Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky (1823, 1886) was a renowned Russian writer and talented playwright. He is considered the founder of modern Russian theater, the founder of the Artistic Circle, a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Uvarov Prize.

He was born on March 31 (April 12) 1823 in Moscow and grew up in a merchant family. After his mother died when he was eight, his father remarried. There were four children in the family.

Ostrovsky received a home education. In his father's library, he first encountered Russian literature. However, his father wanted him to pursue a legal education. In 1835, Ostrovsky entered a gymnasium and then the law faculty of Moscow University. Due to his passion for theater and literature, he did not graduate from university in 1843 and, at his father's insistence, began working as a clerk in a court, where he served until 1851.

In 1849, Ostrovsky wrote the play "Our People, Let's Count!" which brought him literary fame and was highly praised by Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Goncharov. Despite censorship, he published numerous plays and books, striving to depict the life of the people truthfully. Among his major works are the plays "The Storm," "The Dowry," and "The Forest." In his psychological dramas, such as "The Dowry," he described characters and the inner world of heroes in an unconventional way.

Since 1856, Ostrovsky participated in the publication of the magazine "Sovremennik."

The theater played an important role in his biography. In 1866, he founded the Artistic Circle, which contributed to the emergence of many talented individuals in the theater. Together with the circle, he significantly reformed and developed Russian theater.

Ostrovsky's home was often visited by prominent figures such as I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, Ivan Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, P. M. Sadovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, M. N. Yermolova, and others.

In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was established, where Ostrovsky became the chairman. His innovations improved the lives of actors. From 1885, he headed a theater school and managed the repertoire of Moscow theaters.

Ostrovsky's personal life was not easy. He lived with Agafya, a woman from a simple family who supported him and was the first to read his works, but all their children died at an early age. They lived together for about twenty years. In 1869, he married the actress Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him six children.

Until the end of his life, Ostrovsky faced financial difficulties. His strenuous work took a toll on his health, and he dreamed of reviving a theater school that would teach professional acting skills, but death prevented him from realizing these plans.

Ostrovsky passed away on June 2 (14), 1886, at his estate and was buried next to his father in the village of Nikolskoye-Berezhki in Kostroma province.