Panteleev, L

(pen name of Aleksei Ivanovich Eremeev). Born Aug. 9 (22), 1908, in St. Petersburg. Soviet Russian writer.

An orphan, Panteleev entered the F. M. Dostoevsky school for homeless children in 1921. His impressions of this school were the basis of his first book, The Republic of Shkid (written with G. Belykh, 1927; film of the same name, 1967), which was acclaimed by M. Gorky.

Panteleev served in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45. He wrote a number of short stories about the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War for children and young people; their central theme is the moral greatness of heroism. Examples are “The Package” (1932), “The Night” (1939), “The Soldier of the Guards” (1943), “Dolores” (1948), and “Indian Chubatyi” (1952). He also wrote In the Besieged City (1964) and January 1944 (1965), books about the heroic defense of Leningrad; as well as the autobiographical novella Len’ka Panteleev (1939; revised 1952). Panteleev’s short stories are marked by absorbing plots and an expert knowledge of adolescent psychology, which is depicted with skill. Many of his works have been translated into foreign languages and into national languages of the USSR. He has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and several medals.