Gan, Elena Andreevna (1814–1842)

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Gan, Elena Andreevna (1814–1842)

Russian author. Name variations: Helena Gan; (pseudonym) Zinaida R-va or Zenaida R-va. Born Helena Andreevna Fadeeva in 1814; died June 1842; dau. of Elena Fadeeva (1788–1860, botanist with international connections); m. Captain (later Colonel) Peter Alekseevich Gan (1798–1873, career military officer), 1830; children: Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891, mystic), son Sasha (who died in infancy, 1833), Vera Zhelikhovskaya (1835–1896, writer), and Leonid (b. June 1840).

One of the Russian Romantics, wrote novels which probed the lot of the intellectual outsider; writings include Utballa (1838), Dzhellaledin (1843), originally published as The Moslem in 1838, Teofaniia Abbadzhio (1841), and A Vain Gift.

See also Women in World History.