Valentin Kataev (1897–1986) was a novelist, poet, screenwriter and dramatist, journalist, war correspondent. He was born in Odessa on January 16 (28), 1897. From an early age, he was in fond of with classical literature. His first poem Autumn was introduced to the readers in 1910. In 1912, Valentin tried to change the genre, which resulted in the appearance of humorous stories. At the same time, two serious large-size pieces of writing appeared: The Awakening and The Shady Man. Kataev's creative evolution was interrupted by severe events of 1915, and he went into the army.
In 1915, The Whole World (Ves Mir) magazine published Katayev's novel Nemchik. In 1922, he moved from Odessa to Moscow, where he began to work fruitfully on the staff of The Whistle (Gudok) newspaper, where his satirical and humorous pieces were regularly published. During this period, he makes public his novel The Embezzlers, which shocked literature lovers with its vital plot and exquisite language of narration. It was followed by novel The Quadrature of the Circle in 1928 and by many later works that revealed the many-sided nature of Valentin Kataev's talent. In parallel with his books, V. Kataev was enriching his filmography. He produced his first film, The Embezzlers, in 1931. It was followed by film The Circus, and still later by film The Motherland Calls On. Kataev's all-round maturity manifested itself again when the writer gave children and young people such excellent fairy tales as The Dovelet and The Seven-Petal Flower.
During the Great Patriotic War, Valentin Kataev worked as a war correspondent. Nevertheless, even in that busy period, when one trip succeeded another, Kataev continued to write many essays, novels (Our Father). In 1945, he wrote fairy tales The Stump and The Pearlet. Shortly before the Victory, Kataev wrote his novel The Son of the Regiment, for which he was awarded the State Prize. From 1955 to 1961, Kataev edited the Youth (Yunost) magazine. In 1974, Valentin Kataev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
The envelope with a commemorative stamp features children reading a book, as well as images of characters from the writings by V Katayev: Seven-Petal Flower and The Son of the Regiment; the stamp provides the portrait of the writer.
In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka produced a special cancel for Moscow.
Design Artist: O. Savina.
Quantity: 1 million envelopes.
« back