Iurii Zbanatskii

Born Dec. 19, 1913 (Jan. 1, 1914), in the village of Borsukov, in what is now Kozelets Raion, Chernigov Oblast. Soviet Ukrainian writer. Hero of the Soviet Union (Jan. 4, 1944). Member of the CPSU since 1939.

Zbanatskii graduated from the Nezhin Pedagogical Institute in 1937. He commanded the Shchors partisan unit during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). His first works were published in 1944; he is the author of such children’s tales as The Secret of Falcon Forest (1948) and Forest Beauty (1955). His other popular works include Congratulate Me, Friends! (1956), The Only One (1959), and the novels Before the Harvest (1955), The Mellow Chime (1958), Sespel (1961), and Waves (1967; T. G. Shchevchenko Republic Prize, 1970). Zbanatskii’s works are concerned with the Soviet man at the front and at the enemy’s rear and with the life of Soviet youth. His works have been translated into many languages of the nationalities of the USSR and foreign languages. Zbanatskii has been awarded the Order of Lenin, three other orders, and also medals.