Playwright, writer, publicist, screenwriter.
He graduated from a real school in Maykop.
In 1914-1917 he studied at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University.
Since the spring of 1917 at the front. In 1922-1923 - literary secretary Korney Chukovsky, since 1925 - employee of Detgiz.
Author of the plays: " Naked King", "Shadow", "Dragon", " An ordinary miracle", "The Tale of Young Spouses", etc. The following films were made from Schwartz's scripts: "Cinderella", "First-Grader", "Don Quixote", "Marya the Mistress", "Cain XVIII", " The Snow Queen"; there is a film version of "Dragon" and two films based on "An Ordinary Miracle."
He was buried at the Bogoslovskoe cemetery in Leningrad.
Throughout his entire career, Evgeniy Schwartz, in his own stories and plays, and in fairy tale plays based on the works of Andersen, invited people to delve into the meaning of life, see the essence and, before it is too late, destroy the germs of evil in their immortal souls. Without lecturing anyone, he gently advised them to be wise and draw the “correct” conclusions.
Nikolai Chukovsky (writer, son of Korney Chukovsky) in the article " High word writer" said that "... his (Schwartz's) plays begin with a brilliant demonstration of evil, stupidity in all their shame and end with the triumph of goodness, intelligence and love." In the blockade winter of 1941, he told the writer Vera Ketlinskaya: "With us With you, there is one advantage of seeing people in such a situation when their whole essence is turned inside out." A year later, he will write in his diary: "God made me a witness to many troubles. I saw how people ceased to be people out of fear... I saw how lies killed the truth everywhere, even in the depths of human souls.”
Evgeny Lvovich was also known for his kindness and compassion. In the 1920s, he and his wife picked up street children and, with the help of Marshak, placed them in orphanages. When Nikolai Zabolotsky was repressed, Schwartz, who himself was constantly in need of money, financially supported the poet’s wife and two of his children. Since 1946, he helped the disgraced Mikhail Zoshchenko, from whom many then turned their backs. In 1950, at the height of the “struggle against formalism and cosmopolitanism,” literary critic, professor Boris Eikhenbaum, and Schwartz were expelled from Leningrad University, along with writer Mikhail Kozakov (father of the artist and director Mikhail Kozakov), playwright Israel Metter (author of the script for the film “To Me”) , Mukhtar!") and actor Igor Gorbachev brought bags of food to the unemployed scientist.
Realizing how strange his prose was for an atheistic society, Schwartz admitted in a letter to Leningrad directors Akimov and Remizova in April 1949: “I have quite a lot dangerous property desire for peace, freedom, peace and grace at all costs."
Fading after the second heart attack, experiencing severe pain throughout his whole body, he never stopped admiring the beauty and diversity of God’s creation: “An ordinary vulgar cabbage butterfly, but it would be great to find the right word to describe her flight."
Panteleev spoke about him in the words of Bunin about Chekhov: “His soul grew until his death.”
Vladimir Sergeev, Foma magazine (December 2008).
Evgeny Lvovich Schwartz was born on October 21 (old style 9), 1896 in Kazan in the family of a doctor. Schwartz spent his childhood in the city of Maykop. His parents were fond of theater and played on the amateur stage.
In 1914, after graduating from high school, Schwartz entered the law faculty of Moscow University. IN student years He remains, as in the gymnasium, a fan of the theater and composes humorous poems.
In 1917, Schwartz left the university and went to Rostov-on-Don, where he became an actor at the Theater Workshop. Here he meets his future wife, actress Gayana Khaladzhieva.
The small troupe tours the provinces, and in 1921 appears in Petrograd. Theater criticism noted Schwartz's outstanding plastic and vocal abilities and predicted a brilliant acting future for him. However, he left the stage.
Schwartz joins the Petrograd literary community, where he is known and accepted as a brilliant inventor and joker, an “oral writer.” He becomes close to the Serapion Brothers group, which included Zoshchenko, Kaverin, and Vsevolod Ivanov. He himself begins to earn money with his pen: he works as a secretary to Korney Chukovsky, and then as a journalist in various publications in the Donbass. He acts as a feuilletonist and author of poetic satirical reviews.
In 1924, Schwartz returned to Leningrad, worked in the children's editorial office of Gosizdat under the leadership of Marshak, in the famous children's magazines “Chizh” and “Hedgehog”. His friends and colleagues are members of the OBERIU group Kharms and Oleynikov. Like them, he wrote children's stories and poems. The first book, “Stories from the Old Balalaika,” was published in 1924. And then came whole line others - they were happily published by many children's magazines and almanacs. Schwartz gained fame as a children's writer.
At this time, Veniamin Kaverin introduces Schwartz to his brother Alexander and his wife Ekaterina. A whirlwind romance ensues. Schwartz separates from Gayane and marries Ekaterina Ivanovna. They lived in love for three decades - until his death; It is precisely this love, as many believe, that the Wizard speaks of in Schwartz’s most “personal” play, “An Ordinary Miracle.”
In 1929 Schwartz made his debut as a playwright. His first plays - “Underwood” and “Treasure” - were staged by the Leningrad Youth Theater. The plays “Brother and Sister” (1936), “Little Red Riding Hood” (1937), and “The Snow Queen” (1939) were then staged here. Other children's theaters are also beginning to stage Schwartz's fairy tales. In 1934 he was accepted into the Union of Soviet Writers.
At the same time, the director of the Leningrad Comedy Theater Nikolai Akimov persuaded Schwartz to try his hand at comedy drama for adults. As a result, the play “The Adventures of Hohenstaufen” appeared - a satirical work with fairy-tale elements, in which the struggle between good and evil forces took place in a realistically described Soviet institution. And then - other, most famous tales of Schwartz.
“The Shadow” (1940), written, like some of his other plays, based on Andersen’s fairy tales, was removed from the repertoire immediately after the premiere, because in it the fairy tale was too obviously close to political satire.
During the Great Patriotic War Schwartz was evacuated from besieged Leningrad to Kirov and Stalinabad. Here he worked on the play “Dragon” (1943), which was staged by Akimov after the war. But the play was removed from the repertoire immediately after the premiere at the Leningrad Comedy Theater. The play remained banned until 1962.
In general, after the war, the social position of the playwright was not easy. This is evidenced by his “Autobiography”, written in 1949 and published in 1982 in Paris. During Stalin's lifetime, Schwartz's plays were not staged. Only in 1956 was the first collection of plays published, and performances began to be staged based on them again, both in the USSR and abroad. In 1954, the fairy tale “Two Maples” was shown in various theaters, and in 1956, “An Ordinary Miracle.”
In 1956, Schwartz was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
In 1955–1956 the writer led diary entries, which became the basis of his “Phone Book” - a memoir unique in form. These are miniature portraits of contemporaries with whom Schwartz’s creative destiny brought him together, and apt characteristics of various Soviet institutions - creative unions, publishing houses, theaters.
The films “Cinderella” (1947), “First-Grader” (1948), “Don Quixote” (1957), “Marya the Mistress” (1959), “Cain XVIII” (1963, based on the fairy tale “Two Friends”) were produced based on Schwartz’s scripts. ), “An Ordinary Miracle” (1964), “The Snow Queen (1966). More modern film adaptations of his fairy tales are Mark Zakharov’s films “Kill the Dragon” and “An Ordinary Miracle.”
Schwartz died in Leningrad on January 15, 1958.
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Slide captions:
EVGENY LVOVICH SHVARTZ
“A fairy tale is the oldest, most eternal, most secret meeting place human soul with the human. in a word."
Born in Kazan into the family of Lev Borisovich Schwartz and Maria Fedorovna Shelkova. My father studied at the medical faculty of Kazan University as a surgeon), my mother graduated from obstetric courses
WITH PARENTS
In the late 1910s, Evgeniy studied at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, but after studying there for two years, he decisively abandoned the profession of lawyer, devoting his life to theatrical art and literature
WITH CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
In the spring of 1917 he was drafted into the army. In April 1917 he was in the reserve battalion in Tsaritsyn, from where he was supposed to be transferred to military school to Moscow.
He took part in Kornilov’s “Ice March”, where during the capture of Ekaterinodar he received a concussion, the consequences of which, with hand tremors, he suffered for the rest of his life.
After the army, he entered the university in Rostov-on-Don, where he began working at the Theater Workshop.
In 1921 he came to Petrograd as part of the Rostov theater troupe.
For some time, Schwartz worked as a secretary for Korney Chukovsky, and in 1923 he began publishing his feuilletons.
The world of E. Schwartz's fairy tales is unusual and diverse. We open his book and meet your peers: schoolchildren are looking for lost time that they once thoughtlessly spent.
In the fairy tales of E. Schwartz we see Little Red Riding Hood, the Snow Queen, and Cinderella. Famous and unknown heroes in unfamiliar fairy tales.
E. Schwartz mixes up time, includes new heroes in famous fairy tales, invents new scenes, and his heroes seem to have come out of reality. Many of E. Schwartz's fairy tales have been filmed.
The heroes of his fairy tales teach us. In the fairy tale “Cinderella” by E. Schwartz, a new hero is remembered - a boy-page, and the king turns to us and says: “No connections will make the leg small, the soul big, and the heart fair.”
E. Schwartz's fairy tales are needed by both adults and children. In his last fairy tale, “An Ordinary Miracle,” the following words are heard: “A fairy tale is told not in order to hide, but in order to reveal, to say with all your might, out loud what you think.”
E. SCHWARTZ AND CHILDREN
INSCRIPTION ON THE HOUSE WHERE THE WRITER LIVED
“Thoughts can be educated. They can be made to wise up. And from smart thoughts there will be smart, correct actions.”
The presentation was prepared by Olga Grigorievna Demyanova
Evgeny Schwartz is a famous Soviet writer, poet, playwright and screenwriter. His plays have been filmed more than once, and also staged on the stages of leading theaters, and many fairy tales are still popular not only among young, but also among adult readers. A feature of his works is a deep philosophical subtext with apparent simplicity and even recognition of the plots. Many of his works became original interpretations of stories already familiar to readers, which he reworked so interestingly that new works made it possible to reconsider well-known fairy tales.
Youth
Evgeny Schwartz was born in 1896 in Kazan into the family of a doctor. His childhood was spent in numerous moves, which was associated with his father’s work. In 1914, the future famous writer entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. Already at this time he became very interested in theater, which predetermined his future fate. During the First World War he served in the army and was promoted to ensign.
After the February Revolution, Evgeny Schwartz entered the Volunteer Army and took part in hostilities white movement. After demobilization, he began working in a theater workshop.
Carier start
In 1921, the future playwright moved to Petrograd, where he began acting on stage. Then he established himself as an excellent improviser and storyteller. His literary debut took place in 1924, when the children's work “The Story of the Old Balalaika” was published. A year later, Evgeny Schwartz was already a permanent employee and author of two well-known children's magazines. The 1920s were very fruitful in his career: he composed several works for children, which were published in separate editions. The year 1929 was significant in his biography: the Leningrad theater staged the author’s play “Underwood” on its stage.
Features of creativity
The writer worked hard and fruitfully. He not only composed literary works, but also wrote librettos for ballets, came up with funny captions for drawings, made satirical reviews, and reprises for the circus. One more characteristic feature his creativity was that he often took as a basis his already familiar classic stories. Thus, Schwartz wrote the script for the cult movie Cinderella, which was released in 1946. old tale under the pen of the author began to sparkle with new colors.
For example, Evgeny Schwartz carefully described those characters who remained impersonal in the original work. The prince became a mischievous and funny young man, the king amused the audience with his witty remarks and sweet simplicity, the stepmother turned out to be not so much evil as a boastful and ambitious woman. The figure of the heroine's father also acquired the real features of a caring and loving parent, while usually his image remained unclear. So the writer could breathe new life into old works.
Military theme
The works of Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz amaze with the variety of themes. During the war he remained in besieged Leningrad and refused to leave the city. However, after some time he was nevertheless taken out, and in Kirov he wrote several essays about the war, among them the play “One Night,” which was dedicated to the defenders of the city. The work “The Distant Land” tells the story of evacuated children. Thus, the author, like many of his contemporaries, composed a number of his works about scary days wartime.
Film work
Fairy tales by Evgeniy Schwartz have been filmed several times. It has already been said above that it was he who became the author of the script for the famous “Cinderella”. In addition to this work, the general public probably still remembers the old film “Marya the Mistress,” also based on his work.
The writer again, in his characteristic subtle and philosophical manner, retells in a new way the story familiar to everyone from childhood about an evil merman who kidnapped a beautiful young woman. The author’s undoubted success is the introduction of a child into the narrative as one of the main characters. After all, previous fairy tales with a similar plot usually made do with two positive characters (the kidnapped princess and her liberator) and one negative one. The author expanded the scope of the plot, which benefited the film.
"An Ordinary Miracle"
Evgeniy Schwartz's books are distinguished by complex intellectual overtones, which soon became the author's main technique. Some of his works sometimes, even with all their apparent simplicity of plot, turned out to be difficult to understand. The author worked on his probably most famous play, “An Ordinary Miracle,” for ten years. It was released in 1954 and was soon staged. Unlike his other tales, this work has no specific historical attachment; in the text there is only a mention that the owner’s estate is located in Carpathian mountains. The characters in the play turned out to be very ambiguous: the king, despite all his cruelty, unreservedly loves his daughter, the hunter, who is initially shown as a comedic hero, agrees to kill the hundredth bear. The characters constantly reflect and carefully analyze their actions from a psychological point of view, which was not at all typical for traditional fairy tales.
Productions and film adaptations
Evgeny Schwartz created almost all of his works for children. In this series, the play “An Ordinary Miracle” stands out, which is more likely intended for an adult reader. Criticism, as a rule, avoided the productions. Some authors of the articles noted the originality of the play, but reproached the author for the fact that his heroes do not fight for their happiness, but rely entirely on the will of the wizard, which is not entirely fair, since the Princess and the Bear, on the contrary, behave in the most unexpected ways during the course of the story. for the Master himself.
The first productions, however, were warmly received by the public, as well as by some other writers, who appreciated the subtle philosophical humor and originality of the characters. also in different time film adaptations of this play were made: black and white by E. Garin and color by M. Zakharova. The latter acquired cult status due to its star cast, excellent director's production, wonderful music, original interpretation of the characters, as well as colorful scenery.
"Shadow"
The biography of Evgeny Schwartz is inseparably connected with his work for the theater, for which he wrote several famous plays. The one mentioned in the subtitle was created in 1940. It was composed specifically for the stage production. Along with some other works of the playwright, it is distinguished by some bombast. This is a very specific story that tells about an unusual incident that happened to a scientist who lost his shadow. After some time, the latter took his place and caused him a lot of harm.
However, the devotion of the girl who loved him helped him overcome all the trials. This work was filmed by N. Kasheverova, and the two main roles were played by the famous Soviet artist O. Dal.
Other works
In 1944, Schwartz wrote the philosophical fairy tale "Dragon". In this work, he again resorted to his favorite technique: he remade already familiar folk stories, but this time the folklore motifs of the Asian peoples about a terrible dragon, which no one can kill, since in due time the winner also turns into dictator. In this play, the author conveyed the idea that people would rather be content with a tolerable life under a dictator than risk it in the struggle for freedom. None of them are able to feel truly free, and therefore main character, the knight Lancelot, having defeated the monster, turns out to be a loser because he was unable to change the psychology of people. The work was filmed by M. Zakharov in 1988.
The fairy tales that Evgeniy Schwartz wrote in his time are still popular. " Lost time"(more precisely, "The Tale of Lost Time") is a work intended for children. In this story, the author conveys the idea of the need to cherish every minute of time and not waste it in vain. Despite the familiarity of the plot, the composition, nevertheless, is distinguished by its originality, since this time the writer transferred the action of the work to modern era. The story tells about unlucky children who lost many precious watches, stolen by evil wizards, who at this expense turned into teenagers, and the main characters became old men. They had to go through many tests before they managed to regain their usual appearance. The fairy tale was filmed by A. Ptushko in 1964.
Writer's personal life
The author's first wife was a theater actress in Rostov-on-Don. However, after some time, he divorced her and married a second time to Ekaterina Zilber, with whom he lived until his death. However, they never had children. Everyone called Evgeniy Schwartz an extremely romantic person, prone to eccentric actions. So, for example, he achieved consent to the marriage of his first wife by jumping into cold water in winter. This first marriage turned out to be happy: the couple had a daughter, Natalya, who was the meaning of life for the writer.
However, the playwright’s second love turned out to be much stronger, so he decided to make this break. The author died in 1958 in Leningrad. The cause of death was a heart attack, as he had previously suffered from heart failure for a long time. In our time, the writer’s work is still relevant. Film adaptations can often be seen on television, not to mention theatrical productions based on his works. IN school curriculum reading of some of his fairy tales and plays is provided.
Russian writer (1896-1958)
Name famous writer always surrounded by legends. There are legends about Evgeniy Schwartz. He was considered a regular at bohemian parties, a master of elocution. Schwartz himself once remarked on this matter: “The legend is simple, life is complex, and everything in it is wonderful and magnificently mixed up.”
The parents of the future writer met while studying: his father was a student at the Faculty of Medicine in Kazan, his mother was studying obstetrics courses. Each of them had his own range of hobbies: his father was interested in politics, his mother was reputed to be a good actress and performed in an amateur club even when the family lived in hometown Ryazan. The circle was led by the famous theater historian Baron N. Diegel. He saw his student as a character actress, but she devoted herself to her family.
Having received a position as a zemstvo doctor, Lev Schwartz moved his family to Dmitrov. But he was soon arrested for participating in the work of the Kazan student Social Democratic circle. After his release, he could not live in the capital and provincial cities and found a position as a doctor in a hospital in the city of Maykop. Here his son Evgeniy graduated from a real school.
To enter the university, Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz had to take Latin at the Armavir gymnasium. In 1914, he became a student at the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. However, Evgeniy was unable to receive higher education: in 1916, his father was called to the front, the family’s financial situation deteriorated sharply, so Evgeniy had to leave Moscow, settle in Ekaterinodar (now Krasnodar) and go to work in order to begin supporting his loved ones. He earned money by giving lessons and at the same time performing in amateur performances.
In 1917, Evgeny Schwartz moved to Rostov-on-Don to continue his education, then he had not yet given up the hope of graduating from university. But unexpectedly for himself, he became interested in theater and became one of the organizers of the Theater Workshop troupe. When their amateur theater was included in state institutions, Schwartz took the place of a member of the artistic council. But at the same time, Evgeniy continued to act in plays and write propaganda plays “on the topic of the day.” Since 1920, he was enrolled in the political department of the Caucasian Front as an artist and theater instructor.
Together with his like-minded people, Evgeny Schwartz dreamed of a revolution in theater arts. Of course, there was an element of bravado inherent in age. But young geniuses were partly right, and articles about individual productions of the Rostov theater appeared in the Leningrad press.
In 1921, the team decided to move to Leningrad, but the young directors of the theater were unable to cope with complex financial problems, and a year later the Theater Workshop disbanded. By that time, Schwartz had already played in the New Drama and Proletkult theaters, but he felt that he could not remain only an actor. Evgeniy wanted to express himself in other ways.
Contemporaries noted the breadth of talent of Evgeniy Schwartz. Olga Forsh brought him out under the name Gyonya Chorna in the story “The Crazy Ship”. She talks in detail about the talent of an improviser characteristic of Schwartz, who almost every day presented to the inhabitants of the House of Arts new script. She later wrote that he was a real inventor who wanted to “raise the culture of jokes to artistic heights.” “Zhenya Schwartz was a thoughtful artist, with the heart of a poet, he heard and saw more, kinder than many of us.”
A short respite allowed Schwartz to visit his parents; his father served as a doctor at a salt mine located near Artemovsk, in the Donbass. Unexpectedly for himself, Evgeniy becomes an employee of the local newspaper “Stoker”: he writes essays and works on manuscripts of young authors. Occasionally his reviews of books by contemporary authors appear. At the same time, Schwartz became the editorial secretary of the magazine “Zaboi”, a feuilletonist, and a literary collaborator. At that time, he still did not dare to speak under his own name and signed the pseudonym Shchur.
In the early twenties, many young authors entered the new literature through journalism. Working for newspapers helped shape own style, created skills in mastering a short phrase. The accessibility and aphorism of Evgeniy Schwartz’s works are well known to modern readers. Among his colleagues, he was also known as an “oral writer” and a brilliant storyteller. But Schwartz has always been exceptionally demanding of himself. Only after his feuilletons, written in heavenly verse, received the approval of his colleagues and gained popularity among readers, did he decide to publish them in the central press.
Returning to Leningrad, Evgeny Lvovich Schwartz began working as an editor in the children's department of Gosizdat, in the editorial office of the Leningrad magazine and in the children's magazines Hedgehog and Chizh. Then Leningrad became a kind of talent forge, raising a galaxy of writers and artists. At the same time, E. Schwartz became a member of the studio of children's writers, which was led by O. I. Kapitsa and Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak. There he first became acquainted with children's folklore and tried to write fairy tales.
In 1925, Evgeny Schwartz published his first book for children - “The Story of the Old Balalaika”, where he talks about the flood in Leningrad in a simple and accessible form. He first published the fairy tale in the magazine “Sparrow”, using the unconventional form of paradise verse.
Evgeny Lvovich Schwartz brilliantly used the experience of his predecessors, handling both folklore and literary material with equal ease. In the fairy tale “The War of Parsley and Stepka-Rastrepka” he makes the heroes of a character from farce culture and a character from a modern poem by S. Marshak. They turn into mischievous and restless boys, figuring out their relationships with the energy characteristic of age.
Evgeny Schwartz develops his own style, in which specific household details and fairy tale convention.
The second half of the twenties is associated with the release of books for children, and some researchers call Schwartz's works fairy tales, others - scientific and artistic literature. But, probably, we should talk about the birth of a new genre, where the form of a fairy tale became a reason for educational stories. A similar form developed in European literature back in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century (remember “The Wonderful Journey of Nils with Wild Geese”), in Russian culture Vitaly Bianchi can be considered its prominent representative.
Sometimes the works of Evgeniy Schwartz, written in this and the following decades, are called journeys into the world of the unknown and unknown. He managed to reveal the world of a child in a new way (“Sparrow”, “Camp”, “Balls”, “The Adventures of a Fly”, “The Adventures of Shura and Marusya”, “The New Adventures of Puss in Boots”, “The Adventures of V.I. Bear”) .
The writer is distinguished by the search for new sensations; he was always looking for new uniform and other opportunities for self-expression, which is why almost all children's magazines and almanacs in Leningrad willingly published his poems and stories.
In 1929, Schwartz’s first play, entitled “Underwood,” was staged on the stage of the Leningrad Youth Theater. The fate of Schwartz's dramaturgy turns out to be complex and dramatic. The first play was warmly received by the audience, but banned by pedologists who sought to form a collective consciousness, seeing even in the traditional conflict of good and evil manifestations of individualism.
But soon the situation changed. Through the efforts of Marshak, Chukovsky and others, the fairy tale was returned to culture. The plays of Evgeny Schwartz were successfully performed on the stages of the country's leading Youth Theaters; they were also staged in puppet theaters and on the radio.
Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz saw colossal possibilities in the fairy tale; in the prologue to “An Ordinary Miracle,” he wrote that the fairy tale “is told not in order to hide, but in order to reveal, to say with all your might, out loud what you think.” . The fairy tale genre became a means for him to express his thoughts and reflect civic feelings. “Already better than a fairy tale write. It is not bound by plausibility, but there is more truth,” he noted in one of his letters from the early thirties.
The basis of Schwartz’s dramaturgy was the plays “The Naked King” (1934), “Little Red Riding Hood” (1937), “The Snow Queen” (1938), “The Shadow” (1940), “The Tale of Lost Time”, “Dragon” (1944), “Two Maples” (1953), “An Ordinary Miracle” (1956).
The writer often turned to world stories or retold them in his own way famous works, introducing modern realities into them in a bright ironic and allusive form (“Remember, our battle is not over yet! Remember!”; “We are not afraid, but bravely hiding. We are great”). You can also remember that in the play “Shadow” the writer gives two ending options.
Although the plays of Evgeny Schwartz are traditionally called “fairy-tale drama,” the writer pays great attention to the psychological state of the characters. Thus, in the play “Dragon” the author creates not so much a plot as a psychological conflict. Returning to the city after healing from his wounds, the knight Lancelot, who killed the Dragon, sees the burgomaster being honored, who, it turns out, is the true conqueror of the monster.
The ominous words of Lancelot spoken at the beginning of the play are justified: “After the victory in open battle“Everyone must still kill the dragon within himself, and this is very painful.”
The language of Schwartz’s plays is specific and aphoristic: “Children need to be pampered, then they grow up to be real robbers”, “It is easiest to eat a person when he is sick or has gone on vacation”, “Everyone has been taught meanness. But why were you the first student?
Like his predecessor Hans Christian Andersen, Evgeny Schwartz knew how to see something completely extraordinary in ordinary things. He indirectly speaks of his closeness to the Danish storyteller, often reworking the same plots. But Schwartz always emphasized that his fairy tales are not allegories, and the characters do not speak Aesopian language. True, his words were not always believed. Almost immediately after the premiere, "Dragon" was pulled from the stage because someone thought it was hinting at recent events. Only thanks to the intervention of N. Akimov, the play saw the light of the stage, but it reached other theaters only years later.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz worked at the Radio Committee; in December 1941, by decision of the executive committee of the City Council, he was evacuated to Kirov (Vyatka) in a state of extremely severe dystrophy. In 1943, at the call of the Leningrad Comedy Theater, Schwartz moved to Tajikistan, to the city of Stalinabad, and from there in 1944 to Moscow. The writer returned to Leningrad only after the victory, in June 1945.
War impressions were reflected in the plays “One Night” and “The Far Land” (1942). The film script “First-Grader” (film produced in 1948) is dedicated to the children of the siege.
Unfortunately, Evgeny Schwartz was almost not in demand in cinema during his lifetime; he wrote two more scripts - “Cinderella” (together with N. Erdman) and “Don Quixote”. Although he was already seriously ill, he constantly corresponded with director G. Kozintsev, expressing his comments on literally every scene.
A special place in the work of Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz is occupied by his memories. For many decades, he wrote down his thoughts almost daily in a special notebook. The writer knew that they were unlikely to be published, and called his work with the ironic abbreviation “ME” (for Memoirs). He retained his talent as a storyteller until the end of his days, but his vivid and impartial assessment of the phenomena of his contemporary reality led to the oblivion of his memoir prose. 37 voluminous notebooks are still waiting for their publisher. While only separate parts have been published, they contain many interesting and subtle observations. “I’m standing among dark skirts, like in a forest, and holding my mother’s hand,” Schwartz describes his first rehearsal, which he was allowed to attend at the age of four, while his mother was playing.
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