Maria Vedenyapina, winner of the 2019 Presidential Prize for Writing and Art for Children and Young People
The prize was awarded for her contribution to the development of children’s and youth reading and for promoting childhood reading.
Maria Vedenyapina is the director of the Russian State Children’s Library in Moscow.
She was born in Moscow on November 26, 1957. Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation (2018). Awarded the medal of the Order For Services to the Fatherland, II degree (2009). Winner of departmental and regional awards.
A member of the Presidential Council for the Russian Language, the Organisational Committee for the Support of Literature, Book Publishing and Reading in the Russian Federation, and the Russian Literature Society.
Ms Vedenyapina participated in developing the Concept of the Children’s Literature and Reading National Centre. At her initiative, the creation of the National Children’s E-Library has been underway since 2012 and the ProDetLit Innovative National Digital Information Resource – since 2019. Maria Vedenyapina coordinates the organisation of major events to support reading among children and young people. The biggest event is the programme Reading.
Largely due to her professionalism, authority and personal involvement, the development of reading for children and young people became one of the priority areas in the state’s culture and education policy, while the Russian State Children’s Library that she heads has gained recognition as a research and methodological centre for children’s libraries in Russia that preserves and develops the traditions of classic library activities and uses advanced information technologies.
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Kamil Ziganshin, winner of the 2019 Presidential Prize for Writing and Art for Children and Young People
The prize was awarded for his contribution to the development of the humanistic traditions of domestic children’s literature.
Kamil Ziganshin is a writer from the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Mr Ziganshin was born on March 15, 1950 in the village of Kandry-Aminevo, Tuymazinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan. Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation (2011). Winner of literary prizes and awards.
A traveller himself, Mr Ziganshin has authored about 20 adventure novellas for children and young people about the lifestyle of the Udegei, Yakut and Evenk peoples, virgin nature and wildlife, as well as numerous travelogues about the world’s most difficult-to-access places.
With a degree in radio engineering, Mr Ziganshin was involved in providing communications for the largest oil fields in Bashkiria and Eastern Siberia in the 1970s-1980s, and then began his literary career. He is an active member of the Russian Geographical Society. One of his books is dedicated to the Russian Geographical Society’s round-the-world expedition The Ring of Fire (2011), in which he took part.
Founder of the Fund to Support Citizens and Organisations Engaged in the Protection of Wild Animals (1993). Organiser of the Zuyachka Sanctuary for the Conservation and Reproduction of Wild Animals (2006). He initiated the establishment of the Young Talents of the Tuymazinsky District contest (2010) and the literary prize, Little Marten from Ufa (2012).
Mr Ziganshin’s prose carries on the best traditions of Russian literature about travel and nature laid down by Ivan Goncharov, Vladimir Arsenyev, Mikhail Prishvin and Vitaly Bianki. His excellent command of the Russian language, accurate observations and evaluations, kindness and humanism, and understanding of the psychology of young readers are what makes his books successful. His long-term charity and nature-protection activities are a model of a careful attitude towards the world around us.
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Leonid Nosyrev, winner of the 2019 Presidential Prize for Writing and Art for Children and Young People
The prize was awarded for his outstanding contribution to the development of domestic and global animated art.
Leonid Nosyrev is a director, artist, screenwriter of animated films and educator, Moscow.
Mr Nosyrev was born on January 22, 1937 in the town of Ivanteyevka, Moscow Region. Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation (2003) and winner of professional prizes and awards.
From 1961 to 2001 he worked at Soyuzmultfilm Studios and made over 40 animated cartoons, including Antoshka, Top and Tail, Magic Ring and Tiger Cub on a Sunflower. He is one of the authors of the Merry Carousel animated cartoon magazine.
Since 1996, Mr Nosyrev has been a lecturer at the Gerasimov National Institute of Cinematography. He taught two courses for animated film directors and seven courses for animated cartoon designers.
Mr Nosyrev’s cartoons have been on screen for decades and are loved by generations of viewers. He managed to demonstrate in them the national character of Russian animated art, glorify the beauty of the Russian North and recreate on screen the inimitably striking and unique series of Arkhangelsk stories written by Boris Shergin and Stepan Pisakhov, which are rich in folk wisdom, poetry and love for Pomorye. The characters of his cartoons are easily recognisable and have a kind and optimistic sense of humour. Audiences in Russia and beyond find them familiar and understandable.