Garshin, Vsevolod Mikhailovich

(fəsyĕ´vələt mēkhī´ləvĭch gär´shĭn), 1855–88, Russian short-story writer. “Four Days” (1877), his story of a wounded soldier's ordeal in battle, first won him fame. “The Scarlet Blossom” (1833), about a madman's efforts to destroy the evil he saw in a flower, is considered his masterpiece. These and others, translated in The Signal and Other Stories (1912), express a profound pity for mankind. Garshin suffered intermittently from a mental disorder that resulted in suicide. Chekov's story “The Fit” was suggested by Garshin's life.