Sergey Terentyevich Semyonov (russian: Серге́й Терентьевич Семёнов; March 28, 1868 – December 3, 1922) was a Russian writer and a member of the Moscow literary group

Sreda The Moscow Literary Sreda (russian: Моско́вская Литерату́рная Cреда, Moskovskaya Literaturnaya Sreda/Moskovskaja Literaturnaja Sreda) was a Moscow literary group founded in 1899 by Nikolai Teleshov. The name Sreda me ...

Biography

Semyonov was born in the village of Andreyevskoy, in

Moscow Governorate Moscow Governorate (russian: Московская губерния; pre-reform Russian: ), or the Government of Moscow, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR, which ...

, where his parents were peasants. He left the village because of poverty and worked as an errand boy, salesman, plumber, laborer, and even as a guide for a blind merchant. These experiences gave him material for his writings. His first story ''Two Brothers (1887)'' was praised by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, who supported and encouraged Semyonov throughout their long acquaintance. His debut, 1894 collection ''Krestyanskiye rasskazy'' (Peasant Stories) came out with a foreword by Tolstoy, who cited "sincerity, substantiveness, simplicity and seriousness, as well as the expressiveness of language, rich in folklore imagery" as the author's prose major features.Romanova, T.V
Семенов Сергей Терентьевич
at the Russian Writers Biobibliographical dictionary // Русские писатели. Биобиблиографический словарь. Том 2. М-Я. Под редакцией П. А. Николаева. М., "Просвещение", 1990 He published poetry, several plays, a book of memoirs called ''Twenty-Five Years in the Village'', and a volume of essays.Introduction to ''Gluttons'', ''The Salt Pit'', Raduga Publishers, 1988. The Collected Works by S.T. Semyonov in six volumes (1909-1913, via Posrednik Publishers) received the Russian Academy of Sciences' Award in 1912. In 1906 he was exiled for his revolutionary connections.Orlando Figes, ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution'', (London, 2017), p. 234. After the

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 ...

, he took an active part in reorganization efforts. In 1922 Semyonov was murdered by bandits, an event that shook his friend

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 ...

very deeply. Gorky said that the great significance of Semyonov's works had been recognized, and that nothing could be more precious to a man.

English translations

*''

The Servant A servant is a person working within an employer's household. Servant or servants may refer to: Places * Servant, Puy-de-Dôme, France Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Servant'' (1963 film), a British drama * ''The Servant'' (1989 ...

'', (Short story), from ''

Best Russian Short Stories Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

'', Thomas Seltzer, Boni and Liveright, 1917. *''Gluttons'', (Short story), from ''The Salt Pit'',

Raduga Publishers Raduga Publishers (russian: радуга, English: "rainbow") was a Soviet publishing house of innovative children's books, which has been described as "one of the most important book publishers of its type" during the early twentieth century.And ...

, 1988.

References

External links

* 1868 births 1922 deaths Russian male novelists Russian male short story writers Russian exiles Russian murder victims People murdered in the Soviet Union {{Russia-writer-stub