Korney Chukovsky

Biography

Korney I. Chukovsky [Nikolai V. Korneichukov] (31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most popular children's poets in the Russian language. His catchy rhythms, inventive rhymes and absurd characters have invited comparisons with the American children's author Dr. Seuss. Chukovsky's poems Tarakanishche ("The Monster Cockroach"), Krokodil ("The Crocodile"), Telefon ("The Telephone") and Moydodyr ("Wash-'em-Clean") have been favourites with many generations of Russophone children. Lines from his poems, in particular Telefon, have become universal catch-phrases in the Russian media and everyday conversation. He adapted the Doctor Dolittle stories into a book-length Russian poem as Doktor Aybolit ("Dr. Ow-It-Hurts"), and translated a substantial portion of the Mother Goose canon into Russian as Angliyskiye Narodnyye Pesenki ("English Folk Rhymes"). He was also an influential literary critic and essayist.

Birthday

Mar 31, 1882

Place of birth

St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]

Deathday

Oct 28, 1969

Also known as

• Корней Иванович Чуковский
• Николай Васильевич Корнейчуков
• Nikolai Korneichukov
• К. Чуковский
• Korney Chukovskiy