Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919) was a Russian playwright, poet and writer of short stories. Considered by many to be the father of Russian literary Expressionism, he has often been described in the West as the Russian Edgar Allen Poe, thanks to his interest in the more macabre aspects of the human condition. He was born in Oryol, Russia, in 1871. After studying law, he became a court reporter before attempting a career in literature. His first published work, “Bargamot and Garaska” (1898), brought him to the attention of Maxim Gorky, who inducted him into the Moscow Sreda literary group. Of the 25 plays written by Andreyev, his most well-known is “He Who Gets Slapped” (1915), which has been adapted into several films, a novel, an opera, and a musical. Andreyev moved to Finland in 1917 to avoid the upheaval of the Bolshevik Revolution and died there in 1919, aged 48.
