Vladimir Korolenko

Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (Ukrainian: Володимир Галактионович Короленко, Volodymyr Halaktyonovych Korolenko; Russian: Влади́мир Галактио́нович Короле́нко) (July 27, 1853 – December 25, 1921) was a Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, journalist, human rights activist and humanitarian. His short stories were known for their harsh description of nature based on his experience of exile in Siberia. Korolenko was a strong critic of the Tsarist regime and in his final years of the Bolsheviks. Korolenko was born in Zhitomir, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) in 1853, the son of a Cossack and a district judge. His cousin Vladimir Vernadsky was the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was educated at secondary schools in Zhitomir and Rovno before undertaking tertiary studies at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute in 1871 and the Moscow College of Agriculture and Forestry in 1874. Korolenko was expelled from both institutions for participating in the revolutionary activities of the Narodniks movement. During 1876 he was exiled briefly to Kronstadt. Korolenko's first short stories were published in 1879. However, his literary career was interrupted that year when he was arrested for revolutionary activity and exiled to the Vyatka region for five years. In 1881 he refused to swear allegiance to the new Tsar Alexander III and was exiled farther, to Yakutia. Upon his return from the exile, he had more stories published. Makar's Dream (Сон Макара, Son Makara) established his reputation as a writer when it was published in 1885. The story, based on a dying peasant's dream of heaven, was translated and published in English in 1892. Korolenko settled in Nizhniy Novgorod shortly afterwards and continued publishing popular short stories. He published a novel Слепой музыкант (Slepoi Musykant) in 1886, which was published in English as The Blind Musician in 1896-1898. After visiting the Chicago exhibition during 1893, Korolenko wrote the story Without Language (Без языка, Bez Yazyka) based on what happens to a Ukrainian peasant who immigrates to the USA. His final story Мгновение (Mgnovenie, "Blink of an Eye"), was published in 1900. By then, Korolenko was well established amongst Russian writers. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences but resigned in 1902 when Maxim Gorky was expelled as a member because of his revolutionary activities. (Anton Chekhov resigned from the Academy for the same reason).