Nikolay Alexandrovich Leykin was a Russian writer, playwright, journalist and publisher.

Biography

Leykin was born in Saint Petersburg into a merchant family. The merchant class was the subject of the majority of his fiction. His popular work Our Folk Abroad, set in Paris, which went through twenty-five editions, was a light satire on the ignorance and boorishness of Russian business men.

From 1882 to 1905, Leykin was the publisher and editor of the comic magazine Fragments

Fragments (magazine)

Fragments was a Russian humorous, literary and artistic weekly magazine published in St Petersburg from 1881 to 1916.From 1881 to 1906 Fragments was published by the popular writer Nikolay Leykin. From 1906 to 1908 it was ran by the humorist Viktor Bilibin.In the 1880s Fragments was known as the...

. It was in this magazine that Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...

 began his literary career. Chekhov contributed over two hundred stories to Fragments from 1882 to 1887.

Leykin met Anton Chekhov and his brother Nikolay Chekhov in October, 1882. Chekhov was paid by the line for his weekly contributions, and was alloted a quarter of the magazine's weekly length. Nikolay Chekhov provided centerfold and cover pictures. Leykin was Russia's most prolific author of comic sketches, which were widely read. As an editor he was known for his tough stance with the censors. He drew major writers to Fragments, including Nikolai Leskov

Nikolai Leskov

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was a Russian journalist, novelist and short story writer, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is...

.