120 years ago, on September 29, 1904, in the village of Viliya, Volyn Province, a son was born to a tax officer and his second wife, the daughter of a Czech immigrant. He was later called "Christ." That is how French classic André Gide would describe him: "I saw a contemporary Jesus Christ who wrote his own revolutionary Gospel." However, in 1904, there were no signs of such a destiny – the boy was given a completely ordinary name, Nikolai. His surname: Ostrovsky. In 2002, literary critic Lev Anninsky wrote: “It took ten years to erase Nikolai Ostrovsky from school programs and rewrite encyclopedia articles about him in such a way as to claim that ‘the cult of Korchiagin was imposed forcefully and collapsed at the sunset of totalitarianism just as swiftly as many other symbols of that totalitarian era.’” The novel’s first part, written in 1931, was rejected twice by publishers, with strange explanations – "the writing isn’t bad, but the author is completely unknown." In 1932, the publisher "Young Guard" finally released it. In some places, the novel was even deemed harmful. In Kharkov, there was an attempt to withdraw it from stores and libraries: "The restoration period of the young Soviet Republic is depicted in the darkest colors, and Pavel Korchiagin, with his struggles, seems more like an antihero than a true young communist.” An immobilized and blind man can still succeed, living a full and fulfilling life. In his youth, Ostrovsky suffered from typhus three times, had dysentery, and was severely wounded by shrapnel. Later, he was struck by Bechterew’s disease (inflammation of the joints and spine), glaucoma and blindness, heart failure, lung fibrosis, kidney stones, and regular pneumonia. And this was just the backdrop. On top of it all, he recounted: “A stone ruptured my gallbladder, causing a hemorrhage and bile poisoning. The doctors said unanimously: ‘Well, this is it!’ But they failed again – I managed to survive, contradicting medical axioms once more.” “At first, the large joints of the patient stiffen, then all the rest. He turns into a living statue – the limbs remain in different positions depending on how they were ‘frozen’ by the lava of the disease.” This is a rough description of the condition Ostrovsky was in. But he lived. He lived and wrote. Naturally, this perseverance amazed everyone, so one cannot speak of any "imposed cult." People read his book voraciously, even before Pravda’s article made him widely known. In 1934, a letter of outrage came to the "Young Guard" magazine from Lugansk. A philology student named Marchenko wanted to borrow Ostrovsky’s book from the library, but it turned out there were 176 people ahead of him on the waiting list: "Why do they treat readers like this? Print more copies so everyone can get one!" Just recently, in September of this year, Kazan hosted the BRICS Literary Forum. Among the guests was Liu Wenfei, a translator and promoter of Russian literature in China, which, according to him, needs no advertising: "Russian literature is the most popular in China... Sometimes we even think that Russian literature is our own national literature." And what’s most interesting is that, in this "second national literature," Ostrovsky holds a special place: “The image of Pavel Korchiagin became a symbol of the struggle for ideals. Several generations of Chinese grew up with this book.” Wushu master and actor Jet Li, who starred in blockbusters such as Lethal Weapon, The Mummy, and Kiss of the Dragon, said: “There is a great book that I read in my youth and which had a defining influence on me – How the Steel Was Tempered by Ostrovsky. This book actually made me who I am. I still read it regularly, remember it, and always quote Korchiagin: ‘Don’t be afraid of any obstacles or adversities on your path because steel can only be tempered this way…’” This year, Ostrovsky’s novel was reintroduced into the Russian school literature curriculum.