Ignatii Potapenko

Potapenko, Ignatii Nikolaevich 

Born December 1856, in the village of Fedorovka, now in Kherson Oblast; died May 17, 1929, in Leningrad. Russian writer.

The son of a priest, Potapenko studied at Novorossiia University in Odessa and graduated from the voice class of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His first published works, which appeared in 1881, were stories of Ukrainian folk life. Potapenko’s works on the life of the intelligentsia and clergy included the novella In Active Service (1890), the novel Not a Hero (1891), and numerous short stories. These works are in harmony with the liberal Narodnik (Populist) small deeds theory. Potapenko belonged to the naturalistic school in Russian literature. His plays, staged in the 1900’s, included Higher School and Redemption.

Potapenko was acquainted with A. Chekhov; he corresponded with Chekhov and wrote reminiscences about him. In 1915, Potapenko published the novel The Retreat. He continued to publish after the October Revolution of 1917.

WORKS

Povesti i rasskazy, vols. 1–12. St. Petersburg, 1891–99.
Soch. 4th ed., vols. 1–6. St. Petersburg, 1905.
P’esy. St. Petersburg, 1902.
Chestnaia kompaniia. Moscow-Leningrad, 1926.
Mertvoe more. Leningrad, 1929.

REFERENCES

Strunin, D. “Kumir devianostykh godov.” Russkoe bogatstvo, 1891, no. 10.
Grossman, L. “Roman Niny Zarechnoi.” In the almanac Prometei, vol. 2. Moscow, 1967.
Istoriia russkoi literatury XIX v.: Bibliograficheskii ukazatel’. Moscow-Leningrad, 1962.

N. I. AZAROVA