Mark Aldanov

Mark Aldanov
Born	Landau 1888/89 Kiev, Russian Empire
Died	25 February 1957 Nice, France
Nationality	Russian
Genre	Biography, fiction, criticism, essays

Mark Aldanov (Russian: Марк Алда́нов) (Mark Alexandrovich Landau) (Russian: Марк Алекса́ндрович Ланда́у) (7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1886, 1888, or 1889 – 25 February 1957) was a Russian writer and critic, known for his historical novels. He was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature thirteen times.

Mark Landau (Aldanov) was born in Kiev in the family of a rich Jewish industrialist. He graduated the physical-mathematical and law departments of Kiev University. He published serious research papers in chemistry. In 1919 he emigrated to France. During 1922-1924 he lived in Berlin and during 1941-1946, in the United States.

Aldanov's first book about Vladimir Lenin, translated into several languages, immediately gained him popularity. Then followed a trilogy of novels attempting to trace the roots of the Russian Revolution. He also wrote a tetralogy of novels about Napoleonic wars. All in all, he published 16 larger literary works and a great number of articles and essays.

Ivan Bunin, the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, nominated Aldanov for Nobel Prize a total of six times - in 1938, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1950.

Mark Aldanov died in Nice, France. His extensive correspondence with Vladimir Nabokov, Ivan Bunin, Alexander Kerensky and other emigre celebrities was published posthumously.

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