Vasiliy Yan

Vasily Yan (Vasily Grigoryevich Yanchevetsky) was a Russian Soviet writer, publicist, poet and playwright, screenwriter, and teacher. He was the author of historical novels. He was the younger brother of the journalist and orientalist Dmitry Yanchevetsky.

Vasily Grigoryevich was born on December 23, 1874 (January 4, 1875, New Style) in Kyiv into the family of a teacher of Greek and Latin. The future writer was the second child in the family of Grigory Andreyevich Yanchevetsky, a teacher of classical philology at the First Kyiv Gymnasium, and Varvara Pompeyevna Magerovskaya, a noblewoman engaged in journalism. Their marriage drew justified criticism from the Magerovsky family: a girl from an illustrious lineage married a commoner teacher. Varvara Pompeyevna’s mother cursed the young couple, but later, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, forgave them and gave them houses on Khreshchatyk.

In 1876 the Yanchevetskys moved to the Baltic coast and settled in Riga, where Grigory Andreyevich obtained a post teaching Greek at the Alexander Gymnasium. Their mother, Varvara Pompeyevna, knew Ukrainian folklore well and was the first to introduce the future writer to the world of fairy tales. Their father read to Vasily and his older brother Dmitry the Odyssey in his own translation. In 1882 Grigory Andreyevich was appointed inspector of the gymnasium, where he later served as director; in 1884 he was promoted to the rank of privy councillor, and in 1886 he was appointed director of the Revel Gymnasium. The father was highly valued by the local authorities — the governor of Estonia, Prince Shakhovskoy, entrusted the elder Yanchevetsky with carrying out a reform of the gymnasiums in the province. He also helped Vera Pompeyevna organize the editorial office of the new newspaper Revel News.

The parents encouraged the brothers’ interest in literature and French wrestling. Later Dmitry enrolled in the Faculty of Oriental Languages, while Vasily entered the Faculty of History and Philology of Imperial St. Petersburg University. Even in the dormitory the brothers did not part —