Uralsky, M. (2019). Mark Aldanov. A writer, a public figure and a gentleman of Russian emigration. Prefaced by S. Pesterev and S. Garciano. St. Petersburg: Aleteya. (In Russ.)

Abstract

This first biographical account of M. Aldanov was authored by M. Uralsky, a writer of documentary prose. While not a strict academic publication, the book shows a thorough approach to selection of the material and verification of facts and introduces hitherto unknown documents, thus qualifying as a compelling piece of scholarly research. The book’s three parts are dedicated to key periods of Aldanov’s life: ‘A young Aldanov — happy years’ (1886–1917), ‘A historical novelist of Russian emigration’ (1919–1940), and ‘The twilight of life and work’ (1947–1957). Uralsky uncovered a number of new materials relating to Aldanov’s childhood and adolescence and his work in emigration, completing a reconstruction of the writer’s life. The biographer examines Aldanov’s personality as an artist, a literary critic, a journalist and a scholar. The book’s leitmotif is to actualise Aldanov’s idea of writers dedicating themselves to kalokagathia — the ‘moral beauty.’