The name of the famous Russian writer and research engineer Vyacheslav Shishkov is especially dear to Siberians. It was from his pen that novels and travel notes about the events that took place in the vastness from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean came out.
Childhood and youth
Sociologists and psychologists are well aware that the foundations of a child's character are laid in the family. The relationships that prevail in the cell of society affect the behavior of a person in the future. Vyacheslav Yakovlevich Shishkov was born on October 3, 1873 in a merchant family. At that time, the parents lived in the small town of Bezhetsk, Tver province. Father, a merchant of the third guild, owned a shop where tools, kerosene, fabrics and other goods necessary for the peasant economy were sold. The mother, as was customary in those days, was engaged in household chores and raising children.
The future writer became the first child of nine. The eldest son has always been pinned with hopes for the future and specific responsibilities at the moment. In childhood, Slava was mostly with his mother and grandmother. My father spent from morning till night at work to balance income and expenses. On market days, the eldest children helped him. Trading began early, at five o'clock in the morning. From an early age, my grandmother introduced Shishkov to reading. When the boy was sent to a real school, in one year he read all the books that were on the library shelves.
Works and days
After graduating from college with honors in 1887, Shishkov entered the construction college, which was located in the city of Vyshny Volochok. From the first days, the young man established himself as a capable and diligent student. After the third year, he was sent to construction practice in the Novgorod province, and then in the Vologda province. The young specialist took part in the construction of dams and land reclamation activities. In 1892, Vyacheslav Yakovlevich received a diploma in engineering and was sent to work in Vologda. The first project, which was brilliantly completed by Shishkov, was route surveys of the Pinega river fairway.
In 1894, Shishkov secured a referral to the Siberian city of Tomsk. For two years he has been researching the Ob River. After that, he received a promotion and was already the head of research parties in the basins of different rivers. He worked on the Irtysh, Katun, Biya, Yenisei, Angara. On Podkamennaya Tunguska, the party under the leadership of Shishkov carried out measurements and instrumental surveys in one season to determine the navigability of the river for one and a half thousand miles. While working in the "field", the engineer and manager kept detailed records of the events and their personal impressions.
Recognition and privacy
Shishkov began his regular writing career in 1913. A cycle of three stories was published by the Tomsk city newspaper. In 1916, the writer moved to Petrograd, published the first collection of travel notes "Siberian Skaz". Vyacheslav Yakovlevich met the October Revolution with caution. The first novel that brought him fame was called The Vataga. In the early 30s, the novel "Gloomy River" was published.
For his active literary and social activities, Shishkov was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the "Badge of Honor". The personal life of the writer did not work out. He tried to start a family three times, in vain. The writer died in March 1945 after a long illness. Buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
