Alexander Pushkin

Russian poet, playwright, and novelist (1799–1837)

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Fame88.6
Momentum0.7
Global rank#96
Writers rank#20
Wikipedia140.7K

Lived 1799–1837, aged 38

WritersWriter / Author

Wikipedia
179 languages
Cross-language footprint
Global rank
#96
Fame.am leaderboard
Era
1799–1837
Aged 38
Known for
Onegin
1999

Summary

Updated 2026-09-01

He turned Russian into a literary language. Before Pushkin, serious writing meant French; after him, Russian carried poetry, novels, and the whole weight of a national voice.

Biography

About

Born in Moscow in 1799 to minor nobility—his maternal great-grandfather was Abram Petrovich Gannibal, an African-born general kidnapped by Ottomans, freed by Peter the Great, and raised as his godson. Pushkin published his first poem at fifteen and graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum already known to the literary establishment. His "Ode to Liberty" earned him exile under Emperor Alexander I; under surveillance and unable to publish, he wrote the play Boris Godunov. Between 1825 and 1832 he serialized Eugene Onegin, the novel in verse that became his grand opus. He died in 1837 from wounds…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin

said1834

Tis time, my friend, ‘tis time! For rest the heart is aching; Days follow days in flight, and every day is takingFragments of being, while together you and IMake plans to live.

— Tis Time, My Friend, l. 1-5 (1834).

Alexander Pushkin

said1833

And thus He mused: "From here, indeedShall we strike terror in the Swede?

— The Bronze Horseman (1833).

Alexander Pushkin

said19 Oct 1827

God grant you, friends, a helping hand—In cares of state and private plights, In rowdy feasts of friendship's band, In passion's sweet and secret rites!

— Pushkin, 19 October 1827.as quoted in Pushkin, Alexander (2009). Selected Lyric Poetry. Northwestern University Press, p. 121.

Alexander Pushkin

said1823