''The Seven Who Were Hanged'' () is a 1908

horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

la by Russian author

Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian literature. He is regarded as one of the most talented and prolific ...

Plot

A minister learns of a foiled assassination plot on him by five

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

revolutionaries, and this inflicts trauma on his peace of mind. The novella then switches to the courts and jails to follow the fates of seven people who have received death sentences: the five failed assassins, an Estonian farm hand who murdered his employer, and a violent thief. These condemned people are awaiting their executions by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

. In

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, each of the prisoners deals with their fate in his or her own way.

The seven prisoners

Assassin group

*Tanya Kovalchuk. Leader of the terrorist group and motherly figure, who worries more for her friends' fate than her own. *Werner (full name unknown). A morose and internally bitter man, he learns to feel sympathy and love at the novellas end. *Musya (full name unknown). Youngest member of the group, who finds solace in the idea of martyrdom. *Sergei Golovin. Ex officer, who copes with his approaching execution by concentrating on his health and an exercise routine called the Müller system. *Vasily Kashirin. Most terrified of death amongst the conspirators.

Other prisoners

*Ivan Yanson. An

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

farm hand at a Russian estate. He kills his master and tries to rape the master's wife. He appears confused and mentally weak. He only fears death when his sentence nears. *Tsiganok Golubets. A Russian bandit and thief from Orel. He is to be executed for murder and is proud of his brutal acts, acting mostly jovially towards his execution.

English translations

*''Seven Who Were Hanged'' translated by

Herman Bernstein Herman Bernstein (, September 21, 1876 – August 31, 1935) was an American journalist, poet, novelist, playwright, translator, Jewish activist, and diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador to Albania and was the founder of '' Der Tog'', th ...

(1909) *''The Seven That Were Hanged'' translated by Thomas Seltzer (1925) *''Seven Hanged'' translated by Anthony Briggs (2016) * The story was dramatised by

Derek Marlowe Derek William Mario Marlowe (21 May 1938 – 14 November 1996) was an English playwright, novelist, screenwriter and painter. Life Derek Marlowe was born in Perivale, Middlesex, and lived there and in Greenford as a child. His father was Fre ...

and performed by the 60 Theatre Group at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 1961. A later London production, titled ''The Scarecrow'', won a Foyle award.

Film adaptions

*''Rasskaz o semi poveshennykh'' (Story of Seven Who Were Hanged), dir. Pyotr Chardynin (1920) Russian silent film. *''Balada o siedmich obesených'' (The Seven Who Were Hanged) dir. Martin Hollý (1968) Slovakian black and white film.

References

External links

* *
Full text of the novel
Russian novellas Horror novellas 1908 Russian novels 1900s horror novels Psychological novels Psychological horror Fiction about assassinations Works by Leonid Andreyev {{1900s-horror-novel-stub