title: Il’f, Il’ia Arnol’dovich and Petrov, Evgeny Petrovich
abstract: The writing duo collectively known as "Il’f and Petrov" is best known for two early Soviet satirical novels featuring the wisecracking con artist Ostap Bender, The Twelve Chairs (Dvenadtsat’ stul’ev, 1928) and The Little Golden Calf (Zolotoi telenok, 1931). They also collaborated on screenplays, short stories, essays, novellas, newspaper columns, and an American travelogue, as well as publishing individually. Both the Russian Orthodox Petrov and the Jewish Il’f were born and raised in the cosmop