Vitaliy Bianki

Vitali Valentinovich Bianki (Bianchi) was born on Febtuary 11, 1894, into a Russian- Italian family in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vitali was one of three sons of Valentin Bianchi, the keeper of the Zoological Museum in St. Petersburg. Together with his father young Bianki became an avid traveler and observer of the wild life. He studied at the St. Petersburg Gymnasium, then at the St. Petersburg University, graduating in 1916 with a degree in biology, specializing in ornithology. He also studied art at the St. Petersburg Art Institute, specializing in drawing of plants and animals. After the Russian revolution of 1917, Bianki was sent to Siberia. There he taught biology in the Siberian city of Biisk from 1920-1923. Back in St. Petersburg Bianki joined the circle of writers around Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy. He became a member of the Union of writers and a close friend of Samuil Marshak and Boris Zhitkov. His first story was published in the children's magazine Vorobei in 1923. That same year Bianki published his first book of stories for children titled "Chei nos luchshe" (Whose nose is better). His most famous book was "Lesnaya Gazeta" (The Forest Newaspaper). This unique and unusual book about wild life was written during the 1920s; it was growing during the next 35 years, with many additions and updates written by the author every year until the end of his life. The book was translated into many languages, it was also used as a script for the popular children's radio show "Vesti is lesa" (Forest News), which was hosted by Bianki on the Leningrad Radio in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Bianki wrote that animals and plants experience just as many events in their lives as people. Every day and every minute the animal population of forest are building their homes, making families and raising their babies, just like people do. How do we learn about this? How can we understand various voices of birds and animals? How can we read their footprints? What does the fish do in the wintertime? How does the chicken breathe in the egg? All of this, and more, we can learn from the "Forest News" by Vitali Bianki. Vitali Bianki was a very popular children's writer in Russia. His "Forest News" radio show had one of the largest audiences in the country; show was produced in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and was rebroadcast all over the Soviet Union reaching an estimated audience of fifty million listeners during the 1950's. Vitali Bianki died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on June 10, 1959, and was laid to rest in Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.