| M. Ageyev | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1898 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | August 5, 1973 (aged 74) Yerevan, Soviet Union |
M. Ageyev (Russian: М. Агеев) is believed to be the nom-de-plume of Russian author Mark Lazarevich Levi (Russian: Марк Ла́заревич Ле́ви), (August 8, 1898, Moscow - August 5, 1973, Yerevan).
His best-known work, Novel With Cocaine (also translated as the Cocain Romance), was published in 1934 in the Parisian émigré publication, Numbers. Nikita Struve has alleged it to be the work of another Russian author employing a pen name, Vladimir Nabokov; this idea was debunked by Nabokov's son Dmitry in his preface to "The Enchanter". Levi's life is shrouded in mystery and conjecture. He seems to have returned to the U.S.S.R. in 1942 and spent the rest of his life in Yerevan, where he died on August 5, 1973.