Fyodor Alexandrovich Kumanin (russian: Фёдор Александрович Куманин, 6 February 1855,

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 ...

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, — 6 May 1896, Moscow) was a

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, theatre critic and translator from the Russian Empire. He is best remembered as the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of '' The Artist'' magazine (1889—1894) as well as the supplement to it, called ''Dnevnik Artista'' (Artist's Diary, 1891—1893). He launched three more journals, ''Teatral'' (Theatre-goer, 1895), ''Teatralnaya Biblioteka'' (Theatre Library, 1891—1895) and ''Chitatel'' (Reader, 1896), which he also edited and regularly published his own critical essays and reviews in. Kumanin translated numerous foreign language plays. Four of them, by

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai and Šilutė, i ...

(''Sodoms Ende'', '' Die Ehre Honour'', ''Die Schmetterlingsschlacht'' and ''Das Gluck im Winkel'') enjoyed long-lasting success on stage the Imperial as well as provincial Russian theatres. He co-authored, with the poet Olga Chyumina, one original play, a comedy called ''Zhorzhinka'' (Жоржинка).Kumanin, F.A. Biography at the Russian Writers Dictionary // Русские писатели. 1800 — 1917. Биографический словарь. Т. 3: К — М. Москва: Большая российская энциклопедия, 1994. С. 227. According to the modern literary historian Irina Mustafina, Kumanin was "a rare type of a passionate zealot of culture" who's managed to launch a host of publications on theatre in the years when art journalism in Russia was in deep crisis. Ivan Shcheglov, though, had 'difficult' relationship with Kumanin, as well as

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

. In January 1894 '' The Artist'' published Chekhov's novella ''

The Black Monk "The Black Monk" (russian: Чёрный монах, translit=Chyorny monakh) is a short story by Anton Chekhov, written in 1893 while Chekhov was living in the village of Melikhovo. It was first published in 1894 in ''The Artist (Russian magazin ...

'', the occasion which resulted in a raw between Kumanin and the author. What exactly caused it remained unknown, although some evidence points at Chekhov's having accused the editor in violating his copyright, which outraged the latter. When Chekhov asked for

galley proofs In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tran ...

of the story, Kumanin refused to comply, in a rude manner. Later he made several attempts at restoring the relation with the Chekhov, who ignored his approaches.Mustafina, I.R
F.A. Kumanin, the Artist's Editor
// Mediascope (online literary magazine) // Ф.А. Куманин – издатель журнала «Артист» (1889-1895 гг.) Медиаскоп. 2017. Вып. 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumanin, Fyodor Theatre critics from the Russian Empire Editors from the Russian Empire Writers from Moscow Translators from the Russian Empire 1855 births 1896 deaths Magazine founders from the Russian Empire Businesspeople from Moscow Businesspeople from the Russian Empire