Kryvelev was born in
Moscow and graduated from the Moscow Institute of History and Philosophy in 1934. From 1932 he taught philosophy. Kryvelev was affiliated with Soviet
atheism propaganda, having worked in the Central Museum of Irreligion in 1936–39. Along with Soviet Armenian philosopher Suren Kaltakhchyan, Kryvelev published antireligious articles in
Komsomolskaya Pravda. In July 1986, Kryvelev criticised
Chinghiz Aitmatov's novel
The Place of the Skull, believing that to reject principled, logical atheism was to reject the "very foundations of a scientific and
materialist worldview". Kryvelev's critical article spurred a reply from Soviet poet
Yevgeni Yevtushenko in December 1986. Yevtushenko argued that Kryvelev had made a mistake by confusing the opinions of the novel's hero with those of Aitmatov himself. Kryvelev died in Moscow in 1991. ==Selected publications==