Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy (or Polevoi) (; March 17 [4], 1908 – July 12, 1981) was a notable Soviet writer. He is the author of the book Story of a Real Man about a Soviet World War II fighter pilot Alexei Petrovich Maresiev (or Alexej Petrovich Maresjev). Boris Polevoy was a pseudonym for Boris Nikolaevich Kampov (1908–1981). He was born in Moscow in 1908, the son of a physician and a Jew, born "beyond the Pale of Settlement." His parents were Nikolay Petrovich and Lidiya (Vasilyevna) Kampov. He was a graduate of the Tver Industrial Technical College (now Kalinin Industrial College).