Maria Belakhova (née Maria Bogoslovskaya) was born in the town of
Old Hops near
Michurinsk, Russia, in 1903. The thirteenth child in the family, she left the family to study. For several years, she taught in an elementary school, before continuing her studies with a master's degree in child education and literature. Then she worked at the ''Children's Literature'' magazine and eventually became its editor. Later, she was elected head of the commission of the national guild of writers for children's literature. She wrote several books of her own, authored or edited numerous works by other writers, including
Samuil Marshak, and mentored many writers. A school and a street are named after Belakhova in her birth town, and a street in the city of Michurinsk. Belakhova was married to
Leonid Belakhov, a Soviet general and administrator, whose name she took. == References ==