In some publications during perestroika, Lebedev-Kumach was depicted almost as a court poet. He was indeed favored by the authorities: a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, a laureate of the Stalin Prize, many orders and medals, but... No matter how hard you try, you will not find any ideological background in his best songs, which we remember and love to this day.

Whoever wants it will achieve it

VASILY Ivanovich Lebedev-Kumach was born in 1898 in Moscow into the family of a shoemaker. Real name is Lebedev. He began writing poetry at the age of 13, and his first poem was published in 1916. In 1919–1921, Lebedev-Kumach worked in the Press Bureau of the Revolutionary Military Council and in the military department of Agit-ROSTA - he wrote stories, articles, feuilletons, ditties for front-line newspapers, and slogans for propaganda trains. At the same time he studied at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow State University. Since 1922, he collaborated with Rabochaya Gazeta, Krestyanskaya Gazeta, Gudka, and the magazine Krasnoarmeyets. Not without his participation, the magazine “Crocodile” arose, in which Lebedev-Kumach worked for 12 years.

In the 30s, he became a recognized leader of songwriters. He wrote the lyrics for the films “Jolly Fellows”, “Circus”, “Children of Captain Grant”, “Volga-Volga”.

In some publications during perestroika, Lebedev-Kumach was depicted almost as a court poet. He was indeed favored by the authorities: a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, a laureate of the Stalin Prize, many orders and medals, but... No matter how hard you try, you will not find any ideological background in his best songs, which we remember and love to this day. Indeed:

* * *

Captain, captain, smile

After all, a smile is the flag of a ship.

Captain, captain, pull yourself up -

Only the brave conquer the seas.

* * *

Toughen up! If you want to be healthy,

Try - forget about the doctors.

Douse yourself with cold water,

If you want to be healthy!

* * *

Who is used to fighting for victory,

Let him sing with us!

He who is cheerful laughs

Whoever wants will achieve it,

Who seeks will always find!

* * *

There are so many good girls

So many affectionate names!

But only one of them worries

Taking away peace and sleep,

When in love.

* * *

Heart, you don't want peace!

My heart, how good it is to live in the world!

Heart, how good it is that you are!

Thank you, heart, that you know how to love so much!

Humor, love of life, enthusiasm - here distinctive features creativity of Lebedev-Kumach. And yet, yet... This is him in '37 - perhaps in the most terrible year Russian history- wrote: “I don’t know any other country where people can breathe so freely.” And when he was elected to the Supreme Council, he immediately gave a long rhyming speech glorifying Stalin, ending the speech with the words: “I am proud to be a bard.” Stalin era" And in 1940, Lebedev-Kumach almost killed his fellow writer Valentin Kataev, bringing political accusations against him in Pravda for the play “The Little House”.

Let noble rage boil like a wave

Get up, huge country,

Stand up for mortal combat

With fascist dark power,

With the damned horde!

Let noble rage boil up like a wave.

There is a people's war going on,

Holy war!

To this song, written by Lebedev-Kumach two days after the start of the war, people went to the front, died, and performed great feats.

And suddenly, on the crest of perestroika, publications appeared accusing the author legendary song in plagiarism. The essence of this rather dirty accusation was that the song “Holy War” was written back in 1916 by Alexander Adolfovich Bode, a teacher at the Rybinsk men’s gymnasium, who for some reason only in 1937 decided to send the text to Lebedev-Kumach. Without waiting for an answer, Bode died in 1939. It’s strange why he sent “The Holy War” to Lebedev-Kumach, and not to some newspaper? Why did you wait so many years? Why, in the end, didn’t he learn the song with his high school students in Rybinsk back during the First World War?

Those who tried to denigrate the name of Lebedev-Kumach gave the following argument: “In the four-volume History Soviet literature", released in 1968, the autograph of this song is reproduced... Not on ru

Kumach's copy has no erasures or corrections. And since it’s written straight away, it means it’s been written off.” And these same slanderers had no time to look into the Central (now Russian) State Archive of Literature and Art, where the draft of “The Holy War” is kept. Let us turn to the testimony of the famous song researcher Yuri Biryukov: “The lines are written in pencil, as always with Kumach.”

There is a people's war going on,

Holy war,

And noble rage

It boils like a wave.

The poem originated from this stanza. The poet crosses out the “and” in it, changes it to “let”, and in the final version changes the lines in places and makes the stanza a refrain-chorus.

The next stanza was:

For our dear land,

For your homeland

With all my heart…

Let's go break...

Kumach selects a rhyme:

With all my heart, with all my soul...

With all my heart, with all my strength...

Crosses out “His Motherland.” Changes to “Big Union.” As a result, the stanza takes the following form:

For our dear land,

For our great Union

Let's go break with all our might,

With all my heart, with all my soul.

The third stanza initially looks like this:

To a stupid low beast

Let's drive a bullet into the forehead,

To the fascist rapist

Let's find the way to the coffin...

Last line option:

Let's put together a strong coffin.

And another version of this stanza:

Let's squeeze with an iron hoop,

Let's drive a bullet into the forehead.

We are all fascist bastards

Let's put together a strong coffin...

In the book “Always on Guard,” Yu. Biryukov cites the memoirs of the former editor of “Red Star,” Major General D. Ortenberg:

“The first military issue of the Red Star.” How to do it? A difficult task, although I already had the experience of “Heroic Red Army” and “Heroic Campaign” - front-line newspapers on Khalkhin Gol and in the war with the White Finns... In the front-line newspapers... there seemed to be not a single issue without poetry.”

The editor calls Soloveichik’s literary collaborator: “Get some poetry urgently.” He sits down on the phone, but none of the poets, as if it were a sin, answers. It is possible to contact only Lebedev-Kumach:

Vasily Ivanovich, the newspaper needs poetry...

No later than tomorrow morning.

Well, I'll do it...

“The next day,” the editor further recalls, “a man of average height, light-eyed, with golden hair comes to see me. This was Vasily Lebedev-Kumach... The poems were immediately typed... The line that was later included in the title of the poem struck my heart: “Holy War.” Yes, exactly sacred! These words lived in the thoughts and feelings of our fighting people. But Lebedev-Kumach said them out loud for the first time.”

* * *

That, in fact, is the whole story. In pursuit of a sensation, some journalists do not spare either their matchmaker or their brother. For some reason, someone needed to discredit the name of a wonderful songwriter. And no one answered for this, no one was punished... Only in Nezavisimaya Gazeta dated July 5, 2000, a refutation appeared: “The information presented in the article “The Holy War” is an echo of two eras” about the songwriter V.I. Lebedev -Kumache, were recognized as untrue and discrediting the honor, dignity, and business reputation of the author of the song “Holy War” V.I. Lebedev-Kumach. In this connection, the editors of the newspaper bring to the attention of readers that the author of the text of the song “Holy War” is V.I. Lebedev-Kumach.”

_________________________________________________

“A song is good only when the sound, and the word, and the melody, and the thought have merged into one whole, when “you literally cannot remove a word or a note from the song.” “A poet and a composer are two equal creators of a song, and the closer and warmer their community, the better and more productive they will be able to work.” “You have to write a song so that you want to sing it yourself. The lead singer must start the song from the heart and sing it with all passion and love - only then will the whole people pick it up.” V. I. Lebedev-Kumach

Vasily Ivanovich Lebedev-Kumach was born in 1898 into the family of a shoemaker in Moscow. His real name Lebedev, but he became famous under the pseudonym Lebedev-Kumach. He started writing poetry early - at the age of 13. In 1916, his first poem was published. In 1919-21, Lebedev-Kumach worked in the Press Bureau of the Revolutionary Military Council and in the military department of Agit-ROSTA - he wrote stories, articles, feuilletons, ditties for front-line newspapers, slogans for propaganda trains. At the same time he studied at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow State University. Since 1922, he collaborated with Rabochaya Gazeta, Krestyanskaya Gazeta, Gudka, the magazine Krasnoarmeyets, and later with the magazine Krokodil, where he worked for 12 years.

During this period, the poet created many literary parodies, satirical tales, feuilletons devoted to the themes of economy and cultural construction (collection “Tea leaves in a saucer” (1925), “From all the volosts” (1926), “Sad smiles”). His satire during this period was characterized by topicality, a sharp plot, and the ability to detect typical features in the most ordinary phenomena.

Since 1929, Lebedev-Kumach took part in the creation of theatrical reviews for the “Blue Blouse”, wrote lyrics for the comedies “Jolly Fellows”, “Volga-Volga”, “Circus”, “Children of Captain Grant”, etc. These songs are distinguished by their cheerfulness , full of youthful enthusiasm. Many years have passed since the release of the film comedies beloved by all the people, but songs written to the poems of Lebedev-Kumach continue to live among us: they are heard on the radio, they are sung by new performers, and more than one generation of people in our country is familiar with them.

In 1941, Lebedev-Kumach was awarded the USSR State Prize, and in June of the same year, in response to the news of Nazi Germany’s attack on the USSR, he wrote the famous song “Holy War.” I would like to say something special about this song. She embodied the whole gamut of feelings that raged in the heart of any person in our Motherland in the first days of the war. Here there is righteous anger, and pain for the country, and anxiety for the fate of loved ones and relatives, and hatred of the fascist invaders, and the willingness to give their lives in the fight against them. Volunteers went to recruiting stations to this song, they went to the front to this song, and the women and children who remained in the rear worked with it. "Get up, huge country!" - Lebedev-Kumach called. And the country stood up. And she survived. And then she celebrated the Great Victory over a terrible force that only she could resist. And Lebedev-Kumach contributed to this victory, not only with his song, but also with his direct participation in hostilities in the ranks of the navy.

Lebedev-Kumach came from the front, awarded three orders, as well as medals. He died in 1949, but his poetry is still loved today.

short biography Lebedev-Kumach V.I.

Vasily Ivanovich Lebedev-Kumach was born in 1898 into the family of a shoemaker in Moscow. His real name is Lebedev, but he became famous under the pseudonym Lebedev-Kumach. He started writing poetry early - at the age of 13. In 1916, his first poem was published. In 1919-21, Lebedev-Kumach worked in the Press Bureau of the Revolutionary Military Council and in the military department of Agit-ROSTA - he wrote stories, articles, feuilletons, ditties for front-line newspapers, slogans for propaganda trains. At the same time he studied at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow State University. Since 1922, he collaborated with Rabochaya Gazeta, Krestyanskaya Gazeta, Gudka, the magazine Krasnoarmeyets, and later with the magazine Krokodil, where he worked for 12 years.
During this period, the poet created many literary parodies, satirical tales, feuilletons devoted to the themes of economy and cultural construction (collection “Tea leaves in a saucer” (1925), “From all the volosts” (1926), “Sad smiles”). His satire during this period was characterized by topicality, a sharp plot, and the ability to detect typical features in the most ordinary phenomena.
Since 1929, Lebedev-Kumach took part in the creation of theatrical reviews for the “Blue Blouse”, wrote lyrics for the comedies “Jolly Fellows”, “Volga-Volga”, “Circus”, “Children of Captain Grant”, etc. These songs are distinguished by their cheerfulness , full of youthful enthusiasm. Many years have passed since the release of the film comedies beloved by all the people, but songs written to the poems of Lebedev-Kumach continue to live among us: they are heard on the radio, they are sung by new performers, and more than one generation of people in our country is familiar with them.
In 1941, Lebedev-Kumach was awarded the USSR State Prize, and in June of the same year, in response to the news of Nazi Germany’s attack on the USSR, he wrote the famous song “Holy War.” I would like to say something special about this song. She embodied the whole gamut of feelings that raged in the heart of any person in our Motherland in the first days of the war. Here there is righteous anger, and pain for the country, and anxiety for the fate of loved ones and relatives, and hatred of the fascist invaders, and the willingness to give their lives in the fight against them. Volunteers went to recruiting stations to this song, they went to the front to this song, and the women and children who remained in the rear worked with it. "Get up, huge country!" - Lebedev-Kumach called. And the country stood up. And she survived. And then she celebrated the Great Victory over a terrible force that only she could resist. And Lebedev-Kumach contributed to this victory, not only with his song, but also with his direct participation in hostilities in the ranks of the navy.
Lebedev-Kumach came from the front, awarded three orders, as well as medals. He died in 1949, but his poetry is still loved today.

(pseudonym; real name Lebedev), Russian Soviet poet. Member of the CPSU since 1939. Born into a shoemaker's family. In 1919-1921 he worked in the Press Bureau of the Revolutionary Military Council and in the military department of Agit-ROSTA. Studied at Moscow State University. In the 1920s, he acted primarily as the author of satirical poems, stories, feuilletons, which were published in Rabochaya Gazeta, Peasant Gazette, Gudok newspaper, Krokodil magazine, etc., and were published in separate collections (Divorce, Divorce, 1925; “Tea leaves in a saucer”, 1925; “From all the volosts”, 1926; “Sad smiles”, 1927; He wrote for the stage and sound films (lyrics for the comedies “Jolly Fellows”, “Circus”, etc.). One of the creators of the genre of Soviet mass song, imbued with deep patriotism and a cheerful attitude; Many songs based on the words of Lebedev-Kumach have received national recognition: “Song of the Motherland” (1936), “March of the Merry Children” (1934, both music. Dunaevsky) etc. During the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 he served in navy, created at this time many songs and poems calling for a fight against the enemy: “Holy War” (1941, music by A.V. Alexandrova) and others. USSR State Prize (1941). Awarded 3 orders and medals.

Soviet poet, lyricist (real name Lebedev) was born on August 5 (July 24 - old style) 1898 in Moscow in the family of a shoemaker. His father, Ivan Filippovich Lebedev, died when Vasily was in the third grade at a city school.

He wrote his first poems in 1911 and began publishing them in print in 1916. In 1917, he entered Moscow University at the Faculty of History and Philology, but was unable to graduate due to the outbreak of the Civil War.

In 1919-1921, Lebedev-Kumach worked in the Press Bureau of the Revolutionary Military Council and in the military department of Agit-ROSTA - he wrote stories, articles, feuilletons, ditties for front-line newspapers, slogans for propaganda trains. From 1922, he collaborated with Rabochaya Gazeta, Krestyanskaya Gazeta, Gudka, the magazine Krasnoarmeyets, and later with the magazine Krokodil, where he worked for 12 years.

During this period, the poet created many literary parodies, satirical tales, feuilletons devoted to the themes of economy and cultural construction (collections “Tea leaves in a saucer” (1925), “From all the volosts” (1926), “People and affairs” (1927), “ Sad smiles" (1927).

Since 1929, Lebedev-Kumach took part in the creation of theatrical reviews for the propaganda theater "Blue Blouse" and amateur work groups (plays "One Year After a Year", "Kiryushkina's Victory", "The Store Manager's Wife"). In 1934, in collaboration with composer Isaac Dunaevsky, he composed “March of Cheerful Children” for Grigory Alexandrov’s film “Jolly Fellows,” which brought Lebedev-Kumach wide recognition and determined his future creative path songwriter.

In 1934-1937, Lebedev-Kumach wrote more than a hundred songs, most of them for films: “Volga-Volga”, “The Rich Bride”, “If Tomorrow is War”, “Treasure Island”, “Goalkeeper”, “Circus”, “Captain’s Children” Grant" and many others.

In 1938, Vasily Lebedev-Kumach became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and in 1939 he was accepted into the ranks of the CPSU (b).

After the attack took place on June 22, 1941 fascist Germany on Soviet Union, Lebedev-Kumach wrote the poem "Holy War". On June 24, 1941, it was published in Krasnaya Zvezda and Izvestia, and soon the author of the text was declared an enemy of the Reich by the Nazis. During the Great Patriotic War, Lebedev-Kumach served in the navy as a political commissar, was an employee of the Red Fleet newspaper, and ended the war with the rank of captain of the first rank. During the war, Lebedev-Kumach wrote many popular songs and poems calling for battle (collections “Let’s sing, comrades, let’s sing!”, “To fight for the Motherland!”, “We will fight until victory,” all 1941; “Forward to victory ! ", "Komsomol Sailors", both 1943).

In 1946, Lebedev-Kumach’s health deteriorated and work became more difficult.

Vasily Lebedev-Kumach died on February 20, 1949. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Poetic activity brought Lebedev-Kumach more than one state award. In 1937, he was the first among Soviet poets to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor “for outstanding activity in the field of mass song.” In 1939 the poet was awarded the order"Badge of Honor" - "for outstanding achievements in the field fiction". For the song "Holy War" in 1941, Lebedev-Kumach received the Stalin (State) Prize.

Vasily Lebedev-Kumach was married, and together with his wife he raised his daughter Marina. The granddaughter of Lebedev-Kumach is journalist Maria Deeva.

Songs written to his poems were sung by the entire Union. A state award, Stalin's favor, election as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, what more could you ask for at that time? But only at first glance, the poet’s life is a complete triumph.

Against “philistinism and philistinism”

Vasily Lebedev (later the component “Kumach” will be added to his surname at will) was born on August 5, 1898 in Moscow in the family of a shoemaker. At the age of 18, the young man began translating Horace, and soon became actively involved in the ideological reality of Soviet power, beginning to publish his poems in the magazines “Crocodile” and “Lapot”. Their criticism was directed against “philistinism and philistinism.” He created many literary parodies, satirical tales and feuilletons on the topics of economic and cultural construction:

We will build palace houses.
And the knowledge makes me happy,
That maybe in some building
The particle will be a brick from Kumach.

But the main driver of his career was, of course, odes to the communists. It was Vasily Ivanovich who owned the first version of the poems to Alexandrov’s music, which later became, along with others - Mikhalkov’s rhymes - the anthem of the USSR. Initially, it was not “Glory to our free fatherland,” but the NKVD anthem, sung like this: “Wooded with glory, welded by will, Strengthen and live forever, Party of Lenin, Party of Stalin, Wise Party of the Bolsheviks.” Kumach also wrote for young people: “Be persistent, smart, dexterous, Be able to distinguish between enemies, And pull the trigger of a rifle, Be ready! Always ready!". Among the people, having heard enough of these appeals and praises, some said: “Everyone is tired of Lebedev-Kumach’s urine.”

But most of the Soviets were delighted with his creations, listening to the perky rhymes in all the famous films of the 30s “Circus”, “Volga-Volga”, “If Tomorrow is War”. Leonid Utesov in his memoirs “Thank you, heart!” wrote that when the famous musical comedy film directed by Grigory Alexandrov “Jolly Fellows” was being filmed, he, Utesov, terribly disliked the “talentless and faceless,” as he put it, the words of the song that he was supposed to perform in the central male role of Kostya the Shepherd. “Although everything was filmed, sung, recorded, but, having arrived from Gagra, where the location shots were filmed, to Moscow for the studio shooting, I secretly from everyone turned to V.I. Lebedev-Kumach and asked him to write other poems. And he wrote the words that became famous: “The heart is light from a cheerful song” and the refrain, which turned into a symbol of that time: “The song helps us build and live. She, like a friend, calls us and leads us. And the one who walks through life with a song will never disappear anywhere!”

“We exhausted each other’s veins”

Then there was work on songs for the film “Circus”. Lebedev-Kumach and Isaac Dunaevsky worked on the famous “Song of the Motherland” (“Wide is my native country”) for six months - without knowing any peace or rest. After all, it was necessary to compress a huge amount of content onto one page, and the music had to sound both solemn and soulful.

Neither the melody nor the text satisfied the creators. Options were rejected entirely, and everything was created anew each time. By the way, later some songs intended for “Circus” were performed in other films. For example, “Come on, sing us a song, merry wind” was later used in the film “The Children of Captain Grant.”

Recalling his work on “Song of the Motherland,” Lebedev-Kumach, smiling, reproached Dunaevsky: “We exhausted all our veins, especially you to me.” The composer did not argue: at that time, poets knew very well that a more strict editor than Dunaevsky could not be found: he achieved the exact sound of every word, a complete fusion of text and music. Some versions of “Song of the Motherland” were very good, but too serious, others were too lightweight. In six months, 35 options were written. And only the thirty-sixth was a success. The poet and composer met with Grigory Alexandrov and his team working on the film. Finally, the director ordered: to prepare a recording of the music. The song became very popular. Since 1939, the first chords of the song, performed on a vibraphone, have been used as the call sign of the All-Union Radio.

However, Vasily Ivanovich wrote not only popular songs, but also devastating articles against his friends. In particular, his critical opus in Pravda almost cost Valentin Kataev his freedom. And when Lebedev-Kumach was elected to the Supreme Council, he immediately gave a long rhymed speech glorifying Stalin, ending with the words: “I am proud to be the bard of the Stalin era.”

And later he acquired the habit of reading long speeches in verse at every meeting. One of these “works” was “Speech at the third session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR on May 31, 1940 on the report of the Budget Commission”:

Comrades deputies of the Supreme Council!
Don't let my thought surprise you:
The task of fulfilling the people's budget
Associated with the task of educating the masses.
The budget is the vital concern of all citizens,
Miner and tank driver, machinist and poet,
Collective farmer and pilot - let everyone work,
So that the people's budget is fulfilled!
It is absolutely necessary by any means
Let it enter into everyone’s heart:
The folk penny is also sacred,
Like any folk good!
And there were four more pages in the same style. It is difficult to criticize Lebedev-Kumach for these verses; he wrote in the spirit of his time.

His personal life was difficult. First, Vasily stole the bride from a colleague, making her his wife. Then the wife went to her chosen one who had returned from the camps, settled him in their family apartment in the center of Moscow, and sent Lebedev-Kumach to the dacha. His life, they say, was brightened by Lyubov Orlova. By the way, long before this, Kumach, director Alexandrov and composer Dunaevsky were called Oryol trotters, claiming that the actress “went out” in her films only thanks to this trio.

“I’m sick from the dullness of my life”

Songs written to the poems of Vasily Ivanovich helped people survive and the country to win the Great Patriotic War. However, despite all his pathos and all his enthusiasm, the poet was eventually overcome by melancholy. He stopped writing poetry and slowly began to go crazy.

In excerpts from Lebedev-Kumach’s notebooks for 1946, published in 1982, the following entry was preserved: “I am sick from mediocrity, from the dullness of my life. I stopped seeing the main task - everything is small, everything has faded. Well, another 12 suits, three cars, 10 sets. And it’s stupid, and vulgar, and unworthy, and not interesting.”

In December 1948, he ended up in the hospital, and there on December 22 he made the first drafts of an autobiographical poem:

Like the first color, like spring snow,
My spring has passed...
This bald man...
Is it really me?
Am I really that boy?
That he was curly and red
And a pigeon dance
Did you drive from the neighboring roofs?

In January 1949, Lebedev-Kumach began to recover, or so it seemed to everyone. “If only fairy tales would come back! And I am ready to play any role in them - even Koshchei the Immortal,” he wrote in his diary, and on February 20, 1949, Vasily Ivanovich passed away.

Two years before losing his mind, he wrote: “Slavery, toadying, sneaking, unclean methods of work, lies - everything will be revealed sooner or later.” What will be revealed? Other researchers have found an explanation for this.

In the 80s, publications appeared accusing Lebedev-Kumach, the author of the legendary song “Holy War,” of plagiarism. In particular, it was argued that poems for it were written back in 1916 by Alexander Bode, a teacher at the men's gymnasium in the city of Rybinsk, who in 1938 sent the text to Lebedev-Kumach. Without waiting for an answer, Bode died in 1939, and when the time came, Vasily Ivanovich passed off the poems as his own. Bode's daughter, Zinaida Kolesnikova, has preserved a draft of a letter she sent to Boris Aleksandrovich Alexandrov (son of composer Alexandrov) in 1956:

“We are all very happy and thank you very much to your father Alexander Vasilyevich for the music for the “Holy War,” but Lebedev-Kumach hid from you the truth about the origin of the text of this song. She was born in the city of Rybinsk on the Volga in the First world war. The text was written by the teacher of Russian language and literature of the men's gymnasium A.A. Bode is my father. He was an educated man, graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow University. Knew Latin and Greek languages, which he also taught.

In 1916, twice a day, going to the gymnasium and back home, he met columns of recruits. My father spent his old age with us near Moscow near his children and grandchildren. IN last days In his life, my father spoke about the inevitability of war with Germany: “I feel weak, but my song can now come in handy.” Considering Lebedev-Kumach a great patriot, his father sent him a personal letter with handwritten text. Moreover, my father liked his song “Wide is my native country.” My father waited a long time for an answer and died in 1939 without receiving it. By sending you this letter, we are convinced that you, Boris Alexandrovich, should know about the true origin of this song. We will be grateful if you answer this letter. Zinaida Aleksandrovna Bode (married to Kolesnikov).”

Meanwhile, the poet’s defenders made their argument: the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art contains a draft of the text of “The Holy War” with pencil corrections by Lebedev-Kumach.

Last name on the record

Vasily Ivanovich is also accused of another plagiarism. In 1931, Faina Markovna Kwiatkowska (Gordon) and the owner of a cabaret in Poland, Andrzej Vlasta, created the song “At the Samovar,” which became very popular in Poland: “Under the samovar, Siji Muya Masha. Well, that’s how it is, and she’s not!” In the same year, representatives of the German company Polydor came to Faina and signed a contract to release the record. At the same time, they asked for a translation from Polish into Russian, because they were counting on sales in cities filled with Russian emigrants: Berlin, Riga, Belgrade and Paris. Translation was not difficult for her, because Kvyatkovskaya was born in Crimea, and was considered Polish only through her stepfather. In the same year, the Polydor record came out in a million copies, and several copies from Riga came to Moscow.

In 1932, Leonid Utesov began singing “At the Samovar” with his orchestra, and then the composition performed by him was recorded at the Muztrust recording studio. Unlike the release data on the Polydor records, which read: “Music by Fanny Gordon, words by Andrzej Vlast,” on the released Soviet disc one could read: “Arrangement by Diedrichs, words by Lebedev-Kumach.”

As the correspondent of the newspaper “Courier Varshavski” wrote: “The most popular hit is performed at the Hermitage summer theater - this is the foxtrot “At the Samovar”, famous in Poland. For several months now it has been played on dance floors, in restaurants and cafes, heard from radio loudspeakers at train stations and even in hairdressing salons in the Russian designation “Masha”, which was written by Fanny Gordon and Andrzej Vlasta.”

In 1972, Faina Kvyatkovskaya contacted the All-Union Copyright Agency and soon received an answer: “In connection with the letter to the VAAP about the protection of copyright in the name of F. M. Kvyatkovskaya, the Management of the Melodiya company instructed the All-Union Recording Studio to accrue the due to Comrade. Kvyatkovskaya’s fee for the song “Masha”, as well as correct a mistake made in the output data. General Director P.I. Shibanov.” As a result, Kvyatkovskaya received a fee in the amount of 9 rubles 50 kopecks. As for Lebedev-Kumach, it turned out that his name was printed on the plate only on the initiative of Leonid Utesov.

Prepared by Lina Lisitsyna,
based on materials