Soviet literature dealing with sport and physical training

[A.Smith]

Dear Dunja,

You might wish to consider a few items below:

1. Osip Mandel'shtam's 1931 poem "Sokhrani moiu rech' za privkus ischad'ia I
dyma...". The last stanza includes two lines that feature an old  Russian
game "gorodki":
"Lish' by tol'ko liubili menia eti merzlye plakhi,
Kak, natselias' na smert', gorodki zashibaiut v sadu".

2. Andrei Starostin's book "Bol'shoi futbol" (Molodaia gvardiia, Moskva,
1957;1959;1964) might be of interest to you, too.  It talks about
Starostin's  experience as football coach in Noril'sk (in the 1944-53) [he
was arrested and sent to Noril'sk].
3. His brother Aleksandr Starosrtin also published a book about Soviet
sportsmen -- under the title "Rasskaz kapitana" (1935) (it features Soviet
football players, boxers and athletes visiting the Czech Republic).
4.Andrei's and Aleksandr's brother Nikolaj wrote a book that tells the story
of Stalin's attacks on "Spartak" in 1937-- several players were arrested as
a result of this campaign. See: Starostin, N.P. Vesna Patriarkha: Delo
brat'ev Starostinykh. Pechal'naia pristan', compiled by Kuznetsov I.L.,
Syktyvar: Komi knizhnoe izdatel'stvo, 1991.
5. One of Starostin's brothers was a friend of Yurii Olesha who describes
him in his autobiographical work "Ni dnia bez strochki". In his youth Olesha
was an ardent football player himself.

Best,

Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)

Lecturer in Russian, University of Sheffield

Alexandra.Smith at sheffield.ac.uk

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------