Sholokhov, Mikhail

The Russian novelist and short story writer Mikhail Sholokhov was born in the village Veshenskaya (near Roston-on-Don) at the Don River. His father was a cattle trader, and his mother came from a family brought to the area as war prisoners by the Cossacks. She remained illiterate long into adulthood. Mikhail Sholokhov's schooling was interrupted by the war. Fifteen year old, he joined the Bolsheviks and later fought on the Red side in the civil war. His experiences in 1918-22 came to influence his authorship greatly (as would his experiences as a war correspondent during the second world war).