was drawn into the Znanie Publishing Company (Knowledge), by Gorky, which published his collected works in 1908. Chirikov also became a shareholder in Znanie. His most important play The Jews (1903), was directed against national oppression and repression, and the autocratic Tsarist regime. The value of this play, which gained praise from Maxim Gorky, was determined not so much by its artistic qualities, as the relevance of its issues. Its journalistic sharpness, clear demarcation of social characters, and progressive ideological outlook demonstrated an affinity with the dramatic works of Gorky. The play was banned from production on the Russian stage, but was widely performed abroad (Germany, Austria, France and other countries). The significant ideological and creative growth that Chirikov experienced in the period of the Revolution of 1905 testified to his powerful concern for the social and political problems of the time. In the story "The Rebels" (1905), the drama The Guys (1905), and the story "Comrade" (1906), he was able to faithfully capture the widespread growth of the revolutionary struggle, and the confusion of the authorities under the onslaught of a powerful popular movement. In the years after the 1905 Revolution, Chirikhov began to disagree with the various changing positions of the revolutionary period: these ideological fluctuations had a negative impact on the writer, leading to his alienation from the revolutionary movement. Chirikov left Znanie and began to publish in decadent journals and collections. This move was regarded by his Marxist friends Gorky, Anatoly Lunacharsky, and Vatslav Vorovsky as an ideological apostasy. Chirikov's departure from the realist tradition started with the publication of his plays Red Lights and Legend of the old castle (both 1907), written under the strong influence of Leonid Andreyev. He next published a series of stories on religious themes ("Temptation", "Devi mountains", etc.), and the play Forest Secrets (1911), styled after the works of Aleksey Remizov. However, Chirikov did not give up his attempts at realism, publishing an autobiographical trilogy of novels entitled The Life of Tarkhanov (1911 - 1914), which included the novels Youth, Exile, and The Return (he later wrote a fourth part, Family). The 1917 Russian Revolution led Chirikov to completely break with his past democratic sympathies. In 1921 he left Russia and moved to Sofia, Bulgaria, before settling in Prague in 1922. His novel The Beast from the Abyss, written after he left Russia, was critical of the roles of both