 alexander romanovich belyaev (, ; 1884â1942) was a soviet russian writer of science fiction. his works from the 1920s and 1930s made him a highly regarded figure in russian science fiction. belyaev's best known books include professor dowell's head, amphibian man, ariel, and the air seller. ==biography == alexander belyaev was born in smolensk in the family of the orthodox priest. his father, after losing two other children (alexander's sister nina died at childhood from sarcoma and his brother vasiliy, a veterinary student, drowned during a boat trip), wanted him to continue the family tradition and enrolled alexander into smolensk seminary. belyaev, on the other hand, didn't feel particularly religious and even became an atheist in seminary. after graduating he didn't take his vows and enrolled into a law school. while he studied law his father died and he had to support his mother and other family by giving lessons and writing for theater. after graduating from the school in 1906 belyaev became a practicing lawyer and made himself a good reputation. in that period his finances markedly improved, and he traveled around the world extensively as a vacation after each successful case. during that time he continued to write, albeit on small scale. literature, however, proved increasingly appealing to him, and in 1914 he left law to concentrate on his literary pursuits. however at the same time, at the age of 30, alexander became ill with tuberculosis. treatment was unsuccessful; the infection spread to his spine and resulted in paralysis of the legs. belyaev suffered constant pain and was paralysed for six years. his wife left him, not wanting to care for the paralyzed. in search for the right treatment he moved to yalta together with his mother and old nanny. during his convalescence, he read the work of jules verne, h. g. wells, and konstantin tsiolkovsky, and began to write poetry in
1884_births 1942_deaths Deaths_by_starvation People_from_Smolensk Russian_science_fiction_writers Soviet_science_fiction_writers