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Mikhail Bulgakov

Born

in Kyiv, Russian Empire

May 15, 1891

Died

March 10, 1940

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories, Memoir

Influences

Nikolai Gogol, Anton Chekov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Wolfgang ...more

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Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kyiv, Russian Empire (today part of modern Ukraine) on 3/15 May 1891. He studied and briefly practised medicine and, after indigent wanderings through revolutionary Russia and the Caucasus, he settled in Moscow in 1921. His sympathetic portrayal of White characters in his stories, in the plays The Days of the Turbins (The White Guard), which enjoyed great success at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1926, and Flight (1927), and his satirical treatment of the officials of the New Economic Plan, led to growing criticism, which became violent after the play, The Purple Island. His later works treat the subject of the artist and the tyrant under the guise of historical characters, with plays such as Molière, staged in 1936, Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kyiv, Russian Empire (today part of modern Ukraine) on 3/15 May 1891. He studied and briefly practised medicine and, after indigent wanderings through revolutionary Russia and the Caucasus, he settled in Moscow in 1921. His sympathetic portrayal of White characters in his stories, in the plays The Days of the Turbins (The White Guard), which enjoyed great success at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1926, and Flight (1927), and his satirical treatment of the officials of the New Economic Plan, led to growing criticism, which became violent after the play, The Purple Island. His later works treat the subject of the artist and the tyrant under the guise of historical characters, with plays such as Molière, staged in 1936, Don Quixote, staged in 1940, and Pushkin, staged in 1943. He also wrote a brilliant biography, highly original in form, of his literary hero, Molière, but The Master and Margarita, a fantasy novel about the devil and his henchmen set in modern Moscow, is generally considered his masterpiece. Fame, at home and abroad, was not to come until a quarter of a century after his death in Moscow in 1940.

Detailed Version

Mikhaíl Afanasyevich Bulgakov (Russian: Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков) was the first of six children in the family of a theology professor. His family belonged to the intellectual elite of Kyiv. Bulgakov and his brothers took part in the demonstration commemorating the death of Leo Tolstoy. Bulgakov later graduated with honors from the Medical School of Kyiv University in 1915. He married his classmate Tatiana Lappa, who became his assistant at surgeries and in his doctor's office. He practiced medicine, specializing in venereal and other infectious diseases, from 1915 to 1919 (he later wrote about the experience in "Notes of a Young Doctor.")

He joined the anti-communist White Army during the Russian Civil War. After the Civil War, he tried (unsuccesfully) to emigrate from Russia to reunite with his brother in Paris. Several times he was almost killed by opposing forces on both sides of the Russian Civil War, but soldiers needed doctors, so Bulgakov was left alive. He provided medical help to the Chehchens, Caucasians, Cossacs, Russians, the Whites, and the Reds.

In 1921, Bulgakov moved to Moscow. There he became a writer and became friends with Valentin Katayev, Yuri Olesha, Ilya Ilf, Yevgeni Petrov, and Konstantin Paustovsky. Later, he met Mikhail Zoschenko, Anna Akhmatova, Viktor Ardov, Sergei Mikhalkov, and Kornei Chukovsky. Bulgakov's plays at the Moscow Art Theatre were directed by Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.

Bugakov's own way of life and his witty criticism of the ugly realities of life in the Soviet Union caused him much trouble. His story "Heart of a Dog" (1925) is a bitter satire about the loss of civilized values in Russia under the Soviet system. Soon after, Bulgakov was interrogated by the Soviet secret service, OGPU. After interrogations, his personal diary and several unfinished works were confiscated by the secret service. His plays were banned in all theaters, which terminated his income. Destitute, he wrote to his brother in Paris about his terrible life and poverty in Moscow. Bulgakov distanced himself from the Proletariat Writer's Union because he refused to write about the peasants and proletariat. He adapted "Dead Souls" by Nikolai Gogol for the stage; it became a success but was soon banned.

He took a risk and wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin with an ultimatum: "Let me out of the Soviet Union, or restore my work at the theaters." On the 18th of April of 1930, Bulgakov received a telephone call from Joseph Stalin. The dictator told the writer to fill an employment application at the Moscow Art Theater. Gradually, Bulgakov's plays were back in the repertoire of the Moscow Art Theatre. But most other theatres were in fear and did not stage any of th ...more

Combine Editions
Mikhail Bulgakov’s books

Average rating: 4.22 · 518,756 ratings · 31,941 reviews · 636 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Master and Margarita 4.29 avg rating — 369,954 ratings — published 1967 — 1216 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heart of a Dog 4.10 avg rating — 62,444 ratings — published 1925 — 370 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Country Doctor's Notebook 4.29 avg rating — 21,747 ratings — published 1925 — 142 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The White Guard 4.01 avg rating — 15,016 ratings — published 1924 — 234 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov, Hugh Aplin (Translator), Tuğba Bolat (Translator) 3.75 avg rating — 10,971 ratings — published 1923 — 127 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Morphine 4.06 avg rating — 9,951 ratings — published 1926 — 71 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Black Snow 3.72 avg rating — 4,393 ratings — published 1965 — 114 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Diaboliad 3.61 avg rating — 4,458 ratings — published 1925 — 81 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Мастер и Маргарита / Собачье сердце by Mikhail Bulgakov, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков 4.69 avg rating — 2,697 ratings — published 1967 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Морфий. Записки юного врача by Mikhail Bulgakov, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков 4.52 avg rating — 1,761 ratings — published 1926 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Polls

June 2016 New School Classic Poll

1966, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, 407 pages

38 votes, 18.0%

1996, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, 835 pages

35 votes, 16.6%

1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, 246 pages

22 votes, 10.4%

1913, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, 134 pages

19 votes, 9.0%

1955, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, 307 pages

19 votes, 9.0%

1930, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, 267 pages

17 votes, 8.1%

1982, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, 448 pages

12 votes, 5.7%

1995, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, 334 pages

11 votes, 5.2%

1940, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, 368 pages

9 votes, 4.3%

1997, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, 424 pages

7 votes, 3.3%

1988, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, 649 pages

6 votes, 2.8%

1971, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, 569 pages

5 votes, 2.4%

1957, The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas, 200 pages

4 votes, 1.9%

1958, Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, 220 pages

4 votes, 1.9%

1987, Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif, 627 pages

3 votes, 1.4%

211 total votes

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