Kron, Aleksandr

(pseudonym of A. A. Krein). Born June 30 (July 13), 1909, in Moscow. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU (1939).

Kron graduated from the history and philosophy department of Moscow State University in 1930. In the same year he made his literary debut with the play Rifle No. 492116, in which, as in his later plays The Coward (1935) and Our Weapons (1937), he develops the theme of the clash of an anarchic psychology with duty to the party and the spirit of collectivism. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 he served in the Baltic fleet and took part in the defense of Leningrad. He also worked in the military press. His comedy Distant Reconnaissance (1941; staged at the Moscow Art Academic Theater, 1943), devoted to the Baku oil workers, was very popular. This play, as well as Kron’s subsequent plays Officer of the Navy (1944; staged at the Moscow Art Academic Theater, 1945), Second Breath (1946), and Party Candidate (1950), deals with intense moral conflicts. Kron’ is also the author of the comedy The Sea Has Stretched Far (1942, with V. Azarov and Vs. Vishnevskii).

Kron’s major plays have become an important part of the repertoires of Soviet theaters and have been repeatedly staged abroad. He published the novel Home and Ship (1964), devoted to the defense of Leningrad, and two books of essays, Sailing and at Anchor (1961) and The Eternal Problem (1969). He has been awarded two orders and a number of medals.