Stepanov, Aleksandr Nikolaevich

Born Jan. 21 (Feb. 2), 1892, in Odessa; died Oct. 30,1965, in Moscow. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU from 1947.

The son of an officer, Stepanov graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology in 1913. He fought in World War I (1914–18) and the Civil War of 1918–20. His works were first published in 1938. In the multifaceted novel Port Arthur (books 1–2, 1940–41; State Prize of the USSR, 1946; dramatized in 1946 in collaboration with I. F. Popov) and the unfinished sequel, The Zvonarev Family (1959–63), Stepanov portrayed the heroism of Russian soldiers and officers in the war of 1904–05 and the intensification of social contradictions in Russian society. The novel Port Arthur has been translated into many languages. Stepanov was awarded two orders and various medals.