Ostrovsky, Alexander Nikolaevich (1823–1886)

Russian dramatist. He was a founder of the modern Russian theatre. He dealt satirically with the manners of the merchant class in numerous plays, for example The Bankrupt (or It's All in the Family) (1849). His best-known play is a family tragedy, The Storm (1860). His fairy-tale play The Snow Maiden (1873) inspired the composers Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

For influences on the works of composers, see Rimsky-Korsakov (Snow Maiden, The); Tchaikovsky (Snegurotchka); Nikolai Tcherepnin (Poverty no Crime); and Tchaikovsky (Voyevoda).