Mikhail Isakovsky


Mikhail Vasil'evich Isakovsky was a Russian poet.
A communist from an early age, he wrote many poems and songs in praise of the Soviet Union, but his most famous song is doubtless the rather apolitical Katyusha.

Biography

Mikhail Isakovsky was born in the village of Glotovka, Yelnya Uyezd, Smolensk Governorate, to a poor peasant family of ethnic Russians. A local priest taught him to read and write. Later he studied at a gymnasium for two years. His first poem, Просьба солдата, was published in 1914 in Russian newspaper Nov . In 1918, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1921 until 1931, he worked in Smolensk newspapers.
In 1927, his first book of poems, Провода в соломе, was published.
In 1931, he left for Moscow.
Many poems of Isakovsky are set to music. The most famous are "Katyusha ", "The Enemy Burned My Native Hut ", "In the Frontier Forest ", and "Migrant Birds Fly ", and "Lonely Accordion ". His songs "What You Were Is What You Are " and "Oh, Arrowwood Is Blooming ", set to music by Isaak Dunayevsky, were used in the film Cossacks of the Kuban .
The song "The Enemy Burned My Native Hut " was officially criticized for "pessimism" and was not printed or sung until 1956.
As a result of cooperation with :ru: Захаров, Владимир Григорьевич|Vladimir Zakharov, Isakovsky's poems set to music appear in the repertoire of the Pyatnitsky Choir. The most widely known of them are "Along the Village ", "Seeing Off " and "You Can Never Tell ". According to Alexandra Permyakova, chief musician of the Pyatnitsky Choir, these songs made the Choir famous.
He twice received the USSR State Prize for his songwriting. In 1970, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. He was also awarded four Orders of Lenin, in addition to other orders and medals.
He also published a book on the subject of poetry, О поэтическом мастерстве.
Mikhail Isakovsky died in Moscow on 20 July 1973, and he was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.