Ilya Arnoldovich Ilf (born Iehiel-Leyb Aryevich Faynzilberg; Russian: Иехи́ел-Лейб Арьевич Фа́йнзильберг; 15 October [O.S. 3 October] 1897 – 13 April 1937) was a Soviet journalist and writer of Jewish origin who usually worked in collaboration with Yevgeny Petrov during the 1920s and 1930s. Their duo was known simply as Ilf and Petrov. Together they published two popular comedy novels The Twelve Chairs (1928) and The Little Golden Calf (1931), as well as a satirical book Odnoetazhnaya Amerika (often translated as Little Golden America) that documented their journey through the United States between 1935 and 1936.
