Daniil Andreev

Daniil Leonidovich Andreev was a Russian poet, writer, philosopher, and mystical visionary.

Daniil Andreev was born on 20 October (2 November, New Style) 1906 in Berlin, into the family of the writer Leonid Andreev. Daniil’s mother, Aleksandra Mikhailovna Veligorskaya, died shortly after giving birth. His grief-stricken father refused to see the child, and Daniil was raised by Aleksandra Mikhailovna’s sister, Elizaveta Mikhailovna Dobrova. The boy grew up in Moscow and began writing poetry and prose from childhood, already then with elements of mysticism and fantasy. He studied at the private Repman Gymnasium (after the 1917 Revolution it was transformed into a secondary school). He entered the Higher Literary Courses and married. After completing the courses, he worked as a typeface artist while continuing to write works that he had no hope of publishing under Soviet rule.

In 1937 he met his future second wife, Alla Aleksandrovna.

In 1942 he was mobilized and, because of his health, was declared unfit for combat service. He served in the 196th Rifle Division, in the burial detail, and then as a medic in a medical battalion. After the war he worked in Moscow.

On 21 April 1947 he was arrested by state security organs on charges of anti-Soviet agitation, creating an anti-Soviet group, and preparing an attempt on Stalin’s life. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He passed through Vladimir Prison. Alla Aleksandrovna was also arrested and sent to a camp in Mordovia. In 1954, as a result of a review of the case, the prison term was reduced to 10 years. In April 1957 Daniil Andreev, already seriously ill, was released.

Daniil Andreev died in Moscow on 30 March 1959.