ANDREI BELY (the pseudonym of Boris Nikolayevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) was a leading theorist and poet of Russian symbolism, associated with Moscow's literary elite during the prerevolutionary period. In 1913 he became an adherent of Rudolf Steiner in Switzerland, where he began writing Kotik Letaev (first published in 1917-1918). He returned to Russia for good in 1923. His development of new writing techniques, especially in his most celebrated composition, Petersburg, significantly affected later Russian prose and verse style.

GERALD J. JANECEK is a professor of Russian at the University of Kentucky and the author or editor of several other books by or about Andrei Bely.