Birth of Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov was born on 3 May 1891 in Kyiv. A Russian writer and playwright, Bulgakov trained as a physician before turning to literature in Moscow. His works include the novel The White Guard, based on his experience in Kyiv during the Civil War, the satirical novella Heart of a Dog and the plays Days of the Turbins and Molière. His masterpiece, The Master and Margarita, in which the devil visits Soviet Moscow, was finished shortly before his death and published only in the 1960s, long after his death. His work was frequently banned under Stalin, who nevertheless admired his plays. He is regarded as one of the greatest Russian novelists of the century.

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