A man with an unusual old name Flor Vasiliev became famous in Udmurtia for his heartfelt lyric poems, mainly in his native language. He praised the nature of his native land, good human feelings - love and friendship, kindness, patriotism. The tragic death at the age of 44 interrupted the creative flight of the talented poet.
Childhood and years of study
Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev was born in the Udmurt village of Berdyshi near the town of Yar. The date of his birth is February 15, 1934, however, the documents always listed February 19, since it was on this day that the child's father registered the fact of his birth with the village council. The boy was given a rare old name, the meaning of which is “blooming”. Flore also had two younger brothers and a sister. The father of the family, Ivan Alekseevich, worked as a village teacher.
Flor grew up very inquisitive and curious, was interested in nature, and early on became addicted to books. By the age of seven, he spoke fluently, read and recited poetry by heart in two languages - Udmurt and Russian. When the boy was 7 years old, the Great Patriotic War began. Father Ivan Alekseevich was taken to the front, and care for the family fell on the shoulders of mother Alexandra Ivanovna and elder brother Flor. Sometimes I had to endure hardship and even starve.
Until the third grade, the boy studied at school in his native village, and then began to attend classes at a secondary school in the village of Ukan. He studied very well, for the entire time of his schooling he managed to get only one "deuce" for letting in the sunbeams class, and then he was ashamed of it for a long time. In 1948, Flor finished 7 classes of a comprehensive school and came to the Udmurt regional center, the city of Glazov, to continue his education at a pedagogical school. From that moment on, the life of Flora Vasiliev will be closely connected with Glazov, but at first the 14-year-old boy was afraid to get lost in what seemed to him a huge city. At the school, Vasiliev joined the ranks of the Komsomol. Immediately, his active social activities began: first as a Komsomol group, and then as a member of the Komsomol committee of the Glazov Pedagogical School.
Higher education
After graduating from college, Flor Vasiliev worked for a short time at school - he taught drawing, drawing and physical education, and was also a secretary in the editorial office of the Leninsky Put newspaper in Glazov. And in 1953, Flor Ivanovich became a student at the Glazov Pedagogical Institute, Faculty of Language and Literature. Here the young man also showed good results in his studies. He was immediately elected secretary of the Komsomol committee of the institute, and then until 1959 Vasiliev was the secretary of the Komsomol city committee.
Vasiliev was such an active and active person that he managed to do a lot. In addition to his studies and Komsomol activities, he seriously studied music - he played the violin, mandolin and domra perfectly, performed with a student orchestra or a duet with his friend Gennady Pozdyaev, who later became the rector of the Glazovsky Pedagogical Institute.
Vasiliev was the editor-in-chief of the institute's newspaper "Growing Power", and he himself designed the covers and perfectly drew illustrations. Flor played sports and was chairman of the sports society. He played on the stage of the student theater. And, of course, he wrote poetry. His friends and classmates recalled that Vasiliev's pockets were always full of pieces of paper with notes and quatrains, mostly in the Udmurt language. The young poet always signed his poems "Flor Vasya".
One of the important events in the biography of Flora Vasiliev was the acquaintance and the beginning of a romantic relationship with fellow student Faina Salamatova - his future wife. The wedding of young people became the apotheosis of student life.
Career, creativity and party work
In 1958 Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev graduated with honors from the Glazov Pedagogical Institute. The young specialist again appeared in the newspaper "Leninsky Put", but now in the position of deputy director. Later he moved to the newspaper "Komsomolets Udmurtiya" - first as deputy, and then as editor-in-chief.
The creative activity of the young poet was also gaining momentum, and when the question of publication arose, Vasiliev sent several of his poems to the Udmurt Book Publishing House. In 1960, the first author's collection of poems by Flora Vasiliev "The stars are shining" was published.
The editor of the Udmurt publishing house in those years was the famous Udmurt literary critic Alexei Afanasyevich Ermolaev, who discerned great talent and originality in Vasiliev's work. Vasiliev and Ermolaev became not only colleagues, but also good friends. Alexey Afanasevich translated many of Vasiliev's poems into Russian, and was also an editor, compiler, author of prefaces to many of the poet's books.
In the early 1960s, Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev, together with his family, moved to the city of Izhevsk, the capital of Udmurtia. Here, until 1969, he worked as deputy editor at the newspaper Sovetskaya Udmurtia. And then, at the invitation of his colleagues, he became a literary consultant at the Writers' Union of Udmurtia; in 1972 he was elected the head of this Union. In addition, he was also the editor-in-chief of the literary anthology "Hammer". In 1964 he became a member of the USSR Writers' Union. Vasiliev also continued to conduct public work: he held high posts in the district and city committee of the CPSU of Izhevsk, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of Udmurtia.
Flor Vasiliev also continued to write poetry and publish collections: "Bird cherry", "Bright autumn", "River and field", "Taste of the sun", "Quiet lines" and many others. His contribution to the development of national Udmurt poetry is so great that his fellow countrymen named a street in Glazov after him in memory of the famous poet. Vasiliev's poems have been translated not only into Russian, but also into many languages of the peoples of the former USSR and other countries.
Personal life
In 1957, in the last year of the Glazovsky Pedagogical Institute, Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev married Faina Filippovna Salamatova, his classmate. The wedding was played right at the institute, it was friendly and fun for the youth. Friends of the Vasiliev family said that the newly-made husband and wife were as if made for each other - both cheerful, kind and bright, restless and easy-going. On January 1, 1959, Faina gave her husband a “New Year's gift” - she gave birth to her son Sergei. The Vasiliev family was very friendly and strong.
Tragic death
On June 5, 1978, a tragic accident cut short the life and career of 44-year-old Flora Vasiliev. At four o'clock in the morning on the highway a few kilometers from Izhevsk, the truck driver fell asleep at the wheel, drove into the oncoming lane and crashed into the car in which Vasiliev was returning home from the celebration of the Day of Udmurt Culture. There were three people in the car - all died on the spot. Flor Ivanovich Vasiliev was posthumously awarded the State Prize of Udmurtia.
