Palm, Aleksandr Ivanovich

(pen name P. Al’min-skii). Born Jan. 21 (Feb. 2), 1822, in Krasnoslobodsk, in what is now the Mordovian ASSR; died Nov. 10 (22), 1885, in St. Petersburg. Russian writer. Participant in the liberation movement. Member of the Petrashevskii circle.

First published in 1843, Pal’m wrote poems, novellas, and novels. While an officer of the guards, he became a member of M. V. Petrashevskii’s circle in 1847 and later was connected with S. F. Durov’s circle. He was arrested in 1849. After being incarcerated in a fortress for eight months, he was sentenced to death; his sentence was then commuted to transfer from the guards to the army. His novel Aleksei Slobodin: A Family History (1872–73) depicted the Petrashevskii circle. Especially popular were his play Our Friend Nekliuzhev (1879) and the comedy The Old Gentleman (1873).