V. M. (Vsevolod Mikhailovich) Garshin

Born in 1855 in the Russian Empire, Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin became one of the notable short-story writers of the late 19th century. He studied in St. Petersburg and volunteered to serve in the Russo-Turkish War, an experience that shaped some of his most powerful writing.

Garshin is especially remembered for stories such as Four Days and The Red Flower, works that explore suffering, conscience, and the human cost of violence. Britannica notes that his stories helped strengthen the popularity of the short story in Russia, and his writing is still valued for its emotional directness and sympathy for wounded, vulnerable people.

His life was brief and troubled, marked by recurring mental illness, and he died in St. Petersburg in 1888 at just 33. Even so, his small body of work left a lasting impression on Russian literature and on readers drawn to fiction that is humane, intense, and deeply felt.