Autobiography Detstvo, was, but most Russians say, which is therefore found in reference books. 28 March 1868 16 March - 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky, was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an author, he travelled widely across the Russian Empire changing jobs frequently, experiences which would later influence his writing