Man and Animals

Description

Yuri Dmitriev was born on December 14, 1925, into the family of a physician. He belongs to the generation whose adolescence coincided with the war. Like other teenagers, he did guard duty on the roof of his house, watching out for incendiary bombs and tried to gain admittance to the acting army, though he was not yet of age. When the war ended, Dmitriev got a job on a newspaper and simultaneously attended Moscow University. Upon graduation, he began teaching at school. He was a fine teacher, well liked by his pupils and respected by his colleagues. He wrote an excellent master’s thesis so his future seemed to be clear-cut. Yes, he loved his work, but more than anything else he loved animals. In childhood he kept gold-fish and dogs, and there were always various small animals and birds, living in his home – and not confined to cages either. As a rule,Yuri picked them up in the street, ill, wounded, half-frozen, starved, and nursed them back to health, after which they could return to freedom if they chose. So Dmitriev started writing about animals. His first story, which was published in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets and was entitled The Green Patrol, was about nature and animals, and already in this first book Dmitriev did his best to infect boys and girls with his own love for nature and his dedication to its protection. In the two books by Yuri Dmitriev Raduga Publishers are bringing out, Man and Animals and Animals on a Pedestal, the young reader is offered much interesting information about wild and domestic animals, and is urged to be kind to them because man is responsible for every living thing on Earth. Translated by Raissa Bobrova