Apréleva, Elena Ivanovna (1846–1923)
Apréleva, Elena Ivanovna (1846–1923)
Russian author. Name variations: Apreleva; (pseudonym) E. Ardov. Born in 1846 in St. Petersburg, Russia; died in 1923 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia; married.
Author of short fiction and novels, including Guilty but Guiltless (1877) and Quick Sketches (1893).
Elena Apréleva was born in 1846 to a Greek mother and a French geodesist (a technique of applied math to determine size, shape, and properties of the earth) in the Russian army, who raised their daughter in an affluent and cultivated St. Petersburg home. In her early 20s, Apréleva began a publishing career, producing books for children. Encouraged by author Ivan Turgenev, who was then experiencing his greatest writing period, Apréleva turned to fiction for adults in the 1870s. Under the pseudonym E. Ardov, her first novel and short story were both published in 1877; over the years, these were followed by a number of short, moralistic, heavily detailed stories. In 1890, Apréleva moved with her husband to Central Asia, which would be her home until her death. Continuing her writing, in 1893 she saw her stories collected in Quick Sketches. Apréleva died in 1923 while visiting Belgrade.
Crista Martin , Boston, Massachusetts