Anatoly Naumovich Rybakov was a Soviet and Ukrainian writer, the author of the anti-Stalinist Children of the Arbat trilogy, the novel Heavy Sand, and many popular children books including Adventures of Krosh, Dirk and Bronze Bird. One of the last of his works was his memoir The Novel of Memoirs (Роман-Воспоминание) telling about all the different people he met during his long life. Writer Maria Rybakova is his granddaughter.