The Lives of Remarkable People (Russian: or the acronym, ,Белякова Г. В., Гаврилкина Т. Ю. Об особенностях произношения русских аббревиатур // Альманах современной науки и образования. — 2016. — № 11 (113). — P. 12—14. commonly referred to as "жэзээлка")Баталина Ю. Человеческие истории. Электронное периодическое издание «Новый Компаньон». РИА ИД «Компаньон» (4 September 2007).Юркин В. Ф. Энергия сопротивления. Издательство «Молодая гвардия»: XXI век. Осмысление прошлого, приближение будущего / сост. С. Г. Коростелев. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 2019. — 489 p. is a book series comprising both fictional and biographical works intended for a mass audience. It was initially published from 1890 to 1924 by Florenty Pavlenkov under the title Жизнь замечательных людей. The series primarily features reprints of biographies published after the 1900s. Since its inception, there have been several attempts to revive the series, with Maxim Gorky being the most successful. Between 1933 and 1938, the series was reissued by the Association of Periodicals and Newspapers, starting with a new numbering system. After 1938, The Lives of Remarkable People was published by Molodaya Gvardiya, maintaining a continuous numbering system. As of 2001, the numbering was doubled to account for Pavlenkov's editions. By 2010, the total number of publications in the series exceeded one thousand five hundred, with total circulation surpassing one hundred million copies.«МОЛОДА́Я ГВА́РДИЯ» : [арх. 21 октября 2020] // Меотская археологическая культура — Монголо-татарское нашествие. — М. : Большая российская энциклопедия, 2012. — P. 686. — (Большая российская энциклопедия : [in 35 volumes.] / гл. ред. Ю. С. Осипов; 2004—2017, v. 20). — ISBN 978-5-85270-354-5.
Pavlenkov's series was designed to be accessible to the public and aimed to "acquaint readers with outstanding personalities of past epochs." The genre format was guided by educational objectives, presenting popular biographical essays focused on the significant achievements of individuals who made notable contributions to world civilization. The biographies were authored by prominent publicists and journalists of the time, such as E. A. Solovyov and A. Skabichevsky. Some essays were penned by professional philosophers and writers, including V.S. Solovyov, and N.M. Minsky. Maxim Gorky introduced a new format of biographies featuring world-renowned figures in science, art, and revolution. Under the publishing house Molodaya Gvardiya, a public editorial board was established, which included academicians V. L. Komarov, E. M. Minsky. L. Komarov, E. V. Tarle, A. E. Fersman, professors Y. N. Tynyanov and P. F. Yudin, as well as writers A. A. Fadeev and A.N. Tolstoy.
In the 1950s, the editors of The Lives of Remarkable People established three main principles for selecting texts to be published, which have since been adhered to: scientific accuracy, high literary quality, and entertainment. For authors, publication in the series represented a recognition of their high social and professional status. Over the years, Molodaya Gvardiya invited notable figures such as Lev Gumilevsky, Sergei Durylin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Marietta Shaginian, Kornei Chukovsky, Juri Lotman, Alexei Losev, and Nathan Eidelman to contribute biographies. Many of these authors subsequently became subjects of new books in the series. During the 1960s and 1970s, the texts were influenced by ideological requirements, with the concept of "remarkable" often interpreted as "flawless." Consequently, most individuals selected for biographies were viewed as ideologically sound, which led to a limited exploration of the complexities of their lives.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the circulation of the series declined significantly, primarily due to competition from emerging media and the Internet. The number of published books did not increase for many years, and the genre of "classical" biography became restricted to scientific frameworks. The tradition of the narrative biography diminished, and professional historians and philologists began to dominate authorship within the series. At the same time, since the 1990s, the thematic range of the series has expanded considerably, encompassing biographies of tsars, Orthodox saints, émigré writers, figures from the White movement, and Soviet and foreign film actors. Additionally, the influx of translated literature has increased markedly.
Florentiy Pavlenkov's library of biographies and attempts of its continuation
Between 1890 and 1900, the publishing house of Florentiy Pavlenkov produced a biographical library titled The Lives of Remarkable People. The title was inspired by the French work Vie des Hommes illustres, as well as the title of the translation of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, which Pavlenkov highly admired in his youth.Вишнякова Ю. И. Воспитание на образце: 80 лет биографической серии «Жизнь замечательных людей» издательства «Молодая Гвардия» // Вестник ПСТГУ. Серия IV: Педагогика. Психология. — 2019. — Iss. 53. — С. 122. After he died, his executors completed the series with a total of 200 biographies, which were reprinted until 1924. This biographical library gained considerable popularity, resulting in at least 40 reprints and a total circulation of 1.5 million copies, with individual editions printed in quantities ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 copies. The biographies in Pavlenkov's series were relatively short, resembling popular scientific sketches, and were priced at about 25 kopecks, making them accessible to gymnasium and university students. They were noted for their high-quality writing, sometimes exhibiting a degree of artistry, and for their concise content. Among the authors of these biographies were notable figures such as Vladimir Solovyov, Alexander Skabichevsky, and the poet Nikolai Minsky. Many of the works in this series are regarded as exemplary within the genre. The bibliographer Nikolai Rubakin, one of the heirs of the publishing house, praised the quality and significance of Pavlenkov's biographical library. According to Rubakin's recollections, these books had a profound influence on prominent thinkers and writers, including Nikolai Berdyaev, Vladimir Vernadsky, Ivan Bunin, and Alexei Tolstoy during their student years.Каталог «ЖЗЛ». 1890—2002 / Сост. Л. П. Александрова, Е. И. Горелик, Р. А. Евсеева. — 4-е изд., испр. и доп. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 2002. — P. 5.Альманах библиофила. — Т. 18. — М.: Книга, 1985. — С. 273.Эрлихман В. В. ЖЗЛ: замечательные люди не умирают // Россия и современный мир. — 2012. — № 2. — P. 214.
According to Pavlenkov's vision, the series aimed to "acquaint readers with outstanding figures of the past." The term "remarkable" in the title was meant in its original sense: "worthy of note, attention, extraordinary, or surprising." The first biography published in late April or early May 1890 was that of Ignatius of Loyola.Эрлихман В. В. ЖЗЛ: замечательные люди не умирают // Россия и современный мир. — 2012. — № 2. — P. 213.Вишнякова Ю. И. Воспитание на образце: 80 лет биографической серии «Жизнь з амечательных людей» издательства «Молодая Гвардия» // Вестник ПСТГУ. Серия IV: Педагогика. Психология. — 2019. — Iss. 53. — P. 122-123. Among the most popular publications were Skabichevsky's essays on Lermontov and Pushkin; the last reprint of Pushkin's biography was dated 1924.Вишнякова Ю. И. Воспитание на образце: 80 лет биографической серии «Жизнь замечательных людей» издательства «Молодая Гвардия» // Вестник ПСТГУ. Серия IV: Педагогика. Психология. — 2019. — Iss. 53. — P. 124. The series was based on the classical literary topos theory, which presented ideals of creative individuals, politicians, inventors, and others. Ye. Petrova noted that most biographies conformed to the normative ideals established in the 19th century, as reflected in their titles.Петрова Ю. В. Образ «Великого писателя» в неклассической биографической парадигме: биографии Достоевского конца XIX в. // Вестник Омского университета. — 2012. — № 1. — P. 269. Newer types of biographies, which included the biographer's individual perspective and nuanced assessments of the subjects, were less common. Typically, the construction of personal images was based on psychological insights and the growing interest in the mental complexities of notable individuals. Evgeny Solovyov, who wrote essays on figures such as Dmitri Pisarev, Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Herzen, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Karamzin, Hegel, Oliver Cromwell, Osip Senkovsky, the Rothschild family, and Ivan the Terrible, particularly embraced this approach. Solovyov actively popularized Nikolai Mikhailovsky's characterization of Dostoevsky as "a cruel talent", while also exploring the spiritual underpinnings of the writer's interests. The concepts of "martyrdom", prophecy, and genius in Solovyov's essays contributed to the popularization of the "Dostoevsky myth", which established a new normative rhetorical biography during the Soviet period.Петрова Ю. В. Образ «Великого писателя» в неклассической биографической парадигме: биографии Достоевского конца XIX в. // Вестник Омского университета. — 2012. — № 1. — P. 269-270.
In 1916, Maxim Gorky attempted to continue Pavlenkov's series through his own publishing house, Parus. He developed a new plan for the library, which included nearly 300 proposed titles. This project was also presented to Zinovii Grzhebin, but the revolutionary climate of the time prevented its realization. In 1921, independently of Gorky, the M. and S. Sabashnikov's publishing house started the series Historical Portraits. The following year, the cooperative publishing house Kolos launched a Biographical Library In 1923, the Brockhaus-Efron publishing house introduced the series Images of Mankind. In 1925, the Biographical Library was established by Gosizdat (Association of State Book and Periodical Publishers). In 1928, the series The Lives of Remarkable People was published by the Moskovsky Rabochiy publishing house. However, in none of these series did the number of published titles exceed half a dozen.Каталог «ЖЗЛ». 1890—2002 / Сост. Л. П. Александрова, Е. И. Горелик, Р. А. Евсеева. — 4 edition, испр. и доп. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 2002. — P. 6.
The Gorky Series (1930s–1980s)
A study by Ural literary scholars Tatiana Snigiryova and Alexei Podchinenov delineates three distinct periods in the development of The Lives of Remarkable People, each identified by the notable name of its publishing house: The Pavlenkov Series (1890–1900), The Gorky Series (1930–1980), and The Molodaya Gvardiya Series (1990–2000). Each of these periods is characterized by different primary features.Снигирева Т. А., Подчиненов А. В. Литературная биография: традиция и современные интерпретационные стратегии // Интерпретация текста: лингвистический, литературоведческий и методический аспекты. — 2010. — № 1. — P. 97.
1930-1940s