Stories

Veniamin Alexandrovich Kaverin was born on April 6 (19), 1902, in Pskov; he died on May 2, 1989, in Moscow. His real surname was Zilber; his literary pseudonym was taken in honor of Pyotr Pavlovich Kaverin—a hussar, brawler-duelist, and riotous reveler in whose escapades the young Pushkin often took part. In 1912 Kaverin entered the Pskov gymnasium, where he studied for 6 years. In 1919 he moved to Moscow, finished secondary school there, and entered the university’s Faculty of History and Philology. He was fond of writing poetry, but after harsh reviews by O. E. Mandelstam and V. B. Shklovsky, he abandoned his versification experiments. An important role in the writer’s creative formation was played by his participation in the literary group “The Serapion Brothers,” whose members included Vsev. Ivanov, M. Zoshchenko, K. Fedin, and others. In 1922 his first short story was published; in the same year Kaverin married L. N. Tynyanova (1902-1984), later a children’s writer. In 1923 Kaverin’s first collection of stories, “Masters and Apprentices,” was published; in 1925, the novella “The End of Khaza”; and in 1931, the novel “The Unknown Artist.”