Biriukov, Pavel Ivanovich

Born Nov. 2 (15), 1860, in the village of Ivanovskoe, Kostroma Province; died Oct. 10, 1931, in Geneva. Russian writer and public figure.

In 1884, Biriukov became acquainted with L. N. Tolstoy and began to propagandize the latter’s religious teachings. He took part in the publishing house Posrednik (The Mediator), and he came out in defense of the Dukhobors (sectarians who adhered to extreme Protestant doctrines). From 1898 on (with some interruptions) he lived abroad. In Geneva he met V. I. Lenin, who visited his house. He began publishing materials on Tolstoy in 1906. Biriukov’s monumental work A Biography of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (vols. 1–4, 1922–23) was the first attempt at a detailed biography of the great writer. In his work Biriukov made use of information given to him by Tolstoy himself.