Alexander Pushkin

Russian writer, born in 1799 and died in 1837, whose poetic qualities manifested themselves early on, achieving public recognition in 1820 with the poem "Ruslan and Ludmila," an exaltation of medieval Russian culture. As a poet, Pushkin made use of popular expressions and legends, marking his verses with the richness and diversity of the Russian language. Due to his progressive ideas, he was exiled, traveling between 1820 and 1824 through the south of the Russian Empire. During this period, he composed several poems of Byronic influence, among which stand out "The Prisoner of the Caucasus," "The Fountain of Baktchisarai," and "The Gypsies." However, he did not cease to innovate, introducing realistic elements, which led him to designate his style as "realistic romanticism." He wrote a novel in verse, "Yevgeny Onegin," a panoramic portrait of Russian life that constituted the starting point for the 19th-century Russian realist novel; he published the historical drama "Boris Godunov," in which he shows the influence of Shakespeare. In 1826, he received a pardon from the emperor and returned to Moscow. Two years later, he wrote "Poltav," an epic that narrates the love story of the Cossack Mazeppa. Increasingly cultivating prose, he achieved great success with works such as "The Tales of Belkin," "The Queen of Spades," and "The Captain's Daughter."