Alyosha Karamazov (Russian: Алёша Карамазов) is the protagonist in The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His full name is given as Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov and he is also referred to as Alyosha, Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka, Alexeichik, Lyosha, and Lyoshenka. He is the youngest of the Karamazov brothers, being nineteen years old at the start of the novel. The preface and the opening chapter proclaim him as the hero. Dostoyevsky intended to write a sequel, which would detail the rest of Alyosha's life, but died shortly after the publication of The Brothers Karamazov.