Andrei Bely

Andrei Bely (1880–1934) was a Russian poet, novelist and theorist of the Symbolist school, regarded as one of the most innovative prose writers of the twentieth century. His novel Petersburg — a fever-dream of the imperial capital in the year 1905 — is his masterpiece, and Vladimir Nabokov ranked it among the four greatest novels of the century.

Bely joined and then outgrew Russian Symbolism, developed theories of rhythm and "musical" prose, was a friend of Alexander Blok, and survived the revolution to teach and write. His complex montage-fiction, with its uncanny city imagery, profoundly influenced Joyce and modernism's avant-garde tradition.