Aleksandr Ostrovsky

1823 – 1886

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was a Russian playwright considered the greatest representative of the Russian realist period and effectively the founder of a Russian national theatrical repertoire. Across 47 original plays—including the canonical drama The Storm and the comedy Even a Wise Man Stumbles—he gave the Moscow merchant class and provincial life their first major dramatic treatment in Russian literature. His works remain among the most frequently performed plays on the Russian stage today.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM