Vasily Fedorovich Potapov (years of life not established) - Russian fiction writer of the second half of the 19th century; quite a prolific writer (at least a hundred editions of his books have been published), who worked in many genres. Known as a playwright (plays “Napoleon in the vicinity of Smolensk”, “Miracles in a Sieve”), a storyteller (“A little man with a fingernail, a beard with an elbow”, “Stories of Thomas the Old Man about Ivan the Fool”, “Alyosha Popovich”, “The Magic Tale of harp-samogudah”, etc.), poet (many of these works are written in verse). The greatest popularity was brought to Potapov by his historical works, such as “The Raskolniki”, “The Heretic”, “Black Forest, or the Mysterious Hut” and others. This volume contains stories telling about women who played a certain role in the history of the Russian state. The first of them describes the fate of Marfa Vasilyevna Sobakina, the third wife of Ivan the Terrible, who died under mysterious circumstances just half a month after the wedding. In the story “The Mysterious Holy Fool,” the writer sets out his version of the legend about Agafya, Boris Godunov’s secret weapon, designed to destroy the Pretender. The story “The Witch of Kiev” is about the Polotsk princess Rogneda, humiliated and forcibly taken as a wife by the Kyiv prince Vladimir the Red Sun.