Alexander Pushkin (1799–1873) was a Romantic Russian poet, playwright, and novelist who is considered to be the greatest Russian poet and founder of modern Russian literature. Born into nobility in Moscow, he published his first poem at the age of 15 and was already widely recognized by the literary world by the time of his graduation from Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. After graduating, he published his first long poem, Ruslan and Lyudmila, which was considered quite controversial due to it’s subject (an epic fairy tale of the abduction of Prince Valdimer’s daughter) and style. After publishing this poem, Pushkin gradually became more committed to social reform and became the spokesman for the literary radicals, angering the government.
Angering the government prompted Pushkin to move from the capital where he moved around to several places and ended up in Kishinev where he became a freemason and joined a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greece. In 1823 he moved to Odessa, where he clashed with the government again and was forced into exile on his mother’s rural estate. While in exile he wrote what would be considered his most famous play Boris Godunov, however he couldn’t gain permission until five years later. Even then, it was censured by the government, and the original uncensured version wasn’t staged until 2007.
In 1837 he challenged his wife’s alleged love to a duel that left both men injured. Pushkin was shot in the abdomen and died two days later.
