Isaac Asimov: American writer from the USSR, who changed the world

Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest science fiction writers of the 20th century, came to America as a family immigrant. In fact, it became part of a process that is now called “chain migration.” Asimov revolutionized the world of science fiction, and in many ways, the rest of the world. His literature is studied in schools and universities around the world. His books went into space with Tesla. Asimov is a truly iconic writer for millions of people. He is called an American author, but Isaac Yudovich was born into a Jewish family in the Soviet Union.

Asimov in 1989 year, interview with Dick Kavett. Photo: video frame YouTube / Enlt Elena

Azimov was born 2 January 1920, in the town of Petrovichi, Smolensk Province, RSFSR, indicates Wikipedia. The parents were called Anna-Rakhil Isaakovna Berman and Yuda Aronovich Azimov, they were millers. Isaac’s father understood what his family’s life would be like after the Bolshevik Revolution, and decided that America would be the best place to raise and educate his children, writes Forbes. In the US, Isaac became Isaac.

“In 1922, after the birth of my sister, my father decided to emigrate to the United States,” Isaac Asimov wrote in his autobiography, “It Was a Good Life.” “My mother had a half-brother in New York who was willing to ensure that we would not become a burden to the country.”

The Asimov family story is a traditional immigrant story. Isaac's parents sacrificed their wealth for the sake of their children.

“My father came to the United States in hopes of a better life for his children, and this he certainly achieved,” Asimov wrote. “He lived to see that one of his sons became a successful writer, the second a successful journalist, and his daughter was happily married. However, it cost him dearly.”

“In Russia, he was part of a fairly prosperous merchant family, an educated man, whom those around him respected for his knowledge,” Isaac explained his father’s fate. “In the United States, he found himself penniless, practically illiterate: he could not read or even speak English. He grabbed any job and after three years had saved enough money for a down payment on a small candy store, which became very popular. Our future was secured."

Isaac Asimov, photo 1965 of the year. A source: Wikipedia / Libary of Congress / public domain

12-year-old Isaac Asimov began by writing stories and reading them to his friends.

“I was inventing stories, and it was very similar to reading a book that I did not write. What will happen to the characters? It was exciting all that I created in those early years. In my wildest dreams, it never occurred to me that everything I wrote would be published. ”

In 18 for years, he read The Science Fiction magazine and wrote his own story. And here is valuable advice given by an immigrant father. After the revolution, Azimov’s father opposed Soviet bureaucrats, but he had no idea how things were in the American editions. He convinced Isaac, an aspiring writer, to get on the subway and personally convey the story to renowned magazine editor John Campbell.

It turned out that Campbell was a sociable person and had nothing against conversations with Asimov.

“Many years later I asked Campbell why he was interested in me at all,” Asimov said. - [He said] “I saw something in you. You were ready and listening, and I knew you wouldn't leave, no matter how many times I said no. As long as you were willing to work hard, I was willing to work with you.”

It is worth learning from Asimov perseverance and self-confidence. The first six stories of the aspiring writer were rejected. But he continued to work and after about 4 months he sold the story. And then two more, including the one that launched him into John Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction.

"Stars Like Dust", first title "Tyrann", 1951. Photo: Wikipedia / World Editions, Inc./John Bunch / public domain

Azimov received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Columbia University. At first, he was denied admission to the first course because of the notorious “Jewish quota”, which restricted the admission of Jews. From 1942 to 1945, Isaac worked at the Naval Experimental Station in Philadelphia. During his studies, he continued to write and received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1948. By 1950, he became a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Boston University.

Surprisingly, he did not publish his first novel, Pebble in the Sky, until 1950, when he was already 30 years old. By 1969, Asimov would publish his hundredth book. Over the course of his writing career, he is believed to have created over 500 books, some of them collections of other writers that Asimov edited, but most of these works were his novels, non-fiction books, and collections of short stories.

In 1977, Isaac Asimov founded the science fiction magazine Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. He wanted the opportunity to publish to give new authors the same chance that he received as a teenager.

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Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov magazine, lovingly recalls the time spent with the writer.

“He was brilliant, but he was also a very funny, considerate and sweet person,” Williams says. “He came to the office once a week, wrote editorials and entertained the staff.”

16-year-old Sheila Williams met Isaac Asimov at the conference, and she did not even dream that in 10 years she could become his colleague. The writer always hoped that the magazine would outlast him, and considered him a pleasant and lasting monument to himself. 27 has passed since the death of Azimov, and the magazine still lives.

"Caves of Steel", 1953. Photo: Wikipedia / Galaxy Publishing / Ed Emshwiller / public domain

Asimov was a man of the Renaissance of the XX century. He wrote books on Shakespeare, the Bible, American history, world history, the history of mathematics, the history of chemistry, and books on various branches of mathematics and science, including many books on astronomy. An ordinary person needs to learn most of his life in order to write a book in at least one of these areas.

“I've met several actors who say that Isaac Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare is still used to produce plays in New York, Connecticut and other cities,” Williams says.

In February, 2018, when SpaceX Ilona Mask released Tesla into space, the car had copies of the books that make up the Asimov Foundation trilogy.

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In Asimov’s science fiction, he is perhaps best known for his three laws of robotics:

1. A robot cannot hurt a person or, due to inaction, allow a person to get hurt.
2. A robot must obey orders given by humans, except when such orders contradict the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its existence, if such protection does not contradict the First or Second Laws.

“I, Robot”, a collection of stories published in 1950, is one of Asimov’s most famous works and a sign of a modern audience in a film of the same name with Will Smith.

Asimov wrote several novels and short stories about interactions between humanity and robots—stories that are set to gain new interest with the advent of artificial intelligence. His short story "Robot Dreams" is perhaps the scariest science fiction story ever written.

A series of 7 novels by the Azimov Foundation introduced the concept of psychohistory, an attempt to predict the future using a combination of sociology and mathematics. He is also known for his novelization, which he wrote in the 1966 film of the year Fantastic Journey.

Asimov married Gertrude Bluegerman in 1942, they had a son, David, and a daughter, Robin. After the divorce, he married Janet Jeppson, with whom he lived until his death. Together with Janet Isaac Asimov wrote a series of novels, "Norby", focused on young people, and she helped to preserve his legacy.

In 1992, Azimov died of HIV infection from a blood transfusion. The fact that Asimov suffered from HIV became known only after 10 years from his biography written by Janet Jeppson. Under the will, the body was cremated, and the ashes scattered.

The legacy of Isaac Asimov includes many books that readers like and for their style and content. He received many honorary awards, including the Grand Master Award from science fiction and fantasy authors.

Isaac Asimov on the David Letterman show. Photo: video frame YouTube / Don Giller

The 1924 US Immigration Act established "national origin" quotas designed to keep out Jews, Eastern Europeans and Italians, including those like Asimov and his family - but they immigrated before it was passed. While 1910 million Russian immigrants came to America from 1919 to 1,1, only 1930 people immigrated from 1939 to 2463, a 99% decrease.

If the family of Isaac Asimov had not immigrated to America, he assumed that he could have died by a Soviet soldier during the Second World War. During the times of socialist realism, when literature was intended to serve state and party interests, almost certainly the Soviet authorities would not allow Azimov to publish science fiction stories of such a plan as he published in America.

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In a series of three books, The Galactic Empire, his characters strongly advocate for self-determination and oppose that a larger entity dictate how people should live in smaller countries. Given the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe after World War II, such stories would have ended for Azimov, at best, with a reference to Siberia.

In such works as “The End of Eternity” and “Stars Like Dust”, Azimov firmly sided with the human freedoms and freedoms enshrined in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Isaac Asimov emigrated from places where it was not valued, which prompted him, like millions of other immigrants at all times, to accept these values ​​even closer.

TV show “Looks into the Future” with Azimov. 1992 Photo: video frame YouTube / Uncle Traveling Matt

An interesting episode from the life of Azimov told Inopressa. In the 60s, unknowingly, Asimov “got caught up in an intrigue more at home in a le Carré novel,” as the Independent put it. According to previously unknown documents, in 1965 the FBI suspected that Asimov was a Soviet spy, explains journalist Nick Clark.

It all started with a list compiled by some American Communists and fell into the hands of the FBI.

"The list included either those with whom the party had come into contact or people who were considered 'possibly likely to lean towards it as supporters,'" the article states.

Asimov's name was also listed there, but without any markings, and the informant - the chairman of the New England branch of the Communist Party of the USA - said that he could not determine why Asimov's name was on the list or whether the Communists had come into contact with him.

The fact is that the FBI suggested: biochemist Azimov is a mysterious Soviet agent nicknamed “Robprof” (the spy, according to FBI employees, was “a prominent person in the field of microbiology”). Azimov was monitored for at least two years, but nothing suspicious was found.

At the same time, it turned out that in 1960 a certain unnamed person wrote to the director of the FBI Hoover that Azimov was probably a communist. The informant explained: "I argue with his position on the construction of the first NPPs by Soviet Russia."

The newspaper comments: “Actually, Azimov was right: the USSR had already created its first nuclear reactor.”

Hoover is not interested in denunciation.

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