The Twelve Chairs

Brief Overview

The Twelve Chairs, a novel written by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, was first published in 1928. The story follows the adventures of Ostap Bender, a consummate con artist, and Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, a former nobleman. At the heart of the plot is the search for jewels hidden in one of the twelve chairs of a set that was divided and scattered across Soviet Russia after the revolution. As the main characters travel in pursuit of the treasure, they find themselves in various comedic situations, exposing the social and moral flaws of the time. The book is rich with wit, satire on the new Soviet realities, and features a unique style that has made it one of the most beloved and widely read works in 20th-century Russian literature.