Lev Aleksandrovich Mei or Mey (Russian: Лев Александрович Мей; 25 February [O.S.

For a time, he taught secondary school, but was forced to retire because of conflicts with his colleagues.

It was during this period that he contributed to the leading Russian magazines, including Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya, Otechestvennye Zapiski, Syn Otechestva, Russkoye Slovo, Russkiy Mir, and Svetoch.

[1] Mei wrote the historical dramas, The Tsar's Bride (1849), Servilia (1854) and The Maid of Pskov (1859), all three of which the composer Rimsky-Korsakov later used as the basis for operas.

[2][1] Mei lived a dissipated and bohemian life, with a great fondness for drink, which led to his untimely death on 16/28 May 1862.