Leonid Genrikhovich Zorin was born on 3 November 1924 in Baku, Azerbaijan. He began writing poetry in early childhood, his first works were published when the boy was only ten years old. The collection "Poems" was highly appreciated by Maxim Gorky, who dedicated to him the article "Boy" in the newspaper "Pravda": his mother specially took Leonid to meet with the writer in Moscow.

While still under the surname Zaltsman, he began writing librettos for opera productions of the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theatre. Leonid also translated works of Azerbaijani poets into Russian, some of his works were included in the anthology "Songs and Romances of Azerbaijani composers on Nizami's ghazals". In 1946, Leonid graduated from Kirov Azerbaijan University, after which he moved to Moscow and a year later received a diploma from the Gorky Literary Institute.

Creativity of Leonid Zorin

In one of the interviews, the writer says that he immediately fell in love with Moscow. Soon after moving to Moscow, a happy accident happened in his life: Zorin's play from thousands of others was chosen for staging at the Maly Theatre. Subsequently, new plays based on his works were released almost every year, but not without censorship: for example, the play "Guests" and "Roman Comedy" were played at the Yermolovsky Theatre only once. After one of the scandals Leonid Henrikhovich seriously ill. Character helped him to withstand the ordeal: in the same interview Zorin says that even with abilities, character is much more important for a writer. Based on one of Zorin's most popular plays, the film "Pokrovskie Vorota" was made in 1982.

The writer has also published short stories and novels, including the following books:

"The Warsaw Melody"

"Mr Friend"

"The Old Manuscript"

"The Voice of the People"

"Alexei"

"The Main Subject"

"Avanscena. A Memoir Romance"

In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Zorin says that dramaturgy is "a young man's business". He himself wrote fifty plays, after which he took up prose. The years before that, Leonid Henrikhovich calls "censorship hell", which "accelerated the demise of the most beloved people: Ruben Simonov, Andrei Lobanov, Yuri Zavadsky".

The writer died on 31 March 2020 in Moscow, aged 95. He is buried in the Troekurovskoye cemetery.