Elena Apreleva

Elena Ivanovna Apréleva (, née Blaramberg; 24 February 1846 – 4 December 1923), also known by her pseudonym E. Ardov, was a Russian prose writer, memoirist, playwright, and children's writer.

Early life and education Elena Blaramberg was born in Orenburg to her Belgian father, a military geodesist Ivan Fyodorovich Blaramberg, who served as a general in the Russian army, and her Greek mother Elena Pavlovna, née Mavromikhali.

In 1870 Blaramberg compiled and edited the book Games and Lessons for Children. In 1871, along with Yulian Simashko, she started to publish and edit the journal Semya i Shkola, then became the head of its Children's Literature section. In 1872, Apréleva attended the University of Geneva to pursue a degree, as higher education was denied to women in Russia. Ultimately, she never completed her studies due to health problems.

More novels and novelettes followed, including Vasyuta, Little Countess, Timophey and Anna, published originally in Delo and Niva, as well as some journals for children. Apréleva moved to Central Asia from 1889 to 1906, where she continued to write.

Elena and Pyotr Aprelevs had two sons, the navy officer and writer Boris Aprelev and colonel Georgy Aprelev (1889—1964) the director of the Russian Cadet Corps in Versaille.

Works Games and Pastimes for Children, 1870 Guilty without Guilt, 1877 Vasiuta, 1881 Rufina Kazdoeva, 1892 Broken Shards, 1892 Sketches, 1893 An Outstanding Woman, 1894 Torments of an Editor, 1902 Two Worlds, 1909, a collection of short stories for children Central Asian Sketches, 1935, published post-mortem in Shanghai