Naum Sindalovsky is a true connoisseur of the history of our northern capital. The native of St. Petersburg dedicated his life to his native city, its history, legends and mysteries. The writer's bibliography contains dozens of books about the “creation of Peter”. And how many publications are devoted to the city on the Neva!
Biography
Naum Alexandrovich Sindalovsky is a native of St. Petersburg. He was born in Leningrad on November 6, 1935. The father of the future writer - Alexander Lvovich (1908 - 1944) - was from Nasva, worked as an engineer in a depot on the railway.
The Sindalovskys had two sons - Naum and his younger brother. On the eve of the war, the family lived in Slutsk (today the settlement is called Pavlovsk). In the first days after the attack of the fascist invaders, father was mobilized. For three years, the head of the family fought in the Marine Corps. In 1944, the soldier was wounded, in the same year he died - presumably on the way to the front.
With the beginning of the war, the mother and brothers moved to Leningrad, soon they were evacuated to the Urals. The family spent the war years in the village of Osintsevo, Molotov region. Mother got a job as a postman. According to the memoirs of the future writer, the war years were difficult - the family lived in poverty. The greatest delicacy in those years was a casserole made from potato peels and cabbage soup from nettle leaves. When the blockade of Leningrad was lifted, the Sindalovsky family immediately returned to the city to learn at least something about their father. They were able to obtain a residence permit thanks to a relative and huddled with her for some time. The historian's mother got a job at Remstroykontor, which was engaged in dismantling bombed and destroyed houses.
The Sindalovskys' former housing did not survive, so they were given a room in a half-destroyed house in Pavlovsk. Here, in Pavlovsk, Naum and his younger brother went to school. The children sawed the logs brought by their mother every day, and the family picked up household items and furniture on the street. From the Urals, she brought with her a huge bag of dried potatoes and two goats - this was enough for the first time.
Naum Alexandrovich's mother changed several jobs, never married again. She passed away in 1962.
After school, the future writer served in the Baltic Fleet. Here, for the first time, he himself wrote poetry. After demobilization, Sindalovsky participated in various literary associations, attended the classes of the poet Herman Hoppe in the Smena newspaper - it was he who became the literary mentor of Naum Aleksandrovich.
Naum Sindalovsky graduated from a shipbuilding college, then worked at the Admiralty shipyards. There, over time, he was promoted to head of department.
Literary work
Simultaneously with his main job, the man was engaged in his hobby - collecting stories and legends about St. Petersburg. They knew about his hobby at the shipyards, so they invited him to lecture on the history of the city in the Knowledge Society. Sindalovsky's essays were published in newspapers - and Petersburgers sent him letters with their own stories about the history of the city on the Neva.
In the 80s, Naum Aleksandrovich came up with the idea to write a book about his hometown as a gift to Leningraders for their work. Lenizdat did not accept the manuscript, but the latter continued to work anyway, collecting data, and writing, as they say, on the table.
The life of the historian changed in the early nineties. He left the factory and changed his job as a worker for a professional writing career. For years, bit by bit - orally, in libraries and archives, he searched for the works of scientists, letters, notes, legends, traditions, proverbs, anecdotes, songs, tales, guidebooks and everything else connected with his hometown. At the same time, in the 90s, his first publications were published.
Today Naum Aleksandrovich, who celebrated his 83rd birthday, lives in his hometown. Here he continues to work and publish new editions.
Historical Writer Contribution, Awards
Sindalovsky devoted his life to the study of Petersburg urban folklore. Today, his card index contains more than 5, 5 thousand legends, legends, anecdotes, abbreviations, catchphrases related to the history, architecture, life, customs of St. Petersburg. The researcher drew information from the works of historians, documents, letters, memoirs, old magazines and newspapers, travel guides, reference books, folk songs, anecdotes, proverbs and sayings, and, of course, the living speech of the townspeople.
Naum Sindalovsky's work resulted in over 30 books about the history of the year on the Neva: “Legends and Myths of St. Petersburg” (1994), “Petersburg: From House to House. From legend to legend”(2000),“Petersburg folklore”(1994),“Petersburg in folklore”(1999),“Just like from a cannon: Petersburg phraseology”(1995),“Dictionary of a Petersburg citizen”(2002),“Ghosts of the Northern capital Cities. Legends and myths of St. Petersburg through the looking glass "(2006)," History of St. Petersburg in a city joke "(2009)," Petersburg addresses of Russian literature "(2011)," Legends of St. Petersburg gardens and parks "(2012)," Legends of St. Petersburg bridges and rivers "(2013), “And laughter, and tears, and love … Jews and Petersburg. Three hundred years of common history”(2014) and many others. A number of publications are devoted to certain places of the city, for example, the Champ de Mars, and famous personalities who lived in the northern capital. There is a gift edition and an encyclopedia about St. Petersburg in the writer's bibliography.
Recently, in 2017, Naum Aleksandrovich published a collection of poetry "Time and Place". For many years he has been published in Neva, and in 2009 he became a laureate of this magazine's prize.
Despite the skepticism of specialists who ignore the importance of folklore in the study of the history of the city, the works of Naum Aleksandrovich Sindalovsky were highly appreciated and recognized.
