Sergey Terentyevich Semyonov

Sergey Terentyevich Semyonov (Russian: Сергей Терентьевич Семёнов), born March 28, 1868 – died December 3, 1922, was a Russian writer and a member of the Moscow literary group Sreda.

Biography

Semyonov was born in the village of Andreyevskoy, in Moscow Governorate, where his parents where 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, who supported and encouraged Semyonov throughout their long acquaintance. He published poetry, six volumes of stories, his memoirs entitled Twenty-Five Years in the Village, and a volume of essays.^[1]

In 1905 he was exiled for his revolutionary connections. After the Revolution of 1917, he took an active part in reorganization efforts. In 1922 Semyonov was murdered by bandits, an event that shook his friend Maxim Gorky 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.^[1]

Notes

English translations

• The Servant, (Short story), from Best Russian Short Stories, Thomas Seltzer, Boni and Liveright, 1917. from Archive.org
• Gluttons, (Short story), from The Salt Pit, Raduga Publishers, 1988.

Sources