Nicolai Alexeyevitch Polevoi, a Russian author, born in Irkutsk, Siberia, July 4, 1796, died in St. Petersburg, March 6,1846. He was the son of a manufacturer and brandy distiller, was educated at home, and at a very early age wrote plays. He read enormously, and was known in his native town as "the wonderful boy." In 1811 he was sent to Moscow, his father following to establish his business there; but in 1812 they left that city at the French invasion. For some years afterward Polevoi passed his time in mercantile expeditions between St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, and Kursk; but in 1825 he returned to Moscow and established a newspaper called the " Moscow Telegraph," which inaugurated a new era in Eussian literary criticism, but was suppressed in 1834 on account of its liberal tendencies. In 1838 he went to St. Petersburg, where he spent the remainder of his life. His incessant literary labor gradually broke down his constitution, while the rapidity with which he produced his works diminished his reputation. The best of his dramas are " Parasha, the Siberian Girl," the " Grandfather of the Russian Fleet," and a translation of "Hamlet." He wrote " Sketches of Eussian Literature," the " Life of Suvaroff," the " Life of Peter the Great," a " Life of the Emperor Napoleon" (which extended to the burning of Moscow, and was completed by the author's brother), a " History of the Russian People," and a " Century of Russia," a historical account from 1745 to 1845. - His brother, Xenophon Alexeyevitch, after being for many years a bookseller at Moscow, removed to St. Petersburg. He is the author of a novel entitled " Michael Vasi-levitch Lomonosoff " (2 vols., Moscow, 1836), and other works.

His sister, Katarina Alexe-yevna Avdeyeff (1789-1865), was a well known authoress. Pete, the son of Nicolai, an author residing at St. Petersburg, became known by his biography of Shakespeare contained in the Russian translation of his complete works by Nekrasoff and Gerbel (4 vols., St. Petersburg, 1866-'7).