Ivan Fedorovich Kovalev

Born Mar. 31 (Apr. 12), 1885, in the village of Shchadrino, in present-day Semenov Raion, Gorky Oblast; died Feb. 23, 1965, in the city of Gorky. Soviet Russian storyteller.

Kovalev worked as a kolkhoz brigade leader, a stableman, and a village librarian. Fairy tales and adventure stories predominated in his repertoire. His best stories include “About Emelia the Fool,” “Two Merchants,” and “The Fight Between the Gnat and the Fly.” Kovalev’s stories have often been published as separate collections, as well as in anthologies and folklore readers. His repertoire was set down in written form in full in 1937–39 by E. V. Pomerantseva and S. I. Mints and published in Moscow in 1941. Kovalev was a member of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.