Dictionary.net

A Russian military officer and historian; born at Kiev, Feb. 11, 1840. After a short course of study at the University of St. Petersburg, he entered a regiment of uhlans and subsequently was transferred to the Imperial Guard, which he accompanied during the war with Turkey (1877) as official historian attached to the general staff. On his return he published an account of his experiences, in "Twenty Months in the Active Army" (1879). He is best known, however, as a novelist: his "Not the First nor the Last" (1859); "The Sphinx" (1860); "Slums of St. Petersburg" (1867); "Egyptian Darkness"; etc., enjoying great popularity in Russia and Germany.