New Delhi: Every year on June 6, the UN Russian Language Day is celebrated and the day coincides with the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, a Russian poet who is considered the father of modern Russian language. Pushkin was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright of the Romantic era who is widely hailed as the greatest Russian poet and also modern Russian literature’s founder.
The Rise of Alexander Pushkin
Born on June 6, 1799, in the Russian Empire, Alexander Pushkin came from a noble family in Moscow. He published his first poem when he was just 15 years old and he recited the controversial poem ‘Ode to Liberty’ after his graduation for which he was exiled by Emperor Alexander I. He lived under the strict vigilance of the Russian Empire but was still able to write his most famous play, ‘Boris Godunov’.
In 1828, Pushkin met Natalia Goncharova, then 16 years old who was famous for her beauty in Moscow. In 1831, Pushkin married her in the Great Ascension Church on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow. In 1831, when the literary influence of Pushkin was growing, he met Nikolai Gogol, one of the great early writers of Russia. He read Gogol’s 1831-1832 volume of short stories Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, and began to support him. Pushkin would also feature in some of the most famous short stories of Gogol which were published in the magazine The Contemporary.
The tragic death of Pushkin
Pushkin was in immense debt by the autumn of 1836 and there were scandalous rumours of his wife having a love affair. On November 4, he sent a challenge to a duel to Georges d’Anthès, also known as Dantes-Gekkern who was rumoured to have an affair with Pushkin’s wife. The duel was cancelled but D’Anthès continued to pursue Natalia Goncharova in public.
In February 1837, Pushkin sent an extremely insulting letter to Gekkern which made the duel inevitable. In the duel, D’Anthès fired first and fatally wounded Pushkin while D’Anthès himself received a minor injury. On February 10, two days after the duel, Pushkin succumbed to his injuries and died of peritonitis.
Pushkin is considered to be the one who laid modern Russian literature’s foundation and is considered the father of Russian literature in the 19th century. He introduced Russia to all the European literary genres as well as a great number of West European writers and in his brief life, he left examples of nearly every literary genre of his day.
Pushkin is considered to be the one who laid modern Russian literature’s foundation and is considered the father of Russian literature in the 19th century. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
