Maxim Gorky

Alexi Peshkove

Born 1868.
He died at the age of 69 in 1937.
Ophan at the age of 11.
Raised by maternal grandmother.
Ran way at the age of 12 in 1880.
Assistant for a shoemaker
Erand boy.
Assistant to icon painter.
Dish washer.
Cook made him to read books.

He was a street boy (which is quite normal behaviour) and dropped out of school instead of studying languages and history.

He read a lot.

Father of Soviet Revolutionary literature.

He propagated Socialist Idealism.

For 15 years he traveled throughout Russia and turned to become a writer.

He used to make lot of spelling mistakes and his wife was the proof reader.

He was known for his naturalistic writing style.

His book "Mother" which Lenin praised as a timely book.

He associated Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy.

He was a prolific writer.
He had over 500 literary work in a national paper.

He was active with emerging socialist movement.

He was arrested several times and imprisoned.

He met Vladimir Lenin and developed a personal friendship.

He was a Bolshevik but criticized Lenin.

Headed the union of soviet writers.
He became a publisher to promote his political writing that were related to Russian Revolution.
He went to America to raise funds for the revolution.

He made an impression on Mark Twain.

He was a good chess player.

After the assassination attempt of Lenin his relationship with Lenin deteriorated.
However, Joseph Stalin treated him well and he had a summer house in Crimea and Winter houses in Russia.

He was not allowed to migrate to Italy probably fearing copyright infringement of his material by foreign investors.
Besides, the payments were low in Russia.
Not having a legal wife to inherit his copyrights should be understood in this light.

Financial dealing were shoddy both in Russia and in the west.

He was known for his short stories and catch phrases.

He probably believed in god, quite contrary to the Marxist atheistic beliefs.