Markov, Georgii

Born Apr. 6 (19), 1911, in the village of Novokuskovo, present-day Asino Raion, Tomsk Oblast. Soviet Russian writer and public figure. Member of the CPSU (1946).

The son of a peasant hunter, Markov studied at the University of Tomsk (1930-32). He engaged in Komsomol work and edited youth newspapers. His first works were printed in 1936. His historical novel about the Revolution, The Strogovs (books 1-2, 1939-46; State Prize of the USSR, 1952), deals with the struggle for Soviet rule in Siberia and the socialist reconstruction of the region. In the novel The Salt of the Earth (books 1-2, 1954-60), Markov traces the fate of the Strogov peasant “dynasty”; the novel Father and Son (parts 1-2, 1963-64) tells about the successive generations of Soviet people and their struggle for the ideals of communism. The novel Siberia (books 1-2, 1969-73) deals with Leninist revolutionaries and with life in Russia before the Soviet era.

Markov wrote the novellas The Infantry Soldier (1947-48) and Eagles Over Khingan (1967), collections of short stories, and the collection of essays Letter to Mareevka (1952).

Markov writes about outstanding, whole-hearted men of the people; he realistically portrays the mores of the people and poses important social and ethical questions. Markov’s articles and speeches on literature have been collected in the book Life, Literature, and the Writer (1971). In 1956, Markov was elected secretary of the board of the Writers’ Union of the USSR; in 1971 he became first secretary of the board. His books have been translated into many foreign languages and into many languages of the peoples of the USSR.

At the 23rd Congress of the CPSU, Markov was elected a member of the Central Auditing Commission of the CPSU; at the 24th Congress he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. He was a deputy to the seventh and eighth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Markov has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a number of medals.