Olga Dmitryevna Forsh (russian: О́льга Дми́триевна Форш, ), née Komarova (russian: Комаро́ва) (July 17, 1961), was a Russian/Soviet novelist, dramatist, memoirist, and scenarist.

Early life

Forsh was born in the fortress at Ghunib, in

Daghestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia sit ...

, the daughter of a major general in the Russian Imperial Army. Her father met her mother, Nina Shakhetdinova, an azerbaijani, while he was stationed in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. Nina died when Olga was very young. Olga's stepmother, who was also her former nurse, showed little interest in her, especially after the birth of her own daughter by Olga's father. When her father, Major General Komarov, died in 1881 Olga was placed in an orphanage for children of the nobility. She married Boris Eduardovich Forsh, who had also been born into the family of a high-ranking military officer, in 1895. In the 1890s she studied at various art schools, most importantly 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 ...

and St Petersburg, where she worked in the studio of

Pavel Chistyakov Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (russian: Павел Петрович Чистяков; 5 July 1832, Prudy, Vesyegonsky Uyezd, Tver Governorate — 11 November 1919, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Imperial painter and art teacher; known for historical ...

. In 1904 Boris Forsh resigned from the military in objection to his having to serve at the executions of political prisoners. He was deprived of his salary, and he and Olga moved to a farm in Ukraine with their two children. Olga was also pregnant at the time. She later attributed the inspiration for her early stories to this extended period of living among the peasantry. Her first works of fiction were published in 1907. She continued drawing and painting, and worked as an art teacher at the Levitskaya School in

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...

in 1910-11, but she turned toward writing as time went by.

Career

Olga was interested in the fashionable ideas of the time, including

Tolstoyanism The Tolstoyan movement is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mo ...

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, but was increasingly drawn to Socialism. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

Olga and her husband became active supporters of the

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 ...

s. Olga's husband died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

while serving with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

in Kyiv. After his death she continued to dedicate herself to cultural work. She devoted several novels to the history of revolutionary thought and the revolutionary movement in Russia. Among them are ''Palace and Prison'' (1924–25, also made into the film

The Palace and the Fortress ''The Palace and the Fortress'' (russian: Дворец и крепость, Dvorets i krepost) is a 1924 Soviet silent biopic directed by Aleksandr Ivanovsky Aleksandr Viktorovich Ivanovsky (; November 29, 1881 – January 12, 1968) was a scr ...

), about the revolutionary Mikhail Stepanovich Beideman, ''The Fervid Workshop'' (1926), about the Revolution of 1905–07, and ''Pioneers of Freedom'' (1950–53), which deals with the

Decembrists The Decembrist Revolt ( ru , Восстание декабристов, translit = Vosstaniye dekabristov , translation = Uprising of the Decembrists) took place in Russia on , during the interregnum following the sudden death of Emperor Ale ...

. She also wrote the three-part

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

'' Radishchev'', which comprises the books ''Jacobin Leaven'' (1932), ''The Landlady of Kazan'' (1934–35), and ''The Pernicious Book'' (1939). Her experimental play ''The Substitute Lecturer'' was published in 1930. The fate of the creative individual under an oppressive regime is treated in the novel ''The Contemporaries'' (1926), which is about

Nikolay Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

and A. A. Ivanov. In the novels ''The Lunatic Ship'' (1931) and ''The Raven'' (originally titled ''The Symbolists'', 1933), Olga portrayed life among the St Petersburg artistic intelligentsia in the early 20th century and the first post revolutionary years and created portraits of such contemporaries as

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

and

Fyodor Sologub Fyodor Sologub (russian: Фёдор Сологу́б, born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, russian: Фёдор Кузьми́ч Тете́рников, also known as Theodor Sologub; – 5 December 1927) was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, trans ...

Later life

Olga rose to prominence in the arena of Soviet literature, playing important roles at the 1934 Congress of Writers, and at the 1954 Congress, where she gave the opening address. She was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(twice) and the

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

.According to Olga Forsh article at ru.wikipedia ( :ru:Форш, Ольга Дмитриевна) She died in Tyarlova, a suburb of Leningrad, in 1961. She was buried in the

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

Cemetery, on the outskirts of

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

English translations

*''Palace and Prison'', (novel), Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow
from Archive.org
*''Dolls of Paris'', (story), from ''Great Soviet Short Stories'', Dell, 1990. *''The Substitute Lecturer'' (one-act play), from ''An Anthology of Russian Women's Writing'', Oxford, 1994. *''Pioneers of Freedom'', (novel), University Press of the Pacific, 2003.

References