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{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name        = Alexander Kazantsev
| image       = [[Image:Kazantsev1.jpg|Alexander Kazantsev]]
| caption     =
| birth_name  = Александр Петрович Казанцев
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1906|9|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Akmolinsk]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2002|9|13|1906|9|2|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Peredelkino]], [[Russian Federation]]
| occupation  = Writer
| nationality = [[Russia]]n ([[USSR]])
| genre       = Science fiction, Popular science, Ufology
| notableworks =
| influences  = [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]]
| influenced  =
}}

'''Alexander Petrovitch Kazantsev''' ({{lang-ru|Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Каза́нцев}}; 2 September 1906 – 13 September 2002) was a popular Soviet [[science fiction]] writer and [[ufologist]].

==Biography==
Born in Akmolinsk, Imperial Russia (modern [[Astana]] in [[Kazakhstan]]). He graduated from [[Tomsk Polytechnic University]], and worked at the Soviet Research Institute of Electromechanics. Kazantsev was a member of the Soviet delegation at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]]. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Kazantsev joined the army. He left military service in 1945 with the rank of [[Polkovnik|colonel]], and was awarded a number of orders, including [[Order of the Patriotic War]] and [[Order of the Red Star]]. From then on, Kazantsev settled in the "literary village" of [[Peredelkino]] and concentrated on his writings. He survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union and died in 2002.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

==Writings==
Kazantsev was an enthusiast of the unknown, and a pioneer of Soviet [[UFOlogy]]. Many of his works, both fiction and non-fiction, deal with controversial parascientific (or pseudoscientific) theories.

He researched the [[Tunguska event]] and published a number of science fiction, as well as [[popular science]] books, on the topic. He believed the Tunguska impact was caused by an alien spacecraft that crash-landed on the Earth.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

Kazantsev researched events and legends that he believed were evidences of [[paleocontact]]s with extra-terrestrials. His novel ''Phaetae'' is based on the hypothetical planet [[Phaeton (hypothetical planet)|Phaeton]] that some believe existed in the orbit of modern [[Asteroid belt]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lib.ru/RUFANT/KAZANCEW/kazantsev_faety-engl.txt_with-big-pictures.html#|title=Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena|website=www.lib.ru|access-date=2016-05-02}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Iz5BWPscCMC|title=Acorns: Windows High-Tide Foghat|last=Morris|first=Joshua|date=2013-01-23|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=9781475966954|language=en}}</ref>According to the novel, Phaeton was inhabited by a developed civilisation of the ''phaetae'' race, who survived the destruction of their planet and brought some of their culture to the prehistorical people of Earth.

Kazantsev was also interested in the [[Martian canal]] theory, and used it in his fiction concerning Mars.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

He was also a composer of chess [[endgame study|endgame studies]]. In 1975 he was awarded by the [[Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions]] (PCCC) the title of International Master of Composition.<ref>{{cite web|title=INTERNATIONAL MASTERS OF THE FIDE FOR CHESS COMPOSITIONS|url=http://www.wfcc.ch/1999-2012/im/|website=[[World Federation for Chess Composition]]}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
Note: of this list, only ''The Destruction of Faena'' (''Faety''), ''A Visitor From Outer Space'', and ''The Martian'' have been translated into English.
*''Burning Island'' (Пылающий остров) (1939–1940)
*''The Destruction of Faena'' ([[:ru:Фаэты|Фаэты ru]])(1974) 
*''Stronger than Time'' (Сильнее времени)
*''The Sunbell'' (Колокол солнца)
*''The Dotted Line of Memories'' (Пунктир воспоминаний)
*''The Dome of Hope'' (Купол надежды)
*''A Visitor From Outer Space'' (Гость из космоса) (1946)
*''The Martian'' (Марсианин) (1946)
*'''Northern Bridge''' (Северный мост):
# ''Polar Dream'' (Полярная мечта)
# ''Glaciers Return'' (Льды возвращаются)
# ''Bridge of Friendship'' (Мост дружбы )

===Film screenwriting===
*''[[Planeta Bur|Planet of Storms]]'' (Планета бурь)

===Film appearance===
*''[[Target...Earth?]]'' (1980, U.S.)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{en icon}} [http://lib.ru/RUFANT/KAZANCEW/kazantsev_faety-engl.txt/ "The Destruction of Faena"(in English)]
*{{ru icon}} [http://www.lib.ru/RUFANT/KAZANCEW/ The complete works in Russian and selected translations]
*{{ru icon}} [http://akazantsev.ru/ Website about Kazantsev, with interviews]

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2011}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazantsev, Alexander Petrovitch}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Astana]]
[[Category:People from Akmolinsk Oblast (Russian Empire)]]
[[Category:Soviet science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Soviet male writers]]
[[Category:Chess composers]]
[[Category:Russian people of Kazakhstani descent]]
[[Category:Ufologists]]
[[Category:Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni]]