Evgenii Shvarts produced some of the finest examples of satirical drama written during the Soviet period. A prolific writer, he wrote more than thirty works--plays, movie scripts, and revues--in a career that spanned nearly forty years. Writing for the theater, cinema, puppet theater, music hall, and circus, he is perhaps best remembered for his fairy-tale dramas for adults. The popularity of these enchanting allegorical tales has stretched far beyond the borders of Russia.

Evgenii L'vovich Shvarts was born on 9 October 1896 in the southern Russian town of Kazan. He grew up in a typical liberal Russian family of the intelligentsia. His parents provided an interesting and diverse milieu for their son. His father, Lev Borisovich Shvarts, worked as a zemstvo doctor but also found artistic fulfillment as an amateur violinist. His mother, Mariia Fedorovna (Shelkova) Shvarts, was a medical student and would-be actress. This cheerful, friendly woman was a...