Elena Ivanovna Apréleva

Elena Ivanovna Apréleva (née Blaramberg; 24 February 1846 — 4 December 1923), also known by her pseudonym E. Ardov, was a Russian prose writer, memoirist, playwright, and children's writer.[1]

Early life and education

Apréleva was born to her Belgian father, who served as a general in the Russian army, and her Greek mother.[2] In 1854, her parents moved Elena and her two brothers from Orenburg to St. Petersburg.[1] There, Apréleva was educated by tutors, and she passed the government examination required to become a teacher.[2] In 1872, Apréleva attended the University of Geneva to pursue a degree, as higher education was denied to women in Russia. Ultimately, she never completed her studies due to health problems.[2]

Writing career

Apréleva's works were mostly concerned with contemporary society and pedagogy.[1] She began publishing in 1868, primarily in historical and educational journals.[1] In 1871, she became an editor of Family and School, a children's magazine.[2] Apréleva began writing fiction under the mentorship of Ivan Turgenev.[1] She later created her pseudonym as an anagram of Turgenev's beloved, opera singer Pauline Viardot.[1]

Apréleva moved to Central Asia from 1889–1906, where she continued to write.[2] She wrote approximately sixty short stories and articles for the Moscow-based newspaper Russian Gazette.[2] Many of these ethnographic descriptions of Central Asian and Crimean peoples conveyed these cultures to Russian readers.[2]

Personal life

Apréleva was the model for Ilya Repin's portrait of Sofia Alekseevna, Peter the Great's sister and regent.[1] She married P.B. Aprélev in the 1870s, and died in Yugoslavia in 1923.[1]

Works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ledkovskaia-Astman, Marina; Rosenthal, Charlotte; Fleming Zirin, Mary (1994). Dictionary of Russian Women Writers. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313262659.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wilson, Katharina (1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Taylor & Francis. p. 48. ISBN 0824085477.
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