Grigori Machtet

Grigori Alexandrovich Machtet (Russian: Григорий Александрович Мачтет; Ukrainian: Григорій Олександрович Мачтет, Hryhorij Oleksandrovych Machtet) (1852, Lutsk — 1901, Yalta) was a Russian-language writer of Ukrainian origin. He is the author of the well-known song «Tormented to death by a heavy captivity».

Machtet with his associates went to America to organize a land commune there. Soon due to financial hardships he had to become a hired man. Having returned to Russia in 1874 he got involved in a revolutionary movement.

In 1876 Machtet was imprisoned to the Petropavloskaya fortress, and then exiled to Siberia.

Machtet wrote his most famous works, among which his novel «One warrior in the field», the story «His hour has come», a series of Siberian stories, and some articles published in the «Native stories».