ANDREYEV, LEONID NIKOLAYEVICH

born Aug. 21 [Aug. 9, old style], 1871, Oryol, Russia died Sept. 12, 1919, Kuokkala, Fin. Andreyev also spelled Andreev novelist whose best work has a place in Russian literature for its evocation of a mood of despair and absolute pessimism. At the age of 20 Andreyev entered St. Petersburg University but lived restlessly for some time. In 1894, after several attempts at suicide, he transferred to the University of Moscow, where he studied law. He became a barrister and then a law and crime reporter, publishing his first stories in newspapers and periodicals. Encouraged by Maksim Gorky, who became a close friend, he was at first regarded as Gorky's successor as a Realist. His Zhili-byli (Once There Lived . . .) attracted attention and was included in his first collection of short stories (1901). Two stories of 1902, Bezdna (The Abyss) and V tumane (In the Fog), caused a storm by their candid and audacious treatment of sex. Andreyev's work became widely discussed, and he acquired fame and wealth with a series of novels and short stories that, at their best, resemble Tolstoy in their powerful themes and ironic sympathy for suffering humanity. Among his best tales are Gubernator (1905; His Excellency the Governor, 1921) and Rasskaz o semi poveshennykh (1908; The Seven That Were Hanged, 1909). Andreyev's fame as a novelist declined rapidly as his works became increasingly bizarre and sensational. He began a career as a dramatist in 1905. His most successful playsZhizn cheloveka (1907; The Life of Man, 1915) and Tot, kto poluchayet poshchyochiny (1916; He Who Gets Slapped, 1921)were allegorical dramas, but he also attempted Realist comedy. During World War I, Andreyev became editor of a government-inspired newspaper, and his writing became predominantly patriotic. A fervent antirevolutionary, he moved to Finland after the Bolsheviks came to power; his last work, S.O.S. (1919), was an appeal to the Allies to save Russia.