Dersu Uzala (Russian: Дерсу Узала; c. 1849 – 1908) was a trapper and hunter in the Okhotsk–Manchurian taiga. He worked as a guide for Vladimir Arsenyev, who immortalized him in his 1923 book Dersu Uzala. The book was adapted into two feature films, with the version by Akira Kurosawa being the better known one.
Dersu identified himself to Arsenyev as Nanai, and in the 1970s a Nanai named Fyodor Uza proudly spoke of him as a relative. However, another local historian speculated that he was Udege, pointing out that the clothing, language, and customs attributed to Dersu by Arsenyev are closer to Udege than Nanai.[1]
- ^ Юлия Шестакова. Люди-звёзды. — Хабаровск: Хабаровское книжное издательство, 1981. — С. 224—225. — 335 с. — 30 000 экз.