Alexander Pushkin
(1799–1837)

Alexander Pushkin occupies a unique niche in Russian literary history. Beloved by Russians for his innovative use of language and his spare style of writing, he is less well known to the literary world at large. That is because his work, more than other Russian literary giants such as Leo Tolstoy, is extremely difficult to translate. Nevertheless, Pushkin is considered one of the foremost names in Russian literature and has had a dramatic impact on other Russian writers.

Pushkin's brief life was tumultuous and filled with scandal. Fortunately for him, Pushkin was born into the Russian nobility in a system where nobles were allowed to make errors in judgment that would be unforgivable for others. Pushkin attended an exclusive school for children of nobility in St. Petersburg, the seat of royal power. While attending school, he started writing poetry around themes that quickly got him into trouble with the czarist authorities. In one of the poems, he referred to the assassination of the czar's father. In a system where the czar's power was absolute, this was considered scandalous enough to get Pushkin exiled to southern Russia for six years. There, he was assigned a job as a government worker. He would undoubtedly have faced a far more severe punishment, had he not been a member of the nobility.

While in exile in southern Russia, Pushkin published his first major work, the narrative poem "Ruslan and Ludmilla" (1820). The poem was a series of adventures, told with the characteristic wit that was to become one of Pushkin's hallmarks. Pushkin did not tone down his extravagant lifestyle and flamboyant nature while in exile. On one hand, his intense romances served as the inspiration for many of his poems. On the other, his outspokenness brought more trouble with the czarist authorities.

In 1824, Pushkin found himself exiled once again, this time back to his family's estate. After all the trouble he had caused, his aristocratic family wanted little to do with their rebellious son. They moved out, leaving Pushkin alone with the family's nurse. This turned out to be a very productive move for the young writer. Without distractions, Pushkin began writing some of his most famous works, such as the novel Eugene Onegin and the tragedy Boris Godunov (1831). Critics believe that the folk tales his nurse told him during this period inspired much of the feel and subject matter of his writing in later years.

Pushkin ended his period of internal exile in 1826, when a new czar, Nicholas I, came to power. Nicholas managed to extract a promise from Pushkin that he would publish nothing critical of the Russian monarch. During the next few years, he completed what many regard as his greatest work, Eugene Onegin (1831). Foreign authors like Lord Byron and Laurence Sterne heavily influenced this novel in verse form. It tells the story of a bored nobleman who falls in love with a young girl, Tatiana, after initially rejecting her.

Eugene Onegin was followed by a series of plays, a volume of folktales, and a history of a famous Russian rebellion. This heavy literary output was abruptly cut short when Pushkin was involved in a duel that arose over jealousy, and he was mortally wounded. He was 38, and one of Russia's most popular authors, when he died.

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