Born 1884, Zamyatin was an exceptionally cool Russian author who recieved the pride and distinction of writing the first novel banned by Glavlit, the Soviet censorship board. He was also the first Russian author who was allowed to leave Russia by permission of Stalin. WE, written in 1919-1920, was his major work. In true Stalin-period style, it was published in English (1924) before untranslated Russian (1927).
Zamyatin was a boatbuilder by trade, and as such interested in mathematics, which reflects heavily in his work. He was influenced by H. G. Wells, but diverged from Wells' belief in a final number. Zamyatin is seen as the predecessor of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Anyone into these authors deserves to check him out. Additionally he was interested in the interaction of entropy, energy, and human affairs (an area which deserves further study).
Zamyatin died in 1937, not altogether happy.