Though he also published such important essays as "The Magical Tree on the Tomb" and "Wonderful Childbirth," this Russian author and folklorist is most famous for his books Morphology of the Tale, Russian Epic Song, and Historical Roots of the Wonder Tale.
After earning a degree in German and Russian philology from St. Petersburg University, he worked as a schoolteacher.
He analyzed folk stories by breaking them down into thirty-one shared components, including trickery, struggle, rescue, punishment, and transfiguration.
He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to German parents. He remained in his home city throughout his life and eventually became Chair of the Folklore Department at Leningrad University.
He and nineteenth-century Lithuanian Writer Simonas Daukantas both wrote about the folklore of their native countries.
