Chapygin A.P. (1870-1937), writer

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CHAPYGIN Alexey Pavlovich (1870-1937, Leningrad), writer. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1883, worked as an apprentice in painting shops. He had little formal education. His literary debut was represented by his sketch called The Sighted published in Novaya Illyustratsiya journal in 1903. Chapygin was close to the symbolist literary groups, and attended Ivanov's Wednesdays. He was largely influenced by M. Gorky whom he met in 1915. He worked at the Petrograd department of the Proletarian Cultural and Educational Organisation (Proletkult), wrote for The Sail Publishing House and contributed to Petrograd periodicals. Chapygin succeeded in conveying the naturalistic scenes from the life of St. Petersburg social lower classes in his book The Unsociable (1913) etc.; his impressions from St. Petersburg laid in the foundation of his autobiographical trilogy My Life (1929), By Roads and Paths (1931), The Fragment of the Same Mirror (1933; published in extracts). The best-known works of Chapygin, historical novel Razin Stepan (1925-27) and Idle People (1934-37), were written in Leningrad. In the 1890s he lived at 48 Third Line of Vasilievsky Island, and 23 Maly Avenue of Vasilievsky Island; in 1923 he lived at 66 Ninth Line of Vasilievsky Island; in 1924-37 he resided at 19 Literatorov Street (memorial plaque). He was buried at Literatorskie Mostki (the tombstone was made by L.A. Dietrich). A street was renamed after him in 1939 (formerly Vologodskaya Street).

References: Семенов В. С. Алексей Чапыгин. М., 1974; Полянская М. И. "Город стал моей второй родиной..." // "...Одним дыханьем с Ленинградом...": Ленинград в жизни и творчестве сов. писателей. Л., 1989. С. 151-168.

D. N. Cherdakov. Chapygin Alexey Pavlovich
Dietrich Leopold Avgustovich
Gorky Maxim (Alexey Maximovich Peshkov)
3d Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 48
9th Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 66
Chapygina St./Saint Petersburg, city
Literatorov St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 19
Maly Vasilievsky Island Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 23
Семенов В. С. Алексей Чапыгин. М., 1974 Ivanov's Wednesdays, Literary and Artistic Meetings
Literatorskie (Literary) Mostki, the museum-necropolis