Margarita Vladimirovna Rokotova writing as Al Altaev (22 November 1872 – 13 February 1959) was a Soviet children's book author.

Life

Margarita Vladimirovna Rokotova was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in 1872. In 1889 she began a writing career after initially training as an artist. She received early advice from the poet

Yakov Polonsky Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (russian: Яков Петрович Полонский; ) was a leading Pushkinist poet who tried to uphold the waning traditions of Russian Romantic poetry during the heyday of realistic prose. Of noble birth, Polonsky ...

and she quickly adopted a male sounding name, ''Al Altaev''. The name was taken from one of Polonsky's short stories. Her writing career started well but she married a forestry worker named Iamshchikov, who burnt her stories intended for magazines. Rokotova left her husband with her passport but she took their daughter. She supported herself for six years by copying documents whilst she attended police stations to explain her lack of documentation. In 1899 she published a biography she had written of the poet

Semyon Nadson Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (russian: Семён Яковлевич Надсон; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) was a Russian poet and essayist. He is noted for being the first Jewish poet to achieve national fame in Russia. Biography Nad ...

, who had died in 1877. Revolution was beginning and Rokotova's flat in St. Petersburg was the publishing house of the left wing student newspaper ''Young Russia''. She was drafted in to help with two

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

newspapers after the

October revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

at the

Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute (russian: Смольный институт, ''Smol'niy institut'') is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia. History The building was commissioned from Giacomo Quar ...

. As a result, she met many of the leading revolutionists like

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

. She was drafted to do publicity work in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

where she stayed at the ''Metropole Hotel'' for years. In time, her daughter began to assist her. She adopted the name of ''Art. Feliche''.

Death and legacy

Altaev died in 1959 in Moscow, ending a 70-year literary career. She had written about 200 books but many were forgotten. Many of her books were biographies of famous people of history or historical novels for children. She had also written a good number of stories that she was able to compile into books. There is an Al. Altaev Literary and Memorial House and Museum in the

Pskov region Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the city of Pskov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 673,4 ...

.Al. Altaev Literary and Memorial House and Museum
russianmuseums.info, Retrieved 23 April 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altaev, Al 1872 births 1959 deaths Writers from Kyiv 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian women writers 20th-century Russian writers Russian children's writers Pseudonymous women writers Russian biographers Women biographers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers