"ALEXANDER IVANOVICH KUPRIN (1870-), Russian writer, was born in 1870. He passed through the cadet school and military college at Moscow, and in 1890 entered the army as lieutenant. In 1897 he resigned his commission in order to devote himself to literature. He first made a name by his stories of Russian army life, and later wrote many satires on various sections of society. He is considered to be, after Chekhov, the most popular writer of short stores in Russia. His short stories include Rekajizori (The River of Life, 1916); Duel (first published 1907; English translation 1916) and Sasha (1920).