Anathema

Anathema

A Tragedy in Seven Scenes

By Leonid Andreyev

Authorized Translation by Herman Bernstein

Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian literature. He is one of the most talented and prolific representatives of the Silver Age period. Andreyev's style combines elements of realist, naturalist, and symbolist schools in literature.

Aside from his political writings, Andreyev published little after 1914. In 1916, he became the editor of the literary section of the newspaper "Russian Will." He later supported the February Revolution, but foresaw the Bolsheviks' coming to power as catastrophic. In 1917, he moved to Finland. From his house in Finland he addressed manifestos to the world at large against the excesses of the Bolsheviks. Idealist and rebel, Andreyev spent his last years in bitter poverty, and his premature death from heart failure may have been hastened by his anguish over the results of the Bolshevik Revolution. His last novel, Satan's Diary, was left unfinished at the time of his death.