Yekaterina Alekseyevna Avdeyeva was a Russian writer, known especially for her books on homemaking and collections of Russian folk tales.
Background
Yekaterina Alekseyevna Avdeyeva was born on August 17, 1788 in Kursk, Russian Federation in a merchant family of the once famous Polevye family, but by the end of the 18th century there was no trace of wealth left.
The father of the future writer traded in the Kursk market. Lived in Irkutsk.
Education
Yekaterina Alekseyevna did not receive a systematic education. At the age of fourteen, she married an Irkutsk merchant, with whom she moved to Kyakhta, where the newlyweds lived for about a year. Almost all of her youth was spent wandering in different areas of Siberia.
Career
Yekaterina Alekseyevna started writing and publishing late. Her first work, Notes and remarks on Siberia with the Appendix of old Russian songs (Moscow, 1837) was published with a preface by K.A. Polevoy, was translated into Czech, German, and English, and named by A.N. Pypin one of the first "proper ethnographic" books in Russia. Her Notes on the old and new Russian way of life (Saint Petersburg, 1842, with a preface by N.A. Polevoy) are made up of essays published in Domestic notes and various collections, and are also ethnographic in nature.
Yekaterina Alekseyevna is the author of popular books The manual book of the Russian experienced housewife (Saint Petersburg, 1842), Pocket cookbook (Saint Petersburg, 1842), The Complete household book... with the addition of a home doctor and a home Secretary (Saint Petersburg, 1851). The commercial success of these and similar publications led to the release of similar fake books under her name. She also published the Russian Songbook, or Collection of the best and most favorite songs, romances and vaudeville couplets of famous writers (Saint Petersburg, 1848).
The journal "Otechestvennye Zapiski" published Avdeeva's fiction works Russian legends. Soldier girl (1847), Terrible storm (1848). She published Russian fairy tales for children, told by nanny Avdotya Stepanovna Cherepyova (Saint Petersburg, 1844). Avdeeva's recorded fairy tales were included in the Russian folk tales by Afanasiev and Propp, and were called "the first authentic record from the lips of the people".
Personality
According to her brothers, Nikolai and Ksenofont, Yekaterina Alekseyevna inherited the character of her father, a man of integrity, intelligence and reading.
Quotes from others about the person
Nikolai Polevoy writes: "Even as a child, Yekaterina read a lot and had an extraordinary memory that allowed her to become a "Living encyclopedia", an extensive library. This was her entire education."
Connections
Yekaterina Alekseyevn married an Irkutsk merchant. In 1815, she was widowed.