Born in pre-revolutionary times, Ivan Sokolov-Mikitov was noted in the literary field mainly in the Soviet era. We got a lot of interesting works from it, from which you can learn a lot of colorful pictures about life the way this outstanding writer saw it. Having lived a long life, Sokolov-Mikitov left an impressive literary heritage to his descendants.
At fifteen, the future writer was expelled from college for participating in the activities of revolutionary student circles. After school, Ivan intended to become an agronomist, but changed his mind. In his youth, he traveled a lot, working on a merchant ship. He happened to see both Europe and Africa. With the start of the First World War, Sokolov-Mikitov returned to Russia. In the fighting, he took part as a member of the bomber crew. He also had the opportunity to stay and orderly at the front.
After the revolution, the future writer returned to the profession of a seaman, but the ship on which he worked was arrested in Great Britain for debts, and the crew was written off ashore. As a result, he spent a year in England, and then another year in Germany. It was in Germany that Sokolov-Mikitov met Maxim Gorky, who helped him return to the USSR. The writer loved jokes. Once he planted a brick in an empty briefcase of his acquaintance, which he wore purely for reasons of style and fashion. He did not immediately understand why the portfolio was so heavy. He began writing his first stories when he was still a sailor.
Sokolov-Mikitov perfectly orientated himself in the forest, was a connoisseur of mushrooms, a good ranger and a skilled hunter. In his declining years, the writer’s vision weakened greatly, but he did not quit his job. Instead of writing manuscripts, he began dictating texts on a dictaphone. Once in Odessa, Sokolov-Mikitov met Ivan Bunin. He was just about to move to France.
Living most of his life in his father’s house, he did not stop traveling a lot, having traveled almost all over the Soviet Union and many other countries. During World War II, Sokolov-Mikitov was a war correspondent. He received many guests from literary and artistic circles, including, for example, the famous Tvardovsky already then. The writer had three daughters, but he outlived them all. Sokolov-Mikitov was awarded three times the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
