Teacher Resources - Authors
Aleksander Pushkin (1799-1837) Russian Author
Aleksander Pushkin was 
born in Moscow to Nadezkda Osipovna and
Sergey Lvovich Pushkin, a Russian nobleman. His great-grandfather
was an African slave named Abram Hannibal, a high-ranking military officer
who served under Tsar Peter the Great. Pushkin’s family ridiculed him
because he was a shy, overweight, awkward- looking boy. His nurse
Arina, a freed serf working for the Pushkins, gave him the affection he
lacked from his parents and taught him about Russian folklore, the nuances
of the Russian language, and the plight of the peasants. Studying
under many different tutors, he read everything in his father’s
library. Although he attended a private school for six years, it was
only during the recitation of his original verses during his final exam
that he attracted any attention. The impressed Dershavin, premier
among the Russian poets, predicted that Pushkin would one day surpass
him.
Where Russian literature had been previously written
in French, Pushkin made his native language one of the world’s significant
languages. To the distress of the nobility, he became an advocate of the
oppressed, calling for an end of serfdom. His poem “Ode to Liberty”
created such a stir that he was exiled from St. Petersburg to southern Russia,
where he produced some of his greatest works, including The Conversation between
the Bookseller and the Poet, The Gypsies, and Eugene Onegin,
his masterpiece. After six years in exile, Puskin was pardoned by Tsar
Nicholas and allowed to return to St. Petersburg, so long as he have all of his
works approved before publication.
Pushkin continued to write poems, plays, and
books. His novels Boris Godunov and Eugene Onegin were
converted to operas by Mussorgski and Tchaikovsky, respectively. A
historical novel about the peasants’ revolt, The Captain’s Daughter is
considered by some to be his greatest work. On the centennial anniversary
of the author’s death, the Russian government published his complete works in The
Literary Heritage of Pushkin.
Robinson, 111.