Russian novelist and playwright who was admired for the intricate structure of his best narratives and for his ability to convey the complex moral and spiritual dilemmas faced by his characters. His multilayered, psychological approach was strongly influenced by—and often compared to—that of Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Leonov went to school in Moscow and published his first stories in a newspaper in Arkhangelsk, where his father, the poet Maksim L. Leonov, was living at the time. He served as a soldier and journalist in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War (1918–20). In 1924, after publishing several more short stories and novellas, Leonov established his literary reputation with his epic first novel, Barsuki (The Badgers), which he followed with Vor (1927; The Thief), a pessimistic tale set in the Moscow criminal underworld.

His other major novels include Sot (1930; Soviet River), Skutarevsky (1932), and Doroga na okean (1935; Road to the Ocean). In the 1930s and '40s Leonov's fiction conformed somewhat more closely to the prevalent style of Socialist Realism, as did his 12 plays, 11 of which were staged in Moscow. His last major novel, Russky les (1953; The Russian Forest), won the Lenin Prize in 1957. Leonov was designated a Hero of Socialist Labour, was a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and received the Stalin and the State prizes for literature. Shortly before his death he published Piramida (1994; “Pyramid”), a novel that attempted to create an all-encompassing panorama of humanity.