Alexander Melentyevich Volkov

Alexander Melentyevich Volkov ( _ru. Алекса́ндр Меле́нтьевич Во́лков IPA2|ɐlʲɪˈksandr mʲɪˈlʲenʲtʲɪvʲɪtɕ ˈvolkəf) (July 14, 1891 in Ust-Kamenogorsk – July 3, 1977) was a Russian novelist and mathematician.

He wrote several historical novels, but is mostly remembered for a series of children's books based on L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

The first of these books, "The Wizard of the Emerald City", is a loose translation of the first Oz book, with chapters added, altered, or omitted and some names changed (for example, Dorothy becomes "Ellie" and Oz is renamed "Magic Land"). Nowhere in any of the Volkov books is Baum's name mentioned and the Soviet Union paid no royalties to the Baum estate. First published in 1939 in the Soviet Union, the book became quite popular and in the 1960s. Volkov also wrote his own sequels to the story. He liberally borrowed from some of the originals such as using the "Powder of Life" idea from "The Marvelous Land of Oz" but mostly created a divergent universe. From 1963 to 1970, four more books in the series were published, with the sixth and final story published posthumously in 1982. Other authors such as Yuri Kuznitchov, Sergei Sukhinov, and Leonid Vladimirsky (Volkov's original illustrator) have recently written additional sequels in Russian, creating in effect an alternative series of Oz books.

The context and situations found in the Volkov version are notably different from the original Baum version in their political tones. The situations, while still maintaining a childlike clarity of good versus evil, often involve the characters encountering very mature political and ethical decisions. The heroes are repeatedly called upon to defend Magic Land against invasions or topple feudalistic or aristocratic governments to free the populace. Both themes are often found in Soviet sci-fi and adventure literature (see the Strugatsky brothers' novels "Hard to be a God" and "Inhabited Island").

Volkov's "Magic Land" series was translated into many languages and was popular with children all over the Eastern bloc. Volkov's version of Oz seems to be better known than Baum's in some countries, for example in China, in Germany (especially former East Germany), and also in Arabic-speaking countries such as Syria. In Germany, one author has written his own set of sequels to Volkov's books. The books in the series have been translated into English — or retranslated, in the case of the first book — by Peter L. Blystone, and were published by Red Branch Press in three volumes (two books a volume) in 1991,1993, and 2007.

Volkov's Magic-Land books

*"The Wizard of the Emerald City" ("Волшебник Изумрудного города", 1939, revised in 1959)
*"Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers" ("Урфин Джюс и его деревянные солдаты", 1963)
*"The Seven Underground Kings" ("Семь подземных королей", 1964)
*"The Fiery God of the Marrans" ("Огненный бог марранов", 1968)
*"The Yellow Fog" ("Желтый туман", 1970)
*"The Secret of the Abandoned Castle" ("Тайна заброшенного замка", 1975, published in 1982)

Other books

*"The Two Brothers" (1950)
*"Prisoner of Zargrad" (1969)
*"Land and sky"

Persondata
NAME=Volkov, Alexander Melentyevich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=writer
DATE OF BIRTH=July 14, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=July 3, 1977
PLACE OF DEATH=