Alexander Fyodorov-Davydov
Alexander Alexandrovich Fyodorov-Davydov was a Russian children's writer, translator, editor and publisher.
Career
Having debuted with his first book in 1895, he authored in all 125 books and brochures for children, as well as a wealth of essays, sketches and articles. He translated into Russian the fairytales by Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen and in 1908 published an acclaimed compilation of Russian mystical folklore.Fyodorov-Davydov edited and published three journals for children: Delo i Potekha, Putevodny Ogonyok and Ogonyok, the first ever Russian magazine addressed to the readership of four to eight years of age. Among the authors he's managed to engage in these publications were Anton Chekhov, Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak, Pavel Zasodimsky, Konstantin Stanyukovich and Kazimir Barantsevich. He also authored some popular historical essays, some of which enjoyed popular separate editions. In 1918—1923 Fyodorov-Davydov was the head of the Svetlyachok publishing house.
After the October Revolution, Fyodorov-Davydov wrote up to forty books for young children and collaborated with the magazine Murzilka. His best post-revolutionary work is The Pranks of Pus-karapuz. A. A. Fyodorov-Davydov’s book The Adventures of Murzilka, the Remarkably Quick Little Dog went through several editions in the late 1920s.
Personal Life and Death
He died in 1936 and was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery.The art scholar Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov was his son. German Fedorov-Davydov, a Soviet historian and archeologist was his grandson.