come close to it. Yes, they won't let him go. But at some point you have to start over again.

Fragments from the publication on the Sobesednik.ru website

Among my favorites for the Nobel Prize, Fazil Iskander shared first and second places with Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Ulitskaya still has a chance, and Iskander will no longer be given the prize, because this award is awarded only to the living. However, neither Chekhov, nor Leo Tolstoy, nor Nabokov, nor Akhmatova were also Nobel laureates. And what does this change in our attitude to their work? But Fazil Iskander looks very organic in this list. It will take a very long time to read. This is the ultimate writing award!

95 percent sincerity

"45th Parallel", No. 24, 1992

Fazil Abdulovich Iskander answers the questions of the Dostoevsky Questionnaire and Correspondent-45

- What is your favorite saying, aphorism?

This is a poetic line by Nazim Hikmet from "Prison Poems": "My head was the second person with me"...

- What do you value in people?

Kindness and benevolence.

- What do you not like?

I don't like a lot...

- What shortcomings do you tend to forgive?

The most excusable thing, in my opinion, is excessive gullibility.

- Do you think this is a disadvantage?

Yes, I consider this a disadvantage coming from a great dignity.

Why don't you forgive? - Before the break.

Deceit, treachery, duplicity.

- What is your favorite pastime?

Perhaps writing is my favorite pastime.

- What about entertainment?

Playing with a child. Chatting with friends over a bottle of good wine. Which is now so hard to get. How to make friends, however

- What do you value in men?

Three "M": wisdom, mercy, courage.

- And in women?

Much. But most of all, femininity.

- What is your attitude to marriage?

The hardest question. I believe that everyone can settle down as it is more convenient for him, but ... if there are children, then a family is necessary. The suffering of a child who does not understand where his mother or father is is unbearable suffering.

- Do you have a goal in life?

- There is. Ideal goal: through creativity to contribute to the harmony of the world, and at the usual level, to have enough time and domestic amenities to work calmly.

- What is happiness?

This is when there is no misfortune nearby.

- What about misfortune?

Unhappiness is what suppresses our state of harmony. Unhappiness suppresses our ability to fully express ourselves in creativity and in life.

- Were you happy?

Yes. Many times. It was due to a variety of circumstances. And most often - unaccountable happiness.

- Do you believe in fate?

It is difficult for me to answer this question. But there were some defining moments associated with creativity. Sometimes I kind of could “scaw” my fate. It happened that I wrote down something about my fate - just like a reflection of some inner anxiety. And I have a fear that these premonitions came true. Because they were recorded.

- So, if these things had not been recorded, then nothing would have happened?

It seems to me that it would not have happened… By some facts, I can judge this. But this is a far-reaching topic ... It is a sin, or maybe a secret pride, that I recorded this.

- In which historical era Would you like to live?

You know, I never seem to have had a temporary about and fantasy, so it's hard for me to imagine that I could live in another era.

- Was there a historical event that made the greatest impression on you?

Perhaps the greatest impression and influence was the 20th Congress.

- If you had the opportunity to benefit all of humanity?

I would try to make people become kinder and more straightforward.

- Did you have the temptation of another life?

Such a temptation has happened and happens quite often. But this does not mean that I cross out the way I lived. I do not belong to those people who believe: if I had to live again, I would have lived the same way. No I do not think so. There were mistakes.

- Main feature your character?

It's hard for me to judge this myself.

- What would you like to change in yourself?

It happens that the invasion of unnecessary, unpleasant people really interferes in work and in life. And I often do not have the firmness to fence myself off from them. But it probably can't be changed.

- If you didn't become Fazil Iskander, who would you like to become?

It is very difficult to answer this question. To be honest, I never thought about it.

- Do you believe that what you have done will remain?

I would like to believe.

- What is your attitude to death?

I wouldn't say good-natured.

What kind of death would you like to die?

Don't know. I think the best death is when least time leaves to think about its inevitability. I would also like death to be dignified and tidy.

- What is your relationship to God?

- Hard to say. In moments of inspiration, I understand that God exists. I tend to think that logically the existence of God is closer to the truth than His absence. But I can't say that I live by faith.

- Favorite literary characters?

Pushkinsky Savelich from " captain's daughter”, Pierre Bezukhov from “War and Peace”, Sir John Falstaff of Shakespeare ... These are the favorite characters that I remembered now ...

- Was there a person in your life who had the greatest influence on you?

Of course, many interesting people influenced me… But at my boyish age there was such Yura Shervashidze. He was much older and far more advanced than the rest of us. And I think that of all the people around me as a child, it was Yura who had the greatest influence on me.

- Do you believe in love at first sight?

I believe in the possibility of such love. But most often it lasts exactly as long as the look lasts.

Have you ever experienced miracles?

One miracle I can remember... I was a boy of about ten, and in the evening they sent me for vodka. And all the way I imagined a wad of money, and I looked intently at the road ... And at the very shop I found a wad of money ... Was it a miracle? I may be told that I was sent hundreds of times to the shop, and hundreds of times I wanted to find money, and all this coincided by chance. But I can't say that. It was at this moment that there was some kind of excitement, some kind of special state.

- Do you have a favorite memory?

There is, and not one. But I don't want to share...

- Circle of your communication?

- The circle of friends is rather narrow. By virtue of my profession as a writer, a lot of people constantly contact me, and I have to deal with them.

- What do you value in friends?

Most of all - both in friends and in people - I appreciate innocence and straightforwardness.

- What is your attitude to Dostoevsky?

The relationship is complex. I admire his incredibly penetrating mind, but as an artist with many disharmonious beginnings, he is not close to me. This is such an ambivalent relationship. Admiration for his incredible insight and gigantic mind, but if I want to get purely artistic pleasure, I read Pushkin or Tolstoy.

- What question would you like to ask yourself?

I ask myself a lot of questions. And most often like this: do I have slightest right be satisfied with yourself?

- How sincerely did you answer?

I guess sincerely. Ninety five percent.

Interview conducted by Valery Perevozchikov

Instead of a postscript

If you want to laugh at the shortcomings of the country, then the country can still recover. If you do not want to laugh at the shortcomings of the country, then it has already died. Don't laugh at the dead...

Illustrations:

portraits of Fazil Iskander of different years -

Valentin Sobolev, Robert Netelev, Valentin Kuzmin,

Alexander Sentsov and Alexander Chumichev,

Alexander Yakovlev, Grigory Sysoev and other masters;

"Entering the new millennium - hear the prophets of your Fatherland!" - this is the title of one of the recent articles about Iskander ("Democratic Choice", August 16, 2002). Perhaps Iskander will be unique in this as well. On the creative meetings it is difficult to get with him in Moscow, and in Sukhumi, and in New York, and in Munich. According to Iskander's books, performances are staged and films are made. The list of his prestigious awards speaks of the world recognition of the writer: Iskander awarded the order"For Merit to the Fatherland" II (2004) and III degree (1999), Order "Honor and Glory" I degree of Abkhazia (2002), State Prize USSR (1989), A.D. Sakharov "For Courage in Literature" (1991), the Pushkin Prize of the A. Tepfer Foundation (1992), the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993), the Golden Ostap Prize, Malaparti (Italy), "Moscow-Penne" (Italy, 1996), Fund "Znamya" (1997), "Boldino Autumn" (1998), "Triumph" (1998), the prize named after D. Gulia for achievements in the field of literature (Abkhazia, 2002), the commemorative medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Masterpieces of Russian literature of the twentieth century" for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian culture (2003).

Born March 6, 1929 in the city of Sukhumi (Abkhazia). Father - Iskander Abdul Ibragimovich, was expelled from the USSR to Iran in 1938, among other citizens of Persian origin, died in 1957. Mother - Misheliya Lely Khasanovna (1901-1980). Wife - Khlebnikova Antonina Mikhailovna. Daughter - Marina (born in 1962). Son - Alexander (born in 1983). Grandson - Eugene (born in 1993).

The life of every writer is embodied in his books. Fazil Iskander in this respect, as in many others, is a special case. The impossibility of fitting information about a unique personality into the traditional "questionnaire" form ("born ... studied ... published") is best conveyed by the words of Iskander himself: "This is true, but not accurate."

The Russian writer Fazil Iskander moved from Sukhumi to Moscow 40 years ago; Abkhazian Fazil Iskander writes his books in Russian. The artistic world of his prose is not only connected, but almost all fits in Abkhazia.

Iskander Abkhazia is an amazing region, where “little Babylon” Mukhus and the mountain village of Chegem are located between the sky and the sea. The type of artistic vision in which " small homeland"from an infinitely expensive, but provincial corner, becomes the focus of the truth about the world and the criterion for its evaluation, - one of artistic discoveries literature of the 20th century, when the author's "omniscience" became a convention. “It’s good for you,” one of my Moscow colleagues once told me, “you write about small people. And it's much harder for us. Try to describe a nation of millions.” “You are from the Smolensk region,” I replied, “so write as if all beginnings and ends converge in the Smolensk region” (“Sea of ​​Charm”). Having transformed Abkhazia into the center of the universe, the writer made the house of the sancta sanctorum of this world, and its inhabitants - relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, their descendants and ancestors - the heroes of his works.

The philosopher N. Berdyaev wrote that there is only one way to comprehend the secrets of history - the way of realizing "the deep identity between my historical destiny and the destiny of mankind." The "autobiography" of Iskander's books is the key to his personal fate and the fate of the world.

What was the writer's childhood like in a mountainous Abkhazian village and a Sukhumi courtyard, where nature and people, friends and enemies, joy and sorrow existed as a single integral world? In old Sukhumi, “little Babylon”, where Greeks, Turks and Persians lived among the local peoples from time immemorial, the writer’s father was well known: his family owned a brick factory, and a significant part of the houses in the city were built from Iskander bricks. This did not prevent him from being expelled by Stalin's order along with other descendants of former foreigners: “Perhaps they were too sluggish in growing into socialism” (“School Waltz, or Energy of Shame”).

On the maternal side, from generations of Abkhazian peasants, Iskander inherited "the secret of a peasant's love for his field" ("History of the Prayer Tree") and a holy sense of family, kinship, homeland. "Mother! - I shout through the abyss of incredible years, but the girl does not hear ... In this world that has forgotten about duty, about honor, about conscience, she steadily waged her great little war against the chaos of selfishness, alienation, desecration of the sacred God's gift– shame” (“The Big Day of the Big House”).

"Build again broken life building...” Iskander wrote many years ago in a free translation of Kipling’s ballad. He inherited this great energy of creation from his mother and father. And in 2002, he repeated: “When a person sees that he has created something, whether it be a vineyard, or a vegetable garden, or a thing, or a book, it inspires him with optimism. Creation is not only a means of some kind of enrichment, improvement of life. Creation improves mood” (Apsny-Press, July 18, 2003).

Fazil Iskander is a hereditary creator. It is no coincidence that the biography of the prose writer Iskander begins with the story "The First Case" (1956). Every person goes to school for the first time (“My First School Day”), learns to swim (“A Tale of the Sea”), uses a clock (“Time by the Clock”), or first encounters death, cruelty and lies in the adult world (“ Kindergarten"," Chica's feat). But in Iskander's prose there is no division into public and private life - each episode appears in the rank of an event, becomes a metaphor for being. This is how the famous Iskander aphorisms arise, combining the uniqueness of personal experience and eternity. folk wisdom: “When a person feels his beginning and his continuation, he more generously and more correctly disposes of his life and it is more difficult to rob him, because he does not keep all his wealth with him” (“Grandfather”).

This leitmotif has been heard in the work of Iskander since the first poetic publications in 1952: the largest master modern prose started out as a poet. And in every poetry collection (Mountain trails. Sukhumi, 1957; Kindness of the earth. Sukhumi, 1959; Green rain. M., 1960; Children of the Black Sea. Sukhumi, 1961; Youth of the sea. M., 1964; Dawns of the earth. M., 1966 ; Summer forest. M., 1969; Poems. M., 1993; Blackberry. M., 2001) images native land embody universal value acceptance of life - always unsuccessful and always beautiful: “... You are a person. But live! / And survive. And for many days / Live like this blackberry / Life squeezing out of stones! ("Blackberry").

The pathos of accepting the world develops in one of the main Iskander cycles, which are still ongoing - works about childhood. Already in early stories, included in the collections "Forbidden Fruit", "The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules" (1966), "The Tree of Childhood" (1970), "The First Case" (1972), "The Time of Happy Finds" (1973), combine the cheerful innocence of a child and wise sadness his adult counterpart, telling about the happy time of childhood in terrible time Stalinism. The cruelty of a beautiful life, initially revealed as a disharmonious note in the joyful symphony of childhood, in the work of the 1980-1990s - "Under the shadow of a walnut" (1979); "Protection of Chick" (1983); "Holiday waiting for the holiday" (1986); Chick's Childhood (1993, 1994); "The Plot of Existence" (1999); "School Waltz, or the Energy of Shame" (1999) - comprehended in social and philosophical terms. The strength to resist evil little hero, like all of Iskander's favorite characters, draws from personal experience and the wisdom of the ancestors: “It is like a snake and a man. In nature, snakes bite. It is in the nature of man to kill the snake. This is how they live for millennia and will continue to live” (“Chick's Feat”). A "childish" view of the world naturally reveals the absurdity of real life, whether it be everyday absurdities or state ideological madness. "Children's" faith in common sense, goodness and the infinity of life are analogous to the dual function of laughter (ridicule-affirmation) in folk laughter culture. Iskander's "Childhood Tree" has become an analogue of the folklore World Tree, connecting earth and heaven, the life of an individual and the fate of mankind.

The story of how the gold medalist of the Sukhumi school did not enter the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, offended by the words of the examiner: “It seems that your nation has a order”, and became a student at the State Library Institute, and then, realizing “that it is easier and more profitable to write books, what to do with the classification of strangers, ”moved to the Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky, is the plot of the story "The Beginning". In the same story, Iskander captured his first benevolently ironic impressions of Moscow, where from 1962 he was to live permanently. Words from this story: “I believe that in order to master good humor, one must reach extreme pessimism, look into the gloomy abyss, make sure that there is nothing there, and slowly return back. The trace left by this return path will be real humor ”- this is the invariable position of the writer Iskander.

The second, "thaw" half of the 1950s - the experience of working as a journalist and editor in "Bryansk Komsomolets", "Kurskaya Pravda", the Abkhaz State Publishing House - was embodied in the sparkling comedy of "Constellation of Kozlotur". But in this same text romantic plot acquaintance of the hero and the beautiful Russian woman: true story love of the writer and his future wife. The nonsense of the propaganda campaign presented in the story is resisted by life itself: the beauty of the Black Sea, youth and love. In the life of Iskander, this is the success of the first Moscow publications, and the joy of friendly communication in the unofficial shelter of the young and talented - the editors of Yunost, and the recognition of the "masters". “It is a great joy - the appearance of Fazil Iskander in prose,” wrote A.T. Tvardovsky, published the story in Novy Mir (1966) and even presented it twice for the USSR State Prize. Of course, they did not give a prize for a work about the tragicomic “goat tourism” of our life during the Khrushchev era and the “queen of the corn fields”. But thanks to the “Constellation of Kozlotur”, Iskander gained much more: nationwide fame, unfailing reader love and the realization that his “Abkhazian chronotope” - geographically localized space and “vertical time”, which accommodates millennia of the life of the people, has become an ideal art model civilization clashes with folk culture, "an archaic consciousness with a socialist consciousness" (P. Weil, A. Genis).

And in 1966, Sandro, the hero of the humorous epic Sandro from Chegem, appeared for the first time on the pages of the Week. The history of the creation and publication of the book, which Iskander writes all his life, is similar to the "History of the Prayer Tree" from the Chegem saga: this giant walnut keeps traces of centuries on its mighty trunk - from the tips of ancient arrows and hooks for sacrifice to traces of fire and an ax that remained since local activists tried to burn it "as a religious prejudice." "Sandro from Chegem" grew like a tree - nature's hint at the desired form of our soul, "which allows, holding tightly to the earth, boldly rise to heaven" ("The Tree of Childhood"). Separate chapters of this novel were published in periodicals in stories, united by the author's intention and immortal folk hero- the great toastmaster, a cheerful deceiver, a brave man and a rogue, a sage and the best dancer Sandro. The "tree" of the novel, mutilated by the censors in a 1973 publication (Noviy Mir, Nos. 8–11), survived like the prayer nut of the Chegemians. The American publishing house "Ardis" published the full text of "Sandro from Chegem" in 1979 and 1981. Domestic publications: "Sandro from Chegem". Novel: V 3 t. M., 1989; Same. In 2 vols. harmonization at the level of the mind, an attempt to overcome chaos” (“The Need for Purification”). Laughter in Iskander is a synonym for truth, the only legitimate way to improve the world. "Laughing Truth" arises on the verge of a collision of any stereotypes of consciousness with primary rationality and allows you to create even a fantastic "good version" of the fate of "peasant Stalin". “Humor is the fragments of a happy variant of life, stored in the great memory of mankind,” is eternal, and therefore it is able to see the tyrant from the standpoint of the people who survived him (and many other tyrants).

In the 1970s, Iskander created the socio-psychological novels The Sea Scorpion (published in 1977), Gloomy Youth Light (published in 1990) and Man's Parking Lot (published in 1992), which form a kind of triptych about the fate of an intellectual - a descendant of Chegem in the conditions of "stopped social time". The main metaphor of the story "Constellation of Kozlotur" becomes a symbol of the main experiment of the era: the creation of "homo soveticus", also a hybrid of "reasonable man" and "ideologized man" ("Ideologized man"). "Reduced Laughter", genre and style significantly distinguish the prose of the 1970s from the works of the previous period. But the pathos of accepting the world, which permeates the Chegem cycle and stories about childhood, does not disappear, although it is reduced to the extent that the connection between the heroes and the patriarchal system is weakened. moral culture. “Stopped time” is recreated by the writer as a painful moment of that eternity, which is the main coordinate of Iskander’s artistic world: “What can be done for the motherland when nothing can be done? Make yourself!” ("Human Parking").

Iskander confirms this by publishing in the uncensored almanac "Metropol" the story "The Little Giant of Big Sex" (published in the USA in 1979, at home - in 1991, 2001), signing numerous letters of protest, creating a philosophical humorous fairy tale "Rabbits and Boas" (published in the USA in 1982, for the first time at home - in 1988). "Rabbits and Boas" is a book about the nature of any power based on lies, violence and the unpreparedness of a person to "live the truth." The reader's allusions to the stages Soviet history- only the first semantic layer. The fairy tale was written for the sake of deliverance of the "ideologized man" of all times and peoples, at the same time the victim and the executioner, the rabbit and the boa constrictor. Travesty of the gospel story, dating back to ancient tradition sacred parody, connects in a philosophical parabola the stories of the Savior and the rabbit sage, affirming the enduring significance of the individual striving for truth.

The tale "Jamkhukh - the Son of a Deer" explores the same eternal problem: the fate of truth and its bearer in everyday life. But in this work, the functions of the archetype are not performed by biblical story, but an Abkhazian legend. The problem of the existence of truth in real life, the relationship of its bearer with the people and power comes to the fore, closely linking the content of the tale with the main problematic of Iskander's prose: overcoming the "idea of ​​the fullness of darkness."

After a long pause, caused by the anger of the authorities because of his participation in the Metropol, only in 1984-1985 did Iskander's new stories appear in periodicals. And when in 1986 the Znamya magazine publishes the stories Bartender Adgur and Chegemskaya Carmen, critics will persistently talk about a new stage in the writer’s work: new crime heroes, the soul has left Chegem - a folk ethic that has evolved over the centuries; the quality of laughter has changed - humor is replaced by hopeless sarcasm.

But the depth of feeling the power of darkness in Iskander was very great even in those ancient years, when the reading public and critics enthusiastically admired the unbridled gaiety of his prose. It is more accurate to speak about a change not in Iskander’s, but in our worldview: when the writer’s long-written works came out, we “discovered for ourselves ... bottomless depth, devoid of illusions of the anti-utopian sarcasm, from whose works only the top of the iceberg illuminated by the sun was known until now” ("Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung").

Fazil Iskander is one of the few "sixties" who survived the test of freedom of speech and the paradoxical crisis of "losing the enemy" - the totalitarian system without loss. Probably because for the “new Iskander”, the author of stories about war, love and creativity (“Pshada”, 1993; “Sofichka”, 1995; “Poet”, 1999), a novel in stories (“Man and his environs”, 1993) Eternal values of the former artistic world: light, house, family - remain essentially unchanged, although they cannot but experience the impact of the changing world, not for the better. “The time in which we stand” (“Sandro from Chegem”) is permeated with the energy of madness. But the “criminal type of consciousness”, which is reproduced over and over again in human history, belongs to temporary phenomena, like “Lenin yesterday” and “Lenin today” (“Lenin on the Amr”), like the energy of madmen that rules the world. True, the strength of this energy is such that one day it can irreparably destroy our temporary world. But that is why “humor is the last reality of optimism” is important (“Man and his environs”). Not wasting energy on destroying the temporary with laughter, Iskander again and again reminds of the eternal.

There is much evidence of this. New books are being published (“Night Carriage”. M., 2000; “Where the Dog is Buried”. M., 2001). Collected Works in 4 (M., 1992) and 6 volumes (Kharkov: M., 1997) will soon be supplemented with a new one - a 10-volume edition of the Vremya publishing house. New stories are published in magazines (Goats and Shakespeare, 2001; Rotten Intelligentsia and Swindles, 2001; Dream of God and the Devil, 2002, etc.); poems are written (“Blackberry”, 2002). As before, essays and journalism, comprehending new reality, are in demand by the reader: the thoughts of the "Chegem sage" about "home" and "homelessness" ("What is the secret?"), the fate of Russia ("Let's go water our pumpkin") and its culture ("Attempt to understand a person") combine the depth of thought, casually ironic style and inexhaustible faith in counteracting the "idea of ​​the fullness of darkness" ("Gloomy youth light"). In times of social depression, his thesis “... since there was Pushkin in Russia, it means that harmony in Russia is possible in principle” (“Sincerity of repentance gives rise to the energy of inspiration”, 1996) inspires hope, and a collection of aphoristic statements “A little about a lot. Random notes ”(2001) will make anyone smile and think.

Fazil Iskander never aspired to power, but does not refuse to participate in worthy affairs. He was a member of the Central Auditing Commission of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1986-1991), co-chairman of the secretariat of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1991), People's Deputy of the USSR from the Abkhaz ASSR (1989-1992), member of the commissions for the State Prizes of Russia (until 1996), for rights person (until 1996) and for pardons under the President of the Russian Federation (until 2001), the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation (1996–2001). Now Iskander is Vice-President of the Russian PEN Club (1989), member of the commission for the State Prizes of Russia in the field of literature and art, chairman of the commission for literary heritage I. Babel (since 1987), Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (since 1995), Academy Russian art(since 1995), Independent Academy of Aesthetics and liberal arts(since 1995), member of the editorial boards of the magazines and almanacs "Continent", "Academic Notebooks", "Reading Circle", public councils of the newspaper "Culture" (since 1996), magazines "Znamya", "Youth", "Friendship of Peoples", " Showcase (since 1997), Reading Russia (since 1997), the editorial board of the Moskovsky Rabochiy publishing house, the international editorial board of the Pantheon Elite Reader Library (Terra publishing house, since 1995), the Board of Trustees of the Znamya Foundation , Council of the Dostoevsky Foundation.

"Entering the new millennium - hear the prophets of your Fatherland!" - this is the title of one of the recent articles about Iskander ("Democratic Choice", August 16, 2002). Perhaps Iskander will be unique in this as well. It is difficult to get to creative meetings with him in Moscow, and in Sukhumi, and in New York, and in Munich. According to Iskander's books, performances are staged and films are made. The world recognition of the writer is evidenced by the list of his prestigious awards: Iskander was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II (2004) and III degree (1999), the Order of Honor and Glory, I degree of Abkhazia (2002), the State Prize of the USSR (1989), A.D. Sakharov "For Courage in Literature" (1991), the Pushkin Prize of the A. Tepfer Foundation (1992), the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993), the Golden Ostap Prize, Malaparti (Italy), "Moscow-Penne" (Italy, 1996), Fund "Znamya" (1997), "Boldino Autumn" (1998), "Triumph" (1998), the prize named after D. Gulia for achievements in the field of literature (Abkhazia, 2002), the commemorative medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Masterpieces of Russian literature of the twentieth century" for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian culture (2003). Iskander is an honorary doctor of the Norwich University (USA), a member and laureate of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (Germany). One of the minor planets is named after the author of "Constellation Kozlotur".

And also at Iskander’s evenings, his readers bring read volumes from home libraries along with new editions and, listening to the text sounding from the stage, in a whisper - but a moment before the reader - pronounce the words written by Iskander.

Soviet literature

Fazil Abdulovich Iskander

Biography

Abkhazian writer, poet.

Fazil Iskander was born on March 6, 1929 in Sukhumi (Abkhazia), in the family of an Iranian - the owner of a brick factory. In 1938, Fazil's father was expelled from the USSR; the future writer was taken in by his mother's relatives. I finished school in Abkhazia. After leaving school, Fazil Iskander entered the Moscow Library Institute, but in 1951 he transferred to the Literary Institute. A. M. Gorky, graduating from it in 1954. In 1954-1956 he worked as a journalist in Bryansk (newspaper "Bryansk Komsomolets") and Kursk (newspaper "Kurskaya Pravda"). In 1956 he moved to Sukhumi, becoming an editor in the Abkhaz branch of Gosizdat, where he worked until the early 1990s. Iskander's first collection of poems, Mountain Paths, was published in Russian in 1957 in Sukhumi. He began to write prose in 1962. He was published in the magazines Literary Abkhazia, Youth, Novy Mir, Nedelya. Fazil Iskander is the winner of numerous awards, including the Pushkin Prize (1993) and the Triumph Prize (1999). Lives in Moscow.

Among the works of Fazil Iskander are poems, short stories, novels, novels, scripts: "Mountain paths" (1957, a collection of poems), "The kindness of the earth" (1959, a collection of poems), "Green rain" (1960, a collection of poems), "Children Chernomorya" (1961, collection of poems), "Youth of the Sea" (1964, collection of poems), "Dawns of the Earth" (1966, collection of poems), "Constellation of Kozlotur" (1966, satirical story), "The Thirteenth Feat of Hercules" (1966, collection of stories), "Forbidden Fruit" (1966, collection of stories), "Beginning" (1969, story), "Trout fishing in the upper Kodor" (1969, story), "Summer Day" (1969, story), "Letter" (1969, story), "Meeting on the Train" (1969, story), "Poor Demagogue" (1969, story), "Sandro from Chegem" (1973-1988, full edition - 1989; novel on an autobiographical basis; individual chapters were filmed in 1989 - the film "Feasts of Belshazzar, or a Night with Stalin"), "Sea Scorpion" (1977, story), "Oh, Marat!" (1979, story; filmed in 1992 - the film "The Little Giant of Big Sex", Russia, "Mosfilm"), "Rabbits and Boas" (1982, USA; published in Moscow in 1987, satirical story-tale), "Protection of Chick" (1983, story), "Bartender Adgur" (1986, story), "Chegemskaya Carmen" (1986, story; filmed in 1988 - film "Thieves in Law", USSR, film studio named after M. Gorky), "Gloomy youth light" (1990, story), "A Man and His Environs" (1992−1993, novel), "Sofichka" (1995, story), "Thinking about Russia and an American" (1997, story), stories about Chika, scriptwriter for films "The Time of Happy Finds" (1969−1970, film script together with G. S. Gabay; "Mosfilm"), "Chegem Detective" (1986; USSR, "Mosfilm", "Georgiafilm"), Stalin” (1989; USSR, film studio named after M. Gorky).

Fazil Iskander is an Abkhazian writer and poet, a contemporary for many. Fazil was born in the family of a not poor Iranian who owns a brick factory. His birthday is March 6, 1929. The place of birth is the tourist city of Sukhumi, the Republic of Abkhazia. In 1938, his father was expelled from the Soviet Union, and little Fazil was brought up by his maternal relatives. He graduated from high school there.

Becoming a student at the Moscow Library Institute, but decided to transfer to the Literary Institute in 1951. In 1954 he completed his studies and received a diploma. After graduation, he got a job in the staff of journalists for the newspapers Bryansk Komsomolets and Kurskaya Pravda.

Two years later, he moved to his native Sukhumi, accepted the position of editor in the Abkhaz State Publishing House, working there until 1990.

The first collection of Iskander's poems was published in 1957, his name was "Mountain Paths", and, despite the fact that he was published in Sukhumi, he came out in Russian. To writing prose works Fazil started in 1962. Iskander became widely known for his stories, poems, novels. He wrote a great many scripts, which were subsequently filmed.

In 1990 awarded"Triumph", and in 1993 the Pushkin Prize. This is a far from complete list of all Fazil's awards. He is the author of scripts for such well-known films as: "The Little Giant of Big Sex" (screen version of the story "Oh, Marat"), "Thieves in Law" (the original is "Chegemskaya Carmen"), "Beltasar's Feasts, or Night with Stalin" (Some chapters from an autobiographical novel were taken for the film). Today Fazil Iskander lives and lives in Moscow.

• Name: Fazil
• Middle name: Abdulovich
• Surname: Iskander
• Date of Birth: 06.03.1929
• Place of Birth: Sukhum, Abkhazia, USSR
• Date of death: 31.07.2016
• A place of death: Moscow
• Occupation: writer, poet

In the summer of 2016, Fazil Abdulovich Iskander passed away, who during his lifetime became a classic of Russian literature. Abkhazian origin played a decisive role in his work, although he did not write a single work in Abkhazian. Fazil Abdulovich gave readers a lot of bright stories, novels, poems and will forever be remembered as an open and honest person with a broad soul.

Photo by Fazil Iskander

The story of Fazil Iskander

The future writer was born in Abkhazia in 1929. A land in which many nationalities are mixed, including Greeks, Russians, Turks and Persians, Fazil Abdulovich will sing all his life. He himself became the son of a native of Iran. My father owned a brick factory. By the way, buildings made of "Iskander bricks" can still be found in those parts. In 1938, the origin of Abdul Iskander was the reason for his deportation from the country, the connection between father and son was interrupted. The boy was raised by his maternal relatives, Abkhazian peasants living in the village of Chegem.

Surprisingly, it so happened that the attempt of the gold medalist of the Abkhaz school to become a student of the philosophical faculty of the Moscow State University, failed. Then he passed the exams of the Library Institute of Moscow. Later, Iskander transferred to the Gorky Literary Institute.

After graduation, Fazil Abdulovich had a chance to work as a journalist in the publishing houses of the newspapers Bryansk Komsomolets and Kurskaya Pravda. Later he returned to his native Sukhum, where he took up the post of editor of the Abkhaz branch of the State Publishing House.

Among the writer's works there are works of different literary genres. The first published book was a collection of poems "Mountain Paths" in 1957. In it, as in many other works of the author, one can trace a great love for his native land. He sang of Abkhazia as if it were the most beautiful corner on earth. The writer gained national fame after the publication in 1966 of the story "Constellation of Kozlotur".

One of the most famous works of Iskander is the novel Sandro from Chegem. The writer devoted a whole period of his life to this epic. It is noteworthy that the full version of the epic in the United States came out earlier than in the USSR itself. Only in 1989 was a three-volume edition with the full text published in the Union.

The philosophy of Iskander's work is often built on arguments about such concepts as justice, honor, respect, and dignity. Often he wrote about how public opinion is subject to influence from above and how society is controlled by the authorities. Avoiding Soviet censorship, Iskander began to publish in the Metropol almanac. Then the stories "The Little Giant of Big Sex", "Rabbits and Boas" appeared. Paradoxically, he was one of the few who managed to avoid the obvious consequences of his sarcasm towards the totalitarian regime of the USSR.

After a creative lull caused by indignation Soviet authorities, Fazil Iskander began to print again from the mid-eighties. Then "Barman Adgur" and "Chegemskaya Carmen" appeared. Critics said it started new stage creativity of Iskander, and the humor in the writings has already changed to sarcasm. The writer's works continued to be filmed.

Winner of a number of awards

Fazil Abdulovich wrote during the period of Gorbachev's perestroika, and in the troubled nineties, and in the era modern Russia. He never aspired to power, at the same time he did not refuse the deeds that he considered worthy. Back in 1989, he became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the opposition of the Abkhaz Republic. It can also be noted that the writer did not advocate the sovereignty of Abkhazia, but wanted all states to live as peaceful neighbors.

Personal life

Since 1960, Fazil Abdulovich was married to the poetess Antonina Mikhailovna Khlebnikova. Together they lived all their lives, gave birth to two children and lived to a golden wedding.

Fazil Iskander admitted that he writes only at moments of inspiration, he does not have a work schedule. He never mastered the computer, he typed in the old fashioned way, and later he got an assistant. When he was not creating, he was engaged in social activities, collecting information. Throughout his life, he carried memories of childhood and love for his native Abkhazia.

The writer died on July 31, 2016. Antonina Mikhailovna said that this was her husband before last day led an active lifestyle. The cause of death was acute cardiovascular failure.

The classics of Russian literature were buried on Novodevichy cemetery. Condolences were expressed, including, by the Minister of Culture, the Prime Minister and the President of the Russian Federation.

• in 1987 he sat on the jury at the final game major league KVN;
• in 2009 the Bank of Abkhazia issued a coin dedicated to Iskander;
• the writer's works have been translated into dozens of languages;
• in the Moscow Abkhaz diaspora was considered the oldest and most respected;
• a monument will be erected in Sukhum and a street will be named after an outstanding countryman.

Fazil Abdulovich Iskander(Abkh. Fazil Abdul-iha Iskander; March 6, 1929, Sukhum, SSRA, ZSFSR, USSR - July 31, 2016, Peredelkino, Moscow Region, Russia) - Russian and Abkhazian writer and poet.

Born March 6, 1929 in Sukhum in the family of the former owner of a brick factory, a native of Iran, by origin - half Abkhazian, half Persian. In 1938, the father of the future writer was deported from the USSR, since then Iskander never saw his father again. He was brought up by relatives of an Abkhazian mother in the village of Chegem.

He graduated from the Russian school in Abkhazia with a gold medal. He tried to enter the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, but eventually became a student at the Library Institute in Moscow. After three years training transferred to the Literary Institute. A. M. Gorky, who graduated in 1954.

In 1954-1956 he worked as a journalist in Kursk and Bryansk. In 1956 he became an editor in the Abkhaz branch of the State Publishing House. Since 1962 he lived permanently in Moscow.

The first book of poems "Mountain Paths" was published in Sukhumi in 1957, in the 1960s it began to be published in the magazine "Youth". He began writing prose in 1962. Fame came to the writer in 1966 after the publication in the August issue of the "New World" of the story "Constellation of Kozlotur". The story ridicules the "campaigns" for the rise of agriculture in the USSR and public opinion, which is easily manipulated. Screened with the inclusion of motifs as well as other works of Iskander in 1989. In one of his later interviews, Iskander explained that “satire is an offended love: for people, for the homeland; maybe to humanity as a whole.”

Fazil Iskander was also published in the publications "Literary Abkhazia", ​​"New World", "Week". Even in Soviet times, Iskander was known as the author of witty aphorisms. The most acute resonance in the era of creative lack of freedom in the USSR caused the following: If you can't cut your chains, spit on them - maybe they will rust».

In 1979, he participated in the creation of the uncensored anthology "Metropol" (the story "The Little Giant of Big Sex"). After that, for a number of years, until Gorbachev's perestroika, he experienced problems with the publication of his works in the USSR.

He was a member of the jury at the final game of the Major League of KVN in 1987.

Creation

Iskander's laughter is natural, like the reaction of life itself to the unnatural formality of officialdom. Laughter reveals and kills the falseness, stupidity and complacency of those who imagined themselves endowed with power over children, blessed and cows. But this laughter is devoid of edification, moralizing. If you want - picaresque laughter, a cheerful deceit of a lie, a swindle of hypocrisy. He destroys by affirming. This laughter is healing and saving, for tragic circumstances time are so strong that a person without the encouraging presence of laughter would be seized by despair and hopelessness. Laughter conquers lies, betrayal, even death.

Natalya Ivanova, literary critic

Iskander's main books are written in a peculiar genre: the epic novel "Sandro from Chegem", the epic "Chik's Childhood", the story-parable "Rabbits and Boas", the essay-dialogue "Thinking about Russia and an American". And also popular are the stories “A Man and His Surroundings”, “School Waltz, or the Energy of Shame”, “Poet”, “Human Parking”, “Sofichka”, stories: “The Thirteenth Feat of Hercules”, “Beginning”, “Rooster”, “ A story about the sea", "Grandfather" and other works.

The epic novel "Sandro from Chegem", the full text of which consists of 32 chapters and almost 1,100 pages, was cut by two-thirds by Soviet censorship. In the journal Novy Mir (1973, No. 8-11), excerpts from the novel were fragmentarily published, amounting to 240 magazine pages. Full text published in the USA: Ann Arbor publishing house, in 1979 and 1981, in the USSR it was published in full in three volumes in 1989. The novel includes a cycle of short stories about old uncle Sandro from a mountainous Caucasian village, whose image is close to the characters of Abkhazian folklore. The novellas together form something like a modern picaresque novel, in which there is no through action, and in a satirical vein, thematically close episodes from different times are described - from pre-revolutionary to modern. The genre of Iskander's works was defined by some literary critics as " magical realism" or " mystical realism».

The plot of many of Iskander's works takes place in the village of Chegem, where the author spent a significant part of his childhood. Wolfgang Kazak noted that Iskander the prose writer is distinguished by a wealth of imagination. “Iskander prefers first-person narration, acting as a narrator who is clearly close to the author himself, willingly and far deviates from the topic, who, among subtle observations, does not miss the opportunity to humorously and critically speak about the present.” Many of Iskander's works are characterized by a stereoscopic "double look": through the eyes of an adult and through the eyes of a child, when the narration of a storyteller who has survived a lot is interspersed with his memories from his childhood today and then vision of the world.

Among the favorite topics philosophical reflections in the works of Iskander - the concepts of justice, honor, dignity, asceticism, love for the land, respect for death and the dead. Among the “red threads” that permeate the work of Iskander, literary critics include “the decay of humanity, the oblivion of the centuries-old folk ethics”, the loss of virtue in the pursuit of utilitarian benefits, the death and destruction of the clan, the indifference of people to the future of the people. The driving force behind human self-preservation in a cruel time of moral loss and spiritual enslavement (“Rabbits and Boas”) is sarcastic, at times caustic optimism, the confrontation that never ceases in Iskander’s works” laughter against fear". And picaresque, by definition of the writer himself, laughter always wins: Iskander has almost no works with a tragic and hopeless ending.

In 2011, on his 82nd birthday, Fazil Iskander stated: “ I am certainly a Russian writer who sang a lot about Abkhazia. Unfortunately, I did not write anything in Abkhazian. The choice of Russian culture for me was clear».

Iskander's books have been translated into dozens of languages ​​around the world.

Iskander himself admired the poetry of Alexander Pushkin and Joseph Brodsky, the prose of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Ivan Turgenev.

Political and social activities

In our republic, Fazil Iskander is known in every house. In his works he created a stunning image of Abkhazia. The writer Iskander is an outstanding one. Unfortunately, he is not such an outstanding person. Defending a Hundred Times different peoples, he never raised his voice in defense of his native Abkhazia during the entire war.

Vladislav Ardzinba, the first president of Abkhazia, 1994

How public figure and the spiritual authority of society, repeatedly spoke out in defense of small peoples, signed many letters in defense of exiled and repressed writers. In 1989, he was elected from the opposition forces consisting of 11 deputies from the Abkhaz ASSR to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 12th convocation. The election campaign was intensified, but F. Iskander won and worked as a deputy until the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council in 1991. In the future, he was no longer involved in politics. He delicately distanced himself from the first president of Abkhazia, Vladislav Ardzinba, and during the Georgian-Abkhazian war he was in the shadows as a public figure. None known public speaking Iskander in support of the sovereignty of Abkhazia - on the contrary, Stanislav Rassadin quoted Iskander's speech, where he opposed the separation of Abkhazia from Georgia, arguing that this is the path to a "bloody dead end", and secession is painfully perceived even in Europe.

Fazil was an elder and the most respected figure in the Moscow Abkhaz diaspora.

Death and mourning

Fazil Abdulovich Iskander died of acute heart failure on July 31, 2016 at his dacha, in Peredelkino near Moscow, at the age of 88. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed deep condolences to the family and admirers of Iskander's creativity and talent.

The writer was buried on August 2 after a funeral service at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. On this day, mourning was declared in Abkhazia.

A family

He has been married since 1960, his wife is the poetess Antonina Mikhailovna Khlebnikova (Iskander). Had a son and a daughter.

Noting the golden wedding in the spring of 2011, Fazil and Antonina Iskander jointly released a book of poems "Snow and Grapes".

Awards and prizes

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (September 29, 2004)
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree (March 3, 1999)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (March 13, 2009)
• USSR State Prize (1989) - for the novel "Sandro from Chegem"
• Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation (December 26, 2011) - for the book "Selected Works"
• Pushkin Prize (1993)
• State Prize of the Russian Federation (1994)
• State Prize of the Russian Federation - for the contribution to the development of domestic literature (2014)
• Triumph Prize (1999)
• Order of Honor and Glory, 1st class (June 18, 2002, Abkhazia)
• Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts
• In honor of F. A. Iskander, the astronomer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Lyudmila Karachkina named the asteroid (5615) Iskander, discovered on August 4, 1983.
• In 2009, the Bank of Abkhazia issued a commemorative silver coin dedicated to Fazil Iskander from the Outstanding Personalities of Abkhazia series, with a denomination of 10 apsars.
• Laureate of the Bunin Prize (2013)

Compositions

Poetry

• Mountain trails. Poetry. Sukhumi, 1957.
• The goodness of the earth. Poetry. Sukhumi, 1959.
• Green rain. M., 1960.
• Children of the Black Sea. Sukhumi, 1961.
• The youth of the sea. M., 1964.
• Dawns of the earth. M., 1966.
• Summer forest. Poetry. M., 1969.
• Path. Poetry. M.: Sov. writer, 1987.
• Poems. M., 1993.

Prose

• Laughs the one who laughs (novel) // Week, April-July 1964 (one of nine authors)
• Constellation Kozlotur // New World. 1966. No. 8.
• The Forbidden fruit. M., 1966.
• Crooked Hand // New World. 1967. No. 4.
• Three stories // New world. 1969. No. 5.
• childhood tree. M., 1970; 1974.
• Chick Day // Youth. 1971. No. 10.
• Sandro from Chegem // New World. 1973. No. 8-11. otd. ed. - 1977
• Happy find time. Moscow: Young guard, 1973.
• Under the shadow of a walnut. 1979.
• The Little Giant of Big Sex, in The Metropol (Ann Arbor, 1979); titled "Oh, Marat!" in the magazine "Spark" (1988. No. 21-22); entered the novel "Sandro from Chegem" (Ch. 23. 1989). (Description love adventures Beria)
• Rabbits and boas. Ann Arbor, 1982; magazine "Youth", 1987.
• Chic defense. 1983.
• big day big house. Sukhumi, 1986.
• Favorites. - M.: Soviet writer, 1988. - 576 p. - 100,000 copies.
• Coffee shop at sea. The play // Theatre. 1988. No. 6.
• Human parking. 1990.
• Man and his surroundings.
• The thirteenth labor of Hercules.
• Sofichka. 1997.
• Uninvited guest. 1999.

Filmography

• 1969 - "Time of happy finds".
• 1984 - "Snow in September" based on the story "Zaire".
• 1986 - "Chegem detective".
• 1989 - "The holiday of waiting for the holiday."
• 1989 - "Thieves in law" based on stories - "Bartender Adgur", "Chegemskaya Carmen".
• 1989 - "Constellation Kozlotur" based on the story of the same name.
• 1989 - "Feasts of Belshazzar, or Night with Stalin" based on the chapter "Feasts of Belshazzar" novel "Sandro from Chegem".
• 1991 - "Let's part while the good" based on the story "The pipe of old Hassan".
• 1992 - "The Little Giant of Big Sex" based on the story "Oh, Marat!".
• 2004 - teleplay "Greetings from Tsyurupa!", TV version of the play by the Theater of Satire based on the works ( "Thinking about Russia and an American").
• 2016 - "Sofichka" based on the story of the same name.

Documentary films with the participation of F. Iskander

• Apsny-Abkhazia. Soul country. 2010

Memory

• The name of Fazil Iskander was immortalized during his lifetime - the former Moscow library is named after him family reading No. 185 (now - library No. 202 "Fazil Iskander Cultural Center") on Kastanaevskaya street, 52, building 2.

• On March 6, 2017, the name of Fazil Iskander was given to the State Russian Drama Theater of the Republic of Abkhazia (RUSDRAM) in Sukhum.