Russian and Soviet writer, poet, screenwriter and journalist Yulian Semenov was born in Moscow on October 8, 1931 in an intelligent family: his father was the organizer of publishing, his mother taught history.
Since 1948 he was a student of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies at the Middle East faculty, where he was very friendly with Yevgeny Primakov.
After graduation, he taught the Afghan language at Moscow State University and graduated from the Faculty of History there.
Yulian Semenov began to try his hand at journalism in such famous printed publications in the USSR as Pravda, Ogonek, Literary Gazette, whose correspondent he worked abroad.
As a historian Yulian Semenov works professionally with the archive, in his notebooks friends even found the phone numbers of Goebbels and Himler.
Since 1960 he has been a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. While in Afghanistan, where Yulian Semenov worked as a translator, the first novella “Diplomatic Agent” (1959) was written, telling about a diplomat and orientalist Vitkevich, who was simultaneously a secret agent. The events in which the author personally took part were reflected in the novellas “49 hours 25 minutes”, “In the performance of official duties”, “On the goat behind the wolf”, “Unwritten novels” and many other works.
The famous in the USSR and Russia spy hero Stirlitz (Isaev) was created by Julian Semenov, a whole series of novels was published about this character: in 1971, the novel Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat was published, then - Password is not needed, The Spanish version, Alternative, Seventeen Moments of Spring and many other novels. The eponymous serial film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” was released in 1973 (directed by Tatiana Lioznova). However, in the credits of the film, the name of the screenwriter Julian Semenov was not indicated.
No less famous novel “TASS is authorized to declare” was released in 1977, the film adaptation of the novel – in 1983. Yulian Semenov also published a number of political novels (“In Search of the Amber Room”). Novels about Felix Dzerzhinsky and many other works came from the pen of this wonderful man.
Yulian Semenov was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, is an Honored Artist, Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR and the KGB of the USSR.
Yulian Semenov in 1986 became the President of the International Association of Detective and Political Novel, as well as the editor-in-chief of the publication “Detective and Politics”.
In 1989 he created the newspaper “Top Secret”.
Without suffering a stroke, Yulian Semenov died in 1993 in Moscow.