Biography

Alan Alexander Milne is an English writer, author of stories about "a bear with sawdust in his head" - Winnie the Pooh. Born in the London borough of Kilburn. He took part in the First World War. For many years he was a contributor to the English comic magazine Punch. Milne began writing stories about Winnie the Pooh for his son Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996). Before the books about Winnie the Pooh were published, Milne was already a fairly famous playwright, but the success of Winnie the Pooh has acquired such proportions that other works by Milne are now practically unknown.

Milne was born in London. He attended a small private school owned by his father, John Vine Milne. One of his teachers in 1889-1890 was H.G. Wells. Then he entered Westminster School, and then at Trinity College Cambridge, where he studied mathematics from 1900 to 1903. As a student, he wrote notes for the student newspaper Grant. He usually wrote with his brother Kenneth, and they signed the notes with the name AKM. Milne's work was noticed, and the British comic magazine "Punch" began to cooperate with him, later Milne became assistant editor there.

In 1913 Milne married Dorothy "Daphne" de Selincourt.

Milne fought in World War I as an officer in the British Army. He worked for MI7, the propaganda arm of British intelligence. Later he wrote the book Peace with Honor, in which he condemned the war.

In 1920, Milne had his only son, Christopher Robin Milne.

Artworks

Milne was well known as Punch's feuilletonist, and collections of his essays were regularly reprinted. Milne's plays were popular with both audiences and critics, and for a short time Milne was "one of the most successful, prolific and well-known playwrights in England" according to E. Twaith. However, the success of his children's books overshadowed all other achievements, and, much to Milne's annoyance, he was considered a children's writer. According to Paula T. Connolly, Milne's works for children turned out to be like Frankenstein - the creation took possession of the creator: the public demanded new books in this genre, and critics considered Milne's other works in the context of his children's books. When the writer returned to novels in the 1930s and 1940s, readers ignored him, and critics used references to children's books to stab him more painfully. Milne himself complained that critics who start a review by mentioning Winnie the Pooh inevitably criticize new works, the attitude towards which they had developed even before reading. By the end of his life, Milne's children's books had a circulation of 7 million, and his books for adults were no longer reprinted.

Winnie the Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh
The House at Pooh Corner

Translated into Russian - without two chapters of the original - under the general title "Winnie the Pooh and All, All, All" by Boris Zakhoder.

The prototype of the hero of the books was a bear-girl named Winnipeg from Canada, bought in 1914 from a Canadian hunter for $ 20 and rescued by veterinarians. The animal was sent to the London Zoo. In 1924, four-year-old Christopher Robin Milne first saw Winnie the bear and changed the name of his teddy bear in her honor from Edward Bear to Winnie the Pooh. This, in turn, inspired his father to write books about Winnie the Pooh.

Fairy tales

Prince rabbit
An ordinary tale
Once upon a time ...
Ballad of the King's Sandwich

Stories

Truth is in wine (In vino veritas)
Christmas story
Stunning story
Mr. Findlater's Dreams
Christmas grandfather
Before the flood
At exactly eleven
Portrait of Lydia
River
The Rise and Fall of Mortimer Scrivens
Pond
Midsummer (June 24)
A word about autumn
I do not like blackmailers
Stories of happy destinies

Novels

Lovers in London (1905)
Once on a Time, 1917
Mr. Pim (1921)
The Red House Mystery (1922)
Two (English Two People, 1931)
Very short-lived sensation (eng. Four Days "Wonder, 1933)
It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer (1939)
Chloe Marr (1946)

Known as the literary father of Winnie the Pooh. The stories about the bear cub "with sawdust in his head" became one of the greatest victories of the writer, but at the same time, the most terrible defeat in his life. “With seventy thousand words, I said goodbye to all my previous work,” he lamented. But first things first.

Alan Milne was born in 1882 in London, attended a private school, the director of which was his father. Among the teachers of the young Milne was Herbert Wells. However, we have no data that the famous science fiction writer had any influence on the literary career of his student.

Later, Milne entered Westminster School, and then at the elite Trinity College Cambridge, where he studied mathematics. Despite studying the exact sciences, the young man decided to make a living through literature. After graduating from Cambridge, he ended up in Punch magazine and soon became an assistant editor. Until 1922, Milne managed to write 18 plays and three novels, including the detective "Secrets of the Red House."

It became a trauma of a lifetime for him. In 1914, the writer went to Flanders. According to journalist Barry Gun, he decided to take this step only because his beloved wife was terribly fond of the officers in military uniforms who flooded London. Dorothy, for her family - Daphne, always wanted to be proud of her husband. Despite the fact that Alan Milne spent relatively little time on the front, he nevertheless participated in major battles, such as the famous Battle of the Somme, which is often referred to simply as the "massacre". After the war, the writer returned as a staunch supporter of peace and for a long time cherished the dream of pacifist labor. The book "Peace with Honor" was published in 1931. This, however, did not stop Alan Milne from becoming the captain of the British Self-Defense Force in 1939. He explained his step by the fact that the fight against Hitler, "Antichrist" and "crusader against God" is a just thing.

In the 1920s, Milne became one of the first screenwriters of young British cinema. He has four films on his account, copies of which are now kept at the British Film Institute. All the writer's work before the appearance of the stories about Winnie the Pooh is continuous, mostly successful, literary experiments. It was he who replaced the heavyweight satire of the pre-war "Punch" with light and subtle humor. But within the framework of satire, he felt cramped, and at a time when the agent and the publisher insisted that he should continue to write caricatures and bizarre essays for "Punch", Milne took up detective novels. A couple of years later, these same people assured that detectives were his vocation. Alan Milne could find his audience in any genre. Everything changed when the first book of stories about Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh saw the light of day.

This is not to say that the changes happened overnight. In 1924, four years after the birth of his son Christopher Robin, Milne published a collection of children's poems "When We Were Little", illustrated by Ernest Sheppard. The collection of short stories "Children's Gallery", which included stories about Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and others, appeared a year later. As Alan Milne himself said, he did not have to invent anything, he just watched his own son and his games.

Christopher Robin himself gave his father ideas for future stories. The first complete book about the teddy bear and his friends was published in 1926, and the second in 1928. The success turned out to be unprecedented, but I did not want to write more about Vinnie Milne, and the son had already grown up. Alas, after the appearance of books for kids, they began to look at the author exclusively as a children's writer. Critics scolded other of his works in advance, and readers demanded a continuation. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, who was captured by Sherlock Holmes, Alan Milne found himself in the tenacious paws of a teddy bear, created by him. Until the end of his life, both the writer and his son hated Vinnie. The first for the fact that this character stole his career, the second for a stolen childhood.

There was one more person who regretted that he "contacted" Winnie the Pooh - Ernest Sheppard. He, a brilliant cartoonist and fearless war correspondent, was also perceived until the end of his life only as the author of illustrations for children's books.

Probably, neither Milna nor Sheppard were able to appreciate what is obvious to modern readers. Between the two world wars, when empires were crumbling and families were falling apart, they created a fairy tale free of politics and hints of personal trauma. A fairy tale in which it is warm and cozy, like in a children's room, and that is why readers all over the world love it so much.

British writer Alan Milne (Alan Aleksander Milne) remained in the history of literature and the memory of readers as the author of stories about a teddy bear with sawdust in his head, and a number of poems. He considered himself a serious playwright and novelist. Milne Alan Alexander lived under this paradox, whose biography will be discussed below.

Early years and education

In the family of the director of a private school in London, John Vine and Sarah Marie Milne, on 18/01/1882, the third son, Alan Alexander, was born. A. A. Milne was educated at Westminster School and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics. At the same time, together with his brother Kenneth, he published articles under the initials AKM in the student magazine Grant. In 1903, Milne Alan Alexander moved to London, whose biography will now be associated with his true vocation - literature.

War and the beginning of literary activity

Since 1906 he has been published in Punch magazine, and humorous poems and essays have been published in other magazines since 1914. In 1915, A.A. Milne leaves to serve as an officer in the British army. He was wounded at the Battle of the Somme. After his recovery, he works in the propaganda service of military intelligence and writes patriotic articles. In the rank of lieutenant, he was demobilized in 1919. During the war, he wrote his first play, but success came after 1920, when comedies appeared in theaters, favorably received by critics and the public. At the same time, 4 films were shot based on his scripts. In 1922, he published a detective story entitled "Secrets of the Red House."

Marriage and Literature

In 1913, on the eve of the war, A. Milne married Dorothy de Selkencourt. The personal life and military service of the writer, whose name is Milne Alan Alexander, went on inseparably. His biography was replenished with 18 plays and 3 novels by 1925. And earlier he had a son (August 1920). In 1924 A. Milne published a collection of children's poems "When We Were Young" and bought a house in Hartfield in 1925.

At the same time, short stories for children, "Children's Gallery", were published, which he later used when writing his most popular work. Life and work went in parallel. So far, I had every reason to be satisfied with Milne Alan Alexander, whose biography began to change in 1926. It was from this time that they began to perceive him as an exclusively children's writer.

Cult fairy tale "Winnie the Pooh"

A. Milne's son had toys: Piglet, Eeyore, Kenga and Tigger. Below is their photo.

They are now in New York. They are annually visited by 750 thousand people to watch. Milne named the hero of his fairy tale "Winnie" after seeing a Canadian black bear from Winnipeg at the zoo. "Pooh" comes from a swan that the writer met while on vacation. So it turned out Winnie the Pooh. Three more characters - Owl, Rabbit and Roo - were created solely thanks to the imagination of the writer. In 1926, the first version of Winnie the Pooh was published. The next year the sequel "Now there are six of us" was published, and a year later the finale appeared - "The House on the Pooh Edge".

The first book immediately brought worldwide fame and money. The writer was not dizzy from fame and success. Doubting about his literary talent, Milne Alan Alexander, whose biography and work in the minds of readers were tightly connected with Winnie, tried to break out of the prevailing stereotype of a children's writer. But his charming heroes would not let him go. The book was published in insane circulations, its number exceeded 7 million copies during the life of A. Milne. It has been translated into all foreign languages. Cartoons were created based on it. She began to live an independent life, overshadowing everything on which A. Milne worked further.

Life goes on

On the one hand, A. Milne was grateful to his wife and son for creating the book, and on the other, he did not introduce his son Christopher Robin to her. Milne read to his son the works of his friend P.G. Wodehouse, whose work he admired. And the adult son then, in turn, brought up his daughter Claire on the stories and stories of the amazing humorist Woodhouse.

Beginning in 1931, Alan Alexander Milne will write a lot. His books will not meet with such an enthusiastic reception as the simple-minded, slightly selfish Vinnie. In 1931 the novel "Two" was published, in 1933 - "A Very Short Sensation", in 1934 - the antiwar work "Honorable Peace", in 1939 - "Too Late" (autobiographical work), in 1940-1948 ... - poetic works "Behind the Front Line" and "Norman Church", in 1952 - a collection of articles "Year after year", in 1956 - the novel "Chloe Marr".

The writer worked hard, and critics and readers greeted this work with indifference and indifference. Alan Alexander Milne was held hostage by his charming hero, who immortalized his name.

Why is Vinnie so attractive?

The story told by A. Milne fired like a salute with a burst of cheerfulness and vigor. There is no struggle between good and evil, but there is a slight irony with which the author observes his characters, whom he settled in a fairy forest, very reminiscent of the surroundings of his own home. Time in a fairy tale is frozen and does not change. Robin, the owner of toys, is always 6 years old, Vinnie - 5, Piglet - an awful lot - 3 or 4 years! Plush Winnie is an optimist who enjoys every day.

Problems and suffering are alien to him. He is a glutton and a gourmand. When Rabbit invites him to choose what he will eat: bread with honey or with condensed milk, then, following the rules of good upbringing, the sweet tooth Winnie refuses three items of food, leaving only honey and condensed milk. It gets ridiculous. The bear has sawdust in its head, but it composes noisemakers and chants. At any moment he is ready to help his friends or to invent that he is a cloud and climb for honey to the bees. Good fantasies are constantly being born in his "smart" head. Other heroes are also charming: the pessimist Donkey, the learned Owl, the shy Piglet. They all expect praise and take themselves very seriously.

Last years

During the 2nd World War A. Milne's son Christopher tried to get into the army, but did not get into it for medical reasons. He later married his cousin, which upset his parents. A. Milne gave birth to a granddaughter, Claire, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The father occasionally met with his son, but the mother did not want to see him. A.A. Milne himself died after a serious brain illness (which began in 1952) in 1956 at his home in Hartfield.

Alan Alexander Milne: interesting facts

The teacher at the school where A. Milne studied was H. Wells, whom the writer considered both a teacher and a friend.
On his first birthday, the writer gave his one-year-old son a Teddy bear, whom he named Edward. Only in the book did he turn into Vinnie and was a year younger than her protagonist.

The book has been translated into 25 languages, including Latin.
The number of sold records of the book has exceeded 20 million copies.
Christopher Robin himself first became acquainted with the book sixty years after its creation.
His father donated his toys to the USA. They can be viewed at the New York Public Library.
Vinnie's images appeared on stamps in 18 countries, including the USSR after the cartoon was released.
A series of stamps from Canada on one depicts a lieutenant with a bear Winnipeg, the second - Christopher with a teddy bear, the third - the heroes of the classic illustrations for the book, and, finally, the fourth - Winnie from the Disney cartoon.

In 1906-1914 he was an assistant to the publisher of the "Punch" magazine.

During the First World War he served in the British Army.

In 1917 he published the fairy tale "Once on a Time", in 1921 - the comedy play "Mr. Pim Passed By", which became one of the most popular works of the author. In the 1920s, the play was staged in Manchester, London and New York.

In 1920, Alan Milne and his wife Dorothy had a son, Christopher Robin. From the stories and poems that Alan wrote for his child, in 1924 was born a book of children's poetry "When We Were Very Young", which three years later had a sequel "Now We Are Six" (Now We Are Six). In the book "When We Were Little", a poem about a Teddy Bear appears for the first time. Both editions were illustrated by Ernest Howard Shepard, the artist who painted the famous image of Winnie the Pooh.

Some of the poems are later.

In 1934, Milne, a pacifist, published Peace With Honor, which called for peace and renunciation of war. The book became the subject of serious controversy.

In the 1930s, Milne wrote the novels "Two" (Two People, 1931), "A Very Short Sensation" (Four Days "Wonder, 1933). In 1939 he wrote his autobiography entitled" It's Too Late "(It's Too Late Now). Milne's last novel, Chloe Marr, was published in 1946.

In 1952, the writer suffered a stroke. On January 31, 1956, Alan Alexander Milne passed away at his home in Harfield, Sussex.

The Winnie the Pooh books were copyrighted by four beneficiaries - the Alan Milne family, the Royal Fund for Literature, Westminster School and the Garrick Club. After the death of the writer, his widow sold her share to the Walt Disney Company, which made the famous Winnie the Pooh cartoons. In 2001, other beneficiaries sold their stake to the Disney Corporation for $ 350 million.

The son of the writer Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996) became a writer, following in his father's footsteps, and wrote several memoirs: "Enchanted Places", "After Winnie the Pooh", "The Pit on the Hill".

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

British writer Alan Aleksander Milne (Alan Aleksander Milne) remained in the history of literature and in the grateful memory of readers as the author of stories about a teddy bear with "sawdust in his head."

Himself Alan Milne considered a serious playwright and short story writer. Trapped in such a paradoxthe writer worked and lived, in his biography there are still many interesting facts.

January 18, 1882 in London at the family of the director of a private school John Vine and his wife Sarah Marie Milne had a third son- Alan Alexander.

Education Alan received his education at Westminster School and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics. Interestingly, nthe teacher at the school where Milne studied was the world famous Herbert Wells, whom the writer considered both a teacher and a friend. V student magazine "Grant",along with brother Kenneth, Alan Milne will begin publishing the first articles under the initials AKM.

In 1903, Alan Alexander Milne moves to London, where his biography will be associated with his true vocation - literature.Since 1906, the writer has been published in the Punch magazine, and laterhis humorous poems and essays began to appear in other publications.

In 1915, Alan Milne leaves to serve as an officer in the British army. At the Battle of the Somme, writer was injured ... After recovering, he works in the propaganda service of military intelligence and writes patriotic articles. V 1919 in the rank of lieutenant, he is demobilized from the army.

During the Milne war wrote his first play, but success comes only after 1920, when comedies appear in theaters, are well received by critics and the public. At the same time, 4 films were shot based on his scripts. In 1922 at Milna a detective story called "Secrets of the Red House" is released.

In 1913, on the eve of the war, Alan Milne is married to Dorothy de Selkencourt. Personal life and military service of the writer went indissolubly , Milne's name is becoming more and more famous. In a in August 1920 at the Milnov the long-awaited son is born - Christopher Robin. In 1924, Alan Milne published a collection of children's poems "When We Were Young" and in 1925 - buys a house in Hartfield. His writing bBy this time, the iography was replenished with 18 plays and 3 novels.

Simultaneously with the novels, short stories for children “Children's Gallery” are published. P err Milne will use them when writing his most popular work. Biography Alana Milna began to change in 1926. It was from this time that readers began to perceive him exclusively as a children's writer - thanks to the fairy tale "Winnie the Pooh".

Milne's son Christopher there were toys: a teddy bear, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and Tigra. Writernamed the hero of his fairy tale "Winnie" after he saw a Canadian black bear from Winnipeg at the zoo. The word "Pooh" comes from a swan that he met while on vacation. So it turned out Winnie the Pooh. Three more characters - Owl, Rabbit and Roo - were created solely thanks to the imagination of the writer.

In 1926, the first version of Winnie the Pooh was published. The next year the sequel "Now there are six of us" was published, and a year later the finale appeared - "The House on the Pooh Edge".The first book immediately brought Milnu universal fame and money, but, oddly enough, from fame and success the writer's head did not spin.

Doubting about his literary talent, Alan Milne , whose biography and work in the minds of readers are now tightly connected with Winnie the Pooh, tried to break out of the prevailing stereotype of a children's writer. Butcharming heroes did not let go of their creator.

The book about Winnie the Poche was publishedinsane circulations, during the life of the writertheir number exceeded7 million copies. It has been translated into all foreign languages of the world. Cartoons were created based on it. The fairy tale began to live an independent life, overshadowing everything on which Alan Milne worked further.

Life goes on. On the one hand, the writer is grateful to fate and loved ones for the creation of the book, and on the other hand, he does not introduce his son to it in childhood.Christopher Robin first became acquainted with the book sixty years after its creation.

Since 1931, Alan Alexander Milne will write a lot ... But his books will no longer be met with such an enthusiastic reception as the simple-minded, slightly selfish Winnie the Pooh. In 1931 the novel "Two" was published, in 1933 - "A Very Short Sensation", in 1934 - the antiwar work "Honorable Peace", in 1939 - "Too Late" (autobiographical work), in 1940-1948 ... - poetic works "Behind the Front Line" and "Norman Church", in 1952 - a collection of articles "Year after year", in 1956 - the novel "Chloe Marr".

The writer worked hard, and critics and readers greeted this work with indifference and indifference. Alan Alexander Milne was held hostage by his charming hero, who immortalized his name.

Why is Winnie the Pooh so attractive?

The story told by Milne fired like a salute with a burst of cheerfulness and vigor. There is no struggle between good and evil, but there is a slight irony with which the author observes his characters, whom he settled in a fairy forest, very reminiscent of the surroundings of his own home.

Time in a fairy tale is frozen and does not change. Plush Winnie is an optimist who enjoys every day.Problems and suffering are alien to him. He is a glutton and a gourmand. When Rabbit offers to choose what he will eat: bread with honey or bread with condensed milk, then, following the rules of good upbringing, Winnie leaves only honey and condensed milk for the sweet tooth. This, like so much more, gets funny and hilarious.

The bear has sawdust in his head, but he does not lose heart, without fatigue he composes noise and chants. Winnie the Pooh at any moment he is ready for adventure, to help his friends, to think that he is a cloud, to climb for honey to the bees. Kind and funny fantasies are constantly being born in his "smart" head. Other characters are charming: the pessimist Donkey, the learned Owl, the educated Rabbit, the shy Piglet. They all expect praise and admiration, they take very seriously andto yourself and to friends.

The ease and good-natured smile of the author make up the unique flavor of the whole story, which tells about friendship and mutual help, which are manifested when the heroes find themselves in humorously difficult situations.