In the beginning of 1910s, Ivan Bunin’s short stories were often published by the “Moscow Writers' Publishing House”. Among them were “Ioann the Mourner: Stories and Poems. 1912-1913”, “Chalice of Life: Short Stories. 1913-1914”, “The Gentleman from San Francisco: and other stories from 1915-1916”.

In his book “The Origins of My Stories” Ivan Bunin recollected the circumstances that led to the process of writing “The Gentleman from San Francisco”. He wrote that one day he accidently saw in the window of a bookstore the Russian edition of “Death in Venice” written by famous German writer Thomas Mann. However, Ivan Bunin did not buy it. 

he wrote later in the beginning of September, 1915. It is important to note that Ivan Bunin read Thomas Mann’s novel only in the end of the fall of 1915 after his own collection of stories had been printed.

‘The Gentleman from San Francisco’ became a real phenomenon in Russian literature. In this short story, Bunin conveyed with amazing realism tragic societal changes at the beginning of the 20th century. The writer’s sharp eye saw a certain new type of a human being and wrote the history of this entire generation. Through the prism of a rich American man’s worldview and lifestyle, Bunin revealed the entire culture of the early 20th century with its money cult, moral and spiritual ‘apathy’, debasement of the soul and hedonism.

In the 1910s, Bunin’s works were distinguished by a special dramatic quality — as if the author foresaw the coming wars and social disasters. In his works, one can notice how his criticism of his contemporaries' worldviews and of the bourgeois way of life intensified.

Galina Arbuzova, the daughter of the famous playwright Alexei Arbuzov and stepdaughter of Konstantin Paustovsky, donated an exemplar of the book “The gentleman from San Francisco” to the museum in 2016.