Lagin, Lazar

Born Nov. 21 (Dec. 4), 1903, in Vitebsk. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU from 1920.

Lagin’s poems and satirical articles were first printed in 1921 in the Komsomol press. He worked for several years for Pravda and Krokodil. His fairy-tale novella Old Man Khottabych (1938) was popular. The novels Patent “AV” (1947), The Island of Disillusionment (1951), Ataviia Proksima (1956), and The Eroded Archipelago (1963) manage to combine social pamphleteering with adventure and science-fiction genres. The novel The Blue Man (1966) tells about the succession of generations of revolutionaries and about modern and prerevolutionary Moscow. He wrote about the Great Patriotic War (1941–45) in such works as the novella Battleship “Aniuta” (1945).

Lagin’s other works include the lampoons Major Vell End”iu (1962) and The Blond Beast (1963) and fairy tales for children and adults. His books have been translated into many foreign languages and languages of the peoples of the USSR. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War Second Class and various medals.