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Biography

Sergei Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (1913–2009).
Born on March 12, 1913, in Moscow; died on August 27, 2009, in Moscow.

A Soviet and Russian writer, poet, playwright (about thirty plays written between 1938 and 1984, many of them adapted for the screen), publicist, translator, screenwriter (for both feature films—around ten productions, including The Girl from Leningrad directed by Viktor Eisymont in 1941—and animated films, more than forty between 1936 and 1980), journalist (war correspondent during 1941–1945; one of the five authors of the epitaphs on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin; creator and editor-in-chief of the satirical screen magazine Fitil (The Wick) from 1962 to 2008), and prominent public figure (Chairman of the Writers’ Union of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1970 to 1990).

Always close to those in power, he produced a vast and highly diverse body of work, beginning under Stalin and continuing into the era of Putin. Although he wrote in many genres and addressed a wide range of subjects, most of his output belongs to children's and young people's literature. Indeed, he entered literary life in 1935 with the verse tale Uncle Styopa.

He also achieved a unique distinction by writing the lyrics of the country's official anthem on three separate occasions: in 1943 (together with Gabriel El-Registan), in 1977, and in 2000.

In 1936 he married Natalia Konchalovskaya, daughter of the painter Pyotr Konchalovsky. He was also the father of film directors Andrei (Andron) Konchalovsky and Nikita Mikhalkov.

In 2019, Cécile Vaissié published The Mikhalkov Clan: Culture and Power in Russia (Rennes University Press), a sharp and critical study of this influential family. A digital edition of the book has been available since July 2025.

Major Awards and Honors:

Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (1971).
Member of the Russian Academy of Education (1991).
Honorary Member of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) affiliated with UNESCO (1982).
Honored Artist of the USSR (1967).
USSR State Prize (1941, 1942, and 1949) for his literary work.
Awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (2003).

 

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commentaries

- Le clan Mikhalkov. Culture et pouvoirs en Russie (1917-2017) [Désormais en version numérique gratuite du livre de 2019depuis le 1er juillet 2025] Cécile VAISSIÉ, 2025, Presses universitaires de Rennes

- Sergueï Mikhalkov Marie JÉGO, 2009, Le Monde, 01/09/2009