Roman Lukich Antropov (1876–1913) was a Russian prose writer, feuilletonist and playwright. His literary heritage includes plays, feuilletons, novels, novellas, and short stories. The first play, “The Ringing Gusli,” was performed with success in provincial theaters. In 1903, the play “Belshazzar’s Feast” was staged in St. Petersburg, and in 1912, the drama “The Devil’s Chariot” was staged at the Moscow Korsh Theater. In the period from 1903 to 1908, Antropov, under the pseudonym R. Dobry, wrote a series of brilliant stories about the head of the St. Petersburg detective police, Ivan Dmitrievich Putilin. The novel “The Duchess and the Groom,” published in this volume, tells the story of the unique and very tragic fate of one of the Russian empresses - Anna Ioannovna. The personal life of the Duchess of Courland and her ascension to the Russian throne is the main storyline of Antropov's novel.