Mikhail Bulgakov

May 15, 1891 — March 10, 1940

Novelist and playwright
Born in Kyiv

Kyiv-born author of The Master and Margarita and The White Guard. His home at 13 Andriyivskyy Descent, where he lived in 1906–1919, is now a museum.

Great was the year and terrible the year of Our Lord 1918, of the Revolution the second.

— The White Guard, opening lines

Biography

Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kyiv on 15 May 1891 at 10 Vozdvyzhenska Street, the son of Afanasy Bulgakov, a lecturer at the Kyiv Theological Academy. The family moved between rented flats in the Upper Town and Podil, Kyiv's old merchant quarter, until in August 1906 they rented the upper floor of the house at 13 Andriyivskyy Descent, the steep cobbled street linking the two.

In 1901 he entered the First Kyiv Gymnasium (today the university's “Yellow Building” at 14 Taras Shevchenko Boulevard) and graduated in 1909. He then studied medicine at Kyiv's St Volodymyr University, qualifying with distinction in 1916.

The Kyiv of The White Guard

After working as a country doctor, Bulgakov returned to Kyiv in 1918 and set up a private practice in the house on the Descent. There he lived through the rapid changes of power in 1918–1919: the Hetmanate, the Directorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Bolsheviks and the Whites. These events became the novel The White Guard (written 1923–1924) and the play The Days of the Turbins. In the novel the street is called Alekseyevsky Descent, and the Turbin family home is house No. 13. In autumn 1919 he was mobilised into the White Army and never returned to live in Kyiv.

The writer Viktor Nekrasov revived interest in Bulgakov's Kyiv with his essay “The House of the Turbins”, describing how he tracked down the house from the novel. On 15 May 1991 the Bulgakov Literary and Memorial Museum, a branch of the Museum of Kyiv History, opened at 13 Andriyivskyy Descent.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has reassessed Bulgakov. In 2024 the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory described his views as imperial and anti-Ukrainian; plaques on university buildings were removed in 2022, and the 2007 statue on the Descent was taken down in June 2026. The museum remains open and presents the writer in a critical context.

Life timeline

1891 Birth Born on 15 May on Vozdvyzhenska Street, Kyiv.
1901 First Gymnasium Enters the First Kyiv Gymnasium, graduating in 1909.
1906 13 Andriyivskyy Descent The family rents the flat that becomes the “House of the Turbins”.
1916 Medical degree Graduates in medicine from Kyiv University with distinction.
1918–1919 Kyiv changes hands Practises medicine on the Descent; these events become The White Guard.
1925 The White Guard The novel about Kyiv in 1918 begins to appear in print.
1991 Museum The museum opens at 13 Andriyivskyy Descent on 15 May.
2026 Statue removed The 2007 statue on the Descent is removed by decision of Kyiv City Council.

Key achievements

The White Guard A novel about Kyiv in 1918 in which the city itself is the main character.
The Master and Margarita His masterpiece, published posthumously in the 1960s.
A Kyiv doctor Graduated from Kyiv University's medical faculty in 1916.

Kyiv in their life

10 Vozdvyzhenska St — his birthplace (15 May 1891).
13 Andriyivskyy Descent — the family flat in 1906–1919, the “House of the Turbins”, now a museum (see our walk down Andriyivskyy Descent).
14 Taras Shevchenko Blvd — the former First Gymnasium, where he studied in 1901–1909.
60 Volodymyrska St — the main building of St Volodymyr University; he qualified as a doctor in 1916.
25 Reitarska St and 38 Andriyivskyy Descent — his addresses after his 1913 marriage.