Lev Kassil
Lev Abramovich Kassil was a Soviet and Russian writer of juvenile and young adult literature and screenwriter, depicting Soviet life, teenagers and their world, school, sports, cultural life, and war. He was born on July 10, 1905 into a Jewish family in Pokrovskaya Sloboda (now Engels). Finished a local gymnasium later transformed into a United labour school. In 1923 Kassil entered Moscow State University, where he studied aerodynamics. He published his first tale in 1925, and eventually became a REF and LEF member. In 1927 Mayakovsky invited him to share in the magazine called New LEF. His most important works were two autobiographical novels for young people dealing with student life before the Revolution, Konduit (The conduct book, 1929, tr. as The Black Book) and Shvambraniya (1931, tr. as The Land of Shvambrania); the two were revised and combined into one book called Konduit i Shvambraniya (1935, tr. as The Black Book and Shwambrania). In 1936 was the premiere of the film The Goa...
