Vasily Nikolayevich Azhayev (Russian: Васи́лий Никола́евич Ажа́ев; born February 12 [O.S. January 30] 1915 – April 27, 1968) was a Soviet and Russian writer, best known as the author of the novel Daleko ot Moskvy ("Далеко от Москвы"; Far from Moscow) (1948, Stalin Prize of 1949), which served as the basis for several eponymous film, stage and TV adaptations, and an opera.