Aleksey Chapygin

Aleksey Pavlovich Chapygin (Russian: Алексе́й Па́влович Чапы́гин; 17 October [O.S. 5 October] 1870 - 21 October 1937) was a Russian writer, and one of the founders of the Soviet historical novel.^[1]

Aleksey Chapygin
Born	(1870-10-17)October 17, 1870 Kargopolsky Uyezd, Olonets Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	October 21, 1937(1937-10-21) (aged 67) Leningrad, USSR

Biography

Chapygin was born in Kargopolsky Uyezd, Olonets Governorate. His northern peasant origins are reflected in his works.^[1] His first book of stories, Those Who Keep Aloof, and his novel The White Hermitage, describing northern life, were published before the Russian Revolution of 1917.^[2] He is best known for his two novels about peasant uprisings in the 17th century, Itinerant Folk (1934–37) and Stepan Razin (1926–27). Stepan Razin is considered a classic of Soviet literature.^[1]

Chapygin drew upon Russian folklore for both the style of Stepan Razin and the positive and romanticized portrait of Razin himself. The Soviets excused this modernization of history as a justifiable polemic against the negative portrayal of Razin in 19th-century Russian literature.^[1] Stepan Razin was published in the magazine Red Virgin Soil.^[3]

English translations

• Stepan Razin, Hutchinson International Authors, Ltd., London, 1946.

External links

• Biography (in Russian)
• Aleksey Chapygin Razin Stepan (in Russian)