Mitrei was born into the family of a coachman. The family was poor, but placed a value on education. For example, before the
Russian Revolution, Mitrei's brother was educated as an
agronomist. In 1907 Mitrei entered the
Kazan teachers' seminary. There he published a secret handwritten journal called
Sandal (stithy), in which he wrote his first stories together with Maxim Prokopiev. In 1911 he was expelled from the seminary for atheism. In 1911, he was published by a major medium for the first time when
St. Petersburg newspaper
Capital Answers ran "Motovilikha", a short story. That same year, he was expelled from the seminar for atheism, but escaped further punishment, since criminal punishment for atheism was abolished after the
revolution of 1905–1907. Between 1911 and 1914, Mitrei traveled to his native land, collecting folklore.
First World War and Russian Revolution He passed the teachers' examination in 1912 while not yet unemployed. He obtained a teaching position in 1914, shortly before he was drafted into the
Imperial Russian Army to fight in the
First World War. He served in
Blagoveshchensk, where in 1915 he published the tragedy under the noble pseudonym Pan Rajmit. Because of censorship, the piece was published in
Russian only and in abridged form as the fourth act was not allowed to be printed. While serving in the army in 1915, Mitrei married Anna S. Savitskaya. They remained married until Mitrei's death. Immediately after the
Revolution, he participated in the work of local Soviets. After
Kolchak's power was established in
Siberia, he participated in the red guerrilla movement.
Post-revolution He returned home in 1920 and two years later joined the
CPSU. For three years he headed the Department of Education in Zore and Debesy. He was editor of the newspaper
Gudyri ('Thunder') from 1923 to 1928. During this period, most of his literary works were created. Between 1928 and 1930 he was the director of the pedagogical school in
Glazov (now Glazov State Pedagogical Institute). Mitrei returned to education from 1930 to 1932 and earned a PhD in
philology. The following five years he spent in
Izhevsk, engaged in literature, research and teaching at Udmurt State University.
Arrests and death On 21 July 1937 he was arrested. Like many non-Russian intellectuals, he was accused of associating with Japanese intelligence. Accused of nationalism, Mitrei was sent to a
Gulag near
Magadan, from which he was released after nine years in 1946. However, he was rearrested on 27 December 1948. He died in Tchumakovo village,
Novosibirsk Oblast on 11 November 1949, aged 57. == Main works ==