Astafev, Viktor Petrovich

Born May 1, 1924, in the village of Ovsianka, Sovetskii Raion, Krasnoiarsk Krai. Soviet Russian writer.

As a child Astaf’ev was homeless and was raised in an orphanage. He took part in the Great Patriotic War. His works were first published in 1951. Astaf’ev is the author of the book Until Next Spring (1953); the novel The Snows Are Melting (1958); the short novellas The Pass, Starodub, and Falling Stars; and the novellas The Theft (1966) and The Last Bow (1968). The works of Astaf ’ev deal with working people, their tense inner lives, and the theme of the maturing of the soul.