Lev Aleksandrovich Mei (born Moscow, 25 February 1822; died St. Petersburg, 28 May 1862 ), was a Russian dramatist and poet. He wrote the historical dramas, "The Tsar's Bride" (1849) , "Servilia" (1854) and "The Maid of Pskov" (1859), all three of which the composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, later used as the basis for operas. In St. Petersburg, Mei contributed leading Russian magazines, including "Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya", "Otechestvennye Zapiski", "Syn Otechestva", "Russkoye Slovo", "Russkiy Mir", and "Svetoch".