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Sofia Petrovna
The novel’s protagonist, Sofia Petrovna is a woman living in Leningrad with her son, Kolya. After her husband dies, she finds a job as a typist at a local publishing house, wanting to ensure…
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Kolya
A young man studying mechanical engineering, Kolya is Sofia Petrovna’s son. He’s a confident and idealistic person who loves designing machines and working with his best friend, Alik, to solve problems. He’s a…
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Natasha Frolenko
Natasha is a young woman who works as a typist at the publishing house with Sofia Petrovna. Sofia takes a liking to Natasha because of her flawless typing skills, diligent work ethic, and kind…
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Alik Finkelstein
Alik Finkelstein is Kolya’s best friend. Like Kolya, he’s studying to become a mechanical engineer. He looks up to Kolya and promises Sofia that he’ll keep her son safe when they travel to another…
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Mrs. Kiparisova
Mrs. Kiparisova is a family friend of Sofia Petrovna’s. Her husband is a doctor who was close colleagues with Sofia’s husband, Fyodor Ivanovich. Sofia is shocked to learn one evening that Dr. Kiparisov…
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Get the entire Sofia Petrovna LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Director (Zakharov)
Zakharov is the director of the publishing house where Sofia works as a senior typist. An affable man in his mid-thirties, he shows Sofia kindness and strikes her as a very impressive, respectable person. She’s…
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Comrade Timofeyev
Comrade Timofeyev works at the publishing house as the party secretary, serving as an official representative of the Communist Party. Alongside Anna Grigorievna (the chairman of the trade union), he orchestrates the firing of the…
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Anna Grigorievna
Anna Grigorievna is the chairman of the Mestkom, which is the local trade union. Severe and unrelenting, she works at the publishing house with the ostensible goal of advocating for the workers’ rights. And…
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Erna Semyonovna
Erna Semyonovna is a woman who works in the typing pool at the publishing house. Sofia Petrovna dislikes her because she makes so many mistakes, but Erna Semyonovna has a security clearance, which means that…
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The Nurse
The nurse is one of the tenants living in the same communal apartment as Sofia Petrovna. She’s outwardly hostile toward Sofia in the aftermath of Kolya’s arrest, claiming that Sofia can’t be trusted…
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The Director’s Wife
Sophia Petrovna encounters the wife of the former director of the publishing house while waiting in line at the prosecutor’s one day. The director’s wife explains that her husband has been sent to a remote…
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Sashka Yartsev
Sashka Yartsev is a young man with whom Kolya went to school. Kolya has never liked Sashka, who insulted Alik Finkelstein one day at school by calling him an anti-Semitic name. The Komsomol decided to…
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Minor Characters
Degtyarenko’s Wife
Degtyarenko’s wife lives in the same communal apartment as Sofia Petrovna. Unlike many of the other residents, she shows Sofia empathy in the aftermath of Kolya’s arrest.
Degtyarenko
Degtyarenko is one of the tenants living in the same communal apartment as Sofia Petrovna. He’s a police officer, but he isn’t involved with the arrests taking place all over Leningrad, since they’re carried out by secret police.
Fyodor Ivanovich
Fyodor Ivanovich is Sofia Petrovna’s late husband. He was a widely respected doctor when he was alive.
Dr. Kiparisov
Dr. Kiparisov is Mrs. Kiparisova’s husband. A former colleague of Sofia’s husband, he’s arrested on suspicion of state sabotage along with a number of other doctors in Leningrad.
