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First Publication of the Story “Nakhalyonok”

95 years ago, in early June 1925, the story by Mikhail Sholokhov "Nakhalyonok", about which the young writer said that this is partly an autobiographical story, was first published in the newspaper “Molodoy Leninist”.

The setting of the work is the end of the summer of 1920. In this story, the writer created one of the most powerful and charming images - the image of the 7-year-old boy Mishka, nicknamed in the village "Nakhalyonok".

Sholokhov with great artistic strength shows the influence of his father, a former red sailor, who returned from the fronts of the Civil War, on the formation of the character of Mishka. Father talks with the boy for a long time, tells him about the past war, about the battles that he had to go through. He, who took the side of the Bolsheviks, perishes at the hands of the Cossacks. Minka himself becomes an eyewitness to the tragic events that leave a deep mark in his children's soul.

Let us return to the fact related to the birth of Mikhail Sholokhov. No less than his mother, he experienced a painful sensation of "illegality" of his position ("nakhalyonok") in early childhood, - formally considered a Cossack, but really - the son of a merchant ("tradesman").

The story "Nakhalyonok" was a part of the author's collection “Azure Steppe” (1926) and “Azure Steppe. Don stories. 1923 - 25 "(1931). Many writers spoke about their perception of the “Don Stories”, including the "Nakhalyonok".

The work is filmed. Based on the story, in 1962, the film studio “Mosfilm” shot the television film of the same name "Nakhalyonok".

Natalya Kirsanova