The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1920-01-14
(Kansas City Starr

Just q wisp of news came through
the other day from Helsingfors an
nouncing the death in Finland of
Leonid Andreyeff, Russian writer and
dramatist, and the item was buried
in an obscure corner of the newspa-
pers-over against an advest1rement
of a manufacturer of soap. In these
postwar days of soviet sins and Boil
shevist outrages in blood-stained Rus
sia, such is fame for a genius who has
contributed heart gripping stories to
the worlds literature.
But as a climax to this young writ
er's literary output, may it not be for
gotten that his dying cry, rs o S." q
vehement denunication of Bolshev.
ism, was sent forth as an appeal for
the salvation Of his country and the
release Of the mfnd-locked people from
the nightmare of the rule of Lenine
and Trotzky. This document was
translated into every European Ian
guage.
In fact, Andreyeff's keen vision and
foresight made him a. prophet in the
days when the Germans were pretend.
ing to be friends to the Russians on
the fighting front, and had broken up
the Russian army by inducing the sol
d1ers to lay down their arms and re-
fuse to obey their officers, and when
the Germans were fraternizing with
the Russians. Andreyeff prophesied
Russia would be torn asunder and the
nation finally come to an end. He
wrote sadly:
'In an evil hour our Russian liberty
was born. A youthful bride decked
with white flowers-may she not per
ish on the way to the wedding feast!'
Great Novelist.
The name of this Russian author
has been given several endings in Eng
lish translation at different times. Al
first it was Leonid Andrew, then An
dreieff and Andreyev, and now Andre
yeff.
For the last twenty years Audrey
eff had been producing works ot
strength and individual flavor. Since
the death of Tolstoy he had been con
sidered by some critics to stand at the
head OF living Russia novelists
dramatist, Andreyeff. easily stood al
the top among the modern writer's O,
his country.
Owing to his weird. fatalistic, sat
iric, tragic qualities, all showing
through an atmosphere of gloom ir
some cases, he had come to be known
by the terms,"A Novelist Of Nerves.
THE Apostle of the Terrible" and
"The Russian Poe"
He was born in Oryol, and according
to his own story while at St. Peters
burg university, he went hungry the
! first year, as his father, an engineer
! had died back home, and the student
! was in dire need. He said that ir
1894 he made an attempt to kill him
self by shooting, and as a result oI
his unsuccessful attempt at suicide
! the authorities forced him into relig
ious penitence. and his worry brought
| on heart trouble, though not of a
serious nature. He wrote some
stories but they were rejected by
the editors. Then he spent his spare
time at painting and made portraits tc
| order at 3 and 5 rubles apiece.
Fame as a Playwright.
In 1897 he received his diploma
and became an assistant attorney, but
at the outset of his law career, he
was offered and accepted a position as
! court reporter on daily newspaper
| For the Easter number In 1898, he
published his first story and since
then has devoted himself assiduousls
to literature. Maxine Gorkey, his
| friend, gave him advice and sugges
tions. He became a recognized mas
ter of short story writing.
Entering the field of dramatic lit
erature, Andreyeff later stood as the
greatest dramatist in Russia, winning
that distinction by such production:
as "The Black Maskers," "The Life
Of Man." 1.-THE Sabine Women" ant
finally, in 1915, "The Sorrows of Bel
gium," the last named, however, no
reaching the same high standing a.
the others.
Andreyeff gained his great popu
larity in Russia because he was repre-
sentative of the moody emotiona
| changes, the shattered nerves and tn,
spiritual cravings of the young gen
| Grafton in those years of the reig1
of Gar Nicholas, when a student o
independent thought would be sum
marily arrested and sent to the fro
zen regions of Siberia to work il
| the mines the remainder Of his life
I Andreyeff and seventeen writer's wer
arrested one night at his home, bu
later released.
His sketch. "The. Friend" is an e.