I often see the word “Murzilka” used in Internet slang. And you’ve probably heard it more than once with a modern meaning. What does it mean now? An offensive version of the word “virtual”? Please clarify in the comments...
In the meantime, we’ll talk about the history and origin of this word.
Story Murzilki began in 1879, when the Canadian artist Palmer Cox created a series of drawings about Brownies - these are the closest relatives of brownies, small people, about 90 centimeters tall, similar to little elves with brown unkempt hair and bright blue eyes (because of the brown color of their hair they are called “brownies”). Their skin is predominantly light, although the color of a brownie's skin depends on where they live and what they eat. These creatures come at night and finish what the servants did not finish. But this was just a test before the real creation of those images that would later win over the public. So in 1881, exactly those same brownies appeared in the magazine “Wide Awake”, which began a triumphant march, first across America, and then throughout the world.
In February 1883, Cox began publishing in the New York children's publication St. Nicholas" pictures from brownie, accompanied by poems about the adventures of the heroes. And four years later, the first book “The Brownies, Their Book” was published, which contained a collection of stories about brownies and which sold a million copies. In total, Palmer Cox created 15 original brownie books before his death in 1924.
By the way, Cox’s brownies did not have names as such - they were called by characteristic nicknames, such as Chinese, Sailor, Dandy, Jockey, Russian, Hindu, King, Student, Policeman, Canadian, etc.
Murzilka and his friends first appeared on the pages of the magazine “Sincere Word” in 1887 in the fairy tale “A boy as big as a finger, a girl as big as a nail.” The author of this tale was the famous writer Anna Borisovna Khvolson, and the illustrations were drawings by the artist Palmer Cox.
The first edition of the book “The Kingdom of Little Ones,” including 27 stories and 182 drawings, was published in 1889, followed by reprints in 1898, 1902 and 1915.
In 1913, a book with drawings by Palmer Cox and Russian text from Anna Khvolson “New Murzilka. Amazing adventures and wanderings of little forest people." Anna Khvolson made a free translation of Cox's texts, giving the characters other names: Maz-Peremaz, Dedko-Borodach, Znayka, Dunno, clever Skok, hunter Mick, Vertushka, Chinese Chi-ka-chi, Indian Ski, Mikrobka, American John, etc. P. Well, actually Murzilka, on whose behalf the story was told.
And it turned out that Murzilka impossibly similar to the famous Nosovsky Dunno. He is the same braggart, lazy and troublemaker, who, because of his character, constantly gets into various troubles. However, these two heroes also have differences. Murzilka, for example, a real dandy. A tailcoat or long coat, top hat, boots with narrow toes, a cane and a monocle are indispensable components of his everyday costume.
So Dunno’s predilection for defiantly bright colors in clothes would have unpleasantly struck Murzilka’s refined taste. But this difference is purely external. Although the character Murzilki or, as his friends call him, “Empty Head” is quite similar to the character of his literary descendant; Dunno is written out in much more detail and volume. And if Khvolson’s hero is deliberately caricatured and conventional, then Nosov’s is a lively, charming and recognizable boy. Therefore, probably, over the careless and boastful Murzilka readers just laugh, but they often sympathize with Dunno, sincerely pity and love him.
So, the name Murzilka was born in 1913. Two years later, Anna Khvelson released an independent work called “The Kingdom of Little Ones. Adventures Murzilki and the Woodland Men,” which was illustrated by the works of the same Palmer Cox, but since it was not included in the official Brownie bibliography, it can be considered a remake.
He was a boy in a black tailcoat, with a huge white flower in his buttonhole, in a silk top hat and long-toed boots that were fashionable at that time... And he always had an elegant cane and monocle in his hands. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, these tales were very popular. Myself Murzilka, according to the plot of the fairy tale, he constantly found himself in some funny stories. But after the 1917 revolution, the book was no longer published, and everyone forgot about this hero.
Next time o Murzilka remembered in 1924, when a new children's magazine was created under the Rabochaya Gazeta. One of the founders remembered this name and it was accepted almost unanimously. But don’t put a brownie on the cover! That's why Murzilka became a red mongrel puppy who accompanied his owner, the boy Petka, everywhere. His friends also changed - now they were pioneers, Octobrists, as well as their parents. However, the puppy did not exist for long - he soon disappeared, and Petka subsequently disappeared from the pages of the magazine.
It is traditionally believed that a certain fluffy yellow creature was born into the world by the artist Aminadav Kanevsky at the request of the editors in 1937. However, back in the 50s Murzilka was a little man wearing an acorn hat on his head instead of a beret. He appeared like this in several cartoons, the latest of which is “ Murzilka on satellite" - was created in 1960. It was this beret that later became an indispensable attribute of Murzilka, when it turned yellow and overgrown.
Soon other heroes began to appear in this magazine - evil sorceress Yabeda-Koryabeda, talking cat Shunka, Magpie-Balabolka, Sportlendik and Ladybug. All these characters became the hosts of the main sections of the magazine - funny and entertaining stories, curiosity questions, a sports page, stories about nature.
The best children's writers were published on the pages of Murzilka: Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Sergei Mikhalkov, Boris Zakhoder, Agnia Barto. The smallest Murzilka“instilled a love of learning with the help of bright pictures, interesting plots and playful poems.
In 1977 - 1983. The magazine published “A detective-mysterious story about Yabeda-Koryabeda and her 12 agents” (author and artist A. Semenov) and its continuations. Often the magazine took on topics that were far from children's. For kids who have only recently learned to read, “ Murzilka“talked about the conquest of space, the construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station, the 1980 Olympics, and even explained the ideology of the party - “To the October Revolution about Communists.”
Magazine " Murzilka"is still published. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the “longest-running children's magazine.”
Let's remember a few more answers to interesting questions: or here, and also no less interesting The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -- Choose a magazine you would like to talk about. For example, the children's magazine "Murzilka".
- Find information about the creation of the magazine and its name.
- What sources of information will you use? Write it down.
Magazine "Murzilka", Internet.
- Take notes (write down briefly what you learned).
- The magazine was created in 1924 Published since May 16, 1924
Named after a fairy-tale creature yellow and fluffy Murzilka.
The image has changed in 1937, thanks to the artist Aminadav Kanevsky.
Murzilka a fluffy magical hero, as yellow as a dandelion, in a red beret and scarf, with a camera over his shoulder. - Which section of the magazine did you find interesting? Why?
I like the section “Murzilka Art Gallery” because it talks about modern masters of book illustration, and also presents the artists’ illustrations themselves. This is very interesting to me because I myself draw illustrations for the books that I read and love.
- Which piece in the section did you like? Who is its author? What is it called?
I really liked I. Antonova’s story “Experiment” (Murzilka magazine, No. 2, 1999)
- Write down the names of works that made you smile or laugh.
I. Antonova "Experiment", Y. Akim. “There is a student in our class”, L. Panteleev “The letter “you”.
I love reading the magazine "Murzilka" because “Murzilka” is a mirror of our children's literature. He is the link between readers and writers. For many children living in the periphery, the magazine still serves as a supplement to literature textbooks. The magazine's regular columns are full of interesting, educational materials, including games, puzzles, puzzles, crosswords, coloring books and homemade items.
So, MY MESSAGE TO THE CLASS:
"Murzilka" is a popular children's literary and art magazine.
Published since May 16, 1924 and addressed to children of primary school age. Over the 90 years of existence of the beloved children's magazine, its publication has never been interrupted. In 2012, the magazine was included in the Guinness Book of Records: “Murzilka” is the children’s magazine with the longest period of publication.
It is named after the fairy-tale creature, the yellow and fluffy Murzilka.
The main difference between the children's magazine "Murzilka" is its high-quality children's literature. Over the years, Agnia Barto, Korney Chukovsky, S. Marshak, Mikhail Prishvin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Valentin Berestov, Yuri Korinets, Sergei Mikhalkov, Irina Tokmakova, Eduard Uspensky, A. Mityaev, Andrey Usachev, Marina Moskvina, Victor Lunin, Leonid Yakhnin, Mikhail Yasnov. Currently, the magazine also publishes works by contemporary children's writers. Murzilka publishes children's fairy tales, fairy tales, children's stories, plays, and children's poems.
Such artists as Evgeny Charushin, Yuri Vasnetsov, Aminadav Kanevsky, Tatyana Mavrina, Viktor Chizhikov, Nikolai Ustinov, Galina Makaveeva, Georgy Yudin, Maxim Mitrofanov have worked and are working in the magazine.
“Murzilka” is a mirror of our children's literature. He is the link between readers and writers. For many children living in the periphery, the magazine still serves as a supplement to literature textbooks. The magazine's regular columns are full of interesting, educational materials, including games, puzzles, puzzles, crosswords, coloring books and homemade items.
Murzilka is a kind of fluffy yellow creature, which, having undergone some changes, has survived to the present day. Since then, the symbol of the children's publication “Murzilka” has been a yellow fluffy character wearing a red beret and scarf. And the kids really like it.
On May 16, 1924, the first issue of the Murzilka magazine was published in the Soviet Union, intended for children of primary school age - from 6 to 12 years old, which very quickly became a popular children's literary and artistic publication.
Murzilka traces its history back to 1879, when the Canadian artist and poet Palmer Cox created a series of poems with his illustrations about the little people “Brownie” - small people, relatives of brownies, with brown unkempt hair (for which were called "brownies"). Appearing for the first time in the magazine “Wide Awake”, they began a triumphal march, first across America, and then throughout the world. They came to Russia thanks to the famous writer Anna Khvolson, who freely translated Cox’s texts, giving the characters different names. This is how the name Murzilka was born.
In 1913, Khvolson’s book “New Murzilka. Amazing adventures and wanderings of little forest men”, where the main character was Murzilka - a little man in a tailcoat, with a cane and a monocle. These tales were very popular, but after the 1917 revolution the book was no longer published, and everyone forgot about this hero.
Murzilka was remembered again in 1924, when a new children's magazine was created under Rabochaya Gazeta, and everyone liked the name. But don’t put a brownie on the cover of a Soviet magazine! Therefore, Murzilka became a red mongrel puppy who accompanied his owner, the boy Petka, everywhere. But this Murzilka did not last long, and in 1937 a new one appeared 
In Soviet times, it was a children's monthly magazine of the Central Committee of the Komsomol and the Central Council of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after. IN AND. Lenin. It was designed for October students, junior schoolchildren, and pupils of older groups of kindergartens. The main task of “Murzilka” was the communist education of children in the spirit of Soviet patriotism, respect for work, collectivism and camaraderie.
The magazine published stories, poems, fairy tales, essays and pictures about the creative work of Soviet people and the heroic past of the Motherland. In a lively, entertaining and accessible form, he told children about the history of the USSR, labor, nature, school life, the affairs of the Octoberists, etc.
Famous figures of literature and art of the Soviet period participated in the creation and work of the magazine. The best children's writers were published on the pages of "Murzilka": Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Sergei Mikhalkov, Boris Zakhoder, Agniya Barto, Mikhail Prishvin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Elena Blaginina, Nikolai Nosov, Valentin Berestov, Yuri Korinets, Irina Tokmakova, Eduard Uspensky, Andrey Usachev, Marina Moskvina, Viktor Lunin, Leonid Yakhnin, Mikhail Yasnov and others. 
The magazine "Murzilka" is still published. In 2011, it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the “longest-running children's magazine.” Over the many years of existence of the beloved children's magazine, its publication has never been interrupted.
Currently, the magazine publishes works by contemporary children's writers, including foreign ones. The main difference between Murzilka is its high-quality children's literature. Fairy tales, stories, children's stories, plays, and poems are published here. Its main authors are modern talented writers, artists and classics of children's literature. Often the authors of the magazine are the readers themselves.
The modern “Murzilka” is a full-color glossy publication, as before, full of interesting, educational materials on topics that attract not only young readers, but also their parents. With a variety of topics and interesting presentation, the magazine strives to satisfy the ever-growing demands of its readers. Many materials are not only informational in nature, encourage creativity, but also develop useful skills. Materials are also printed here to supplement the primary school curriculum. 
“Murzilka” is a mirror of our children's literature. After all, he still preserves traditions, collecting on his pages only the best examples of modern Russian literature for children. The magazine is published once a month.
Publications in the Literature section
The first children's magazines
Children's magazines were a real window to the world for Soviet schoolchildren: they published funny stories, serious literature, entertaining puzzles, and educational competitions. Each magazine of the Soviet era, in one way or another, also performed an educational function - a generation of future Soviet citizens grew up on their didactic publications. Together with the Kultura.RF portal, we leaf through the archives and get acquainted with the main children's characters of the pre-war era.
"Northern Lights" (1919–1920)
Cover of the Northern Lights magazine, No. 10-12, 1919. Photo from the archive of digitized materials of the National Electronic Children's Library.
Page of the Northern Lights magazine, No. 10-12, 1919. Photo from the archive of digitized materials of the National Electronic Children's Library.
Maksim Gorky. Photo: citaty.mira5.com
The Northern Lights magazine, the brainchild of Maxim Gorky, was the very first Soviet publication for children from 9 to 12 years old. Only ideologically correct materials were allowed in it. For example, “Northern Lights” published essays about the everyday life of combat of miners in Central Asia; the poem “Conquered Palaces” is about palaces that after the revolution belonged not to the kings, but to the people; anti-religious story “Yashka” about a desperate Red Army soldier who abandoned paradise to return to earth to fight for a just cause. It was precisely this kind of literature, and not fairy tales, that, according to the magazine’s creators, the children of the new country should have been brought up with.
The magazine was published in Petrograd for only a short time, about two years. The design of the issues was ascetic and modest: graphic black and white illustrations diluted two columns of text. Despite this, Northern Lights quickly gained its audience, and in 1920 the magazine was published with a circulation of almost 1,500 copies. However, this did not save it from closure: during the Civil War, there was simply not enough paper in the city to constantly publish a children's magazine.
"The New Robinson" (1923–1925)
Cover of the magazine “New Robinson”, No. 12, 1924. Photo: violity.ru
Cover of the magazine “New Robinson”, No. 8, 1926. Photo: violity.ru
Page of the magazine "New Robinson". Photo: expositions.nlr.ru
Samuel Marshak. Photo: polit.ru
This legendary Soviet magazine was originally published under the name “Sparrow,” but the publishers considered this name too frivolous. The magazine received a new, more serious one in 1924 and became famous with it.
"The New Robinson" was published on the basis of the Leningrad children's literature studio, headed by Samuil Marshak. The famous children's poet attracted young and talented writers to the magazine, who later became classics of children's books: Vitaly Bianki, Boris Zhitkov, Evgeniy Schwartz.
The texts in The New Robinson were less biased than in Northern Lights. The editors, under the leadership of Marshak, understood that children needed a fun and interesting publication. Therefore, the magazine published popular science essays, stories about nature, humorous poems and notes. He also gave his word to the young readers themselves: he published letters from “detkors”, that is, “children’s correspondents” about their lives and hobbies, as well as reviews of the magazine itself. The bold design of the “New Robinson” was in keeping with the NEP era and was influenced by constructivism in painting: bright color combinations, play of shapes, fonts and experiments with composition.
The magazine closed in 1925 after another wave of criticism from the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers for its "free morals".
"Hedgehog" (1928–1935)
Cover of the magazine “Hedgehog”, No. 9, 1928. Photo: expositions.nlr
Cover of the magazine “Hedgehog”, No. 1, 1928. Photo: expositions.nlr
Fragment of the magazine "Hedgehog". Photo: exhibitions.nlr
Fragment of the magazine "Hedgehog". Photo: d-harms.ru
The magazine "Yozh" - translated as "monthly magazine" - was another bright project of Samuil Marshak and the unofficial heir of the "New Robinson". Oberiut poets who did not recognize traditional forms of literature worked in “Ezhe”; Daniil Kharms, Alexander Vvedensky, Nikolai Oleinikov and Nikolai Zabolotsky were published for the first time. “Hedgehog” was designed by famous Soviet artists Vladimir Lebedev, Yuri Vasnetsov and Nikolai Radlov. Despite the fact that the magazine was not distinguished by its color variety, it was richly illustrated with graphics and black and white comics, and a variety of fonts, silhouettes and even photographs were used for its design.
In the early years, the magazine focused not on the ideological education of children, but on humor, fascinating and educational texts, and poetic amusements. “Hedgehog” published stories about animals, about the life of African peoples, about the customs of different countries, about travel to the North and South Poles. Children were offered detailed instructions on how to create bows and slingshots, and diagrams for modeling airplanes and hang gliders. The idea of communist education found an original embodiment in the magazine: instead of opportunistic propaganda texts, it published letters from pioneer children from Soviet republics and even foreign countries. In them they themselves talked about life, about themselves and about the “benefits of socialism.”
However, this approach was not enough. In 1935, the magazine was closed after prolonged persecution in proletarian publications, where its educational policies were called alien to Soviet children.
"Chizh" (1930–1941)
Cover of the magazine “Chizh”, No. 3, 1938. Photo: expositions.nlr.ru
Fragment of the magazine “Chizh”, No. 3, 1932. Photo: expositions.nlr.ru
Evgeny Schwartz. Photo: bel.kp.ru
Nikolai Oleinikov. Photo: polit.ru
“An Extremely Interesting Magazine” was first published as a supplement to “Hedgehog,” but soon became an independent publication. In the early years, the Hedgehog team was involved in its production. Nikolai Oleinikov and Evgeniy Shvarts, trying to maintain the Hedgehog policy, paid a lot of attention to the publication of non-ideological poems, educational materials and games. They have been adapted for very young readers. For example, in the “Chizha School” section, children were taught to carefully pour milk into a glass, cut bread and understand what time the clock shows. For entertainment, they published rebuses, puzzles and instructions on how to make toys with your own hands from scrap materials.
The target audience of “Chizh” was preschoolers, so the magazine was rich in a variety of illustrations and small literary genres, as well as playful texts such as letters from the name of the “fat tomato” and “straight carrot”, who dream of getting into the children’s soup. In design, the artists preferred schematic caricature illustrations, watercolor sketches and satirical sketches. “Chizhe” published works by the outstanding book illustrator Vladimir Konashevich, who became famous as the author of the classic design of books by Korney Chukovsky, Agnia Barto and Samuil Marshak.
“Chizh” inherited the spirit of freedom of creativity of the Oberiuts; they communicated with children not from the standpoint of proletarian education, but on equal terms, as with little friends. The editors, however, were unable to avoid party influence - therefore, politicized materials appeared on the pages of Chizh, such as the fairy tale about little Volodya Ulyanov or a comic book about how Lenin came from abroad and made a revolution.
The magazine existed until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War; at various times, in addition to Oberiuts, Georgy Dietrich, Tamara Gabbe, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Yuri German were published in it.
"Pioneer" (1924 - present)
Cover of Pioneer magazine, No. 1, 1967. Photo: bibliograph.ru
Fragment from Pioneer magazine, 1925. Photo: wordpress.com
Korney Chukovsky. Photo: bibliograph.ru
Konstantin Paustovsky. Photo: paustovskiy.od.ua
This magazine was directly addressed to a true Soviet child - a pioneer. "Pioneer" appeared in the mid-1920s and was published until the early 1990s. Despite the bias of its name, the early Pioneer was a vibrant literary publication. The strongest children's authors of the era wrote for him - Korney Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak, Konstantin Paustovsky, Lev Kassil, Veniamin Kaverin, Agnia Barto. The magazine also had a special section “Boat”, in which the readers themselves shared their creativity.
The publication fully complied with the demands of the era: the editors gave preference to socialist realist texts. The story “The Fate of the Drummer” by Arkady Gaidar, “Poems about Uncle Stepa” by Sergei Mikhalkov, “Old Man Hottabych” by Lazar Lagin and many other works were first published in “Pioneer”. This trend also affected the design of the publication: the magazine did not contain unusual avant-garde illustrations - only realistic, joyful Soviet pioneers, smiling children from the countries of the socialist camp, heroic Komsomol members and participants in the Civil War.
"Murzilka" (1924 - present)
Cover of the magazine “Murzilka”, No. 6, 1994. Photo from the archives of the National Electronic Children's Library.
“Murzilka” always had a lot of entertaining games, easy instructions on how to create toys and crafts. As a magazine for the little ones - those who were just learning to read - “Murzilka” was generously illustrated by the masters of the era: Vasily Vatagin, Boris Dekhterev, Nikolai Radlov and others. Their works were distinguished by the uniqueness of their author's styles, so the design of the magazine was very diverse. Next to caricatured illustrations of rhymes were realistic images of plants and animals; playful sketches of hooligans stood side by side with detailed portraits of children.
The first issues were also rich in literary texts that corresponded to the time. For example, in the first issue of Murzilka, the story “Vanyushka’s Happiness” was published about the eternally hungry and unhappy boy Vanya, whose mother worked too much. The children from the orphanage decided to help Vanya: they took him in, and the boy lived happily.
Many articles were devoted to Soviet heroes - pilots and sailors, some of the materials glorified the happy life of the Octoberists, who dreamed of growing up as quickly as possible and becoming real communists.
Over the 88 years of existence of the beloved children's magazine, its publication has never been interrupted.
In 2012, the magazine was included in the Guinness Book of Records TM: “Murzilka” is a children's magazine with the longest period of publication.
It is named after the fairy-tale creature yellow and fluffy Murzilka. Murzilka got its name thanks to the mischievous and prankster - a little forest man who existed in popular books for children of the late 19th century. It was a little man in a tailcoat, with a cane and a monocle. Then the image of the forest Murzilka changed to the image of an ordinary small dog, helping everyone who is in trouble. But Murzilka in the guise of a puppy did not last long. In 1937, the famous artist Aminadav Kanevsky created a new image of Murzilka. Since then, in the children's publication “Murzilka” there has been a yellow hero, in a red beret and scarf, with a camera slung over his shoulder. And the kids really like it.
The main difference between the children's magazine "Murzilka" is its high-quality children's literature. Over the years, Agnia Barto, Korney Chukovsky, S. Marshak, Mikhail Prishvin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Valentin Berestov, Yuri Korinets, Sergei Mikhalkov, Irina Tokmakova, Eduard Uspensky, A. Mityaev, Andrey Usachev, Marina Moskvina, Viktor Lunin, worked in the magazine. Leonid Yakhnin, Mikhail Yasnov. Currently, the magazine also publishes works by contemporary children's writers. Murzilka publishes children's fairy tales, fairy tales, children's stories, plays, and children's poems.
Such artists as Evgeny Charushin, Yuri Vasnetsov, Aminadav Kanevsky, Tatyana Mavrina, Viktor Chizhikov, Nikolai Ustinov, Galina Makaveeva, Georgy Yudin, Maxim Mitrofanov have worked and are working in the magazine.
"Murzilka" is a mirror of our children's literature. He is the link between readers and children's literature. For many children living in the periphery, the magazine still serves as a supplement to literature textbooks. The regular columns of the magazine are full of interesting, educational materials that are a worthy addition to the in-depth study of school subjects: the Russian language (“Walks with Words”), natural history (flora and fauna of the planet), labor (achievements of science and technology in the columns), physical education ( “Champion”), life safety (“Safety School”), fine arts (“Let’s go to the museum”, “Art gallery”, “Murzilka Art Gallery”). Each issue of Murzilka contains games, puzzles, rebuses, crosswords, coloring books and several homemade constructions.
The magazine publishes fairy tales, fairy tales, short stories, plays, and poems. Its main authors are modern talented writers, artists and classics of children's literature. Often the authors of the magazine are the readers themselves.
Modern “Murzilka” is full of interesting, educational materials - history, achievements of science and technology, sports, the most important events of today. Materials on such topics attract not only young readers, but also their parents. With a variety of topics and interesting presentation, the magazine strives to satisfy the ever-growing demands of its readers.
There are topics that are not exhausted by publication in several issues, but continue for a longer time. This is the “Murzilka Art Gallery.” The “Gallery” introduces reproductions of paintings - masterpieces of domestic and world painting, the life and work of artists. Stories about them and reproductions of paintings are printed on tabs, you can cut them out and collect your own art collection.
From issue to issue, materials are printed that supplement the primary school curriculum, recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. This is the “Safety School”, and fun lessons in mathematics and the Russian language, combined into a separate section-application “Puzzles, games, ventures”.
Interesting not only for children, but for the whole family are “Murzilka’s advice”, “Murzilka’s Adventures”, homemade products, competitions, quizzes, which provide not only interesting information, encourage creativity, but also develop useful skills
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Who is Murzilka?
Back in 1924, writers and artists got together and decided to publish a magazine for children. No sooner said than done: stories, poems were written, pictures were drawn. But the magazine doesn't have a name yet. They thought, argued, and wondered. And someone remembered the popular pre-revolutionary books about the funny adventures of little forest people who wander around the world. Among the many tiny creatures was a mischievous and prankster named Murzilka. He looked completely different from what he looks like now. In addition, the popularity of him and the little forest people was so great that, on the basis of the then popular magazine for little ones “Soulful Word”, a newspaper from the kingdom of little ones called “Murzilka’s Magazine” was published in 1908:
And here is a poetic portrait of Murzilka the elf, published in 1908 in this newspaper:
Knock, knock, knock on the glass... Opened the window,
I see that a very strange guest suddenly flies in.
As tall as a fingernail, nimble, slender-legged
And he holds the cane tightly in his little hand...
There was that guest in a tailcoat with tails,
In a silk top hat, with a piece of glass in the eye,
in elegant boots with long socks
And his eyes looked like a dragonfly...
Murzilka! – this name became a godsend and became established both for the hero and for the new magazine. And in 1924 the very first issue of the magazine “Murzilka” was published.
But, apparently, the editorial board’s doubts about the correctness of the choice of the magazine’s hero did not end there, since in the book Murzilka was still a little man or a gnome, but in the magazine he had to become a little white dog and travel with his friend and owner, the boy Petya:
He was friends with pioneers, knew street children, was almost stabbed to death by a doctor for medical needs, spent the night in a cage with a polar bear, flew in a hot air balloon, and lived at the fire station. ...
However, even in this guise, writers, artists, and even the children themselves did not really like Murzilka, and the hero began to appear on the pages less and less, and then disappeared completely. And without a hero, a children's magazine is boring.
And then the editors asked the famous artist Aminadav Kanevsky create the image of Murzilka. This happened in 1937:
And since then, a fluffy magical hero has settled in the magazine, yellow as a dandelion, in a red beret and scarf, with a camera over his shoulder, the way everyone knows him now. This is how artists collaborating with the magazine imagined Murzilka at different times:
He is cheerful, resourceful, inquisitive, sometimes mischievous - in a word, the same age as his readers. The children fell in love with him, confided their secrets, looked to him for advice, wanted to talk on the phone, invited him to visit. They believe that there is a kind, understanding Murzilka in the world. That you can trust him, you can one day rush to him in the most difficult moment: “Help, Murzilka!”
