Andrei Bely, born Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, was a distinguished Russian novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist, and literary critic. He was a dedicated anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. His novel Petersburg (1913/1922) was hailed by Vladimir Nabokov as the third-greatest masterpiece of modernist literature. The Andrei Bely Prize, a prestigious award in Russian literature, was named in his honor.

Bely was born into an intellectual family in Moscow. His father, Nikolai Bugaev, was a leading mathematician and a founder of the Moscow school of mathematics, while his mother was a celebrated society beauty. Boris Bugaev, a polymath, showed early interest in mathematics, music, philosophy, and literature. He became an active participant in the Symbolist movement and the Russian school of neo-Kantianism.