Irina Karnaoukhova

Irina Valerianovna Karnaoukhova (, , 20 November 1901 NS – 13 April 1959) was a Ukrainian-Russian children's writer, folklorist and collector of fairy tales. She published collections of folk tales, wrote her own children's stories and hosted a children's radio show.

Family, education and early life Karnaoukhova was born on 20 November 1901 in Kyiv, then in the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. Karnaoukhova's mother Alla Mitrofanovna Karnaukhova worked in the editorial offices of Kyiv newspapers. Her father was a railroad employee.

In 1926 to 1932, Karnaoukhova participated in northern folklore collecting expeditions to Mezen, Pechora, Pinega, Pomorie and Zaonezhye with Russian State Institute of Art History's Peasant Art Study Section. She collected folk legends, fairy tales, songs and music.

At the outbreak of World War II, Karnaoukhova was working at the boarding camp of the Leningrad Summer Fund. She and the children were evacuated from near the Eastern Front to the Molotov region, where she worked as a teacher until 1944.

In 1949, Karnaoukhova released Russkie bogatyri (Russian Heroes), a "clean" retelling of traditional bylina epic heroes for children, where the male protagonists had no psychological struggles or doubts about their loyalty to Russia and courageously fought for the honour of their homeland. The book was popular and was republished in 1963.

Select publications

Skazki i predaniia severnogo kratia (Tales and Traditions of the Northern Region), 1934 Russkie bogatyri (Russian Heroes), 1949, republished in 1963 Eluosi yong shi (Brave Russian fighters), 1953

Death Karnaoukhova died on 13 April 1959 in Leningrad, USSR, aged 57.