Nikolai Gavrilovich Zolotarev

(pseudonym, N. lakutskii), Born Nov. 9 (22), 1908, in Kharbalakh Nasleg (district), Verkhneviliuisk Raion. Soviet Yakut writer. Member of the CPSU since 1929.

Zolotarev served in the frontier guards and was involved in party work. From 1948 to 1961, he served as chairman of the board of the Writers’ Union of Yakutia. He began to appear in print in 1938. Zolotarev is the author of short stories about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, such as “He Who Has Vanquished Death, He Is Immortal” and “Kesha Berezkin.” His other works include the novel Destiny (1947) about the difficult life and struggle of the Yakuts before the revolution; the novella Golden Brook (1948; Russian translation, 1962); the novel Land (1958) about collective farm life; and the novels Dark Night (I960)and Before Dawn (1962) about the heroic struggle to establish Soviet power in Yakutia. The novel Surprise (1967) and two later works make up the trilogy Destiny (Russian translation, 1968). Zolotarev has been awarded two orders, as well as several medals.