Vitali Valentinovich Bianki (Bianchi) was born on Febtuary 11, 1894,
into a Russian- Italian family in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vitali was
one of three sons of Valentin Bianchi, the keeper of the Zoological
Museum in St. Petersburg. Together with his father young Bianki became
an avid traveler and observer of the wild life. He studied at the St.
Petersburg Gymnasium, then at the St. Petersburg University, graduating
in 1916 with a degree in biology, specializing in ornithology. He also
studied art at the St. Petersburg Art Institute, specializing in
drawing of plants and animals. After the Russian revolution of 1917,
Bianki was sent to Siberia. There he taught biology in the Siberian
city of Biisk from 1920-1923.
Back in St. Petersburg Bianki joined the circle of writers around
Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy. He became a member of
the Union of writers and a close friend of
Samuil Marshak and
Boris Zhitkov. His first story was
published in the children's magazine Vorobei in 1923. That same year
Bianki published his first book of stories for children titled "Chei
nos luchshe" (Whose nose is better). His most famous book was "Lesnaya
Gazeta" (The Forest Newaspaper). This unique and unusual book about
wild life was written during the 1920s; it was growing during the next
35 years, with many additions and updates written by the author every
year until the end of his life. The book was translated into many
languages, it was also used as a script for the popular children's
radio show "Vesti is lesa" (Forest News), which was hosted by Bianki on
the Leningrad Radio in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Bianki wrote that animals and plants experience just as many events in
their lives as people. Every day and every minute the animal population
of forest are building their homes, making families and raising their
babies, just like people do. How do we learn about this? How can we
understand various voices of birds and animals? How can we read their
footprints? What does the fish do in the wintertime? How does the
chicken breathe in the egg? All of this, and more, we can learn from
the "Forest News" by Vitali Bianki.
Vitali Bianki was a very popular children's writer in Russia. His
"Forest News" radio show had one of the largest audiences in the
country; show was produced in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and was
rebroadcast all over the Soviet Union reaching an estimated audience of
fifty million listeners during the 1950's. Vitali Bianki died in
Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on June 10, 1959, and was laid to rest in
Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.
