Veniamin Kaverin – a 20th-century Soviet writer, author of Two Captains and Before the Mirror, noted for adventure and psychological prose. He was a member of the “Serapion Brothers” literary group. His works blend the romance of exploration with themes of loyalty and courage.
📚 Two Captains went through over 40 editions and became a cult book for generations. 🎬 The novel was adapted into a Soviet film and TV series. ✒️ Kaverin was part of the “Serapion Brothers” literary group alongside Zoshchenko and Tikhonov. 👨🎓 He graduated from St Petersburg University, studying Oriental languages and literature. 🎻 His younger brother was the noted composer Lev Shvarts. 📖 His works are praised for upholding human dignity even in harsh times. 📰 In the 1920s–30s he also wrote criticism and translations. 🌍 Characters in Two Captains were partly inspired by real Arctic expeditions. 🏅 The novel earned the Stalin Prize, First Class (1946). 😲 Curious: Kaverin rewrote the ending of Two Captains several times to satisfy censors. 😂 Funny: he joked in letters that his true “captain” was the desk lamp that oversaw all his drafts.