Gennady Shpalikov
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Gennady Shpalikov (Russian: Геннадий Шпаликов) (1937 - 1974) was a Russian-Soviet poet. Born in the town of Segezha, he moved to Moscow with his parents in 1939. In the fall of 1941, he was evacuated to Kyrgyzstan, together with the Academy of Military Engineers, where his father, Fedor Grigorievich Shpalikov, served. He returned to Moscow in 1943. His father was declared missing in action in Western Poland in 1945 during World War II. In 1947 our the poet was sent to study in Kiev's military cadet school ( Киевское Суворовское военное училище). He first publicated his work in 1955. In 1956, after receiving a wound during training, he was discharged and successfully applied to screenwriting faculty of VGIK ( ВГИК ), a premier film school of Soviet Union. In 1959 he marries Natalya Ryazantzeva, another aspiring screenwriter. In 1960 his script was approved for filming, but the young director V. Kitaysky kills himself, putting film on hold. In 1964 he wrote his most famous film, "I am Pacing Moscow", for Georgian born director Georgi Danelia. In 1966, the only film he both wrote and directed, "Long Happy Life" received a prize at Bergamo Film festival. Gennady died in 1974.
Sergey Nikitin wrote melodies for many of his poems.
