In the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, who was Master?

Master is a fictional character from the novel The Master and Margarita by the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Master is a Muscovite, a former historian and a highly educated person who speaks several foreign languages.

After winning a large sum of money in the lottery he decided to fully dedicate himself to writing a novel about Pontius Pilate and the last days in life of Yeshua Ha-Nozri. His first attempt to publish it, however, caused a barrage of criticism from professional writers in the press. After a lot of harassment he gradually went mad and at the moment of despair burned his novel.

The same newspaper criticisms gave one of the Master's acquaintances, Aloiziy Mogarych, the idea to write a false report to the authorities to seize Master's apartment. After the investigation Master was freed but, having nowhere to live, no money and no purpose in life, he decided to find refuge in a mental hospital.

Woland became interested in the story of the Master's novel. He gets back the burnt manuscript and gives the Master and his beloved Margarita a place for eternal serenity and retreat.

His full name is unknown. His own answer to the question is: "I don't have a last name". In the novel his name is written without capitalizing the first letter.

In both Russian and world literature Master became the epitome of the artist, the author, who opposes the official culture of his time. In the case of Bulgakov's character, Master opposes the socialist realism.