Maltsev, Elizar

(pseudonym of Elizar Iur’evich Pupko). Born Dec. 22, 1916 (Jan. 4, 1917), in the village of Khonkholoi, in present-day Bichura Raion, Buriat ASSR. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU (1950).

Mal’tsev was the son of a peasant. He graduated from the M. Gorky Institute of Literature in 1944. Mal’tsev writes primarily about the kolkhoz. His first novel, Hot Springs (1945), is about the heroic labor of the Altai peasants during the Great Patriotic War. The novel Straight From the Heart (1948; USSR State Prize, 1949) is about everyday life in the kolkhozes during the war and the years of the first postwar five-year plan. The novel Enter Every House (books 1-2, 1960-67) deals with the changes in village life in the 1950’s. Mal’tsev is thoroughly familiar with everyday life in the kolkhoz and he skillfully renders the vividness and humor of folk speech and the natural beauty of his native region. He was awarded the order of the Badge of Honor and a number of medals.