é luó sī sū lián  (1905niánwǔyuè24rì～1984niánèryuè21rì)

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov

mǐ hā yǐ 'ěr · xiào luò huò fū

mǐ hā yī 'ěr · yà lì shān dà luó wéi qí · xiào luò huò fū

 wài guó jīng diǎn outland bible： 《jìng jìng de dùn hé Quiet Flows the Don》 《jìng jìng de dùn hé Quiet Flows the Don》 yuèdòuxiào luò huò fū M.A. Sholokhovzài小说之家dezuòpǐn!!!

米哈伊尔·亚历山大罗维奇·肖洛霍夫（俄语：Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Шо́лохов，1905年5月24日－1984年2月21日），出生于维约申斯克区顿河流域，苏联作家。连任多届苏共中央委员，当过苏联作家协会书记，并两次获得社会主义劳动英雄勋章。

1922年，前往莫斯科，加入“青年近卫军”，隔年与一位哥萨克的女教师玛丽姬·格罗斯拉伕斯卡娅结婚。并发表第一部短篇小说《胎记》。1924年他回到顿河开始创作，1928年《静静的顿河》第一部在苏联《十月》杂志上发表就声誉鹊起，立刻受到国内外的瞩目，在德国销售量甚至超过雷马克的《西线无战事》，年轻的肖洛霍夫跃昇世界级作家。1937年至1938年之间多次致信斯大林，几乎遭受迫害。^{[来源请求]}1956年除夕和1957年元旦，在《真理报》连载《一个人的遭遇》。1965年以《静静的顿河》一书荣获诺贝尔文学奖。另一部长篇《新垦地》是《静静的顿河》的续作。

1999年，《静静的顿河》手稿被发现存于肖洛霍夫密友库达绍夫的远亲家中。当时的俄罗斯总统普京下令财政部筹款，以50万美元购得，俄罗斯文献鉴定专家委员会鉴定手稿确为肖洛霍夫手迹，目前珍藏于“高尔基世界文学研究所”。联合国教科文组织决定，2005年命名为“肖洛霍夫年”。
 

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫(M.A.Sholokhov)（1905-1984），是二十世纪苏联文学的杰出代表，也是宗国读者十分熟悉且至今仍给予特殊关注的作家。这不仅仅因为他给世界人民留下了《静静的顿河》、《新垦地》（旧译《被开垦的处女地》）、《一个人的遭遇》等珍贵的文学遗产，还因为他一生的创作和文学活动与中国文化事业的发展始终存在着或直接或间接的联系，并产生了一定影响。

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-生平经历
米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫（Sholokhov，MikhailAleksandrovich）1905年5月24日出生在顿河维申斯克镇附近的克鲁日林村，他的一生中绝大部分时间在那里度过。父亲当过店员和磨坊经理，业余好读书，订阅多种文艺报刊和书籍，培养了他自幼对文学的爱好。他仅受过4年教育，靠自学成才，是顿河哥萨克地区多姿多彩的生活给予了后来成为作家的肖洛霍夫取之不尽的创作素材。上中学时因1918年爆发的国内战争蔓延到学校所在的县城而休学。国内革命战争时期，顿河地区的斗争十分激烈和残酷。少年时代的肖洛霍夫不仅是这场斗争的目击者，而且直接参与了红色政权组建时的一些工作，1920年顿河地区建立苏维埃政权后，他热情投身新生活的建设，先后当过镇革命委员会办事员、扫盲教师、业余剧团的编剧兼演员、武装征粮队员等。1922年秋到莫斯科谋生。1923年发表第一篇习作小品文，从此以写作为生，不断在各级报刊发表小品文、特写和小说。1924年12月加入俄罗斯无产阶级作家联合会（即拉普）。

1914年肖洛霍夫先是被送往莫斯科，后来又回到哥萨克村里上学。十三岁时，正值第一次世界大战，德军对乌克兰的入侵中断了他的学业。1919年至1922年这段时间里，年轻的肖洛霍夫为红军做过各种工作，其中一项是在顿河地区征集军粮，大部分哥萨克人却竭力抵制布尔什维克的“横征暴敛”。

1922年，肖洛霍夫去莫斯科，加入了“青年近卫军”，成为年轻的无产阶级作家组织的一员。

1922年，肖洛霍夫来到莫斯科，开始从事文学活动，并参加了文学团体“青年近卫军”。1923年，肖洛霍夫与一位哥萨克的女教师玛丽姬·格罗斯拉夫斯卡娅结婚。1923—1924年间在《青年真理报》上登载了他的三篇杂文《考验》、《三》、《钦差》和他的第一部短篇小说《胎记》 。

1925年他们回到了顿河地区定居。《静静的顿河》第一部的巨大成功使肖洛霍夫声名鹊起，经过14年的时间终于全部闻名于世1926年，他出版小说集《顿河故事》和《浅蓝的原野》（后合为一集），受到文坛的关注。在集子的20多篇小说中，作家把严峻而复杂的社会斗争浓缩到家庭中间和个人关系之间展开，在哥萨克内部尖锐的阶级冲突的背景中展示了触目惊心的悲剧情景和众多的悲剧人物。早期作品特色鲜明，但艺术上还欠成熟。1940年，长篇小说《静静的顿河》完成。小说引起了极大的反响。

1930年肖洛霍夫见到了斯大林，1932年肖洛霍夫成为一名正式的苏共党员。根据后来发表的文件，肖洛霍夫曾两次在斯大林的亲自过问下，于30年代救助过遭受饥荒和政治清洗的顿河人民。1938年肖洛霍夫本人受到人民内务委员会的迫害，但由于斯大林的帮助而幸免于难。在30年代，肖洛霍夫的国际声誉逐渐上升，他在文学界为党所做的政治工作使他得以崛起。

在创作《静静的顿河》期间，肖洛霍夫又完成了反映农业集体化运动的长篇小说《被开垦的处女地》 （又译《新垦地》）第一部（1932，第二部于1960年完成）。小说以顿河格列米雅其村集体农庄的建立、发展和巩固为背景，写出了斗争的复杂和尖锐。尽管对这一运动本身和作家的评价态度有不同见解，但是小说中达维多夫、拉古尔洛夫和梅谭尼可夫等形象鲜明生动，戏剧性的情节紧张感人。小说前后两部的风格有明显差异。

卫国战争时期，肖洛霍夫上过前线，写了许多通讯、特写和短篇小说。1943年开始发表反映卫国战争的长篇小说《他们为祖国而战》 （未完成，1943—1944年，以连载形式发表，这部小说早就构思好了，但却不得不一次又一次地推迟脱稿）。1957年发表的短篇小说《一个人的遭遇》 （又译《人的命运》）产生了很大的影响，被称为当代苏联军事文学新浪潮的开篇之作。作家通过主人公索科洛夫在战争中的不幸遭遇和所表现出的坚韧品格，深刻地反映了法西斯的侵略战争给千百万苏联人民带来的深重灾难，以及苏联人民强烈的爱国主义精神、博大的胸怀和不可推摧的意志。作家没有拔高人物的行为和涂抹理想主义的色彩，真实地描写了主人公的家庭悲剧、精神痛苦和心灵创伤，作品散发着强烈的人道主义气息。英雄主义品格凡人化是这部作品的一个重要特征。小说采用的是故事套故事的形式，主人公的自述与作者的旁白相交融，作品的感情色彩和抒情氛围得以强化。小说发表后很受欢迎，而且像其他几部作品一样，成功地搬上了银幕。

斯大林死后，肖洛霍夫逐渐成为苏联文学界的元老，他接受过各种奖励，给文学社团和学校团体作过报告，向年轻人提出种种建议，但与此后涌现出的作家的接触却越来越少。肖洛霍夫为战后文学史上日丹诺夫的高压政策辩护，并对在国外发表作品的苏联作家进行攻击，结果招致了许多苏联严肃作家的憎恶。他还成为反美宣传的代言人。然而，他在群众中的威望仍然很高，他的描写顿河哥萨克人的小说也一直被列为学校的教科书。1937年，收有肖洛霍夫的演讲、应时散文和对青年人的讲话和建议的一部选集译成英语，题为《心灵的召唤：散文、札记、演讲和论文集》。1956年到1960年，肖洛霍夫的八卷本全集在苏联出版，此后的各卷也陆续发行。1984年肖洛霍夫全集的英译新版本问世。

肖洛霍夫的笔始终与顿河哥萨克的命运相连。他的作品反映了处于历史转折时期的哥萨克人民的生活变迁，塑造了许多个性鲜明的哥萨克形象，并开创了独特的悲剧史诗的艺术风格。1965年，肖洛霍夫因其“在描写俄国人民生活各历史阶段的顿河史诗中所表现出来的艺术力量和正直品格”而获得诺贝尔文学奖。

第二次世界大战期间，肖洛霍夫两次被授予“社会主义劳动英雄”的称号，1939年他获得列宁勋章，1941年获得斯大林奖金，1960年获得列宁文学奖金，并获其他多种荣誉。他支持第二次世界大战结束至斯大林死后解冻时期的苏联文学界的高压政策，因而声誉下降，但在人民中间仍受崇敬。1984年肖洛霍夫在他的出生地克鲁齐林诺村去世。

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-小说特色 ①《静静的顿河》篇幅宏大，人物众多，无论从反映生活的深度或广度来说，都称得上一部史诗性作品。小说全面概括从第一次世界大战到国内战争的整个时代风云变幻，既描写重大的政治历史事件，也描写硝烟弥漫的战场厮杀，同时还描写具有浓厚乡土气息的哥萨克人的劳动、爱情和日常生活。
②小说中的人物上至将军统帅，下至一般群众，都塑造得很有个性，其中几个主要人物的形象尤为鲜明生动。沉着干练的施托克曼，对革命忠心耿耿的彭楚克，勇敢乐观而又鲁莽偏激的珂晒沃依，令人掩卷难忘。彼得罗的顽固粗野，米琪喀的下流残暴，李斯特尼茨基的阴险狡滑，也都鞭辟入里。妲丽亚肮脏无耻，阿克西尼亚热情放荡，娜塔莉亚善良庄重，杜妮亚希珈天真活泼，这几个哥萨克妇女则描写得各具特色。

③小说对顿河草原的壮丽景色的描绘，对哥萨克人幽默风趣的语言运用，非常出色。所有这些都显示了作家深厚的生活积累和坚实的艺术功力。　

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-流派背景
米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫肖洛霍夫作品肖洛霍夫是社会主义现实主义的代表作家，这个术语及其定义是在1932至1934年苏联文艺界关于创作方法问题讨论过程中，由作家和理论家提出、经斯大林同意后确定下来的。关于社会主义现实主义的定义，在1934年全苏第一次作家代表大会通过的苏联作家协会章程里作了如下的表述：“社会主义现实主义，作为苏联文学与苏联文学批评的基本方法，要求艺术家从现实的革命发展中真实地、历史具体地去描写现实；同时，艺术描写的真实性和历史具体性必须与用社会主义精神从思想上改造和教育劳动人民的任务结合起来。社会主义现实主义保证艺术创作有特殊的可能性去发挥创造的主动性，去选择各种各样的形式、风格和体裁。”　　

与社会主义现实主义文学直接相关的是无产阶级文学。自从无产阶级成为独立的政治力量登上世界历史舞台起，无产阶级文学运动就开始了。英国宪章派诗歌、德国无产阶级诗歌及法国巴黎公社文学就是无产阶级文学的开端。而社会主义现实主义文学一般认为形成于20世纪初，即俄国1905年革命之后，是从高尔基的《母亲》和《敌人》的创作开始的。19世纪无产阶级诗歌，包括鲍狄埃等的巴黎公社文学，只是无产阶级文学的萌芽，不能看作是社会主义现实主义文学。虽然科学社会主义在19世纪中期已经形成，它能够从理论上科学地论证社会主义必然要获得胜利的历史规律性，但是，这个时期的工人运动还刚刚开始。那些与工人运动有联系的作家、艺术家由于工人运动本身尚不成熟，他们还不能描绘出与工人运动有联系的整个时代和社会生活的广阔的现实主义图画。要做到这一点，只有在无产阶级领导下，为社会主义思想团结一致的千百万人民群众行动起来之后。换句话说，社会主义现实主义是同无产阶级革命的成熟阶段相联系的。只有到了第一次俄国革命时期，才具有这种革命的形势和特点。

50至60年代，苏联文艺界围绕社会主义现实主义问题又展开过一场广泛而持久的争论。一部分人继续坚持社会主义现实主义是苏联文学和文学批评的基本原则，另一部分人则攻击社会主义现实主义已成了“公式”、“教条”、“僵死的规则”等，并把问题同斯大林“个人崇拜”联系起来，要求重新审议这一原则。从这个时期起，苏联文艺界出现了创作方法多元论局面。有的提倡批判现实主义，有的赞成自然主义，也有的要求在社会主义现实主义之外增加一个“社会主义文学”的概念，认为社会主义现实主义的范围太狭小，概括不了全部苏联作家的创作实质。

经过长期的反复的争论后，一种新的观点（对社会主义现实主义的新解释）逐渐形成，这就是文艺理论家德·马尔科夫提出的把社会主义现实主义看作是“真实地描写生活的历史地开放的体系”的观点。他指出，过去（30至50年代）苏联文艺理论界对现实主义，包括社会主义现实主义，有一种庸俗化的教条主义的解释，即把它当作假设的总和、标准和法则的法典。后来这种观点逐渐被摈弃。许多作家、理论家都指出了这种解释的狭隘性质，认为应该赋予社会主义现实主义以更大的思想容量，更广阔的美学天地,但又产生了另一个极端,即有人企图“取消社会主义艺术的思想基础”。“开放体系”理论就是在否定对社会主义现实主义的两种极端的观点后提出的。他认为，社会主义现实主义不能只局限于一种表现生活的形式，即以生活本身的形式表现生活，而应当以“广泛的真实性”为准则，除了以生活本身的形式表现生活外，还应容许以浪漫主义的形式，假设幻想的形式，甚至怪诞的形式来表现生活；社会主义现实主义不仅可以从古典艺术遗产里吸收养料，也可以从现代一切艺术流派中得到有用的东西。当然，这要经过改造，使之能“与新体系的要求相适应”。社会主义现实主义应当是“开放的美学体系”，“它对客观地认识不断发展的现实生活来说是没有止境的，题材的选择是没有限制的”。不过社会主义现实主义的“开放性”也不是无边的，它的边界就是“广泛真实性的标准”。马尔科夫的“开放体系”理论，现在已为苏联多数作家、批评家所接受。

社会主义现实主义首先是在苏联确立的，后来得到其他国家许多作家的赞成和拥护，已成了国际的文学现象。巴比塞、阿拉贡、贝希尔、安娜·西格斯、布莱希特、布雷德尔、伏契克、尼克索以及聂鲁达等都被认为是社会主义现实主义的作家。

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-美学追求 苏联20年代以国内战争与革命为题材的作品，层出不穷，但大多是以无产阶级英雄人物为主人公，歌颂他们高尚的品质、为革命献身的英雄主义精神和艰苦奋斗的英雄事迹。这样一批文学，多有“应命”文学的痕迹，塑造人物上有“高、大、全”式的弊病，虽然自称“革命现实主义”，但都具有粉饰和拔高的不“现实”的通病。而肖洛霍夫的《静静的顿河》却是一个例外，这是“一部使世界为之惊异的书”，其最大的特点，就在于肖洛霍夫从另外一个美学视角展现了战争与革命，伟大之处在于－－如他自己所言，他是写“白军对红军的斗争，而不是红军对白军的斗争”，也就是说，是从“人”的角度来审视革命，而不是从革命的角度来批评“人”。在这里，他的现实主义与人道主义完美地结合在一起。

肖洛霍夫继承并发展了托尔斯泰那种把道德意识与审美意识相结合的美学传统，以一个艺术家全部的良知，直面现实，怀着深厚的人道主义同情，谱写了一曲悲剧主题的伟大史诗。为了实践这种人道主义追求，在《静静的顿河》中，作者运用了一种不同于“革命现实主义”的真正的现实主义原则，即：不粉饰现实、不拔高人物、还原历史的本来面目。这几点说起来虽然简单，但在当时万马齐喑的苏联文坛却是非常勇敢和难能可贵的。

肖洛霍夫一贯坚持艺术真实要遵循生活真实的原则，他曾告诫年轻的作家：“作家在小事情上违背真实，便会引起读者的怀疑，读者会想，在大的问题上可能他也会撒谎。”敢于面对现实，敢于秉笔直书生活中的矛盾与冲突，这是肖洛霍夫艺术的良知，也是他在现实主义美学上的独创性。




米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-个人作品
米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫作品《静静的顿河》

《新垦地》（旧译《被开垦的处女地》）

《一个人的遭遇》

《考验》

《三》

《钦差》

《顿河故事》

《浅蓝的原野》

《他们为祖国而战》

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-中国影响 米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫是二十世纪苏联文学的杰出代表，也是我国读者十分熟悉且至今仍给予特殊关注的作家。这不仅仅因为他给世界人民留下了《静静的顿河》、《新垦地》（旧译《被开垦的处女地》）、《一个人的遭遇》等珍贵的文学遗产，还因为他一生的创作和文学活动与我国文化事业的发展始终存在着或直接或间接的联系，并产生了一定影响。

二十年代末，我国新文学奠基人鲁迅首先注意到肖洛霍夫的作品。1928年《静静的顿河》第一部在《十月》杂志上发表，第二年鲁迅先生便约请贺非翻译，并亲自校订，还撰写了后记。1931年《静静的顿河》中译本作为鲁迅编辑的“现代文艺丛书”之一，由上海神州国光社出版。从此，肖洛霍夫的作品几乎每发表一部，都很快介绍到中国来。尤其是《一个人的遭遇》在《真理报》上刚一刊出，当月就译成了中文，而且有两个不同的译本，先后在《解放军文艺》和《译文》上发表。这在中国翻译史上是难寻之事。

肖洛霍夫对中国作家影响颇深。具体而言,主要表现在四个方面:客观真实的创作原则、关注普通人命运的创作立场、魅力无穷的人性刻画以及魂牵梦萦的乡土情结。中国作家在吸收和借鉴肖洛霍夫创作经验的基础上,还继承了本国优秀的民族文化传统,进而形成他们自己独具特色的创作风格。

米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫-后世影响
米哈依尔·肖洛霍夫作品围绕着肖洛霍夫的作品，在俄罗斯,乃至在世界许多国家，一直颇多争议。尽管他曾因《静静的顿河》获得了诺贝尔文学奖，但事前事后这些争议始终没有平息。关于肖洛霍夫本人作为一个历史人物，也评价不一，特别是在苏联解体后，分歧更大:有人指责说,他实际上在各重要历史阶段,曾经为许多错误政策张目;有人则维护说，他先知先觉，大智大勇，从二、三十年代起就是反对错误路线的英雄。

肖洛霍夫是二十世纪苏联文学的杰出代表。第二次世界大战期间，肖洛霍夫两次被授予“社会主义劳动英雄”的称号，1939年他获得列宁勋章，1941年获得斯大林奖金，1960年获得列宁文学奖金，1965年获得诺贝尔文学奖，并获其他多种荣誉。

肖洛霍夫认为小说是能使艺术家“描绘出现实世界最广阔的图景，并能以此反映自己对现实世界及其重大问题的看法的文学形式”。然而这样一来，现实主义就融进了现代特征，于是肖洛霍夫称其为社会主义现实主义，即“传播革新生活，并为了人类利益去重建生活理想的现实主义”。

但是，肖洛霍夫的小说不同于早期现实主义作家作品的突出之处，不在于他对社会主义的强调，而在于他的写作风格。在他的作品中，这种风格体现为丰富新鲜而又有乡土气息的比喻，表现故事人物的叙事文体(反映出20年代特有的对故事的兴趣)和对句法的改革实验，以及小说内部各种文体的交替使用(如描写自然的浓郁的抒情文体与人物的简洁、极端口语化的对话文体相对照)。评论家爱德华·J·布朗在评论肖洛霍夫将着意修饰的华丽文体用于史诗主题时，认为他创作了一种既有魅力又有独创性的作品，仅凭这一点，肖洛霍夫获得诺贝尔文学奖也是当之无愧的！

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (Russian: Михаил Александрович Шолохов, IPA: [ˈʂoləxəf]; 24 May [O.S. 11 May] 1905 – 21 February 1984) was a Soviet-Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life and fate of Don Cossacks during the Russian Revolution, the civil war and the period of collectivization, primarily in his most famous novel, And Quiet Flows the Don.

Life and work

Sholokhov was born in Russia, in the "land of the Cossacks" – the Kruzhilin hamlet, part of stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, in the former Administrative Region of the Don Cossack Host. His father, Aleksander Mikhailovich Sholokhov (1865–1925), was a member of the lower middle class, at different times a farmer, a cattle trader, and a miller. Sholokhov's mother, Anastasia Danilovna Chernikova (1871–1942), the widow of a Cossack, came from Ukrainian peasant stock (her father was a peasant in the Chernihiv oblast). She did not become literate until a point in her life when she wanted to correspond with her son. His family were not Don Cossacks, but inogorodyne ("outlanders"), the rather disparaging term used by the Don Cossacks for outsiders who settled in the territory of the Don Cossack Host by the banks of the river Don. The inogorodyne tended to be much more poorer than the Don Cossacks and were excluded from voting for officials in the Host government (the Don Cossack Host were allowed to elect almost of its leaders except for the ataman who headed the Host who was always appointed by the Emperor).

Sholokhov attended schools in Karginskaya [ru], Moscow, Boguchar, and Veshenskaya until 1918, when he joined the Bolshevik side in the Russian Civil War at the age of 13. He spent the next few years fighting. During the Russian Civil War, the inogorodyne tended to support the Reds while the Don Cossacks tended to support the Whites.

Sholokhov began writing at 17. He completed his first literary work, the short story "The Birthmark", at 19. In 1922 Sholokhov moved to Moscow to become a journalist, but he had to support himself through manual labour. He was a stevedore, a stonemason, and an accountant from 1922 to 1924, but he also intermittently participated in writers' "seminars". His first published work was a satirical article, The Test (19 October 1923). In 1924 Sholokhov returned to Veshenskaya and began devoting himself entirely to writing. In the same year he married Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaia (1901–1992), the daughter of Pyotr Gromoslavsky, the ataman of Bukanovskaya village. They had two daughters and two sons.

Sholohov's first book Tales from the Don, a volume of stories largely based on his personal experiences in his native region during World War I and the Russian Civil War, was published in 1926. The story "Nakhalyonok", partly based on his own childhood, was later made into a popular film.

In the same year, Sholokhov began writing And Quiet Flows the Don, which took him fourteen years to complete (1926–1940). It became the most-read work of Soviet fiction and was heralded as a powerful example of socialist realism, and it earned him both the 1941 State Stalin Prize and the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. It deals with the experiences of the Cossacks before and during World War I and the Russian Civil War.

Another novel, Virgin Soil Upturned, which earned a Lenin Prize, took 28 years to complete. It is composed of two parts, Seeds of Tomorrow (1932) and Harvest on the Don (1960), and reflects life during collectivization in the Don area.

The short story "The Fate of a Man" (1957) was made into a popular Russian film.

During World War II Sholokhov wrote about the Soviet war effort for various journals. He also covered the devastation caused by Wehrmacht troops along the Don. His mother was killed when Veshenskaya was bombed in 1942.

Sholokhov's unfinished novel They Fought for Their Country is about World War II (known in the Soviet Union, and now in Russia, as the Great Patriotic War).

Sholokhov's collected works were published in eight volumes between 1956 and 1960.

Authorship of texts

First rumors of Sholokhov's supposed plagiarism appeared in 1928 following the success of the first two volumes of And Quiet Flows the Don: it was speculated that the author stole the manuscript from a dead White Army officer. Sholokhov asked the Pravda newspaper to prove his authorship, submitted his manuscripts of the first three volumes of And Quiet Flows the Don and the plan of the fourth one. In 1929 a special commission was formed that accepted Sholokhov's authorship. In the conclusion signed by four experts, the commission stated that there was no evidence of plagiarism on the one hand, and on the other hand the manuscripts' style was close to that of Sholokhov's previous book, Tales from the Don.

The allegations resurfaced in the 1960s with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as a notable proponent, possibly in retaliation for Sholokhov's scathing opinion of Solzhenitsyn's novella One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Several other writers have been proposed as the 'original' author, although Fyodor Kryukov, a Cossack and Anti-Bolshevik who had died in 1920 has emerged as the leading candidate.

In 1984 Norwegian Slavicist and mathematician Geir Kjetsaa, in a monograph written with three other colleagues, provided statistical analyses of sentence lengths showing that Mikhail Sholokhov was likely the true author of And Quiet Flows the Don,

The debate focused on the published book, because Sholokhov's archive was destroyed in a bomb raid during the Second World War and no manuscript material or drafts were known. 143 pages of the manuscript of the 3rd & 4th books were later found and returned to Sholokhov; since 1975, they have been held by the Pushkin House in St Petersburg. Then, in 1987, several hundred pages of notes and drafts of the work were discovered, including chapters excluded from the final draft. The writing paper dates back to the 1920s: 605 pages are in Sholokhov's own hand, and 285 are transcribed by his wife, Maria, and sisters. Sholokhov had had his friend Vassily Kudashov look after it, and after he was killed at war his widow took possession of the manuscript, but she never disclosed it. The manuscript was finally obtained by the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1999 with assistance from the Russian government.

In 1999 the Russian Academy of Science carried out an analysis of the manuscript and came to the conclusion that And Quiet Flows the Don had been written by Sholokhov himself. A lengthy analysis by Felix Kuznetsov of the creative process visible in the papers provides detailed support for Sholokhov's authorship.

Political and social activity

Sholokhov met Joseph Stalin in 1930 and must have made a good impression, because he was one of very few people who could give the dictator a truthful account of what was happening in the country without risk to himself. In the 1930s, he wrote several letters to Stalin from his home in Veshenskaya about the appalling conditions in the kolkhozes and sovkhozes along the Don, requesting assistance for the farmers. In January 1931, he warned: "Comrade Stalin, without exaggeration, conditions are catastrophic!" On 4 April 1933, he sent a long letter in which, among many other details, he named two OGPU officers whom he accused of torturing prisoners from his district. Stalin reacted by sending a senior official, Matvei Shkiryatov, to investigate. The two officers were arrested and sentenced to death; their sentences were later revoked, but they were banned from working in Sholokhov's home village. Stalin also arranged for extra food to be sent to Veshenskaya and the neighbouring district.

Sholokhov joined the CPSU in 1932, and in 1937 he was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In August 1937, his best friend, the secretary of the Veshenskaya party committee, P.K. Lugovoi, was arrested. Sholokohov was due to take part in an international writers' conference, but he refused to leave the country while Lugovoi was being held. Stalin sent another official, Vladimir Stavsky, to investigate, and invited Sholokhov to visit him in the Kremlin. After their meeting, on 4 November 1937, Lugovoi and two other prisoners on whose behalf Sholokhov had interceded were released, but in a subsequent letter to Stalin, he complained that the people responsible for wrongfully arresting them had not been punished.

On a visit to Moscow in 1938, Sholokhov met Yevgenia Yezhova, wife of Nikolai Yezhov, the chief of police, and checked into a hotel room with her, unaware that the room was bugged. Yezhov heard the recording and attacked Yezhova. On 23 October 1938, Sholokhov met Stalin in the Kremlin to complain that he had been put under surveillance in Veshenskaya, but when Yezhov was summoned to explain, he claimed not to know why. They met again on 31 October: this time the officer who had been investigating Sholokhov was also summoned. He said his orders had come from Moscow, but Yezhov again denied giving the order. Sholokhov claimed that he completed the fourth and last volume of And Quiet Flows the Don and its sequel on 21 December 1939, the day when the USSR was celebrating what was supposedly Stalin's 60th birthday, and celebrated by opening a bottle of wine that Stalin had given him. He then wrote to Stalin to say how he had marked the special day.

In 1959 he accompanied Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on a trip to Europe and the United States. He became a member of the CPSU Central Committee in 1961, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939, and was a member of the USSR Supreme Soviet. He was twice awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and later became vice president of the Union of Soviet Writers.

He commented on the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial at the 23rd Congress by saying that the prison terms meted out to Sinyavsky and Daniel had been much too lenient compared to the "revolutionary understanding of what is right" during the 1920s, which turned part of the Soviet intelligentsia against him and resulted in two open letters by Lydia Chukovskaya and Yuri Galanskov addressed to Sholokhov.

Late years

Sholokhov almost stopped writing after 1969 and spent the late years at the Vyoshenskaya stanitsa. He used his Order of Lenin money to build a local school and his Nobel Prize — to take the family on a road trip over Europe and Japan. In 1972 he became a vocal critic of Alexander Yakovlev, then a head of the Central Committee Propaganda Department, and his article "Against Antihistoricism" which attacked Russian nationalism; this resulted in a Politburo meeting and removal of Yakovlev from his position (he was then sent as an ambassador to Canada).

Mikhail Sholokhov died on 21 February 1984 from laryngeal cancer. He was buried on the territory of his house at the Vyoshenskaya stanitsa along with his wife Maria Petrovna Sholokhova (nee Gromoslovskaya, 1902—1992).

Honours and Awards

Soviet Union

	Hero of Socialist Labor, twice (1967, 1980)
	Six Orders of Lenin (1939, 1955, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1980)
	Order of the October Revolution (1972)
	Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (1945)
	Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1970)
	Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (1942)
	Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" (1944)
	Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
	Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
	Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1965)
	Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975)
	Medal "Veteran of Labour" (1974)

Foreign

	Grand Master of the Order of Cyril and Methodius (Bulgaria)
	Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
	Star of People's Friendship (East Germany)
	Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia)

Legacy

• An asteroid in main-belt is named after him, 2448 Sholokhov.
• Sholokhov Moscow State University for Humanities bears his name.
• His house at the Vyoshenskaya stanitsa was turned into the National Sholokhov Museum-Reserve.
• There are a number of monuments in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don.
• Grigory and Aksinya and Grigory and Aksinya in a boat sculptures in the Vyoshenskaya stanitsa and Rostov-on-Don, respectfully.
• The Moscow National Guard Presidential Cadets School is named after him.

Selected publications

• Donskie Rasskazy, 1925 – Tales of the Don.
• Lazorevaja Step, 1926.
• Tikhii Don, 4 vol., 1928–1940 (The Quiet Don) – And Quiet Flows the Don (1934); The Don Flows Home to the Sea (1940); Quiet Flows the Don (1966). A three-part film version, directed by Sergei Gerasimov and starring P. Glebov, L. Khityaeva, Z. Kirienko and E. Bystrltskaya, was produced in 1957–1958.
• Podnyataya Tselina, 1932–1960 – Virgin Soil Upturned (1935); Harvest on the Don (1960).
• Oni Srazhalis Za Rodinu, 1942 – They Fought for Their Country.
• Nauka Nenavisti, 1942 – Hate / The Science of Hatred.
• Slovo O Rodine, 1951.
• Sudba Cheloveka, 1956–1957 – Destiny of a Man. A film version directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and starring Sergei Bondarchuk, Pavlik Boriskin, Zinaida Kirienko, Pavel Volkov, Yuri Avelin, and K. Alekseev was produced in 1959.
• Sobranie Sochinenii, 1956–1958 – collected works (8 vols.)
• Oni Srazhalis Za Rodinu, 1959 – They Fought for their Country
• Sobranie Sochinenii, 1962 – collected works (8 vols.)
• Early Stories, 1966.
• One Man's Destiny, and Other Stories, Articles, and Sketches, 1923–1963, 1967
• Fierce and Gentle Warriors, 1967.
• Po Veleniju Duši, 1970 – At the Bidding of the Heart
• Sobranie Sochinenii, 1975 (8 vols.)
• Rossiya V Serdtse, 1975.
• SLOVO O RODINE, 1980.
• Collected Works, 1984 (8 vols.)
• Sobranie Sochinenii, 1985 (collected works) (8 vols.)
• Sholokhov I Stalin, 1994.

References

Cited sources

• McSmith, Andy (2015). Fear and the Muse Kept Watch. The New Press. ISBN 978-1-59558-056-6.

Further reading

• Boeck, Brian J, Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival: The Life of Mikhail Sholokhov (2019) excerpt
• Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. "Sholokhov and the riddle of ‘The Quiet Don’". The Times Literary Supplement, 24 May 2016 (originally published 1974).