Born in 1933 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR, now known as Saint Petersburg, Russia, Boris Natanovich Strugatskiy was a renowned Soviet and Russian science fiction writer, often collaborating with his older brother Arkadiy Strugatskiy. Their father, Natan Strugatskiy, was a Jewish art critic, and their mother was a Russian Orthodox teacher. Boris survived the 1941-1944 siege of Leningrad by the Nazi Germany army, living with his mother in the city.
In 1955, Boris graduated with a degree in astronomy and later worked as an astronomer and computer engineer. In 1958, the Strugatskiy brothers began their artistic collaboration, which would last until Arkadiy's death in 1991. Boris quit his job in 1966 to focus on writing full-time and started teaching a speculative fiction writing seminar in 1972.
In 1979, the brothers' best-known novel, "Piknik na obochine" or "Roadside Picnic," was loosely adapted into the film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. After Arkadiy's passing, Boris published two more books under a pseudonym. He passed away on November 19, 2012, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Strugatskiy brothers' works continue to inspire creators of movies, such as Dark Planet in 2008, and video games, including S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl in 2007 and its sequels.
