Isaac Babel (1894–1940)

Isaac Babel was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). In 1911, Babel went to study economics and business at the Kiev Institute of Finance and Business Studies, receiving his degree in 1916. While finishing his studies in Kiev, he also enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the Psycho-Neurological Institute in St. Petersburg. At this time, he met Maxim Gorky, who welcomed Babel into a literary career by publishing a selection of his short stories in the November 1916 issue of his journal Letopis (Chronicle). Gorky's mentorship was a major coup for a fledgling author and assured his wider recognition. Babel also became a journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of the acclaimed collections Red Cavalry (1920s) and Odessa Stories (1921-24). Stalin's Great Terror purges destroyed the lives and careers of many of Babel’s friends, and finally reached Babel himself. He was arrested by the Soviet secret police on May 15, 1939 on fabricated charges of terrorism and espionage, and executed on January 27, 1940.