alexander pushkin biography

World History Edu

Renowned Writers / Russian History

Alexander Pushkin: Biography, Most Famous Works & Accomplishments

by World History Edu · September 24, 2022

Russian poet and author Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin – biography and accomplishments

Who was Alexander Pushkin?

For the quintessential Russian poet and author Alexander Pushkin, life was about penning remarkable literary work, including poems that, in a way, communicated his rich and mixed heritage of Russian and African nobility to his audience. But after his works began to get overly critical of the Russian monarchy, the talented poet was exiled to Siberia in 1820.

His works were heavily censored for long periods of time by the reigning tsar. Ultimately, he was allowed to return to Moscow with slightly more relaxed supervision.

Pushkin’s works like “Eugene Onegin”, “Ruslan and Ludmila”, “The Bronze Horseman”, “The Stone Guest”, “Boris Godunov” have etched their names as some of the best literary pieces in Russian literature. As a result, he is generally seen as one of Russia’s greatest poets of all time.

In 1837, Pushkin sustained a life-threatening injury during his duel with his brother-in-law Baron Georges d’Anthès, a longtime admirer of his extremely beautiful wife. The poet, aged 37, passed away two days later and was survived by his wife and children.

Impact of his works on Russian literature and beyond

With a life that inspired romantic poems not just in Russia but across the globe, Alexander Pushkin is widely hailed as Russia’s greatest poet, author, and the founder of modern Russian literature. This noble poet with African ancestry was a gifted writer who showed the world his talent at the age of fifteen and is credited for replacing the era of Russian Orthodox Church literary works with a more accepted story-telling style of expressing drama, romance and satire.

Although known for his dissolute and undisciplined lifestyle, Pushkin triggered the Russian autocratic monarchs by writing about controversial topics including, racism, social injustice, and political humor.

The great-grandson of an African slave

Alexander Pushkin’s great-grandfather was Abram Gannibal (1696-1781). Bust in Petrovskoe.

Pushkin was born into a noble family. His father, Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, was from a Russian family that traced its nobility back to the 12th century. Pushkin’s mother, Nadezhda (Nadya) Ossipovna Gannibal, was the granddaughter of Abram Petrovich Gannibal (sometimes written as Ibrahim Petrovich Hannibal) who was a high-ranking military officer and engineer in Russia.

Major General Gannibal was kidnapped as a young boy from Africa, some historians believed he was taken from modern-day Eritrea while some argued he was kidnapped from Logone-Birni in Central Africa, probably present-day Cameroon. Gannibal, who according to some accounts was the son of African prince, was taken to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) to serve under the Ottoman Sultan . He was later transferred to Russia and given to the tsar Peter the Great as a gift.

The Tsar became fond of young Gannibal and made him his godson conferring him the title of “Petrovitch”, meaning Peter’s son. Gannibal, who was given a sound education, became one of Russia’s leading military figures and greatest engineers.

Alexander Pushkin was therefore a man who took immense pride in his ancestry, especially that of his African roots. As a result, he was nicknamed “Afrikanets” (“the African”).

Alexander Pushkin was very proud of his ancestry, especially that of his African roots. His great-grandfather was Ibrahim Petrovich Gannibal, an African slave, who ultimately rose to immense prominence in the court of Peter the Great, one of Russia’s most famous tsars.

Alexander Pushkin’s Early Life and Works

Pushkin was born in Moscow in 1799. He grew up speaking mostly French because he was taught by French tutors and governesses. This brilliant mind wrote his first major literary work “The Messenger of Europe” at the age of fifteen.

He was among the first graduating class at the Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo near St. Petersburg and soon became famous for his writings. His romantic narrative poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” gained wide recognition and stirred controversy in 1820. Pushkin was known for his unconventional ways and he soon became a member of the divisive Green Lamp Association where he wrote some subversive political poems that angered the strict monarchy government. Some of his poems, especially “Ode to Liberty”, ended being used by the members of the Decembrist Uprising of 1825.

When the tsar got wind of Pushkin’s anti-monarchist activities, the poet was sent on exile in May 1820 to Kishinev. He then moved to Caucasus and Crimea, where he penned the much acclaimed poems “The Captive of the Caucasus”, “The Robber Brothers”, and “The Fountain of Bakhchisaray”.

His poem “Ode to Liberty” was written around the time he graduated from the Lyceum. His public recital of the poem, among other things caused a huge uproar among royalists. This led to his exile by Tsar Alexander I. Image: Pushkin reciting his very controversial poem “Ode to Liberty”

Most Famous Works

In 1823, it was revealed this restless genius was having an affair with the wife of the governor-general of Odessa.

As a result, he was exiled again to his mother’s estate of Mikhailovskoye in northern Russia, where he wrote his verse-novel “Eugene Onegin”. It was rumored the work was inspired by his affair with Elizaveta Vorontsova. Published in a serial format between 1825 and 1832, the poem explores themes of love, passion, and death. Immersed deep in allusion, the poem looks at the link between reality and fiction.

Eugene Onegin – one of Alexander Pushkin’s most famous works. He started working on his “Eugene Onegin” and “Boris Godunov” while in exile.

His stay at Mikhailovskoye was very productive as he wrote other notable works, including “The Gypsies” and his ballad “The Bridegroom”. He also on the historical tragedy “Boris Godunov”, which was eventually published in 1831. “Boris Godunov”, a work slightly based on the life of Russian ruler Boris Godunov (Tsar of Russia from 1598 to 1605), consists of 25 scenes. Pushkin penned many of the scenes in the poem in blank verse.

Greatly influenced and proud of his great-grandfather’s African origin, he started writing the romance novel titled “Blackamoor of Peter the Great” (meaning “The Negro of Peter the Great”) in 1828. He proudly writes about how his great-grandfather was brought to the court of Peter the Great as a servant and was elevated to a godson.

After the Decembrist Uprising of 1825 was crushed, the new tsar Nicholas I took note of Pushkin’s popularity and allowed him to return to Moscow in 1826 with the promise that the poet would write freely. Pushkin, seeking more social reforms from Nicholas I, wrote the historic poems “Poltava” and “The Bronze Horseman” in 1833.

The poem “Bronze Horseman” was about a little hero who is grief stricken by the loss of his lover finds himself pursued through the streets by the “Bronze Horseman” which turned out to be the image of Peter I. This emotional poem is considered by some historians as the greatest in Russian literature.

With the tsar’s censorship becoming more intense on Pushkin’s works, the young writer continued to pen his thoughts in works like “To My Friends” and “Egyptian Nights” from 1827 to 1830.

Some of Pushkin’s other works are “The Covetous Knight”, “Mozart and Salieri”, “The Stone Guest”, “Feast in Time of the Plague”, and “The Queen of Spades”.

More on Alexander Pushkin and his works

Pushkin has been praised by scholars for his broad knowledge in literature. It’s said that he was influenced by English writers such as William Shakespeare and Lord Byron.
After his marriage in 1831, Pushkin was invited to the Tsar’s court and was given the title “Gentleman of the Emperor’s Chamber”, which did not sit well with the noble writer. Regardless, he continued to write, perhaps to spite Tsar Nicholas I. A few of his works within the period of 1834 to 1836 are “The Captain’s Daughter”, and “A History of Pugachov”.

Personal Life

By his wife Natalia, Pushkin fathered four children. Image: Pushkin’s wife – Natalia Goncharova, 1849

In 1831, Pushkin married 18-year-old Natalya Goncharova who was reported to be one of the most beautiful women in Russia. By 1836 the couple had four children, Maria, Alexander, Grigory, and Natalia. It’s been revealed that Pushkin’s descendants are spread across Europe today, with one of them being Gerald Grosvenor, the sixth Duke of Westminster.

Duel with Georges d’Anthès

Perhaps owing to her exceptional beauty his wife Natalya Goncharova had many admirers and was rumored to have many lovers, including her brother-in-law Baron Georges d’Anthès. Pushkin heard of the alleged affair and challenged d’Anthès to a duel. The pistol duel took place on February 8, 1837; and Pushkin was shot in the stomach while his opponent only suffered a slight bullet graze on his right arm.

Two days after the duel, on February 10, 1837, Alexander Pushkin died from the wound he sustained. He was only 37 years old, and one can only imagine the kinds of works he could have produced had he lived to a ripe age.

Pushkin’s funeral attracted many thousands of mourners. The renowned Russian poet was buried beside his mother in present-day Pushkinskiye Gory, near Pskov.

Following Pushkin’s death, it was rumored that his widow Natalia became the mistress of Nicholas I. Ultimately, Natalia tied remarried in 1844. She tied the knot with Major-General Petr Petrovich Lanskoy (1799–1877), who was a military colleague of her brother. Natalia gave birth to three more children: Alexandra (b. 1845), Elizaveta (b. 1846) and Sophia (b. 1848).

What was his legacy?

Pushkin’s literary works transcended boundaries; he made Russian literature accepted across the world. He improved the Russian literary styles and lexicon; he made it more expressive and personable. He was one of the first to publish a magazine “The Contemporary” which allowed him to become a major influence on the work of Ukrainian playwright Nikolai Gogol.

Pushkin has been honored years after his death; a museum in Moscow was named after him. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow posthumously commemorates the poet.

His birthday, June 6, has been celebrated as the United Nations Russian Language Day since 2010.

The second largest diamond found in Russia in December 1989 was named Alexander Pushkin diamond.

A film inspired by Pushkin’s duel was released in 2006 named “Pushkin: The Last Duel”.

A monument in honor of the Russian literary genius was unveiled in 2009 in Eritrea. There is also a bust of him in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, close to the African Union (AU) headquarters.

Alexander Pushkin: Fast Facts

Pushkin’s African heritage, Boyar roots and link to Peter the Great were beautifully captured in a number of his works, most famously in “Blackamoor of Peter the Great”. Image: Monument to Aleksandr Pushkin located in Pushkin Park in Mexico City

Born: June 6, 1799; Moscow

Died: February 10, 1837; Saint Petersburg

Cause of death : Peritonitis – swelling of the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen

Education: Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

Spouse: Natalia Pushkina (married in 1831)

Children: Natalia, Grigory, Alexander, and Maria

Parents: Sergei Lvovich Pushkin and Nadezhda Ossipovna Gannibal

Most famous works: “Eugene Onegin”, “Ruslan and Ludmila”, “The Bronze Horseman”, “The Stone Guest”, “Boris Godunov”

Tags: Abram Petrovich Gannibal Alexander Pushkin Peter the Great Poets Russian Poets

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From one extreme to the other

Alexander Pushkin was born into an impoverished noble family on June 6, 1799. In his early childhood he was a taciturn and sedentary child – his elder sister Olga recalled that until the age of six the boy “was just a laggard. Initial education Pushkin was at home. His upbringing was no different from the customary system then in noble families: his parents hired governesses and teachers from France, Germany, England and Russia.

Education was given Pushkin hard, and teachers noted that he was not diligent. Soon, however, the boy was fond of reading. “Spent sleepless nights and secretly devoured books one after another in his father’s study,” his younger brother Lev later recalled.

“I don’t know what my eldest grandson will turn out to be. The boy is clever and eager for books, but he studies poorly, rarely when he gives his lesson in order – then you do not shake him up, do not drive him to play with children, then suddenly so turns and disperses, that nothing can not calm him: from one extreme to another rushes, he has no middle ground” – Maria Hannibal

His love of reading grew into attempts to create his own texts. Already at the age of seven, Pushkin was composing little comedies in French, imitating Moliere. Later, after reading the works of La Fontaine, the young author wanted to write fables. And after getting acquainted with Voltaire’s Henriade, Pushkin conceived a poem in six songs: all the books he read inspired the novice author.

The Frenchman at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

In 1811 Pushkin’s parents decided to send their son to the Jesuit College, but their plans changed when a lyceum for noble children opened in Tsarskoye Selo. On the protection of friends the Pushkins placed their 12 year old son in an elite institution. Initially it was intended to prepare children of the imperial family and their peers for higher civil ranks. But the status of the Lyceum lowered: Pushkin studied in a privileged and closed institution, but among the equals of the children of impoverished families. Within the walls of the Lyceum, many became close friends. Three friends – Ivan Pushchin, Anton Delvig, Wilhelm Kuchelbecker – remained friends of Pushkin for life.

The Lyceum was taught by the famous lawyer Alexander Kunitsyn, philosopher Alexander Galich and philologist Nikolai Koshansky. It was the professors who had a great influence on the intellectual and moral development of the Lyceum pupils – their relatives could only visit their children on weekends. On weekdays the lessons started at 7 am and lasted until late at night. During his studies Alexander Pushkin saw his alma mater as a “monastery” and dreamed of the freedom that would come with the graduation of the Lyceum.

Pushkin studied not very well, especially hard for a young writer given logic and mathematics. With a brilliant memory he lacked diligence and attention. However, the teachers noted the erudition of pupils. In the Lyceum, he continued to read and write many texts in French. Lyceum student Sergei Komovsky recalled that because of his love for this language Pushkin “was called… in mockery the Frenchman, and by the physique and some habits of the monkey and even a mixture of monkey and tiger.

In Russian Alexander Pushkin composed small epigrams and messages, and outlined the structure of his future autobiography. The young author was so fond of literary creativity that the ideas of works were born one after another for several months ahead: “Yesterday I wrote the third chapter of Fatham, or the Mind of Man. I began a comedy – I do not know whether I will finish it. On the third day I wanted to write an ironic poem “Igor and Olga”. In the summer I will write “A Picture of Tsarskoye Selo”. Pushkin wrote poems. In 1814 he first published one of them – “To a friend, poet” – under the pseudonym of Alexander N.K.S.P. in the magazine “Herald of Europe”.

The first major success awaited Pushkin in 1815 during the winter transfer exam – 15-year-old high school student read his poem “Memories of Tsarskoye Selo. Gavriel Derzhavin was present at the exam, he was shocked by a creation of a young poet. Pushkin later wrote: “I do not remember how I finished my reading; I do not remember where I ran away. Derzhavin was delighted; he demanded me, wanted to embrace me … I was looked for, but could not find.

Pushkin’s service and career

In 1817 Alexander Pushkin graduated from the Lyceum. In terms of academic achievement he was 24 out of 29 graduates. Pushkin was sent to the College of Foreign Affairs – an official X class. But it was only listed: civil service is little attracted to the young man. After six years of study Pushkin plunged into the social life of the capital and, as a famous and distinguished author, got into the St. Petersburg society of writers. While still in the Lyceum he became a member of the literary circle “Arzamas” which fought against the archaic linguistic traditions.

In 1819 Pushkin joined the literary and theatrical society “The Green Lamp” under the Decembrist Union of Welfare. Its members promoted freedom-loving ideas. At the meetings, they recited poems, discussed theater premieres, criticized journalistic articles. Here were conducted not only secular disputes, but also political conversations. All this was reflected in Pushkin’s work: he wrote several epigrams on the statesmen of the time, the ode “Liberty”, the poems “To Chaadayev” and “The Village”.

These sharp political works provoked the wrath of Alexander I, and the emperor decided to send Pushkin to Siberia or to the Solovetsky monastery. However, Nikolai Karamzin interceded for the poet: the service of Pushkin was transferred from the capital to the South. Before his departure, in 1820, Alexander Pushkin finished his poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila. Vasily Zhukovsky highly appreciated this work and gave the poet his portrait with the signature “To the victorious pupil from the defeated teacher.

Southern Link

In the spring of 1820 Alexander Pushkin went to Kishinev, to the office of the chief trustee of the colonists of the Southern region. On the way to the new place of service the poet became very ill. To improve his health, Pushkin went first to the Caucasus, then – in the Crimea. Traveling impressions of the south of the empire was later reflected in some of his works. Finally, in September 1820 Pushkin arrived in Kishinev.

The new chief lieutenant-general Ivan Inzov related to the service of his subordinate indulgently and did not assign him any official matters. Pushkin used his time as he pleased: he communicated with members of the Union of Welfare, joined the Masonic lodge “Ovid”. In his spare time, he still wrote. During this period appeared “The Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Gavriiliada”, “The Robber Brothers”, “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”, “The Song of Oleg the Veschem”. Pushkin also began work on the novel in verse, Eugene Onegin.

At this time in St. Petersburg began to come out the poet’s books – Ruslan and Lyudmila, The Prisoner of the Caucasus, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. They also began Pushkin’s professional activity: he was the first writer in Russia who began to earn money by literary work.

In 1823 Pushkin moved to Odessa. Here he got a job in the office of Count Vorontsov. Soon, however, official and personal conflicts led Pushkin to ask for his resignation.

Pushkin in Mikhailovsky

In Mikhailovskoye Pushkin led a secluded life. His parents, along with his sister Olga and brother Leo left the estate, so that the exile did not adversely affect the family. The poet was initially happy with the peace and quiet, but with the onset of autumn coldness depressed. The only entertainment for Pushkin was talking with his nanny Arina Rodionovna. Her tales, as the poet said, corrected the shortcomings of the French upbringing. He wrote down the plots of magical stories, and later used them in his works.

The reclusive way of life did not become destructive for Pushkin, rather the opposite: the writer read a lot, worked, reflected on his work. In the first autumn of Mikhailovsky he began to write “Boris Godunov.” This tragedy was an important stage in the poet’s work: he moved from romanticism with its heroics to a realistic embodiment of the characters.

The exoticism and abstractions left the poet’s work, and contemporary realities came to the fore. Pushkin finished the poem “To the sea” he started in Odessa, resumed work on his autobiographical notes, wrote a mock poem “Count Nulin”, a love poem-dedication “To ***”.

I want to publish or publish myself

On December 1, 1825, Alexander I died. The emperor left no heirs, and the presumed emperor Constantine, the next oldest brother, abdicated the throne. Nicholas Pavlovich became the pretender to power. Members of the Northern Secret Society decided to take advantage of the interregnum. On the morning of December 26, an uprising was scheduled. The participants planned to take troops to Senate Square and force the senators to sign a manifesto to the Russian people on the convening of the Constituent Assembly instead of oathing to Nicholas. A constitutional monarchy or republic was to be established in Russia. However, the coup attempt failed.

Pushkin learned about the Decembrist uprising while in exile. The investigation of the case did not promise anything good: the poet’s poems were found at all of those arrested. The writer had to give a receipt that he was not in secret societies, of their existence did not know. Pushkin, though worried about his situation, but hoped that the new emperor would forgive him and release him from exile.

“I have already written to the tsar, immediately after the end of the investigation, concluding my petition exactly in your words. I am waiting for a reply, but I have little hope. Rebellion and revolution have never pleased me, it is true; but I have been in touch with almost everyone and in correspondence with many of the conspirators. All the outrageous manuscripts went under my name, as all the lewd ones went under Barkov’s. If I had been demanded by the commission, I would of course have been excused, but I was left alone, and it does not seem to be for good. However, hell knows” – from Alexander Pushkin’s letter to Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky.

In 1826 the first collection Poems of Alexander Pushkin was published. It was a huge success: the volume was sold out in a few weeks. That year Pushkin wrote the following chapters of Eugene Onegin, but he did not hurry to publish them, as well as other works. In response to the publisher Peter Pletnev, he sharply replied: “I myself want to publish or give out in the light” – that is, be released from exile.

September 20, 1826 Pushkin was summoned to an audience with Tsar Nicholas I. After the brutal massacre of the Decembrists, the emperor wanted to win over society, so he returned from exile, a favorite of all the famous poet. The monarch not only released Pushkin, but guaranteed the highest patronage and offered to become his personal censor.

After a conversation with Nicholas I, the writer hoped to be completely free to create. But the tsar had other plans: Pushkin was to become a poet at court. The calculation did not pay off. In 1827 Pushkin wrote the poem “Arion”, in which he expressed his loyalty to the ideas of liberation. And through the Decembrist’s wife, Alexandra Muravyeva, sent to the Siberian penal colony the poem “In the depths of the Siberian ore” – a message to the revolutionaries.

Censorship intensified, the personal correspondence of the poet looked through, about his every step reported to the chief of the Third Department of the Gendarmes Alexander Benkendorf. Pushkin was even forbidden to travel freely around the country and read his works in public. Despite the strict controls, he continued to defend the freethinking ideas and devoted to this subject the poems “The Poet and the Crowd”, “The Poet.

Pushkin’s personal life

In 1829, Alexander Pushkin met Natalia Goncharova at one of the balls. The girl was 16 years old at that time, while the poet was almost 30. The first beauty of Moscow immediately captivated Pushkin, and a few months later he made a proposal to Goncharova. But her mother referred to the girl’s young age and did not give her consent at once. Upset, the writer left Moscow to join his brother in the Caucasus, where the war was going on at the time.

“When I saw her [Natalia Goncharova] for the first time, her beauty was just beginning to be noticed in society. I fell in love with her, I got dizzy, I asked for her hand. Your answer, with all its vagueness, almost drove me mad; the same night I left for the army. You will ask me why? I swear, I do not know how to tell myself; but involuntary melancholy drove me from Moscow: I could not bear the presence of yours and hers in it” – from Alexander Pushkin’s letter to the mother of Natalia Goncharova.

In the Caucasus Pushkin wrote a cycle of poems dedicated to this land: “The Caucasus”, “On the hills of Georgia lies the night gloom”, “Landslide”, “Delibash” and “The monastery on Kazbek”. In 1830 the writer returned to Moscow and once again proposed to Natalia Goncharova. This time the parents blessed the couple.

However, the wedding prevented the fact that Pushkin had no property. Then the poet’s father allocated to his son part of the family estate Boldino in Nizhny Novgorod province, the village of Kistenevo, together with two hundred peasants. In the summer of 1830 Pushkin went there to settle legal matters.

Boldin Autumn

The writer expected to stay in Boldino for no more than a month, but the cholera epidemic changed his plans. It was impossible to leave the village, so the writer spent three months here.

Boldino Autumn is a period of unprecedented creative flight. In Boldin Pushkin finished “Eugene Onegin,” wrote “The Tale of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin,” “The Story of the Village Goryukhin,” “Little Tragedies,” drama “Mermaid,” poem “Little House at Colomna” and many poems.

Pushkin returned to Moscow in December 1830, and a few months later married Natalia Goncharova. The poet dreamed of solitude, a quiet family life and quiet work on books. However, his wishes were not destined to come true.

The Duel and Death of a Poet

In 1831 Alexander Pushkin was hired as a historiographer to write the History of Peter. But the writer was more fascinated by the biography of the rebel Yemelyan Pugachev. Pushkin planned to create an epic novel about this era. First, he gathered information in the archives, then traveled to the areas of the Pugachev rebellion – the Volga and the Urals – to reliably describe the events of that time.

After the expedition, Alexander Pushkin went to Boldino. On his family estate he worked on a scholarly work “The History of Pugachev”, wrote “The Bronze Horseman”, “Angelo”, “The Queen of Spades”, “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” and “The Tale of the Dead Tsarevna and the Seven Bogatyrs”. The second Boldino Autumn was twice as short as the previous one, but no less productive for Pushkin.

Nicholas I bestowed upon Pushkin a junior court rank – the rank of gentleman of the bedchamber. Now the four Pushkins could officially invite the court balls. This position the poet considered insulting for his age. The writer wanted to reject the new title, but had to put up with it.

In the 1830s Pushkin was already writing only realistic works. But his contemporaries were not ready for the new literary direction, which described social inequality, historical phenomena and other complex aspects of life. Fellow writers did not accept the new works of the writer, in court circles he also did not meet the support. In St. Petersburg there was gossip about Pushkin’s wife and her admirers, the poet received anonymous letters. The poet could not remain cold-blooded and put up with insulting rumors.

February 8, 1837 Alexander Pushkin had a duel with Georges Dantes – the main intrigue, defaming the reputation of Natalia Pushkina. During the duel the poet was seriously wounded and died two days later. Alexander Pushkin was buried on the territory of Svyatogorsky monastery in Pskov province.

Poems & Poets

Alexander Pushkin

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Russia’s most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin was born into one of Russia’s most famous noble families. His mother was the granddaughter of an Abyssinian prince, Hannibal, who had been a favorite of Peter I, and many of Pushkin’s forebears played important roles in Russian history. Pushkin began writing poetry as a student at the Lyceum at Tsarskoe Selo, a school for aristocratic youth. As a young man, Pushkin was immersed in French poetry and Russian Neoclassicism. His early output was generically diverse and included elegies, songs, and epistles. After graduating in 1817, Pushkin threw himself into St. Petersburg society, pursuing pleasure as well as politics. Certain poems from these years commented on the limits of autocracy and directed invective toward high-ranking officials; they were circulated widely but never published and eventually came back to haunt Pushkin after their discovery amongst the belongings of the Decembrists, the military faction that rose up to challenge Nicholas I. Pushkin’s first major verse narrative, the mock epic Ruslan i Liudmila (1820), dates from his St. Petersburg period. Written in iambic tetrameter, the poem is a faux-fairy tale based on medieval Russian history. Pushkin’s first major success, the poem also generated controversy for its break with prevailing verse traditions. Soon after its publication , Pushkin was sent into exile in southern Russia for his outspoken political views. During the first years of his exile (1820-1823), Pushkin traveled to the Caucasus and Crimea, writing lyrics and narrative poems that exhibited debts to his recent discovery, in French translation, of the works of George Gordon, Lord Byron. At the end 1823, Pushkin began work on his masterpiece, Evgeny Onegin (Eugene Onegin). Written over seven years, the poem was published in full in 1833. In it, Pushkin invented a new stanza: iambic tetrameter with alternating feminine and masculine rhymes. The poem is also notable for its inventive and exuberant language and social critique. And while Pushkin played with autobiography, the verse novel turned out to be more autobiographical than even he knew: like Pushkin himself, Onegin gets involved in a duel, though Onegin survives by killing his opponent, while Pushkin would die at the hand of his own. In general, Pushkin’s life was marked by political and romantic scandal. Though Nicholas I eventually released him from exile, Pushkin’s work was frequently censored, his letters intercepted, and his status with the court remained tenuous until his death. In 1831, Pushkin married Natalia Goncharova. Her beauty and favor at court led to many problems for Pushkin: Nicholas himself was infatuated with her, as was the French royalist George D’Anthès-Heeckeren who openly pursued Natalia for years. Pushkin eventually challenged D’Anthès to a duel, which he lost. He died on January 29, two days after being mortally wounded. While the court sympathized with D’Anthès, the Russian public mourned Pushkin. Fearing unrest, the government held Pushkin’s funeral in a small church, admitting mourners by ticket only. He was buried at dawn next to his mother at Svyatye Gory Monastery. Pushkin’s most famous poems are decidedly Romantic in their celebration of freedom and defense of personal liberty, but his concise, moderate, and spare style has proven difficult for many critics to categorize. His many narrative poems, epics, and lyrics are mainstays of the Russian literary tradition and widely memorized. His works have inspired countless song cycles, ballets, and other artistic interpretations. In 1880, a statue of Pushkin was unveiled in Moscow, to speeches given by Dostoevsky and Turgenev, who claimed that the statue allowed Russians to claim themselves as a great nation “because this nation has given birth to such a man.”

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Alexander Pushkin: who was he and why is he important in the world of music?

The great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin’s influence spread far beyond his native land

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is of all poets Russia’s most beloved, widely quoted and extensively set to music. Hot tempered and apparently conceited in person, in his writing he displayed a deft if often sardonic wit, keen and often compassionate observation and a worldliness which recalled the English poet he most admired, Lord Byron.

What makes his achievement extraordinary, though, is that he managed to express all this in Russian, a language that had been previously despised by all educated Russians as belonging to peasants and much inferior to French. While Pushkin shared their admiration of French literature, he was able to match its qualities – and more – while writing in his native tongue. Besides poetry, Pushkin pioneered almost every significant genre in Russian literature including historic drama ( Boris Godunov ), historical romance ( Poltava : the basis of Tchaikovsky ’s opera Mazeppa ), the novel ( Eugene Onegin ), and the supernatural tale ( Queen of Spades ).

Perhaps ironically, Pushkin was never a connoisseur of music. He regularly tripped over people’s feet as he arrived late for the ballet, which he attended entirely to ogle the ladies. Yet he was fascinated by Mozart : the opera Don Giovanni inspired his own drama The Stone Guest (itself turned into an opera by Dargomyzhsky), and he wrote a dramatic scene concerning the relationship between Mozart and Salieri (which Rimsky-Korsakov made into an opera). He was also acquainted with Glinka , who hoped the poet would adapt his folklore-style epic Ruslan and Ludmila into a libretto for operatic setting: alas, only months after the historic premiere of Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar , Pushkin was shot in a duel which he himself had called to defend his wife’s honour.

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References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Feinstein, Elaine, ed. After Pushkin: Versions of the Poems of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin by Contemporary Poets. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Prees; London: Folio Society, 1999. ISBN 1-857-54444-7
Pushkin: a biography London: HarperCollins, 2002. ISBN 0-00-215084-0 (U.S. edition: New York: Knopf, 2003. ISBN 1-4000-4110-4 )
Vitale, Serena. Pushkin's Button. Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998. ISBN 0-374-23995-5

External links

All links retrieved July 18, 2023.

Complete works (Russian) — FEB-web's Digital Scholarly Edition (DSE) of A.S. Pushkin
Complete works in ten volumes (Russian) From the Russian Virtual Library.
Works by Pushkin from Project Gutenberg.
The family history of Aleksandr Pushkin

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Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin: A Research Guide: Pushkin's Life

Pushkin's Life
Pushkin's Works
Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Concordances
Bibliographies
Periodicals

Pushkin E-Resources at Princeton and Beyond

The Cambridge companion to Pushkin . Ed. Andrew Kahn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Essays on aspects of Pushkin's life and work by well-known Pushkin scholars. Access is limited to members of the Princeton University community. Also available in print: (F) PG3356 .C36 2006

Russian literature in the age of Pushkin and Gogol: poetry and drama . Ed. Christine Rydel. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Group, 1999.

Part of the Dictionary of Literary Biography series. Includes a biographical/critical essay on Pushkin, together with a lengthy multipartite bibliography. Access is limited to members of the Princeton University community. Also available in print: (RCPPA) PN451 .D53 v.205

Pushkin on Pushkin in the Princeton University Library

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Dnevniki, zapiski . Izd. podgotovila Ia. L. Levkovich. SPb: Nauka, 1995. (ANXA) PG3350 .A5 1995

Includes all of Pushkin's diaries and jottings, together with an essay and commentary by the compiler. Name index. From the 'Literaturnye pamiatniki' series.

Pushkin, Alexander. The working notebooks . SPb; London: Pushkinskii dom; St. Petersburg Partnership Consortium, 1995-1997. (Rare Books [Ex]) Oversize PG3355 .P87 1995q

Eight-volume edition of Pushkin's notebooks, including both facsimiles of the original manuscript and the text. In Russian, with bilingual introductions.

Perepiska A. S. Pushkina v dvukh tomakh . Sostavlenie i kommentarii V.Ė. Vatsuro. M.: Khudozh. lit-ra, 1982. (F) PG3345 .A1 1982

Pushkin's correspondence in a two-volume edition.

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Pis'ma k zhene . Izd. pdogotovila Ia. L. Levkovich. L.: Nauka, 1986. (ANXA) PG3345 .P87 1986

Pushkin's letters to his wife, collected in one volume. From the 'Literaturnye pamiatniki' series.

The letters of Alexander Pushkin . Tr. and ed. J. Thomas Shaw. Madison, Wisc.: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. (F) PG3347.Z5 S7 1967

Biographies and Appreciations of Pushkin in the Princeton University Library

BIOGRAPHIES

Tsiavlovskii, M. A. Letopisʹ zhizni i tvorchestva Aleksandra Pushkina . M: Slovo, 1999-2005. (F) PG3350 .T75 1999

Detailed, for the most part day-by-day chronology of Pushkin's life and work. In four volumes, with a fifth supplementary volume of indices, extra material, and bibliography.

Veresaev, V. V. Pushkin v zhizni . The Hague: Mouton, 1969. (F) PG3350 .V46 1969

Interesting biography of Pushkin told entirely through excerpts from documentary source materials (letters, reminiscences of contemporaries, images, etc.). In two volumes; index for both volumes at the end of the second. Facsimile reprint of the 1936 Sovetskii pisatel' edition.

Binyon, T. J. Pushkin: a biography . London: HarperCollins, 2002. (F) PG3350 .B55 2002

The most recent English-language biography of Pushkin; aimed at a general, rather than a scholarly, audience. Another relatively recent biography in English is Pushkin: the man and his age by Robin Edmonds (London: Macmillan, 1994) in Firestone: PG3350 .E356 1994 .

Annenkov, P. V. A.S. Pushkin: materīaly dlia ego bīografīi i otsienki proizvedenīĭ . S.-Peterburg : Izdanīe Tovarishchestva "Obshchestvennaia polʹza, 1873. (F) PG3350.A564 1873

Annenkov's was the first biographical work to be published about Pushkin. The censorship of the time limited his ability to use the unique source material at his disposal in an effective way, but the book remains an important work. This is a photocopy of the 1873 second edition; it is in pre-revolutionary script. Also in Firestone is a 2007 reprint of the 1855 first edition in modern script, published as part of the 'IA liubliu Pushkina' series: PG 3350.A654 0207 .

Brodskiĭ, N. L. A. S. Pushkin, biografiia . Moskva: Gosudarstvennoe izdatelʹstvo "Khudozhestvennaia literatura", 1937. (F) PG3350 .B763 1937

Biography of Pushkin by well-known Soviet scholar Nikolai Leont'evich Brodskii, author of a famous Onegin commentary.

Mirsky, D. S. Pushkin . New York: Haskell House, 1974. (F) PG3350 .M5 1974

Early biography of Pushkin in English by the distinguished Russian literary critic Prince D. S. Mirsky.

Troyat, Henri. Pouchkine: biographie . Paris: Pion, 1953. (F) PG3350 .T7 1953

Popular biography of Pushkin by Russian-French academician Henri Troyat (born Lev Tarassov). Controversial for its liberties, but amusing to read. A good translation into English (by Nancy Amphoux) is in Firestone: PG3350 .T714 1970 .

Tomashevskii, B. V. Pushkin . M.: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1956-1961. (F) PG3356 .T6 1956

Two-volume biography of Pushkin, written by one of the editors of his collected works and issued by the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

Grossman, Leonid. Pushkin . M.: Molodaia gvardiia, 1958. (F) PG3350 .G767 1958

Biography of Pushkin by a noted Soviet scholar; issued as one of the 'Zhizn' zamechatel'nykh liudei' series.

APPRECIATIONS

Pushkin, issledovaniia i materialy . M.: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1956- (F) PG3350.A1 A55 1956

Ongoing series of volumes of Pushkin research and source materials. Princeton owns through 2004.

Pushkin v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov . Sost. V. E. Vatsuro. SPb: Akademicheskii proekt, 1998. (F) PG 3351.P874 1998

Third enlarged edition of collected memoirs of Pushkin by his contemporaries. In two volumes. PUL also owns 1950 first edition: (F) PG3351.P874 1950

Bayley, John. Pushkin; a comparative commentary . Cambridge: University Press, 1971. (F and ANXA) PG3356 .B395 1971

Analysis of Pushkin's poetry and drama (including Evgenii Onegin ), attempting to put him into the Russian and larger European context.

Lotman, Iu. M. Pushkin . SPb: Iskusstvo SPB, 1995. (F) PG3350 .L68 1995

Volume containing Lotman's biography of Pushkin (originally written for students), a selection of his essays and articles on Pushkin, and his famous commentary on Evgenii Onegin .

Dostoevskiĭ i Pushkin : rechʹ i statʹia F. M. Dostoevskogo . Pod red. A. L. Volynskogo. SPb: Parfenon, 1921. (F) PG3350 .V659 1921

Text of the speech read by Dostoyevsky after the dedication of the Pushkin monument, together with an essay on Pushkin.

Akhmatova, Anna. Anna Akhmatova o Pushkine: statʹi i zametki . L.: Sov. pisatel', 1977. (F) PG3350.Z8A38

Essays by Akhmatova on Pushkin's life and works.

Russian views of Pushkin . Ed. and tr. D. J. Richards and C. R. S. Cockrell. Oxford: W. A. Meeuws, 1976. (F) PG3356.R8

Collection of famous Russian essays, critiques, and speeches on Pushkin and his legacy, translated into English.

The Pushkin handbook . Ed. David Bethea. Madison, Wisc.: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. (F) PG3356.P818 2005

Bilingual collection of essays on Pushkin's life and work by eminent Pushkinists.

Next: Pushkin's Works >>
Last Updated: Dec 19, 2023 3:14 PM
URL: https://libguides.princeton.edu/pushkin

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Aleksandr Pushkin summary

Aleksandr Pushkin , (born June 6, 1799, Moscow, Russia—died Feb. 10, 1837, St. Petersburg), Russian writer. Born into an aristocratic family, Pushkin began his literary career while still a student at the Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo (later renamed Pushkin). His first major work was the romantic poem Ruslan and Ludmila (1820). With his political verses and epigrams, he became associated with a revolutionary movement that culminated in the unsuccessful Decembrist revolt of 1825. Banished to several provincial locations, he produced a cycle of romantic narrative poems that confirmed him as the leading Russian poet of the day and the leader of the Romantic generation of the 1820s. He also worked on his important historical tragedy, Boris Godunov (1831), and his central masterpiece, the novel in verse Eugene Onegin (1833). After Nicholas I allowed him to return to Moscow in 1826, Pushkin abandoned his revolutionary sentiments, turning to the figure of Peter the Great in poems such as The Bronze Horseman (1837). Other works from this period include the classic short story “The Queen of Spades” (1834) and the drama The Stone Guest (1839). In his late works the motif of peasant rebellion is prominent. The object of suspicion in court circles, he died at age 37 after being forced into a duel. He is often considered his country’s greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

Poet Biographies

Alexander Pushkin: Weaving Words into Russian History

Alexander Pushkin was a revolutionary 19th century Russian poet and novelist who toiled with exile and political tensions, while changing the face of Russian literature.

Alexander Pushkin has gone down as one of the most influential Russian writers of all time. The poet, playwright, and novelist was born in 1799 and continued to write until his death in 1837. He had an eventful life full of turbulence and ended in the same vain. He died in a duel with another man after a life of exile and political trouble. Eugene Onegin’s novel in verse is arguably his most iconic piece.

About Alexander Pushkin

1 Poet Overview
2 Collections
3 Famous Poems
4 Poetry Style
6 Achievements

Poet Overview

Born: Moscow, Russia, June 6, 1799.

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born in the famous Russian city of Moscow. It is safe to say that he had an upper-class upbringing, which no doubt gave him valuable insights that would later influence his work. His father, Sergey Lvovich Pushkin, hailed from a long line of Russian nobility, while his mother’s side of the family was equally interesting. Abram Petrovich Gannibal, his great-grandfather, was an African nobleman who came to Russia years before he was born.

With both parents being from powerful and rich families, he was allowed access to a unique education. He was tutored for much of his younger years, learning a wide variety of subjects, including French. His nanny, Arina Rodionovna, played a significant role in his development by teaching him the nuances of the Russian language.

As he became a young man, he was exposed to higher education at the Lyceum near Saint Petersburg. This prestigious school openly showed their respect for his literary talents. It was at the age of 15 that he published his first poem. During his formal and self-education, he began to take on the ideas of important figures from the French Enlightenment , such as Voltaire. From this period onwards, Pushkin started to integrate and form philosophical ideas.

An interest in social issues and politics within Russia would grow. A number of his works began criticizing the Russian hierarchy, such as ‘ Ode to Liberty .’ Emperor Alexander I was not impressed and had him exiled in 1820. During this time, he was not allowed to publish any writings due to being under the watchful eye of the Emperor’s political police. However, Pushkin did not exactly follow these orders completely, as he created his play Boris Godunov , which became known as his most well-known.

His rebellious nature prevailed, as he wrote ‘ The Captive of the Caucasus ‘ and The Fountain of Bakhchisaray from 1820-1823, which also embodied his social beliefs. They also would garner great critical acclaim for years to come.

Exile and persecution only pushed him further away from alignment with the political ideals of Russia at the time. He sought out and joined the Filika Eteria , which was a secret society that aimed to aid Greece’s independence movement.

In 1830, during the writing process of his epic Eugene Onegin , he married his wife, Natalia Goncharova, who would later be at the center of a dispute that ended his life. For the years after, there were whiffs of infidelity rising in their relationship, with there being rumors of Goncharova’s affairs. Georges d’Anthès, who was the husband of her sister, was allegedly romantically involved with Natalia. Pushkin would confront him on January 27, 1837. Tragically, Pushkin was injured and succumbed to his injuries two days later.

His impact was clear as Russia mourned his loss, alongside commemorating him in the years to come, with numerous statues, museums, celebrations, and tributes in his name to this day. For example, the UN Russian Language Day is held every year on his birthday, June 6.

Collections

Eugene onegin, 1833.

Pushkin’s revolutionary magnum opus is an innovative verse novel in eight chapters.

Poems of 1817-1820

Includes iconic poems like ‘ To Chaadaev ‘ and ‘ Ruslan and Lyudmila .’

Poems of 1824-1833

A collection of shorter poems including masterpieces like ‘ I Loved You ,’ ‘ To the Sea ,’ and ‘ Poltava .’

Poems of 1833-1836

A collection of his final poems, such as ‘ To My Muse ‘ and ‘ Verses Written Above a Gate .’

Poems of 1837

A posthumous collection containing some of his last unfinished works and fragments.

Famous Poems

‘ I Loved You ‘ – Pushkin wrote ‘I Loved You’ in 1829 and published it a year later in 1830. It is a wonderful example of Pushkin’s verse and the way that he considered women in his life and literature. Since its publication, it has been set to music by several different artists and composers.
‘ To the Sea ‘ – Alexander Pushkin’s romantic tropes are here in ‘ To the Sea .’ His ode to the sea portrays its vastness, power, and mystique. Pushkin marvels at its beauty, comparing it to a living entity that commands awe and respect.
‘ Eugene Onegin ‘ – Many consider his novel in verse, Eugene Onegin to be his magnum opus. It tells the story of Eugene Onegin and his life in St. Petersburg society. It’s not too far of a stretch to say it was heavily influenced by his own experiences. The work hits a perfect blend of poignant romance , societal critique , and lyrical descriptions, written in a distinct and innovative stanzaic structure.
‘ The Bronze Horseman ‘ – This narrative poem tells the tragic story of Evgenii and his lover Parasha during the catastrophic flood in St. Petersburg. It’s a tale of human struggle against the forces of nature and fate, set against the backdrop of a powerful historical event.
‘ The Captive of the Caucasus ‘ – One of Pushkin’s celebrated narrative poems , it recounts the story of a Russian soldier, Vasily, captured by mountain tribes in the Caucasus.

Poetry Style

Romantic elements.

Alexander Pushkin’s poetry was inspired by the works of poets in the Romantic movement, exploring similar themes., such as the human experience, and using vivid imagery to connect with the reader.

Russian Identity and Nationalism

As one of the most influential literary figures of Russia, his works are deeply rooted in the Motherland. He takes great inspiration from Russian folklore , history, and mythology while discussing the issues surrounding Russian politics, culture, and identity.

Pushkin’s career was infused with a sense of constant innovation and the desire to develop his poetic skills. From lyric poetry to narrative verse, he experimented with diverse forms, introducing innovative approaches that challenged conventional structures. His creation of the novel in verse, exemplified in Eugene Onegin , showcases his literary experimentation.

Musicality and Rhythm

Musicality is at the core of Pushkin’s poetry. A rhythmic flow is created from the melodic quality of his verses. His cadence show how beautiful the spoken language can be.

Narrative Approach

Captivating stories and narratives are vital to his poetic approach. When reading his collections and poems, it is clear that he is a master of vivid storytelling., despite using verse, rather than prose . His stories are often based on folklore or historical events.

Pushkin is born in Moscow, Russia

Pushkin attends Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, from which he graduated in 1817.

1814: He published his first poem at the age of 15.

Begins writing critically about the government in St.Petersburg at the time, leading to his exile in 1820 to the Caucasus and Crimea. His mock epic poem ‘ Ruslan i Liudmila ,’ was the main driving force of this. Around this time, he joins the Filiki Eteria, a secret society.

He wrote his iconic works, The Captive of the Caucasus and The Fountain of Bakhchisaray .

Begins and completes Eugene Onegin . It was a novel in verse form .

Marries Natalia Goncharova.

Following a duel with Georges d’Anthès, he succumbs to his wounds at the age of 37.

The Russian Academy of Sciences creates the Pushkin Prize, which recognises the achievements of Russian literary figures.

The Medal of Pushkin was established by the Russian Federation.

New Pushkin Prize founded by Aleksander Zhukov Fund.

“World Pushkin” is founded by Russkiy Mir Foundation and A. Pushkin State Literary Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve Boldino.

Did you know?

Pushkin’s unfinished novel about his African ancestor, Abram, captivated Lincoln. Abram, inspired by Pushkin’s real-life great-grandfather, rose to be a Russian advisor, symbolizing racial possibility for Lincoln.

His Inspirations include:

Vasily Zhukovsky
Konstantin Batyushkov
Gavriil Derzhavin
William Shakespeare
André Chénier

Achievements

Due to being active during the early 19th century, modern awards had either not been created or were in their early developmental stages. However, a number of buildings, statues, and events are named after him.

Pushkin Monument

Moscow, Russia

State Pushkin Museum

St. Petersburg, Russia

The Alexander Pushkin State Drama Theatre

Pskov, Russia

UN Russian Language Day

Celebrated annually on Pushkin’s birthday (June 6th)

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Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin(1799-1837) is considered by most to be Russia's greatest poet. Pushkin, the Russian national poet, is famously descended from an African slave. Pushkin's life was cut short by a duel, yet he was nevertheless astoundingly prolific, and his poems are as rich and complex as they are beautiful. In his poetry and his prose, he revolutionized Russian literature by mixing storytelling and satire with vernacular language. In 1834 Natalya Pushkina, his wife, met a handsome French royalist émigré in Russian service. Young d'Anthes had been pursuing her for two years, and eventually, his claims became so open and unabashed, that in the fall of 1836, it led to a scandal. Pushkin challenged d'Anthes to a duel. He retracted the challenge, however, when he learned from rumors that d'Anthes was "really" in love with Natalya's sister, Ekaterina Goncharova. On 10 January 1837, their marriage took place, but Pushkin refused to attend the wedding or to receive the couple in his home. After the marriage, d'Anthes resumed pursuing Natalya Pushkina with doubled tenacity. A duel between Pushkin and d'Anthes finally took place on 27 January 1837. D'Anthes fired first, and Pushkin was mortally wounded. He died two days later, on 29 January. Pushkin was buried beside his mother at dawn on 6 February 1837 at Svyatye Gory Monastery, near Mikhaylovskoye. This place, with exquisite Pushkin family estates snuggled in the picturesque landscapes, has become a Mecca for all those in love with Pushkin's works and literature in general.

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World Biography

Aleksandr Pushkin Biography

Born: May 26, 1799 Moscow, Russia Died: January 29, 1837 St. Petersburg, Russia Russian author

Aleksandr Pushkin is ranked as one of Russia's greatest poets. He not only brought Russian poetry to its highest excellence, but also had a great influence on all Russian literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Early years

Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin was born to Sergei and Nadezhda Pushkin on May 26, 1799. On his father's side he was a descendant of Russian nobility. On his mother's side he was related to an African lord. But by the time Aleksandr was born, the family had gradually lost most of their wealth and influence, and they were lowered to the position of minor nobility. Aleksandr's family life was far from ideal. His father was domineering and easily irritated, and his mother often left the young child alone in pursuit of her social ambitions.

Between 1811 and 1817 Pushkin attended a special school for privileged children of the nobility. Pushkin was not a very good student in most subjects, but he performed brilliantly in French and Russian literature.

Early works, 1814–1820

After finishing school, Pushkin led a wild and undisciplined life. He wrote about 130 poems between 1814 and 1817, while still at school. Most of his works written between 1817 and 1820 were not published because his topics were considered inappropriate.

In 1820 Pushkin completed his first narrative poem, Russlan and Ludmilla. It is a romance composed of fantastic adventures but told with the humor of the previous century. However, even before Russlan and Ludmilla was published in June 1820, Pushkin was exiled to the south of Russia because of the political humor he had expressed in his earlier poems. Pushkin left St. Petersburg on May 6, and he would not return for more than six years.

South of Russia

Pushkin spent the years from 1820 to 1823 in various places in the southern part of Russia, including the Caucasus and in the Crimea. He was happy there at first, but later, he felt bored by the life in small towns and took up again a life of gambling and drinking. He was always short of money. He worked as a civil servant (government worker), but did not make much money and his family refused to support him.

Aleksandr Pushkin. Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation.

Mikhailovskoye, 1824–1826

When Pushkin arrived at Mikhailovskoye, his relations with his parents were not good. His father was angry at him. The family left the estate about mid-November, and Pushkin found himself alone with the family nurse. He lived alone for much of the next two years, occasionally visiting a neighboring town and infrequently entertaining old Petersburg friends. At this time the nurse told Pushkin many folk tales, and it is believed that she gave him a feeling for folk life that showed itself in many of his poems.

Pushkin's two years at Mikhailovskoye were extremely rich in poetic output. Among other works, he wrote the first three chapters of Eugene Onegin, and composed the tragedy Boris Godunov. In addition, he composed many important lyrics (poetic dramas set to music) and a humorous tale in verse entitled Count Nulin.

His maturity

Pushkin was eventually forgiven by the new czar (Russian ruler), Nicholas I (1796–1855). The czar promised Pushkin that all of his works would be censored (edited for approval) by the czar himself. Pushkin promised to publish nothing that would harm the government. After some time this type of censorship became a burden for Pushkin.

Pushkin continued to live a wild life for awhile, but wanted to settle down. He proposed to Nathalie Goncharova in 1830. He asked his future in-laws for money and convinced them to provide him with land and a house. He continued to work on Eugene Onegin, wrote a number of excellent lyrics, and worked on, but did not finish a novel.

Eugene Onegin was begun in 1824 and finished in August 1831. This is a novel in verse (poetry) and most regard it as Pushkin's most famous work. It is a "novel" about life at that time, constructed in order to permit digressions (the moving away from the main subject in literary works) and a variety of incidents and tones. The heart of the tale concerns the life of Eugene Onegin, a bored nobleman who rejects the advances of a young girl, Tatiana. He meets her later, when she is greatly changed and now sophisticated. He falls in love with her. He is in turn rejected by her because, although she loves him, she is married.

Marriage, duel, and death

After 1830 Pushkin wrote less and less poetry. He married Nathalie Goncharova in 1831. She bore him three children, but the couple were not happy together. His new wife had many other admirers. He challenged one of her admirers to a duel that took place on January 26, 1837. Pushkin was wounded and died on January 29. There was great mourning at his death.

Many of Pushkin's works provided the basis for operas by Russian composers. They include Ruslan and Ludmilla by Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857), Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881), and The Golden Cockerel by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908).

For More Information

Feinstein, Elaine. Pushkin: A Biography. New York: Ecco Press, 2000.

Magarshack, David. Pushkin: A Biography. London: Chapman & Hall, 1967.

Simmons, Ernest. Pushkin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1937, revised edition 1971.

Vickery, Walter. Pushkin: Death of a Poet. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968.

Vitale, Serena. Pushkin's Button. Edited by Ann Goldstein. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998.

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Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic Movement . Often considered one of the major figures of modern Russian literature, he authored many works, including the verse novel Eugene Onegin (Aleksandr Smirdin, 1831), the closet drama Boris Godunov (Press of the Department of Education, 1831), and the short story “The Queen of Spades,” which first appeared in Biblioteka dlya chteniya in March of 1834. He died on January 29, 1837.

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Aleksandr sergeyevich pushkin (1799-1837).

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin is considered by many literary critics and people around the world as Russia ’s greatest poet , author , and the founder of modern Russian literature . Pushkin was born into a Russian noble family on June 6, 1799. As a student attending private school in Moscow, Russia, he excelled in French culture and the French language. Also, during his youth, he began crafting short stories and poems. As his writing skills matured he developed his literary gift of captivating readers through stories and verse that were embedded with topics he felt passionate about. Often these controversial topics included love, racism, social injustice, and political humor and commentary often unwelcome by Russian officials. Some of his works chronicled the lives of his ancestors.

In Pushkin’s unfinished 1828 romance novel titled Blackamoor of Peter the Great , he proudly writes about his black great-grandfather, Ibrahim Petrovitch Hannibal , brought to the court of Peter the Great as a servant but who was treated like a son by the Czar. Hannibal would later become one of Russia’s leading military figures and finest engineers. It is through Pushkin’s positive portrayal of his black great-grandfather that generations of avid readers drew—and continue to draw—hope, inspiration and encouragement that “any man—despite his color—could rise to, given the opportunity.”

Aleksandr Pushkin was a husband and a father. In 1831 he married Natalya Goncharova, considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in Russia. The couple eventually had four children.

Despite his distant African ancestry, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin lived as a white man in Russia, but he eventually was oppressed by members of Russian monarchy. Initially he was on a first-name basis with Tsar Nikolas I and visited the royal estates on several occasions. However, as Pushkin’s writings became more critical of the Russian government and Russian elite society he was brought into an alliance with the Decemberists, members of the Russian military elite who opposed the Russian tsar’s authoritarian rule. Decemberists wanted more freedom and the ability and right to govern their own affairs. Pushkin’s work became increasingly unpopular with the Russian Monarchy and therefore he was considered an enemy of the Tsar. In 1820 he was sent into exile in Yekaterinoslav in Siberia. By autumn 1826 Pushkin had found his way back to Moscow.

Throughout his period of exile, as before Pushkin never stopped writing. His accounts of everyday people living life entrenched in rich Russian folklore. These stories and poems endure to this day because people around the world identify with his characters and stories on a personal level. His memorable contributions to literature include: Blackamoor of Peter the Great, Tales of Belkin, Queen of Spades, Ruslan and Ludmila, The Bronze Horseman, and The Tale of the Tsar Sultan .

On February 10, 1837, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin was mortally shot and killed during a duel he had entered to protect his wife’s honor from Georges d’Anthes, a French officer in the Russian Army who attempted to seduce her. He was 37. Today there are numerous monuments in Russia that are tributes to the nation’s greatest writer. The largest is the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

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Pushkin Genealogy, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/pushkingenealogy.html ; Nicholas Wirth, Hannibal, Abram Petrovich/ Gannibal, A. P. (1696?–1781), BlackPast.org , https://www.blackpast.org/gah/hannibal-abram-petrovich-gannibal-p-1696-1781 ; D.D. Blagoy, “Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aleksandr-Sergeyevich-Pushkin .

How Alexander Pushkin Was Inspired By His African Heritage

Alexander Pushkin is known as the quintessential Russian writer, but he took particular inspiration from his African great-grandfather, General Abraham Petrovitch Gannibal.

Alexander Pushkin is known as the quintessential Russian writer. What many readers don’t know is that he took particular inspiration from his African great-grandfather, General Abraham Petrovitch Gannibal.

According to Anne Lounsbery, a scholar of Russian Literature, “Boyar credentials, African heritage, and a personal link to Peter the Great were all crucial to Pushkin’s identity.” Playing up his connection with Gannibal, the author adopted the nickname “ afrikanets, ‘the African.” His connection with his relative showed up in other ways, too.

Gannibal (sometimes written Hannibal), was very young when he was kidnapped from Africa and sent to Constantinople as a slave. From there, a Serbian Count named Sava Vladislavić brought him to the Court of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg.

The Tsar became very fond of the young boy. He made him his godson, conferring upon him the patronymic Petrovitch, son of Peter, and sent him to study in France. By the time Peter the Great’s daughter Elizabeth took the throne, Gannibal’s rank and accomplishments allowed him noble status. But, in a 1742 letter to the Russian Senate, Gannibal insisted that his noble status was linked to his father being an African chief. “ I am of African origin, of an illustrious local nobility . I was born in the city of Logone, on lands belonging to my father, who reigned, furthermore, over two other cities.”

This appeal is the only recorded testimony of his African origins. The search for Logone began in the nineteenth century, culminating in historian Dr. Dieudonné Gnammankou’s late-twentieth century discovery. The African Institute, The Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Pushkin Museums in Moscow, St Petersburg and Mikhaïlovskoe, support his finding that Gannibal was probably born in Logone-Birni in Cameroon .

For Pushkin, the African ancestor who left traces of himself in his physique was also present in his persona. Pushkin’s work criticized society, which led to temporary banishment. Gannibal represented what it was like to be uprooted, yet live in the heart of one’s adoptive homeland. He was simultaneously an insider and an outsider, rather like a poet who looks in on the world to compose about it.

This influence provides a subtext for many of Pushkin’s writings, including The Moor of Peter the Great, his unfinished historical novel of Gannibal’s life.

Pushkin’s most famous work, Eugène Onegin , alludes to Russia’s turbulent history straddling East and West. The story has been reinterpreted as an opera (Tchaikovsky, 1879), ballet (Cranko, 1965), and film (Martha Fiennes, 1999, starring Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler). It also contains one of his most famous references to his own mixture of Russian and African heritage. It is a description of straddling two worlds:

“It’s time to drop astern the shape of the dull shores of my disfavour, and there, beneath your noonday sky, my Africa , where waves break high, to mourn for Russia’s gloomy savour, land where I learned to love and weep, land where my heart is buried deep.”

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Adapted from J.Thomas Shaw's biographical sketch in The Letters of Alexander Pushkin , Volume 1

Alexander Pushkin Biography

Birthday: May 26 , 1799 ( Gemini )

Born In: Moscow, Russia

Alexander Pushkin was a 19th-century Russian poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer. He is remembered as the founder of modern Russian literature, and his works have been adapted into operas by several Russian composers. Raised in a neglected environment, Pushkin began his literary pursuits at an early age. However, he eventually became rebellious in his compositions. His works began reflecting political humor and infuriated the ruling government. As a result, Pushkin was sent into exile. While in exile, he explored various literary circles and became an integral part of them. He also indulged in gambling and drinking. After almost 6 years of exile, Pushkin was finally released from deportation, but the tsar applied censorship to his writings. Pushkin had a tumultuous marriage and suspected his wife of infidelity. His hatred for his wife's admirers ultimately caused his death. Some of Pushkin's notable works are 'Ruslan and Ludmila,' 'Eugene Onegin,' and 'Boris Godunov.'

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Also Known As: Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin

Died At Age: 37

Spouse/Ex-: Natalia Pushkina (m. 1831)

father: Sergei Lvovich Pushkin

mother: Nadezhda Ossipovna Gannibal

siblings: Lev Sergeyevich Pushkin, Mikhail Pushkin, Nikolai Pushkin, Olga Pavlishcheva, Pavel Pushkin, Platon Pushkin, Sofia Pushkina

children: Alexander Fremke, Grigory, Maria, Natalia

Born Country: Russia

Poets Novelists

Died on: January 29 , 1837

place of death: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Cause of Death: Firearm

Notable Alumni: Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

Ancestry: Swedish Russian

City: Moscow, Russia

education: Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

You wanted to know

When did alexander pushkin start writing poetry, what impact did alexander pushkin have on russian literature, why is alexander pushkin often referred to as the "russian shakespeare".

Alexander Pushkin is often referred to as the "Russian Shakespeare" because of his significant contributions to Russian literature, similar to the influence that Shakespeare had on English literature.

What is the significance of Alexander Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin?"

Alexander Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin" is considered one of the greatest works of Russian literature. It introduced innovative narrative techniques and themes that influenced later Russian writers.

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Alexander Pushkin and the Cultural Identity of Modern Russia

Alexander Pushkin (1799 – 1837)

On June 6 , 1799 , Russian poet , playwright , and novelist of the Romantic era Alexander Pushkin was born. Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature .

“The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.” – Alexander Pushkin, The Hero ll.

Alexander Pushkin’s Family Background

Alexander Pushkin was born in Moscow, Russia, as the second of five children of former guard officer Sergei Lvovich Pushkin and his wife Nadezhda Ossipovna, née Hannibal. On his father’s side, he came from an old noble family. On his mother’s side was his great-grandfather Abraham Petrovich Hannibal, originally an African slave, who gave to Tsar Peter the Great , whose godchild became and later ascended to Major General and Governor of Reval.

Ruslan and Ludmilla

Pushkin published his first poem at the age of 15. While still a student, Pushkin was admitted in his absence to the Petersburg literary society Arsamas of V.A. Zhukovsky, which opposed traditional, encrusted language concepts of established literature and advocated the further development of Russian high and written language. The poet’s early poetry radiates his insatiable lust for life. When he left school, Pushkin had already built a reputation in the Russian literary scene. In 1820, Pushkin published Ruslan and Ludmila which was received controversially due to its style and topic. The epic fairy tale tells the story of the abduction of Ludmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, by an evil wizard and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her.

Committed to Social Reform

As his career continued, Pushkin became more and more committed to social reforms. Eventually he became a spokesman for literary radicals and faced troubles with the government. In the spring of 1820 Pushkin had to answer for some satirical poems in which he ridiculed public figures such as the Minister of War and the Minister of Education. He escaped exile to Siberia by protecting influential friends. However, he had to leave Petersburg in connection with a transfer to General Insow in Ekaterinoslaw in early summer. Pushkin went to the Caucasus and to Crimea and then to Kamianka and Chișinău, where he became a Freemason. He further joined the secret organisation Filiki Eteria which had the goal to overthrow the Ottoman rule in Greece and create an independent Greek state. Meanwhile Pushkin continued writing poems including The Captive of the Caucasus and The Fountain of Bakhchisaray . In 1824 Pushkin was dismissed from the civil service after he had expressed his sympathy for atheism in a letter. After moving to Odessa Pushkin got in trouble with the government again and spent the next years at Mikhailovskoye near Pskov. After an audience with Tsar Nicholas I, Pushkin was again allowed to live in Moscow and Petersburg from 1826 to 1831, but his works were censored personally by the Tsar and his work and way of life were strongly controlled. There he wrote further love poems and worked on his verse-novel Eugene Onegin .

Boris Gudonov – Pushkin’s Most Famous Play

During 1825, Pushkin wrote one of his most famous plays, Boris Godunov . However, he was not able to publish it until five years later due to political troubles. The original and uncensored version of the drama was not staged until 2007. His marriage to Natalya Goncharova in 1831 brought about a change in Pushkin’s circumstances, after they met in 1830. In view of the wedding, Pushkin received from his father the village of Boldino, 250 km from Nizhny Novgorod. Pushkin only wanted to visit it briefly, but a cholera epidemic prevented his return to Moscow. Pushkin was forced to stay in the province and it became his greatest creative period. The couple moved to St. Petersburg in 1831, where with the support of Goncharova’s wealthy relatives they were able to participate in the glamorous life of the tsar’s court – which frustrated Pushkin, who longed for independence.

Gogol’s Short Stories

During the early 1830s, Pushkin had established a significant reputation and met Nikolai Gogol .[ 7 ] After reading Gogol’s 1831/32 volume of short stories Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka , Pushkin supported him and would feature some of Gogol’s most famous short stories in the magazine The Contemporary , which he founded in 1836.

Fatally Wounded in a Duell

In 1837 , Alexander Pushkin was fatally wounded in a duel with his brother-in-law , Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d’Anthès , also known as Dantes-Gekkern, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment , who attempted to seduce the poet’s wife, Natalia Pushkina .

THE Russian National Poet

For most of his compatriots Pushkin is considered to be THE Russian national poet (far ahead of writers such as Tolstoy , Dostoyevsky , Gogol or Pasternak , who are well known abroad). Until Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow in 1812, the Russian upper class spoke French. After the subsequent fire in Moscow, one wondered why one actually spoke the language of the enemy. Pushkin paved the way for the use of colloquial language in his poems, dramas and narratives; he created a narrative style that mixed drama, romance and satire – a style that has been inseparable from Russian literature ever since and has massively influenced numerous Russian poets. His romantic contemporaries were Byron and Goethe ; he was influenced by Voltaire and the Shakespearean tragedies.

References and Further Reading:

[1] Alexander Pushkin Biography
[2] Alexander Pushkin at Britannica Online
[3] Alexander Pushkin at Famous Authors
[4] Alexander Pushkin at Wikidata
[5] Timeline of Alexander Pushkin, via Wikidata
[6] Peter the Great and the Grand Embassy , SciHi Blog
[7] Nikolai Gogol and Russian Surrealism , SciHi Blog
[8] Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Crime and Punishment , SciHi Blog
[9] Works by or about Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin at Internet Archive
[10] Binyon, T. J. (2007). Pushkin: A Biography . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
[11] Newspaper clippings about Alexander Pushkin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
[12] Works by Alexander Pushkin at LibriVox

Tabea Tietz

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Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin [a] [b] [c] (6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799 - 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the ...
Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin (born May 26 [June 6, New Style], 1799, Moscow, Russia—died January 29 [February 10], 1837, St. Petersburg) was a Russian poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer; he has often been considered his country's greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
Alexander Pushkin: Biography, Most Famous Works & Accomplishments
Eugene Onegin - one of Alexander Pushkin's most famous works. He started working on his "Eugene Onegin" and "Boris Godunov" while in exile. His stay at Mikhailovskoye was very productive as he wrote other notable works, including "The Gypsies" and his ballad "The Bridegroom". He also on the historical tragedy "Boris ...
Biography
Alexander Pushkin was born into an impoverished noble family on June 6, 1799. In his early childhood he was a taciturn and sedentary child - his elder sister Olga recalled that until the age of six the boy "was just a laggard. Initial education Pushkin was at home. His upbringing was no different from the customary system then in noble ...
Alexander Pushkin
Russia's most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin was born into one of Russia's most famous noble families. His mother was the granddaughter of an Abyssinian prince, Hannibal, who had been a favorite of Peter I, and many of Pushkin's forebears played important roles in Russian history. Pushkin began writing poetry as a student at the Lyceum at ...
Alexander Pushkin's Biography
ALEXANDER PUSHKIN'S BIOGRAPHY (1799 - 1837) Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on the 26th of May, 1799 in Moscow in the noble family (his father was the retired major). In the same day the emperor's granddaughter was born. That's way the chimes had been heard all over the town during the whole day.
Alexander Pushkin: who was he and why is he important in the world of
Learn about the life and legacy of Alexander Pushkin, the Russian poet and novelist who inspired many classical composers and operas.
Alexander Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin by Vasily Tropinin, 1827. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин (June 6, 1799 - February 10, 1837) was a Russian romantic writer whom most Russians consider their greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Before the seventeenth century, Russian ...
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin: A Research Guide: Pushkin's Life
Binyon, T. J. Pushkin: a biography. London: HarperCollins, 2002. (F) PG3350 .B55 2002. The most recent English-language biography of Pushkin; aimed at a general, rather than a scholarly, audience. Another relatively recent biography in English is Pushkin: the man and his age by Robin Edmonds (London: Macmillan, 1994) in Firestone: PG3350 .E356 ...
Alexander Pushkin Biography
Alexander Pushkin was born in Moscow to a father who was a tenant of a ministerial steward and to a mother descended from the Abyssinian black who became the adopted godson and personal secretary ...
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born 6 June (26 May, Old Style) 1799, Moscow, and died 10 February 1837 (29 January, New Style), St Petersburg. He was a Russian poet, novelist, dramatist and writer of short stories. Many think he was the greatest Russian poet. He started the great tradition of Russian literature.
Aleksandr Pushkin summary
Aleksandr Pushkin, (born June 6, 1799, Moscow, Russia—died Feb. 10, 1837, St. Petersburg), Russian writer. Born into an aristocratic family, Pushkin began his literary career while still a student at the Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo (later renamed Pushkin). His first major work was the romantic poem Ruslan and Ludmila (1820).
Alexander Pushkin: Weaving Words into Russian History
Alexander Pushkin has gone down as one of the most influential Russian writers of all time. The poet, playwright, and novelist was born in 1799 and continued to write until his death in 1837. He had an eventful life full of turbulence and ended in the same vain. He died in a duel with another man after a life of exile and political trouble.
Alexander Pushkin
Tweet. Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is considered by most to be Russia's greatest poet. Pushkin, the Russian national poet, is famously descended from an African slave. Pushkin's life was cut short by a duel, yet he was nevertheless astoundingly prolific, and his poems are as rich and complex as they are beautiful.
Aleksandr Pushkin Biography
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin was born to Sergei and Nadezhda Pushkin on May 26, 1799. On his father's side he was a descendant of Russian nobility. On his mother's side he was related to an African lord. But by the time Aleksandr was born, the family had gradually lost most of their wealth and influence, and they were lowered to the position of ...
About Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic Movement.Often considered one of the major figures of modern Russian literature, he authored many works, including the verse novel Eugene Onegin (Aleksandr Smirdin, 1831), the closet drama Boris Godunov (Press of the Department of Education, 1831), and the short story "The Queen of Spades," which ...
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837)
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin is considered by many literary critics and people around the world as Russia's greatest poet, author, and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born into a Russian noble family on June 6, 1799. As a student attending private school in Moscow, Russia, he excelled … Read MoreAleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837)
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was born into a family of Russian nobility on 6 June 1799 in Moscow, Russia. His historical fiction "The Blackamoor of Peter the Great" is based on his African maternal great grandfather Abram Petrovitch Ganibal (1697-1781). Ganibal was the favored general of Peter the Great, highly proficient in mathematics ...
Alexander Pushkin
Russian poet, playwright and novelist (1799-1837) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799 - 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern ...
How Alexander Pushkin Was Inspired By His African Heritage
According to Anne Lounsbery, a scholar of Russian Literature, "Boyar credentials, African heritage, and a personal link to Peter the Great were all crucial to Pushkin's identity.". Playing up his connection with Gannibal, the author adopted the nickname " afrikanets, 'the African.". His connection with his relative showed up in ...
Pushkin's Biography
Adapted from J.Thomas Shaw's biographical sketch in The Letters of Alexander Pushkin, Volume 1 Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin was born in Moscow on May 26, 1799 (Old Style). In 1811 he was selected to be among the thirty students in the first class at the Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo .He attended the Lyceum from 1811 to 1817 and received the best education available in Russia at the time.
Alexander Pushkin Biography
Alexander Pushkin. Alexander Pushkin was a 19th-century Russian poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer. He is remembered as the founder of modern Russian literature, and his works have been adapted into operas by several Russian composers. Raised in a neglected environment, Pushkin began his literary pursuits at an early age.
Alexander Pushkin and the Cultural Identity of Modern Russia
June 2018 0 Tabea Tietz. Alexander Pushkin (1799 - 1837) On June 6, 1799, Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era Alexander Pushkin was born. Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. "The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.".
Demolition of monuments to Alexander Pushkin in Ukraine
Prior to 2022 Pushkin was the third most common historical figure represented in Ukraine's streetscapes. [1]Ukrainian researcher Volodymyr Yermolenko claimed that Russian literature has been a "vehicle of the country's imperial project and nationalist world-view," giving as examples Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol. [3] He mentioned Pushkin's poem Poltava, which recounts the revolt of Ukrainian ...

Alexander Pushkin: Biography, Most Famous Works & Accomplishments

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The great-grandson of an African slave

Alexander Pushkin’s Early Life and Works

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Duel with Georges d’Anthès

What was his legacy?

Alexander Pushkin: Fast Facts

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Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin: A Research Guide: Pushkin's Life

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