AMPHITHEATROV Alexander Valentinovich [1862-1923] - feuilletonist and fiction writer. A newspaper clipping, a fragment of a conversation overheard by chance, a scandal in Moscow aristocratic circles inspire him, serving as material for feuilletons, sometimes very poignant. One of these, “Lords of the Deceptions,” i.e., the Romanovs, caused A.’s exile to Minusinsk [1902]. The feuilleton character colors all of A.’s work. He writes poetry, dramas, critical articles and novels - about the artist Dalmatov and about Archpriest Avvakum, about Nero (“The Beast from the Abyss”), about the life and customs of the late 19th century. (novels “The Eighties” and “The Nineties”), about the women’s issue and prostitution (“Victoria Pavlovna” and “Marya Luseva”) - always verbose and almost always superficial. A. is attracted by public chronicles with a broad coverage of the era. From him we find works from the era of serfdom ("Princess"), from the life of the theater ("Twilight of the Gods"), on occult themes (the novel "Fire Flower"). “Running through life” - this is how one of the critics characterizes A.’s work. Most of A.'s books are a collection of old and new feuilletons. A.'s boulevard techniques contributed to his wide popularity, especially among the petty-bourgeois strata. The portraiture of the figures gives his works the interest of curious socio-historical documents.