Ivan Fyodorovich Kovalyov (1885–1965) was a self-taught folk storyteller from Voskresensky District, one of the most significant folk tale narrators of the Soviet era. He was a member of the USSR Writers' Union from 1938 and a recipient of the Order of the Badge of Honor.[2]

Biography

He was born in Shadrino (now in Voskresensky District of Nizhny Novgorod Region). According to the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Children's Library, Kovalyov was born in the selo of Shadrino in Semenovsky Uyezd of Nizhny Novgorod Province into a peasant family.[2] He received only a three-grade rural education. In his youth he worked as a peddler, then served in the tsarist army and took part in the First World War. He was captured and taken to Germany, and was not able to return home until 1920. During the 1930s Collective Farm, then as a collective farm brigade leader, and managed the Shadrino izba-chitalnya (village reading room). Throughout all this he continued without fail to compose and tell folk tales.[2]

Storytelling Work

Kovalyov's repertoire was dominated by magical and adventure tales featuring a poor hero who attains wealth and happiness through wit and resourcefulness. His tales were distinguished by multiple interwoven plots, complex composition, and psychological depth. They are also notable for their thoroughness in developing detail — along with their psychological depth, this is one of the hallmarks of his style as identified by Nizhny Novgorod researchers.[2] Among his finest works are "About Yemilya the Fool," "Two Merchants," "The Gnat and the Fly Had a Fight," and "Mikola Duplensky." Some tales dealt with Soviet themes: in 1937, for instance, the tale "The Ice Hill," about the Chelyuskin expedition survivors, was published in the anthology "The Creative Work of the Peoples of the USSR." In total, folklorists recorded around one hundred tales from him.[2]

Kovalyov's first collection of tales Gorky. In 1941 the State Literary Museum published a large volume of his tales, edited by Academician Yu. I. Sokolov, with an introductory article and scholarly commentary by E. Hofmann and S. Mints. A third book was published in Gorky in 1953.[2]

Public Activity and Recognition

In 1938 Kovalyov was admitted to the USSR Writers' Union. During the The Great Patriotic War he traveled to the front and performed for soldiers at their combat positions. For his contributions to literature he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and the Medal for Labor Valor.[2]

Sources

  1. ngounb.ru — Literary Map of Nizhny Novgorod Region
  2. ngodb.rf — Kovalev Ivan Fyodorovich (31.03[12.04].1885 — after 1966) — Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Children's Library named after T. A. Mavrina (GBUK NO… — According to the Nizhny Novgorod…
  3. checko.ru — LLC IC "EVEREST" — Chelyabinsk — TIN 7449095748 — General Director Kovalev I. F.