Mark Aldanov facts for kids

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

Mark Aldanov (born Mark Alexandrovich Landau) was a famous Russian writer and critic. He was born in 1888 or 1889 and passed away in 1957. He was especially known for his exciting historical novels.

Aldanov became popular very quickly. His first book was about Vladimir Lenin and was translated into many languages. He also wrote a series of novels that explored the reasons behind the Russian Revolution. Another set of his novels focused on the Napoleonic Wars. Overall, he wrote 16 major books and many articles. He was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature thirteen times!

Biography of Mark Aldanov

Mark Landau, who later used the name Aldanov, was born in Kiev. His family was wealthy, and his father was a successful industrialist. Mark studied at Kiev University, where he completed degrees in physics, mathematics, and law. He even published important research papers in chemistry.

In 1919, he moved to France. This is called emigrating when someone leaves their home country to live in another. He also lived in Berlin from 1922 to 1924. Later, from 1941 to 1946, he lived in the United States.

Ivan Bunin, who was the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, thought Aldanov was a great writer. Bunin nominated Aldanov for the Nobel Prize six times!

Mark Aldanov died in Nice, France. After he passed away, many of his letters were published. He had written to famous people like Vladimir Nabokov and Ivan Bunin.

Novy Zhurnal (New Journal)

In 1942, while living in New York, Aldanov helped start a magazine called Novy Zhurnal. This means "New Journal" in Russian. He created it with his friend and fellow writer, Mikhail Tsetlin.

They both worked as Editors-in-Chief until November 1945. Novy Zhurnal is considered the oldest Russian-language literary magazine still being printed outside of Russia. Many famous Russian writers who lived outside Russia, like Vladimir Nabokov and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote for this journal.

The Aldanov Literary Prize

Since 2007, Novy Zhurnal has given out a special award. It's called The Aldanov Literary Prize. This prize is given to the best short novel or novella written by a Russian-language writer who lives outside of Russia.