Mikhail Artsybashev

Biography and work

Mikhail ArtsybashevArtsybashev was born in khutor Dubroslavovka, Akhtyrka uezd, Kharkov gubernia (currently Ukraine). He studied in Kharkov School of Drawing and Art (1897 - 1898). In 1898 moved to Saint Petersburg, where lived as a freelance journalist. His first major publication was story Meeting published in 1901. He considered his novel Death of Lande (1904) to be his best work, but the major success was the novel Sanin (1907), which scandalized the Victorian tastes of Russian public and was prohibited in many countries. The protagonist of the novel ignores all social conventions and specializes in seducing innocent country girls. In one notorious scene, a girl tries to wash embarrassing white stains off her dress after a sexual intercourse with Sanin.

In 1923 he received Polish citizenship (his mother was a Pole) and emigrated to Poland, where he edited newspaper For Liberty!. Artzybashev was known as an irreconcilable enemy of bolshevik regime, and Soviet critics dubbed the novels of his followers saninstvo and artsybashevchina. He died in Warsaw on March 3 1927.

Mikhail Artsybashev is the father of Boris Artzybasheff, who emigrated to the United States and became famous as an illustrator.