Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (/bʊlˈɡɑːkɒf/ buul-GAH-kof; Russian: Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf] 15 May 1891 – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. He also wrote the novel The White Guard and the plays Ivan Vasilievich, Flight (also called The Run), and The Days of the Turbins.

Some of his works (Flight, all his works between 1922 and 1926, and others) were banned by the Soviet government, and personally by Joseph Stalin, after it was decided by them that they "glorified emigration and White generals". On the other hand, Stalin loved Bulgakov's dramatization of The White Guard, anodynely renamed The Days of the Turbins. The Soviet leader reportedly attended the play at least 15 times, even calling a theater to personally demand its production after the playwright's fall from favor. Despite Stalin's intercession in this and other matters Bulgakov was only briefly successful during his lifetime. After his death, especially once the publication of The Master and Margarita had been accomplished in 1966-67, his work was reassessed. He is now widely regarded as one of the great Russian authors of the 20th century.