Eugene Yelchin

Eugene Yelchin (Yevgeny Arkadievich Yelchin, born in Saint Petersburg in 1956) is a Russian-American artist known mainly as an illustrator and writer of books for children and young adults. His work in this field has earned many honours, including a Newbery Honor for Breaking Stalin's Nose, and his books have appeared on many year-end best-of lists in American media.

Born in Leningrad into a Jewish family, he graduated from the Leningrad State Theater Academy in 1979. From 1979 to 1983 he designed sets and costumes for leading Russian theatre companies, including the Alexandrinsky Theatre and the Akimov Comedy Theatre. In 1980 he co-founded, with fellow students from the academy, the Tomsk Children's Theater in Siberia. He emigrated to the United States in 1983 and in 1988 graduated from the Southern California Film School in Los Angeles, after which he worked directing television commercials and illustrating advertising campaigns.

His career as a children's book author began in 2006, when he received the Tomie DePaola Illustration Award at the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators conference. His books have been published by American houses such as Scholastic Press and Candlewick Press and translated into many languages. Notable titles include The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, co-authored with M. T. Anderson and a National Book Award finalist, and The Genius Under the Table, which won the Sydney Taylor Award. He is also the uncle of actor Anton Yelchin.