Nikolai Alexandrovich Chayev (; 8 May 1824 – 16 November 1914) was a Russian writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. Чаев, Н.А.
at the

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopaedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps. It was published in the Russian Em ...

// Энциклопедический словарь Ф.А. Брокгауза и И.А. Ефрона. — С.-Пб.: Брокгауз-Ефрон. 1890—1907. Chayev was born in

Kostroma Governorate Kostroma Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its administrative center was in the city of Kostroma. Administrative division Kostroma ...

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

. A

Moscow University 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 ...

graduate who for several years was the chief supervisor of the

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...

, he made his debut in print in 1859, originally as a fiction writer. He then turned to drama, choosing the early Russian history as his theme, and had his best-known work produced at the

Alexandrinsky Theatre The Alexandrinsky Theatre () or National Drama Theatre of Russia is a theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Alexandrinsky Theatre was built for the Imperial troupe of Petersburg (Imperial troupe was founded in 1756). Since 1832, the theatre ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(''Svat Faddeyich'', Сват Фаддеич, 1864; ''Dimitry Samozvanets'', Димитрий Самозванец, The False Dmitry, 1866), and Maly Theatre in Moscow (''Svekrov'', Свекровь, Mother-in-law, 1867; ''Znai nashikh'', Знай наших, That's Us, 1876). His play ''The Tsar and the Great Prince of Russia, Vasily Ivanovich Shuysky'' was produced by the Korsh Theatre in 1883 and earned him the

Griboyedov Prize The Griboyedov Prize () was a Russian literary award established in 1878 by the Society of Russian Dramatists and Opera Composers to honor Alexander Griboyedov. The opening ceremony was held on 11 February (old style: 30 January), on the anniver ...

of that year. He also authored two novels on the times of Pavel I (''Podspudnye sily'', Подспудные силы, Hidden Forces, and ''Bogatyri'', Богатыри), as well as the poem ''Nadya'' (Надя). Chayev was a co-founder in 1874 of the Society of Russian Dramatists and Opera Composers (Общество русских драматических писателей и оперных композиторов) and served as its chairman for a while. After

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...

's death he succeeded him as the head of the Repetroire committee for the Moscow Theatres.Lotman, L. A. N. Ostrovsky and the Drama Theatre od His Times // Лотман Л. А. Н. Островский и русская драматургия его времени. — М.—Л., 1961. — C. 271—273. He died in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chayev, Nikolai Poets from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire People from Kostroma 1824 births 1914 deaths