GORKY, Maxim, pen name of Alexei Maximovitch Pyeshkoff, Russian author: b. 14 March 1868. He was orphaned at nine, ran away and served on a Volga River steamer, and was successively a painter of ikons, scullery boy, gardener, watchman, baker, porter, vendor of apples and lawyer's clerk. At 19 in a fit of despair he attempted to commit suicide. In 1891 he wandered on foot in the company of tramps all over South Russia — the class he was afterward to depict so compellingly in his short stories. In 1892 his first story, 'Makar Chudra,) appeared in an obscure Caucasian journal; and the discerning at once observed that a new force had arisen in Russian literature. In 1906 he made an extended tour over Europe, and crossed to the United States, where on account of his bringing with him a woman who was not his wife he was subjected to a good deal of criticism and ostracized, and he left the country. In full sympathy with Russian revolu tionary propaganda, was twice arrested and banished, and resided for a number of years on the island of Capri. He was permitted to return to Saint Petersburg in 1914, and joined the Russian army. He was associated with the movement that led to the dethronement of the Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. The varied scenes
and persons he saw in his vagabond life among the lowest of the population furnished him with rich material for his literary work, in which he takes upon himself to interpret /a misere as it is in western and southwestern Europe. His favorite type is the social rebel in full revolt against society. His style is like a flash-light revealing features of debased or tragic character with vivid realism, but his view of his subject is tinged with melancholy pessimism. He is great in the short story, but not so successful in his longer works. His plays abound in strong situations, but they are lacking in dramatic cohesion. Among English translations of his works may be mentioned the following: 'The Oreoff Couple' and 'Foma GordyeeP (1901) ; 'Twenty-six and One' and 'Tales from Gorky' (1902) ; 'Heartache, and The Old Woman IzerofeP (1905) ; 'The In dividualists' (1906) ; 'Mother' (1907) ; 'The Spy' (1908) ; Confession' (1910); 'My Childhood' (1915) ; 'In the World' (1917), and the dramas 'The Smug Citizen,' and 'A Night's Lodging.' See NIGHT'S Loncmc.