Alexander Kuprin - A Short Story Collection

Alexander Kuprin was born in Narovchat, Penza in Russia on 7th September 1870.

At 3 his Father died and he and mother moved to Moscow. By 10 he was enrolled at the Second Moscow Military High School and there his interest in literature began. The Alexander Military Academy followed and two years later he was a sub-lieutenant and posted to an Infantry Regiment for a further four years.

Despite his duties he was a now a keen writer and published his first short story at this time. His military duties also garnered him experiences for his breakthrough work ‘The Duel’. Leaving the military he left for Kiev to work for local newspapers. He continued to publish both stories and novels and by 1901 he was in St Petersburg becoming part of a group that included Chekhov, Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky and Leonid Andreyev.

In the years that followed further controversial works and acclaim followed. His comments on the regime meant he was also put under secret police surveillance.

As World War I erupted, Kuprin opened a military hospital but was then given command of an infantry company in Finland. He was soon discharged on grounds of ill health.

The October Revolution saw him praise Lenin, but he warned that the Bolsheviks threatened Russian culture and might cause further widespread suffering to the peasants. As Civil War raged he took his family to Helsinki and then on to Paris.

Exile saw his talents decline further and his succumbing to alcoholism. He became lonely and withdrawn. The family''s poverty increased his malaise.

In May 1937, the Kuprin’s returned to Moscow. He now saw his work published but wrote almost nothing new. In 1938 his health rapidly deteriorated. Already suffering from a kidney problems and sclerosis, he had now developed cancer of the oesophagus.

Alexander Kuprin died on 25th August 1938.