Mei, Lev Alexandrovich (1822-1862): Minor poet.
Meyerhold, Vsevolod Emilievich (1874-1940): Actor and producer. Prior to the Revolution he was associated with the Moscow Art Theater, and the Maryinski and Alexandrinski theaters in St. Petersburg. Joined the Communist Party in 1918. He directed the Theater of the Revolution until 1924, and then created his own theater based on his "bio-mechanical" system of acting. His theater was closed in 1938. Arrested in 1939 (after a defiant public refusal to accept the doctrine of "socialist realism" in art), he died in prison in 1940. Though he has now been rehabilitated as a person, there is still considerable opposition to his innovations in stagecraft.
Migai, Sergei Ivanovich (1888-1959): Singer of the Bolshoi Theater.
Mikhoels (Vovsi), Solomon Mikhailovich (1890-1948): Foremost Yiddish actor and director. Creator of the State Jewish Theater in Moscow, which was closed down in 1949 during an officially inspired campaign of anti-Semitism. The previous year Pravda had published a fulsome obituary of Mikhoels after his "sudden death." At the time rumors were circulated that he had been run over by a drunken truck driver, but it is now known that he was killed by the secret police on Stalin's orders (see Svetlana Alliluyeva: Only One Year). Evidently Stalin needed to get him out of the way before proceeding to the destruction of all Yiddish cultural facilities. His brother, Vovsi, was one of the doctors accused in 1952 of trying to assassinate Soviet leaders by medical malpractice.
Mikoyan, Anastas lvanovich (1895- ): Member of the Politburo from 1935 and chairman of the Supreme Soviet, 1964-67.
Mirbach, Wilhelm (Count von Mirbach-Harff) (1871-1918): German ambassador to Soviet Russia after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty in 1918. He was assassinated by Bliumkin and Nikolai Andreyev, Left Social-Revolutionaries, on July 6,1918.
Mirski, Dmitri Petrovich (Prince Sviatopolk-Mirski) (1890-1939?): Gifted literary historian and critic who lectured at London University, 1922-32. His History of Russian Literature remains the best work of its kind in English. After joining the British Communist Party, he returned to Russia in 1932, became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers, published articles on literature and gave talks on Moscow radio. He was arrested during the purges and died in a forced-labor camp.
Molotov (Scriabin), Viacheslav Mikhailovich (1890- ): Old Bolshevik, Soviet Foreign Minister, 1939-56. Despite his devotion to Stalin, he is believed to have been out of favor in 1936 and again in 1953 (in 1948 his wife was arrested and spent some years in a camp). Molotov was finally removed from power by Khrushchev in 1957 as a member of the so-called "anti-Party group." He now lives in retirement in Moscow.
Morozov, Alexander Antonovich (1906- ): Literary scholar and translator.
Morozov, Pavel ("Pavlik") (1918-1932): Village boy who during collectivization denounced his father as a person of "kulak" sympathies. His father was shot and Pavel was then himself killed by a group of peasants led by his uncle. During the Stalin years Pavlik Morozov was held up tc Soviet youth as a model who did not hesitate to denounce his father in the interests of the State. Books and poems were written about him, and there were many statues of him in public places.
Mravian, Askanaz Artemievich (1886-1929): Armenian revolutionary and literary figure. A Bolshevik from 1905, he was Armenian Commissar of Foreign Affairs, 1920-21, and was appointed Commissar of Education in 1923. He wrote articles about Armenian classical authors.
Narbut, Vladimir lvanovich (1888-1944): Minor Acmeist poet who joined the Bolsheviks, but was expelled from the Party in 1928. He was editor-in-chief of the State publishing concern Land and Factory
(ZDF). Arrested during the purges, he has now been posthumously rehabilitated. Sima Narbut was his wife.
Nesterov, Mikhail Vasilievich (1862-1942): Religious painter who adapted to the Soviet regime.
Nikulin, Lev Veniaminovich (1891-1967): Soviet novelist suspected of having denounced other Soviet writers, notably Isaac Babel.
Nilender, Vladimir Ottonovich (1883-1965): Poet and translator associated with the Symbolists.
Orlov, Vladimir Nikolayevich (1908- ): Literary scholar; editor-in- chief of Poets' Library.
Oshanin, Lev Ivanovich (1912- ): Soviet poet and playwright.
Otsup, Nikolai Avdeyevich (1894-1958): Acmeist poet. In 1923 he emigrated to Paris.
Parnok: a character in Mandelstam's "Egyptian Stamp" who personifies the raznochinets ("upstart intellectual") and is the author's "double." In real life the prototype of Parnok was a minor poet called Valentin Yakovlevich Parnakh who lived in Paris in the early 1920's. From a portrait of him by Picasso it is clear that he bore a striking physical resemblance to Mandelstam. In 1926 Parnakh published an article in the American Jewish Menorah Journal in which he wrote about Mandelstam (as well as Pasternak and others).
Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich (1890-1960): Poet and author of the novel Dr. "Zhivago.
Paustovski, Konstantin Georgievich (1892-1968): Novelist and playwright. His memoirs have been translated into English under the title Story of a Life. His speech in defense of Dudintsev's novel Not by Bread Alone (October 22, 1956) was a courageous indictment of bureaucracy and philistinism.
Pavlenko, Peter Andreyevich (1899-1951): Highly orthodox Soviet novelist who was awarded a Stalin Prize for his violently anti-Western Happiness (1947). He wrote the scenario for the film Alexander Nevski.
Peshkova, Ekaterina Pavlovna (1876-1965): Legal wife of Maxim Gorki, from whom she was amicably separated. After the Revolution she founded the "Political Red Cross," a relief organization for political prisoners of all types. Because of Gorki's immense prestige it was tolerated by the Soviet secret police and allowed to exist in increasingly nominal fashion until it was closed down in 1939. Its premises were within a stone's throw of the Lubianka, the headquaters of the secret police in Moscow.
Petliura, Semion Vasilievich (1879-1926): Head of the nationalist anti- Bolshevik Ukrainian government (the Directory), 1918-20. He was assassinated in Paris in 1926.
Petrov (Kateyev), Evgeni Petrovich (1903-1942): Brother of Valentin Katayev; co-author with Ilf (Ilia Fainzilberg) of The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf, comic novels which still enjoy immense popularity in the Soviet Union. The two novels are about a confidence
trickster from Odessa, Ostap Bender, and contain many daring satirical sketches of life in the Soviet Union during NEP.
Piast (Pestovski), Vladimir Alexeyevich (1886-1940): Poet and translator. A friend of Alexander Blok.