Alexander Pushkin
1799–1837 · Russian (Moscow) · Early 19th Century Russia
Known for: Father of Russian literature—Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov, The Bronze Horseman
Alexander Pushkin was Russia's first great writer and its most beloved. He had African ancestry—his great-grandfather was an Ethiopian nobleman brought to Russia by Peter the Great. He was a notorious womanizer and duelist under constant surveillance by the Tsar's secret police for his liberal views, and was exiled for years.
His verse novel Eugene Onegin created the template for the Russian novel—Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and every subsequent Russian writer built on his foundation. He created modern Russian literary language with a style of breathtaking elegance and naturalness. He was killed in a duel defending his wife's honor at 37.
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