Boris Konstantinovich Zaytsev (; 10 February 1881 – 22 January 1972) was a prose writer and dramatist, and a member of the Moscow literary group Sreda.

Biography

Zaytsev was born in

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

. He attended the Imperial Technical Institute in Moscow, the Institute of Mines in Saint Petersburg, and the Law School at the

University of Moscow Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, without graduating from any of them. He first began publishing his fictional works in 1901, and several of his stories were published in the journal ''The New Direction'' ran by Dmitry Merezhkovsky and

Zinaida Gippius Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (; – 9 September 1945), a Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, became one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. She began writing at an early age, and by the time she met Dmitry ...

. His first collection of stories was published in 1906. His first novel, ''A Distant Journey'', appeared in 1912. He was chairman of the Moscow Union of Writers from 1921 to 1922. In 1922 he was allowed to move to Paris for health reasons, where he became one of the leading emigre writers. His first published novel was "A distant region" (1915, Moscow); the year after his death, in 1973, one of his best prose works, "Serene Twilights," was published by an emigre press in Paris. He published many works in exile, including his novel of love set in Russia, ''Anna'' (1929). He was also a biographer and a translator; among his biographical works were lives of

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

; he translated

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

into Russian. The key influences on Zaytsev's fiction writing were

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...

Vasily Zhukovsky Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century. He held a high position at the Romanov court as tutor to the Grand Duchess Alexan ...

, and

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

. He died, aged 90, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Art historian Francis Haskell was the son of his sister Vera.

English translations

*''A Distant Journey'',(novel), 1912. *''Anna'', (novel), translated by Natalie Duddington, Henry Holt and Co, NY, 1937. *''Avdotya-Death'', ''The Heart of Abraham'', and ''A Conversation with Zinaida'', (short stories), from ''A Russian Cultural Revival'', University of Tennessee Press, 1981.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaytsev, Boris 1881 births 1972 deaths People from Oryol Novelists from the Russian Empire Soviet short story writers Soviet novelists Soviet male writers Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery Liberals from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Soviet emigrants to France Soviet dramatists and playwrights

Biography

English translations

References

Further reading

External links