On May 8, four stamps dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversaries of frontline writers Konstantin Vanshenkin, Evgeny Vinokurov, Evgeny Nosov and Pyotr Todorovsky were put into postal circulation

Many authors of military works had first-hand knowledge about the war. Frontline writers are a whole generation of true patriots of the country, who relied in their books on real events and oftentimes on their own frontline experience.

The main line in books about the war is the soldier's friendship, frontline comradeship, the hardship of marching life, desertion and heroism.

A great contribution to the development of Soviet prose and poetry was made by writers who entered the great literature in the late 1950s – early 1960s. These include such authors as K. Vanshenkin, E. Vinokurov, E. Nosov and P. Todorovsky.


Konstantin Vanshenkin (1925–2012) was a Soviet and Russian poet, a Winner of the State Prize of the USSR (1985) and the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2001). Late in January of 1943, Konstantin Vanshenkin went to the front to join the airborne troops. He participated in battles on the 1st and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts as a member of the 4th Guards Airborne Brigade (a squad leader) of the 339th separate machine-gun and artillery battalion. He began to write at the end of the war, in Hungary, his best poems were written much later. Vanshenkin demobilized at the end of 1946 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is the author of the novels Army Youth, Avdyushin and Egorychev, Big Fires, The Decanter with a Rooster, and short stories. In total, K. Vanshenkin published more than three dozen books of poetry and prose. He wrote the lyrics of popular songs I Love You, Life, Alyosha, the Waltz of Parting, Zhenka, There's Not Enough Light Behind the Window, How to See Off the Steamers, I'm in a Hurry, Excuse Me, Poplars, Nonflying Weather, etc.

The postage stamp provides a portrait of Konstantin Vanshenkin against the background of an illustration for the writer's poem Spring.


Evgeny Vinokurov (1925–1993) was a Russian Soviet poet, a translator and an educator, a Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1987), a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. In 1943, he was enlisted in the army. He graduated from an artillery school and became an artillery platoon commander. He fought on the 4th Ukrainian Front, in the Carpathians, and finished the war in Silesia. His first poems were published in 1948 in the Smena magazine. He is the author of poems and collections Poems about Duty, Sergezhka from Malaya Bronnaya, Blue Expanse, Genesis, Hypostasis and others.

The postage stamp provides a portrait of Evgeny Vinokurov against the background of an illustration for the writer's poem Moscovites.


Evgeny Nosov (1925–2002) was a Russian and Soviet writer, a graphic artist, a Hero of Socialist Labor (1990), a Holder of two Orders of Lenin (1984, 1990), a Winner of the Gorky State Prize of the RSFSR (1975) a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. He was included into editorial boards of magazines Nash Sovremennik, Podyom and Roman-Gazeta. As a sixteen-year-old boy, Nosov lived through the Nazi occupation. He finished the eighth grade and after the Battle of Kursk (July 5 – August 23 of 1943) went to the front to the artillery troops. Having become a gun layer, Nosov fought in the army of Marshal K. Rokossovsky. He participated in the Bagration operation, in the battles on the Rogachev bridgehead behind the Dnieper, fought in Poland. In the battles near Königsberg, on February 8 of 1945, he was badly wounded. After the War, he began to write prose. E. Nosov is the author of short stories Rainbow, On the fishing trail, A Doll, Where the sun wakes up, Red wine of Victory, the novel Usvyatsk Helmet-Bearers, the essay I will get off at the distant station and others.

The postage stamp provides a portrait of Evgeny Nosov against the background of an illustration for the writer's novel Usvyatsk Helmet-Bearers.


Pyotr Todorovsky (1925–2013) was a Soviet and Russian screenwriter, a film director, a cameraman, a composer, an actor, a People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985), an Honored Art Worker of the Ukrainian SSR (1967), a Winner of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1996) and the Nika Film Award (1993, 2004). He was an Oscar nominee (1985) in the category Best Foreign Language Film for his film Wartime Romance (1983). Pyotr Todorovsky is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. He was in the Red Army since April of 1943, and from summer of the same year a cadet of the Saratov Military Infantry School, from August of 1944 Todorovsky was the mortar platoon commander in the 2nd rifle battalion of the 93rd rifle regiment of the 76th rifle division, which was part of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. He took part in the liberation of Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin and the capture of Berlin. Todorovsky finished the war at Schönhausen on the Elbe. He made his feature film debut with the film Moldavian Tunes. As an actor, he starred in the films It Was in May and The Morass. The military theme is a special one in the film director's work. He dedicated to it his poignant films Wartime Romance, In the Constellation of the Bull and Riorita.

The postage stamp provides a portrait of Pyotr Todorovsky against the background of an illustration for the film In the Distant Forty-Fifth... Meetings on the Elbe based on his screenplay.


In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, Kursk, and Bryansk.


Design Artist: M. Podobed.
Face value: 80 rubles.
Stamp size: 35×35 mm, sheet size: 94×95 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with formatted margins with 4 (2×2) stamps.
Quantity: 18 thousand sheets.

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