Literay Fact Literay Fact 2541-8297 2542-2421 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2020-18-300-311 Articles “Villain Adaev”. (From commentaries to I.A. Goncharovs’ correspondence) Alexei Yu. Balakin editor@litfact.ru 2020 I.A. Goncharov; the writer’s correspondence; academic commentary; family property relations; biographies of Russian writers of the 19th century Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article examines I.A. Goncharov’s letters to his sister Anna Alexandrovna (married name Muzalevskaya) and investigates the episode of her family's bankruptcy as a result of the Muzalevskys' transferring most of their money to their fellow countryman, “a certain Alayev,” who turned out to be a swindler. Previously, this person was known only by his last name, and the bankruptcy episode was not covered. The author draws on Address-calendars, Commemorative Books of the Simbirsk Governorate and other reference publications, archival documents, on the basis of which he reconstructs the biography of Semyon Alaev and details the history of his fraudulent actions. The facts introduced into scientific circulation will undoubtedly be in demand by commentators of both Goncharov's correspondence and memoirs about him. 1. Alekseeva, Iu.M. “Tri pis'ma I.A. Goncharova k sestram.” [“Three Letters of I.A. Goncharov to His Sisters.”]. I.A. Goncharov: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii, posviashchennoi 180-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia I.A. Goncharova [I.A. Goncharov: Materials of the International Conference Dedicated to the 180th anniversary of I.A. Goncharov]. Ul'ianovsk, Strezhen' Publ., 1994, pp. 213–237. (In Russ.) 2. Goncharov, I.A. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], 8. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1952. 542 p. (In Russ.) 3. A. Goncharov v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov [I.A. Goncharov in Memoirs of His Contemporaries], comp. O.A. Demikhovskaya, E.K. Demikhovskaya; 2nd ed., rev. and edd. Ul'ianovsk, Region-Invest Publ., 2012. 416 p. (In Russ.) 4. Literaturnoe nasledstvo [Literary Heritage], vol. 102: I.A. Goncharov. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2000. 735 p. (In Russ.) 5. “Materialy k biografii I.A. Goncharova.” [“Materials for  the  Biography  of I.А. Goncharov.”], introd., text prep. and comm. by V. Romanova. Russkaia literatura, no. 3, 2008, pp. 140–163. (In Russ.) 6. Trofimov, Zh.A. Nash Goncharov: Poiski. Nakhodki. Issledovaniia [Our Goncharov: Research. Discoveries. Studies]. Ul'ianovsk, Ul'ianovskii dom pechati Publ., 2007. 399 p. (In Russ.)