There is a commemorative plaque on one of the houses on Tsiolkovsky Street in Tula, which informs us that an Honorary citizen of Tula, an Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, winner of the Sergius Radonezhsky and N. Leskov literary prizes, writer Ivan Fedorovich Pankin, lived here, who gave us many wonderful books, including the legends of the master Poke.
Ivan Pankin was born into a Mordovian peasant family. As a child, he had to experience many difficulties and hardships – he lost his parents early, was homeless, worked as a gymnast in a traveling circus, and as a cabin boy in the navy.
After the war, remembering his difficult and adventurous childhood, he wrote his first novel. It happened in Novosibirsk. At the All-Siberian Meeting of Young Writers, Ivan Pankin's manuscript was recognized as the best and recommended for publication.
The famous writer Viktor Astafyev, who studied with him, recalled this period as follows:
“The writer Ivan Pankin, the author of the glorious novel The Story of One Life, many absolutely charming children's fairy tales and Tula Tales, studied with me at Higher Literary Courses... his talent was strong, his voice was fresh, he was a dreamer and a completely charming storyteller.”
In 1961, being the author of several children's books, after studying at the Literary Institute and at Higher Literary Courses, after Moscow, Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, Ivan Fedorovich Pankin unexpectedly found himself in Tula. He became one of the organizers of the creation of the Tula branch of the USSR Writers' Union, worked as a literary employee in the regional newspaper Kommunar, and as an editor of fiction and children's literature at the Prioksky Book Publishing House.
Tula helped to unleash the creative potential of the writer. Here he found his main literary hero, Master Tychka, the teacher of Leskovsky Lefty. As the Tula writer Viktor Pakhomov noted in one of his articles about I.F. Pankin:
“Poke is a Lefty teacher, he comes out victorious from all the scrapes and misadventures. He is luminous and victorious. This feature of his character and fate is close and attractive as a national trait of a Russian man who knows how to stand up for himself. We feel, see, and perceive Poke as our contemporary.”
In Tula, the academic genre of I.F. Pankin developed. Here he created his best works and became a classic of Russian literature during his lifetime. His works were included in all school curricula. They were read by both adults and children.
Analyzing the life and creative path of I.F. Pankin, the critic V. Korkin wrote in the All-Union magazine "Children's Literature" (No. 10, 1967):
"An orphan, a cabin boy, a soldier, a worker and a writer. What is it – a career, climbing the stairs? No, Pankin did not achieve the title of writer, did not look for benefits in it, began to live more difficult, more thoughtful. There is no time for secret complacency when there is at least one unhappy, offended, suffering person in the world. Should he forget it? That's why Ivan Pankin's books are about courage, kindness, and pride - he knows what helps a person not to bend. His characters are working people, craftsmen. Whether at sea, in the forge, in the circus. This is no place for a loafer. His sentence is the sneer of a working man, a witty word."
In 1962, the collection of legends “The Magic Master” was published in Tula, in 1964 in Moscow, in the publishing house “Children's Literature”, - the book “Secrets of the old Quiver”, in 1965 in Tula – “Legends of Mothers”, in 1966 in Moscow, in the publishing house “Children's Literature”, – collection of legends and fairy tales “Grandson of the green lightning". In the same year and in the same publishing house, the writer's next book, The Adventures of the Tiktok Brothers, is soon published, addressed to fifth–grade schoolchildren.
Pankin's tales are based on many memories and legends about Tula gunsmiths. They are carefully polished stylistically, each of them brings to the reader a grain of folk wisdom, folk ideas about life, goodness and justice, happiness and sorrow. They vividly depict the characters of hard workers, skilled and courageous people.
The work of Ivan Pankin, noticed and appreciated, allowed the famous children's writer Agniya Barto at the III Congress of Russian Writers on March 24, 1970 from a high podium to name our city Tula among the cities where there are professional strong writers writing for those who enter life.
And in the book “Russian Writers and the Tula Region,” the famous literary local historian, the late professor of the Tolstoy Tula State Pedagogical Institute, Nikolai Alexandrovich Milonov, also names Ivan Fedorovich Pankin among the first of the galaxy of Tula writers of the Sixties, whose works were loved by readers.
Pankin's books have been published in many languages of the world with a total circulation of more than 3 million copies.
Selected literature:
Astafyev V. The Sighted Staff: A Story // Moscow.- 1988.- No. 1.- pp.4-67. On pages 51-53 about the personality and creativity of I.Pankina, about studying together at the higher lit. courses.
Pakhomov V. Diamond Face: On the 70th anniversary of I.F.Pankin // Yasnaya Polyana.- 1991.- No. 4.-pp.200-207.
Tyuleneva N. Assuage my sorrows, mammy! // Sunday: Ist.-journalistic. the almanac.- 1995.- No. 1.- pp.12-18.
Vdovenko E. And thoughts - for life,,, // Kommunar.- 1971.- November 28.
Kirilenko Yu. Anthem to the people of labor // Ibid., 1983, 5 Apr.
Steshchenko N. The film about the Tula master // Kommunar.- 1976.- October 15.
About the film adaptation at the Mosfilm film studio of I.F.Pankin's book "Secrets of the Old Quiver, or the Legend of Master Poke".
Steshchenko N. Legends give birth to life // Ibid., 1981, 1 Dec.
Shavyrin V. Telling is a master: Ivan Pankin is 70 years old // Ibid., 1991, November 30.
Shestakov K. Uncle Vanya // Tula.- 2001.- 4 Dec.- p.4.
