Alexander Stepanovich Grin

Alexander Stepanovich Grin (Grinevsky) – Russian prose writer, poet. He was born in Slobodskoy, Vyatka Governorate, in the family of an exiled Pole who took part in the 1863 uprising. Grin graduated from the Vyatka City School, and then for six years wandered across Russia, earning a living as a loader, digger, circus performer, and railway worker. In 1902 extreme need forced him to volunteer for military service, but the service proved unbearable: Grin deserted and became a participant in the revolutionary underground.

In 1903 the writer was arrested and exiled to Siberia for ten years, but he was released under the 1905 amnesty. Until 1910 Grin lived under an assumed name in Saint Petersburg, was arrested again and sent to Siberia, from where he escaped and returned to Petersburg. He spent his second, two-year exile in the Arkhangelsk Governorate. In 1912–1917 Grin worked actively, publishing about 350 stories in more than 60 publications. Among Grin's most popular works are the romantic fantasy novella «Scarlet Sails», the novels «The Shining World», «The Golden Chain», «Running on the Waves», and others. In 1924, ill with tuberculosis, the writer went to Feodosia, where he lived in extreme poverty. In 1930 he moved to the settlement of Stary Krym and died two years later.