Shkapskaia, Mariia (1891–1952)

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Shkapskaia, Mariia (1891–1952)

Russian poet, journalist and children's writer. Name variations: Mariia Mikhailovna Shkápskaia or Shkapskaya. Born Mariia Mikhailovna Andreyevsky, 1891, in St. Petersburg, Russia, of well-to-do parents; died 1952; sister of Ivan Mikhailovich Andreyevsky (writer who wrote as I. M. Andreyev).

Was arrested before 1905 Revolution for political activism; published 6 books of poetry (1920s), including Mater Dolorosa (1921); after her female-centered works were criticized under the Soviet regime as decadent, turned to journalism (1925); was also a frequent reviewer of children's literature and wrote about the cruelties of fascism in WWII, It Actually Happened (1942).