{{Short description|Russian writer (1875–1954)}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2020}} '''Vasily Yan''' ({{langx|ru|Василий Ян}}; {{OldStyleDateDY|4 January|1875|23 December 1874}}, [[Kyiv|Kiev]], [[Russian Empire]] – August 5, 1954, [[Zvenigorod]], [[Moscow Oblast]]), also spelled "Vassily Yan" (or "Ian") or just "V. Yan", was the pen name of '''Vasily Grigoryevich Yanchevetsky''' ({{langx|ru|Василий Григорьевич Янчевецкий}}), a Russian and Soviet writer, author of famous historic novels.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-mongol-conquests-in-the-novels-of-vasily-yan/9783838210872| title=The Mongol Conquests in the Novels of Vasily Yan| date=October 2017|publisher=Columbia University Press| isbn=9783838210872|access-date=2020-09-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.russkije.lv/en/lib/read/vasily-yan.html| title=Vasily Yan|publisher=Russian of Latvia|access-date=2020-09-08}}</ref>
==Biography== Born in Kiev to a family of teachers, his father was from an Orthodox Christian priests family, who had graduated from seminary and taught Latin and Greek at the University Gymnasium.
In 1897, Yan graduated from the historical and philological faculty of [[St. Petersburg University]]. Impressions of a two-year tour of Russia form the backbone of his book ''Notes of a Pedestrian'' (1901). In 1901–1904 he served as inspector of wells in [[Turkestan]], where he studied Oriental languages and the lives of local people. During the [[Russian-Japanese war]], he was a military correspondent for the [[Information Telegraph Agency of Russia|St. Petersburg News Agency (SPA)]]. In 1906–1913, he taught Latin at the first Petersburg Gymnasium. As an organizer of the scouts he met with Colonel [[Robert Baden-Powell]], who came to Russia in 1910.
In the autumn of 1910 Vasily Yan introduced the magazine ''Pupil''. In 1913, he worked as a correspondent in [[Turkey]] for SPA. In 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, he became SPA's military correspondent in [[Romania]]. In 1918–1919 he worked in the press service of [[Aleksandr Kolchak]] in Siberia. After the establishment of Soviet power in [[Achinsk]] he worked as a teacher, correspondent and director of schools in Uryanhae ([[Tuva]]). He then became the editor of the leading newspaper ''The Power of labour'' in Minusinsk. That was when he first adopted the pseudonym Yan. In 1923, he moved to Moscow.
== Works == *"Notes of a Pedestrian", 1901 *story "Story of Captain", 1907 *story "Soul", 1910 *"Raising of the Übermensch", 1910 *"What You Need to do for the Children of St. Petersburg", 1911 *novel "The Afghan Emerald" *story "[[:ru:Финикийский корабль|Phoenician Ship]]", 1931 *story "[[:ru:Огни на курганах (повесть)|The Lights at Barrows]]", 1932 *story "Spartacus", 1933 *story "Hammermen", 1933 *''[[The Mongol Invasion (trilogy)|The Mongol Invasion]]'' (trilogy): **story "[[Genghis Khan]]", 1939 (the USSR State Prize in 1942) **story "[[Batu Khan|Baty]]", 1942 **story "To Last Sea", published 1955 *"Kids Commander" *"The Mystery of Lake Kara-Standard" *"[[Yermak Timofeyevich|Yermak]]'s Campaign" *"On the Wings of Courage" *"Melters of the Vandzh" *"In the Sands of the Karakum"
Falsification of the novel "Ermak's Campaign" was carried out in 2011 by "[[:ru:Лениздат|Leningrad publishing house]]" (ЛЕНИЗДАТ). In fact this novel is [[Lidia Charskaya|Lydia Charskaya's]] "Formidable squad" (Грозная дружина) published in 1909. The circulation of the fake "Lenizdat" was only 7050 copies. Since the falsification was successful, it is referred to as the real work of Vasily Yan.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Vasily}} [[Category:Writers from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:Recipients of the Stalin Prize]] [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1954 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Kyiv]] [[Category:Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery]] [[Category:Soviet writers]]