Belyaev is the smallest work. Alexander belyaev. "The Last Man from Atlantis"

Alexander Romanovich Belyaev - was born on March 4 (16th NS) in Smolensk in the family of a priest. From childhood I read a lot, was fond of adventure literature, especially Jules Verne. Subsequently, he flew on airplanes of one of the first designs, he made gliders himself.

In 1901 he graduated from the theological seminary, but did not become a priest; on the contrary, he left there as a convinced atheist. He loved painting, music, theater, played in amateur performances, was engaged in photography, and studied technique.

He entered the legal lyceum in Yaroslavl and at the same time studied violin at the conservatory. To earn money for his studies, he played in a circus orchestra, painted theatrical scenery, and was engaged in journalism. In 1906, after graduating from the Lyceum, he returned to Smolensk, worked as a sworn attorney. Served as a music critic, theater reviewer for the newspaper "Smolensky Vestnik".

He never stopped dreaming of distant countries and, having saved up money, in 1913 traveled to Italy, France, Switzerland. He kept the impressions of this trip for the rest of his life. Returning to Smolensk, he worked in the "Smolensky Vestnik", a year later became the editor of this publication. A serious illness - bone tuberculosis - for six years, three of which he was in a cast, confined him to bed. Not succumbing to despair, he is engaged in self-education: he studies foreign languages, medicine, biology, history, technology, reads a lot. Having defeated the disease, in 1922 he returned to a full life, served as an inspector for juvenile affairs. On the advice of doctors, he lives in Yalta, works as a teacher in an orphanage.

In 1923 he moved to Moscow, began a serious literary career. He publishes science fiction stories, stories in the magazines Around the World, Knowledge-Sila, World Pathfinder, earning the title of Soviet Jules Verne. In 1925 he published the story "The Head of Professor Dowell", which Belyaev himself called an autobiographical story: he wanted to tell "what a head without a body can experience."

In the 1920s, such well-known works as "The Island of the Lost Ships", "The Amphibian Man", "Above the Abyss", "Fight on the Air" were published. He writes essays about the great Russian scientists - Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Pavlov, Tsiolkovsky.

In 1931 he moved to Leningrad, continuing to work hard. He was especially interested in the problems of space exploration and ocean depths. In 1934, after reading Belyaev's novel "Airship", Tsiolkovsky wrote: "... wittily written and sufficiently scientific for imagination. I will allow myself to express my pleasure to Comrade Belyaev. "

In 1933 the book Leap Into Nothing was published, 1935 - The Second Moon. In the 1930s, they wrote "The Star of the CEC", "Wonderful Eye", "Under the Sky of the Arctic".

The last years of his life he spent near Leningrad, in the city of Pushkin. I met the war in the hospital.

Born on March 4 (16th NS) in Smolensk in the family of a priest. From childhood I read a lot, was fond of adventure literature, especially Jules Verne. Subsequently, he flew on airplanes of one of the first designs, he made gliders himself.

In 1933 the book Leap Into Nothing was published, 1935 - The Second Moon. In the 1930s, they wrote "The Star of the CEC", "Wonderful Eye", "Under the Sky of the Arctic".

The last years of his life he spent near Leningrad, in the city of Pushkin. I met the war in the hospital.

On January 6, 1942, Belyaev died of starvation in occupied Pushkin.
Books:

No series

Witch castle

(Heroic Fantasy)

CEC Star

(Heroic Fantasy)

This outstanding creator is one of the founders of the science fiction genre in the Soviet Union. Even in our time, it seems simply incredible that a person in his works can reflect events that will occur several decades later ...

So who is Alexander Belyaev? The biography of this person is simple and unique in its own way. But unlike the millions of copies of the author's works, not so much has been written about his life.
Alexander Belyaev was born on March 4, 1884 in the city of Smolensk, in the family of an Orthodox priest. The family had two more children: sister Nina died in childhood from sarcoma; brother Vasily, a student of the veterinary institute, drowned while riding a boat.
The father wanted to see in his son the successor of his work and in 1894 he sent him to a theological school. After graduating from it in 1898, Alexander was transferred to the Smolensk Theological Seminary. In 1904 he graduated from it, but did not become a priest, on the contrary, he left there as a convinced atheist. Contrary to his father, he entered the Demidov legal lyceum in Yaroslavl. Soon after the death of his father, he had to earn extra money: Alexander gave lessons, painted scenery for the theater, played the violin in the circus orchestra, and was published in city newspapers as a music critic.

Upon graduation (in 1908) from the Demidov Lyceum, A. Belyaev was promoted to a private attorney in Smolensk and soon became known as a good lawyer. He has a steady clientele. Material opportunities also increased: he was able to rent and furnish a good apartment, acquire a good collection of paintings, and assemble a large library. In 1913, he traveled abroad: he visited France, Italy, visited Venice. In 1914 he left jurisprudence for literature and theater. In 1914, his debut play "Grandma Moira" was published in the Moscow children's magazine "Protalinka".
At the age of 35, A. Belyaev fell ill with tuberculous pleurisy. The treatment was unsuccessful - tuberculosis of the spine developed, complicated by paralysis of the legs. A serious illness confined him to bed for six years, three of which he lay in a cast. His young wife left him, saying that she did not marry in order to take care of her sick husband. In search of specialists who could help him, A. Belyaev with his mother and old nanny ended up in Yalta. There, in the hospital, he began to write poetry. Not succumbing to despair, he is engaged in self-education: he studies foreign languages, medicine, biology, history, technology, reads a lot (Jules Verne, HG Wells, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky). Having defeated the disease, in 1922 he returned to a fulfilling life and began to work. In the same year he marries Margarita Konstantinovna Magnushevskaya.
First, A. Belyaev became a teacher in an orphanage, then he was hired as an inspector of the criminal investigation department, there he organized a photo laboratory, and later he had to go to the library. Life in Yalta was very hard, and A. Belyaev (with the help of a friend) in 1923 moved with his family to Moscow, where he got a job as a legal adviser. There he begins a serious literary career.

Publishes science fiction stories, stories in the magazines "Around the World", "Knowledge is Power", "World Pathfinder".
In 1924, the newspaper Gudok publishes the story "The Head of Professor Dowell", which Belyaev himself called an autobiographical story, explaining: "The disease once put me in a plaster bed for three and a half years. This period of illness was accompanied by paralysis of the lower half of the body. And although I owned my hands, nevertheless my life during these years was reduced to the life of a “head without a body”, which I did not feel at all - complete anesthesia ... ”.

A. Belyaev lived in Moscow until 1928; during this time he wrote the novels "The Island of the Lost Ships", "The Last Man from Atlantis", "Amphibian Man", "Fight on the Air", a collection of stories was published. The author wrote not only under his own name, but also under the pseudonyms A. Rom and Arbel.

In 1928 A. Belyaev with his family moved to Leningrad and since then became a professional writer. There were written "novels The Master of the World", "Underwater Farmers", "The Miraculous Eye", stories from the series "Inventions of Professor Wagner". They were published mainly in Moscow publishing houses. However, soon the disease again made itself felt, and had to move from rainy Leningrad to sunny Kiev. However, publishing houses in Kiev accepted manuscripts only in Ukrainian, and Belyaev again moved to Moscow.

1930 turned out to be a very difficult year for the writer: his six-year-old daughter Lyudmila died of meningitis, his second daughter Svetlana fell ill with rickets, and his own disease (spondylitis) soon became aggravated. As a result, in 1931 the family returned to Leningrad.

In September 1931 A. Belyaev submitted the manuscript of his novel "The Earth Is Burning" to the editorial office of the Leningrad magazine "Around the World".

In 1932 he lives in Murmansk. In 1934, he meets with Herbert Wells, who arrived in Leningrad. In 1935, Belyaev became a permanent contributor to the Vokrug Sveta magazine.
At the beginning of 1938, after eleven years of intensive cooperation, Belyaev left the magazine Around the World. In 1938 he published an article "Cinderella" about the plight of contemporary science fiction.

Shortly before the war, the writer underwent another operation, therefore, when the war began, he refused the offer to evacuate. The city of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoe Selo, a suburb of Leningrad), where A. Belyaev lived with his family in recent years, was occupied by the Nazis.
6.1.1942, at the 58th year of his life, Alexander Romanovich Belyaev died of hunger. He was buried in a mass grave along with other residents of the city. “The writer Belyaev, who wrote science fiction novels like The Amphibian Man, froze to death in his room. "Frozen from hunger" is an absolutely accurate expression. People are so weak from hunger that they are unable to get up and bring firewood. They found him already completely numb ... ”.

Alexander Belyaev had two daughters: Lyudmila (March 15, 1924 - March 19, 1930) and Svetlana.
The writer's mother-in-law was a Swede, who was named at birth by the double name Elvira-Ioanetta. Shortly before the war, when exchanging passports, she was left with only one name, and she and her daughter were also recorded as German. Due to the difficulties of the exchange, it remained so. Because of this entry in the documents, the writer's wife Margarita, daughter Svetlana and mother-in-law were given Volksdeutsche status by the Germans and were taken prisoner by the Germans, where they were in various camps for displaced persons in Poland and Austria until liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. After the end of the war, they were exiled to Western Siberia. They spent 11 years in exile. The daughter did not marry.
The surviving wife of the writer and daughter Svetlana were taken prisoner by the Germans and were held in various camps for displaced persons in Poland and Austria until they were liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. After the end of the war, they were exiled to Western Siberia. They spent 11 years in exile. The daughter did not marry.

The circumstances of the death of "Soviet Jules Verne" - Alexander Belyaev are still a mystery. The writer died in the occupied city of Pushkin in 1942, it is not very clear just how and why this happened. Some argue that Alexander Romanovich died of hunger, others believe that he could not bear the horrors of the occupation, others believe that the cause of the writer's death should be sought in his last novel.

Conversation with the daughter of "Soviet Jules Verne".

Svetlana Alexandrovna, why wasn't your family evacuated from Pushkin before the Germans entered the city?
- My father had tuberculosis of the spine for many years. He could move independently only in a special corset. He was so weak that leaving was out of the question. There was a special commission in the city, which at that time was engaged in the evacuation of children. He offered to take me out too, but my parents refused this offer either. In 1940, I began to have tuberculosis of the knee joint, and I met the war in a cast. Mom often repeated then: "To die - so together!".
- There are still quite a few versions regarding the death of your father:
- Dad died of hunger. It was not customary in our family to make any supplies for the winter. When the Germans entered the city, we had several bags of cereals, some potatoes and a barrel of sauerkraut. And when these supplies ran out, my grandmother had to go to work for the Germans. Every day she was given a pot of soup and some potato skins, from which we baked flat cakes. Such meager food was enough for us, but it was not enough for my father.
- Some researchers believe that Alexander Romanovich simply could not bear the horrors of the fascist occupation ...
“I don’t know how my father experienced all this, but I was very scared. Anyone could be executed without trial at that time. Just for breaking curfews or being charged with theft. Most of all we were worried about my mother. She often went to our old apartment to pick up some things from there. She could easily have been hung like a thief in the apartment. The gallows stood right under our windows.
- Is it true that the Germans did not even allow you and your mother to bury Alexander Romanovich?
- Pope died on January 6, 1942. Mom went to the city council, and there it turned out that there was only one horse left in the city, and it was necessary to wait in line. The coffin with the body of the father was placed in an empty apartment next door. Many people at that time were simply covered with earth in common ditches, while a separate grave had to be paid for. Mom took some things to the gravedigger, and he swore that he would bury his father in a human way. The coffin with the body was placed in a crypt at the Kazan cemetery and had to be buried with the onset of the first heat. Alas, on February 5, my mother and grandmother were taken prisoner, so they buried my father without us.

The monument to the science fiction writer at the Kazan cemetery of Tsarskoye Selo stands not at all on the grave of the writer, but at the place of his supposed burial. The details of this story were unearthed by the former chairman of the local history section of the city of Pushkin, Yevgeny Golovchiner. At one time he managed to find a witness who was present at Belyaev's funeral. Tatiana Ivanova has been disabled since childhood and has lived all her life at the Kazan cemetery.

It was she who said that at the beginning of March 1942, when the ground had already begun to thaw a little, people who had been lying in the local crypt since winter began to be buried in the cemetery. It was at this time, along with others, the writer Belyaev was buried. Why did she remember that? Because Alexander Romanovich was buried in a coffin, of which there were only two left in Pushkin by that time. Professor Chernov was buried in another. Tatyana Ivanova also indicated the place where both of these coffins were buried. True, from her words it turned out that the gravedigger still did not keep his promise to bury Belyaev in a human way, he buried the writer's coffin in a common ditch instead of a separate grave.

Much more interesting seems to be the question of why Alexander Belyaev died after all. The publicist Fyodor Morozov believes that the death of the writer could well be connected with the secret of the Amber Room. The fact is that the last thing Belyaev worked on was devoted to this very topic. Nobody knows what he was going to write about the famous mosaic. It is only known that Belyaev, even before the war, told many about his new novel and even quoted some excerpts to his acquaintances. With the arrival of the Germans in Pushkin, specialists were actively interested in the Amber Room

Gestapo. Incidentally, they could not fully believe that they had gotten into their hands a genuine mosaic. Therefore, they were actively looking for people who would have information on this matter. It is no coincidence that two Gestapo officers also went to Alexander Romanovich, trying to find out what he knew about this story. It is not known whether the writer told them anything or not. In any case, no documents have yet been found in the Gestapo archives. But the answer to the question whether Belyaev could have been killed because of his interest in the Amber Room does not seem so difficult. Suffice it to recall what fate befell many researchers who tried to find the wonderful mosaic.

"Life after death.

More than 70 years have passed since the Russian science fiction writer died, but the memory of him lives on in his works to this day. At one time, the work of Alexander Belyaev was severely criticized, at times he heard mocking reviews. However, the science fiction's ideas, which previously seemed ridiculous and scientifically impossible, eventually convinced even the most inveterate skeptics of the opposite.

The works of the author continue to be published today, they are quite in demand by the reader. Belyaev's books are instructive, his works call for kindness and courage, love and respect. Many films have been filmed based on the novels of the prose writer. So, since 1961, eight films have been filmed, some of them are part of the classics of Soviet cinema - "The Amphibian Man", "The Testament of Professor Dowell", "Island of the Lost Ships" and "Air Seller". The story of Ichthyander Perhaps the most famous work of A.R. Belyaev is the novel "Amphibian Man", which was written in 1927. It was he, together with Professor Dowell's Head, that HG Wells highly praised. Belyaev was inspired to create the "Amphibian Man", firstly, by the memories of the read novel by the French writer Jean de la Ira "Ictaner and Moisette", and secondly, by a newspaper article about the trial in Argentina in the case of a doctor who conducted various experiments over people and animals. Today it is practically impossible to establish the name of the newspaper and the details of the process. But this proves once again that, creating his sci-fi works, Alexander Belyaev tried to rely on real life facts and events. In 1962, directors V. Chebotarev and G. Kazansky filmed The Amphibian Man. "The Last Man from Atlantis" One of the very first works of the author, "The Last Man from Atlantis", did not go unnoticed in Soviet and world literature. In 1927, it was included in the first author's collection of Belyaev together with "The Island of the Lost Ships". From 1928 to 1956, the work was forgotten, and only since 1957 it was reprinted several times on the territory of the Soviet Union.

The idea of searching for the disappeared civilization of the Atlanteans dawned on Belyaev after reading an article in the French newspaper Le Figaro. Its content was such that in Paris there was a society for the study of Atlantis. At the beginning of the twentieth century, such associations were quite common; they enjoyed an increased interest of the population. The astute Aleksandr Belyaev decided to take advantage of this. The science fiction writer used the note as a prologue to The Last Man from Atlantis. The work consists of two parts, it is perceived by the reader quite simply and exciting. The material for writing the novel was taken from the book by Roger Devin “The Disappeared Continent. Atlantis, one sixth of the world. " Comparing the predictions of the representatives of science fiction, it is important to note that the scientific ideas of the books of the Soviet writer Alexander Belyaev were realized by 99 percent. So, the main idea of the novel "The Head of Professor Dowell" was the possibility of reviving the human body after death. Several years after the publication of this work, Sergei Bryukhonenko, the great Soviet physiologist, performed similar experiments. A widespread achievement of medicine today - the surgical restoration of the lens of the eye - was also foreseen by Alexander Belyaev more than fifty years ago.

The novel "Amphibian Man" became prophetic in the scientific development of technologies for a long stay of a person under water. So, in 1943, the French scientist Jacques-Yves Cousteau patented the first scuba gear, thereby proving that Ichthyander is not such an unattainable image. The successful tests of the first unmanned aerial vehicles in the 1930s in Great Britain, as well as the creation of psychotropic weapons - all this was described by the science fiction writer in the book "The Lord of the World" back in 1926.
The novel "The Man Who Lost His Face" tells about the successful development of plastic surgery and the ethical problems that have arisen in connection with this. In the story, the governor of the state is reincarnated as a black man, taking upon himself all the hardships of racial discrimination. Here you can draw a certain parallel in the fate of the aforementioned hero and the famous American singer Michael Jackson, who, fleeing from unfair persecution, performed a considerable number of operations to change the color of his skin.

Throughout his creative life, Belyaev fought with the disease. Deprived of physical capabilities, he tried to reward the heroes of the books with unusual abilities: to communicate without words, fly like birds, swim as well as fish. But to infect the reader with an interest in life, in something new - isn't this the real talent of a writer?

Alexander Romanovich Belyaev(4 (16) March 1884 - 6 January 1942) - Soviet science fiction writer, one of the founders of Soviet science fiction literature. Among his most famous novels are "The Head of Professor Dowell", "Amphibian Man", "Ariel", "The Star of the CEC" and many others. Sometimes he is called the Russian "Jules Verne".

In 1933 the book Leap Into Nothing was published, 1935 - The Second Moon. In the 1930s, they wrote "The Star of the CEC", "Wonderful Eye", "Under the Sky of the Arctic".

The last years of his life he spent near Leningrad, in the city of Pushkin. I met the war in the hospital.

"Amphibian Man"

For Alexander Belyaev, science fiction has become a lifelong affair. He corresponded with scientists, studied works on medicine, technology, biology. Belyaev's famous novel, The Amphibian Man, was praised by Herbert Wells, and scientific stories were published in many Soviet journals.

"Forensic formalism" and dreams of travel: childhood and adolescence of Alexander Belyaev

Alexander Belyaev grew up in the family of an Orthodox priest in Smolensk. At the request of his father, he entered the theological seminary. Seminarians could read newspapers, magazines, books and go to the theater only after the special written permission of the rector, and Alexander Belyaev loved music and literature from childhood. And he decided not to become a priest, although he graduated from seminary in 1901.

Belyaev played the violin and piano, was fond of photography and painting, read a lot and played in the theater of the Smolensk People's House. His favorite author was Jules Verne. The future writer read adventure novels, dreamed of superpowers, like their heroes. Once he even jumped from the roof, trying to "take off", and seriously injured his spine.

My brother and I decided to go to travel to the center of the Earth. They moved tables, chairs, beds, covered them with blankets, sheets, stocked up with an oil lantern and went deep into the mysterious bowels of the Earth. And immediately the prosaic tables and chairs were gone. We saw only caves and abysses, rocks and underground waterfalls as they were portrayed by wonderful pictures: creepy and at the same time somehow cozy. And my heart sank from this sweet horror.
Alexander Belyaev

At the age of 18, Belyaev entered the Demidov Legal Lyceum in Yaroslavl. During the First Russian Revolution, he took part in student strikes, after which the provincial gendarme office followed him: “In 1905, as a student, he built barricades on the squares of Moscow. He kept a diary recording the events of the armed uprising. Already during his legal profession, he spoke on political cases, was searched. The diary almost burnt ".

After graduating from the Lyceum in 1909, Alexander Belyaev returned to his native Smolensk. His father died and the young man had to support his family: he decorated the scenery for the theater and played the violin in the Truzzi circus orchestra. Later, Belyaev received the position of a private attorney, was engaged in legal practice, but, as he later recalled, "The legal profession - all this judicial formalism and casuistry - did not satisfy"... During this time, he also wrote theater reviews, reviews from concerts and literary salons for the Smolensky Vestnik newspaper.

Traveling in Europe and passion for theater

In 1911, after a successful trial, the young lawyer received a fee and went to Europe. He studied art history, traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the south of France. Belyaev went abroad for the first time and got a lot of vivid impressions from the trip. After climbing Mount Vesuvius, he wrote a travel sketch, which was later published in the "Smolensk Bulletin".

Vesuvius is a symbol, it is the god of southern Italy. Only here, sitting on this black lava, under which somewhere below the deadly fire rages until the time, it becomes clear the deification of the forces of nature reigning over a small man, just as defenseless, despite all the conquests of culture - as he was thousands of years ago in blooming Pompeii.
Alexander Belyaev, an excerpt from the sketch

When Belyaev returned from his trip, he continued experiments in the theater, which he began at the Lyceum. Together with the Smolensk cellist Yulia Saburova, he staged the fairy-tale opera The Sleeping Princess. Belyaev himself played in amateur productions: Karandyshev in "Bride" and Tortsov in the play "Poverty is not a vice" based on the works of Alexander Ostrovsky, Lyubin in "Provincial" by Ivan Turgenev, Astrov in "Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov. When artists from the Konstantin Stanislavsky Theater toured in Smolensk, the director saw Belyaev on stage and offered him a place in his troupe. However, the young lawyer refused.

Belyaev-fiction: short stories and novels

When Alexander Belyaev was 35 years old, he contracted tuberculosis of the spine: a childhood trauma affected. After a complication and an unsuccessful operation, Alexander Belyaev could not move for three years and walked for three more in a special corset. Together with his mother, he went to Yalta for rehabilitation. There he wrote poetry and was engaged in self-education: he studied medicine, biology, technology, foreign languages, read his beloved Jules Verne, HG Wells and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. All this time, the nurse Margarita Magnushevskaya was next to him - they met in 1919. She became the third wife of Belyaev. The first two marriages broke up pretty quickly: both spouses left the writer for different reasons.

In 1922, Belyaev felt better. He returned to work: first he got a job as a teacher in an orphanage, then became an inspector of the criminal investigation department.

I had to enter the office of the Criminal Investigation Department, and according to the state I am a junior policeman. I am a photographer who takes pictures of criminals, I am a lecturer who teaches courses on criminal and administrative law and a "private" legal adviser. Despite all this, one has to starve.
Alexander Belyaev

It was hard to live in Yalta, and in 1923 the family moved to the capital. Here Alexander Belyaev began to study literature: his science fiction stories were published in the magazines Vokrug Sveta, Znaniye - Sila and World Pathfinder. The latter published the story "The Head of Professor Dowell" in 1925. Later, the writer remade it into a novel: “Since then, the situation has changed. In the field of surgery, great strides have been made. And I decided to rework my story into a novel, making it, without breaking away from the scientific basis, even more fantastic. "... The era of Belyaev's fantasy began with this work. The novel is autobiographical: when the writer could not walk for three years, he came up with the idea to write about how a head would feel without a body: "... and although I owned my hands, nevertheless my life during these years was reduced to the life of a" head without a body ", which I did not feel at all - complete anesthesia ..."

In the next three years, Belyaev wrote "The Island of the Lost Ships", "The Last Man from Atlantis", "Fight on the Air". The author signed his works with pseudonyms: A. Rom, Arbel, A. R.B., B. Rn, A. Romanovich, A. Rome.

"Amphibian Man"

In 1928, one of his most popular works was published - the novel "The Amphibian Man". At the heart of the novel, as the writer's wife later recalled, was a newspaper article about how in Buenos Aires a doctor staged forbidden experiments on humans and animals. Belyaev was also inspired by the works of his predecessors - the works of "Ictaner and Moisette" by the French writer Jean de la Ira "The Man-Fish" by the Russian anonymous author. The novel "The Amphibian Man" was a great success, in the year of its first publication it was twice published as a separate book, and in 1929 it was reprinted for the third time.

It was with pleasure, Mr. Belyaev, that I read your wonderful novels "The Head of Professor Dowell" and "The Amphibian Man". O! They compare very favorably with Western books. I even envy their success a little. In modern Western science fiction literature there is an incredible amount of baseless fantasy and just as incredibly little thought ...
H.G. Wells

The Belyaevs briefly moved to Leningrad, but due to the poor climate they soon moved to warm Kiev. This period became very difficult for the family. The eldest daughter Lyudmila died, the younger Svetlana fell seriously ill, and the writer himself began to experience an exacerbation. Local publications accepted works only in Ukrainian. The family returned to Leningrad, and in January 1931 moved to Pushkin. At this time, Alexander Belyaev began to take an interest in the human psyche: the work of the brain, its connection with the body and the emotional state. About this he created the works "The Man Who Doesn't Sleep", "Go-Too", "The Man Who Lost His Face", "The Air Seller".

Drawing attention to a big problem is more important than communicating a bunch of ready-made scientific information. Pushing for independent scientific work is the best and more that a science fiction work can do.
Alexander Belyaev

"Understand what a scientist is working on"

In the 1930s, Belyaev became interested in space. He made friends with the members of the group of the Soviet engineer Friedrich Zander and the staff of the group for studying jet propulsion, studied the works of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. After getting acquainted with the work of the scientist on the interplanetary airship, the idea of the novel "Airship" appeared. In 1934, after reading this novel, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “... wittily written and scientific enough for fantasy. I will allow myself to express my pleasure to Comrade Belyaev ".

After that, a constant correspondence began between them. When Belyaev was being treated in Evpatoria, he wrote to Tsiolkovsky that he was planning a new novel - "The Second Moon". The correspondence was interrupted: in September 1935 Tsiolkovsky died. In 1936, the magazine "Around the World" published a novel about the first extraterrestrial colonies, dedicated to the great inventor - "Star of the CEC" (CEC - the initials of Tsiolkovsky).

A writer working in the field of science fiction must himself be scientifically educated so that he can not only understand what the scientist is working on, but also on this basis foresee the consequences and possibilities that are sometimes unclear to the scientist himself.
Alexander Belyaev

Since 1939 Belyaev wrote articles, stories, essays about Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Ivan Pavlov, Herbert Wells, Mikhail Lomonosov for the newspaper Bolshevistskoe Slovo. At the same time, another science fiction novel was published - "Laboratory Dublve", as well as an article "Cinderella" about the difficult situation of science fiction in literature. Shortly before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the writer's last lifetime novel, "Ariel", was published. It was based on Belyaev's childhood dream - to learn to fly.

In June 1941, the war broke out. The writer refused to evacuate from Pushkin, because he was operated on. He did not leave the house, he could get up only to wash and eat. In January 1942, Alexander Belyaev died. His daughter Svetlana recalled: “When the Germans entered the city, we had several bags of cereals, some potatoes and a barrel of sauerkraut, which our friends gave us.<...>Such meager food was enough for us, but it was not enough for my father in his position. He began to swell from hunger and eventually died ... "

Belyaev was buried in a mass grave along with other residents of the city.