# Elena Apreleva > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elena_Apreleva > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elena_Apreleva.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Apreleva > Source revision: 1354131578 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Russian writer (1846–1923), editor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Elena Apreleva | image = GRW565 Apreleva.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Elena Ivanovna Blaramberg | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1846|2|24}} | birth_place = [Orenburg](/source/Orenburg), [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire) | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1923|12|4|1846|2|24}} | death_place = [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade), [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia) | occupation = writer, translator, pedagogue | years_active = | spouse = Pyotr Alexeyevich Aprelev (1841–1906) | website = | awards = }} '''Elena Ivanovna Apréleva''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Елена Ивановна Апрелева}}, née Blaramberg; 24 February 1846 – 4 December 1923), also known by her pseudonym '''E. Ardov''', was a Russian prose writer, memoirist, playwright, and [children's writer](/source/Children's_literature).{{cite book|last1=Ledkovskaia-Astman|first1=Marina|last2=Rosenthal|first2=Charlotte|last3=Fleming Zirin|first3=Mary|title=Dictionary of Russian Women Writers|date=1994|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313262659}} == Early life and education == Elena Blaramberg was born in [Orenburg](/source/Orenburg) to her Belgian father, a military geodesist Ivan Fyodorovich Blaramberg, who served as a general in the [Russian army](/source/Imperial_Russian_Army), and her Greek mother Elena Pavlovna, née Mavromikhali. In 1854, her parents moved Elena and her two brothers from Orenburg to [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg). There, she was educated by tutors, and passed the government examination required to become a teacher.{{Cite book|title=An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers|last=Wilson|first=Katharina|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1991|isbn=0824085477|pages=48}}[http://granates.ru/dicgranat/item/f00/s10/e0010350/index.shtml Апрелева - Бларамберг] at the Granat Institute Encyclopedic Dictionary // Энциклопедический словарь Русского библиографического института Гранат. Том 11/Изд. 7. — М.: Т-ва 'Бр. А. и И. Гранатъ и Ко' — 1911. In 1870 Blaramberg compiled and edited the book ''Games and Lessons for Children''. In 1871, along with Yulian Simashko, she started to publish and edit the journal ''[Semya i Shkola](/source/Semya_i_Shkola)'', then became the head of its Children's Literature section. She edited the first 7 issues of the journal, and published there her ''Ocherki Sibiri'' (Siberian Sketches).[http://www.rulex.ru/01010406.htm Апрелева Елена Ивановна (псевдоним Ардов)] at the Russian Biographical Dictionary In 1872, Apréleva attended the [University of Geneva](/source/University_of_Geneva) to pursue a degree, as higher education was denied to women in Russia. Ultimately, she never completed her studies due to health problems. == Writing career == Apreleva's works were mostly concerned with contemporary society and pedagogy. She began publishing in 1868, primarily in historical and educational journals. In 1876 she left Russia and settled in Paris where, under the mentorship of [Ivan Turgenev](/source/Ivan_Turgenev) she completed ''Guilty without Guilt'' (Без вины виноватые), her debut short novel which first appeared in ''[Vestnik Evropy](/source/Vestnik_Evropy)'' in 1877. She later created her pseudonym as an anagram of Turgenev's beloved, opera singer [Pauline Viardot](/source/Pauline_Viardot).[https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/biograf2/614 Elena Apreleva] at Биографический словарь. 2000 / dic.academic.ru More novels and novelettes followed, including ''Vasyuta'', ''Little Countess'', ''Timophey and Anna'', published originally in ''[Delo](/source/Delo_(magazine))'' and ''[Niva](/source/Niva_(magazine))'', as well as some journals for children. Apréleva moved to Central Asia from 1889 to 1906, where she continued to write. She wrote approximately sixty short stories and articles for the Moscow-based newspaper ''[Russkiye Vedomosti](/source/Russkiye_Vedomosti)'' which she was also a staff member. It was there that she published her ''Crimean Sketches'', the original 26 ''Central Asian Sketches'', as well as several memoirs, including those on Ivan Turgenev, [Alexey Pisemsky](/source/Alexey_Pisemsky) and [Nikolai Shelgunov](/source/Nikolai_Shelgunov). In 1898 her play ''Broken Shards'' (Битые черепки) was produced on stage the [Maly Theatre](/source/Maly_Theatre_(Moscow)) in Moscow. Many of her ethnographic descriptions of Central Asian and Crimean peoples conveyed these cultures to Russian readers. == Personal life == Apreleva was the model for [Ilya Repin](/source/Ilya_Repin)'s portrait of [Sofia Alekseevna](/source/Sofia_Alekseyevna_of_Russia), Peter the Great's sister and regent. In 1890 she married Pyotr Vasilyevich Aprelev, a state official with whom she spent some 15 years first in Central Asia, first [Samarkand](/source/Samarkand) and then [Tashkent](/source/Tashkent). In 1906 she witnessed her husband being murdered in his own Petrovskoye estate nearby [Sochi](/source/Sochi) by a group of [Imereti](/source/Imereti) revolutionaries. The traumatic effect of this horror was such that she all but lost her sight and stopped writing altogether. In 1920 Apreleva left Soviet Russia for [Serbia](/source/Serbia) via [Novorossiysk](/source/Novorossiysk). She died in [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade) on 4 December 1923 and is interred in the [Topčider](/source/Top%C4%8Dider) Cemetery.[https://www.russianemigrant.ru/book-author/apreleva-elena-ivanovna-ardov-e Apreleva's Biography] at: Ардов Е. (Апрелева Е.И.) «Средне-Азиатские очерки», — Шанхай: Типография Издательства «Слово», 1935 Elena and Pyotr Aprelevs had two sons, the navy officer and writer Boris Aprelev and colonel Georgy Aprelev (1889—1964) the director of the Russian Cadet Corps in [Versaille](/source/Versailles%2C_Yvelines).[https://hrono.ru/biograf/bio_a/aprelev.php Апрелев Георгий Петрович] at hrono.ru == Works == * ''Games and Pastimes for Children'', 1870 * ''Guilty without Guilt'', 1877 * ''Vasiuta'', 1881 * ''Rufina Kazdoeva'', 1892 * ''Broken Shards'', 1892 * ''Sketches'', 1893 * ''An Outstanding Woman'', 1894 * ''Torments of an Editor'', 1902 * ''Two Worlds'', 1909, a collection of short stories for children * ''Central Asian Sketches,'' 1935, published post-mortem in Shanghai == References == {{Reflist}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Apreleva, Elena Ivanovna}} Category:19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Category:People from Orenburg Category:1846 births Category:1923 deaths Category:People from the Russian Empire of Greek descent Category:19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire Category:19th-century memoirists from the Russian Empire Category:Children's writers from the Russian Empire --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elena Apreleva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Apreleva) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Apreleva?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.