Alexander Kazantsev
Alexander Kazantsev | |
---|---|
Born | Alexander Petrovich Kazantsev 2 September 1906 Akmolinsk, Akmolinsk Oblast, Russian Empire |
Died | 13 September 2002 Peredelkino, Russia | (aged 96)
Occupation | Writer |
Genre | Science fiction, popular science, ufology |
Alexander Petrovich Kazantsev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Каза́нцев; 2 September 1906 – 13 September 2002) was a popular Soviet and Russian science fiction writer, ufologist and chess composer.
Biography
He was born in
Writings
Kazantsev was an enthusiast of the unknown, and a pioneer of Soviet ufology. Many of his works, both fiction and non-fiction, deal with controversial scientific theories.
He researched the Tunguska event and published a number of science fiction, as well as popular science books, on the topic. He believed the Tunguska impact was caused by an alien spacecraft that crash-landed on the Earth.[citation needed]
Kazantsev researched events and legends that he believed were evidences of paleocontacts with extraterrestrials. His novel The Destruction of Faena, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is based on the hypothetical planet Phaeton that some believe existed in the orbit of modern asteroid belt.[1][2] According to the novel, Phaeton was inhabited by a developed civilisation of the phaetae race, who survived the destruction of their planet and brought some of their culture to the prehistorical people of Earth.
Kazantsev was also interested in the Martian canal theory, and used it in his fiction concerning Mars.[citation needed]
He was also a composer of chess endgame studies. In 1975 he was awarded by the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (PCCC) the title of International Master of Composition.[3]
Bibliography
Note: of this list, only The Destruction of Faena (Faety), A Visitor From Outer Space, and The Martian have been translated into English.
- Burning Island (Пылающий остров) (1939–1940)
- The Destruction of Faena (Фаэты ru)(1974)
- Stronger than Time (Сильнее времени)
- The Sunbell (Колокол солнца)
- The Dotted Line of Memories (Пунктир воспоминаний)
- The Dome of Hope (Купол надежды)
- A Visitor From Outer Space (Гость из космоса) (1946)
- The Martian (Марсианин) (1946)
- Northern Bridge (Северный мост):
- Polar Dream (Полярная мечта)
- Glaciers Return (Льды возвращаются)
- Bridge of Friendship (Мост дружбы )
Film screenwriting
- Planet of Storms (Планета бурь)
Film appearance
- Chariots of the Gods (1970, West German)
- Target...Earth? (1980, U.S.)
References
- ^ "Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena". lib.ru. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ISBN 9781475966954.
- ^ "INTERNATIONAL MASTERS OF THE FIDE FOR CHESS COMPOSITIONS". World Federation for Chess Composition.
External links
- (in English) "The Destruction of Faena"(in English)
- (in Russian) The complete works in Russian and selected translations
- (in Russian) Website about Kazantsev, with interviews
- Alexander Kazantsev at Find a Grave