OSTROVSKI, As-trtesk4. ALEXANDER NIKOLA YEVITell (1823-86). A Russian dramatist. lie was horn in :Moscow. In 1843 he accepted a position in the Commercial Court, and to this is largely due his minute knowledge of tiler pantile scheming and fraud, which play such an important part in his comedies. After making his d(-but with Pictures of Family Happiness in 1847, he attracted considerable attention by excerpts from his comedy The Can Settle with Our Own People, and left his post for literature. The complete work produced a sensation, and forty-three comedies followed. Yet, for many reasons. Ostrovski felt the pinch of need until shortly before his death, and, while idolized at Moscow, lie found scant recognition at Saint Petersburg. Just before his death he was ap pointed director of the Moscow theatres. The dream of his life--to be at the head of a school for dramatic acting—was realized; but the in ordinate zeal with which he threw himself into the work wrecked his constitution. Among his
dramas the best are: Do Not Get into Somebody Else's sled ; Porerty is Not a Fault ; The Forest; A Profitable Position; The Guiltless Culprits; and Tice Htornt (1860). An English translation by Constance Storm of the last-named play, gen erally considered his masterpiece, was given in the spring of 1900 at the Carnegie Lyceum, New York, by an independent company. His plays embrace all types of the middle classes. These he was able to draw with striking accuracy, be cause of his perfect objectivity. His works were published in ten volumes (9th ed., Saint Peters burg, 1885), and with a biography by A. Nos (Moscow. 1890; 10th ed., 1896-97). His trans lations (2 vols., Saint Petersburg, 1886) are masterpieces of their kind, and especially note worthy among them is Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Several plays of his have been translated into French by Durand Grenville.