Leonid Andreyev
Russian playwright and writer
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“Leonid Andreyev.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Leonid Andreyev. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/
“Leonid Andreyev.” thisDay. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/.
Who was Leonid Andreyev?
Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (Russian: Леони́д Никола́евич Андре́ев, 21 August [O.S. 9 August] 1871 – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of expressionism in Russian literature. Born in Oryol, Russia, to a middle-class family, Andreyev originally studied law in Moscow and in Saint Petersburg. His mother hailed from an old Polish aristocratic, though impoverished, family, while she also claimed Ukrainian and Finnish ancestry. Andreyev's style combines the elements of realist, naturalist, and symbolist schools in literature. He became a police-court reporter for a Moscow daily, performing the routine of his humble calling without attracting any particular attention. At this time he wrote poetry and made a few efforts to publish it, but most publishers rejected his work.
Historical significance
He is regarded as one of the most talented and prolific representatives of the Silver Age literary period. Of his 25 plays, his 1915 play He Who Gets Slapped is regarded as his finest achievement. In 1898 the newspaper Kuryer newspaper in Moscow published his first short story, "Bargamot i Garaska".
Cite this page
“Leonid Andreyev.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Leonid Andreyev. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/
“Leonid Andreyev.” thisDay. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/leonid-andreyev/.