Mikhail Lermontov

Russian writer, poet and painter (1814-1841) · Russia · Writers · Died at 26

Mikhail Lermontov is read about 2,773 times a day, in 86 languages.

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He inherited the throne of Russian poetry at twenty-three when Pushkin fell in a duel, then died the same way six years later. Between those brackets Lermontov laid the foundation for the Russian psychological novel and earned the label "poet of the Caucasus" for work so sharp it twice got him exiled.

Writers Writer / Author Poetry Painting Fiction Theatre Literature 19th Century

A life in dates

1841Died15 July 18411840“O vanity! you are the lever by means of which Archimedes wished to lift the earth!”In their wordsA Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841)Read the whole statement

“I would make any sacrifice but this; twenty times I can stake my life, even my honour, but my freedom I shall never sell. Why do I prize it so much? … What am I aiming at?”In their wordsReferring to marriageRead the whole statement

“The public of this country is so youthful, not to say simple-minded, that it cannot understand the meaning of a fable unless the moral is set forth at the end.”In their wordsA Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841)Read the whole statement

“I was involuntarily struck by the aptitude which the Russian displays for accommodating himself to the customs of the people in whose midst he happens to be living.”In their wordsA Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841)Read the whole statement

“Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other, although frequently neither acknowledges the fact to himself.”In their wordsA Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841)Read the whole statement

“Russian ladies, for the most part, cherish only Platonic love, without mingling any thought of matrimony with it; and Platonic love is exceedingly embarrassing.”In their wordsA Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841)Read the whole statement

1814Born3 October 1814

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Photos 8

Mikhail lermontov

Commemorative plaque to Mikhail Lermontov (50019602202)

Dedication of V. F. Odoevsky

Hell - fresco (Podmoklovo)

Khristofor Sanikidze, a Georgian (G. Gagarin, 1841)

Lermontov - Obolensky - V minutu zhizni trudnuyu 1838

Lermontov's tombstone

Lermontovmicro

In their own words 10

Mikhail Lermontov

10 statements, newest first

O vanity! you are the lever by means of which Archimedes wished to lift the earth!
1840, A Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841), Own words
Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.
1840, A Hero of Our Time (1840; rev. 1841), Own words
I would make any sacrifice but this; twenty times I can stake my life, even my honour, but my freedom I shall never sell. Why do I prize it so much? … What am I aiming at?
1840, Referring to marriage, Own words

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Mikhail Lermontov

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About this person

Lermontov grew up in Tarkhany under his grandmother's strict control, sickly with scrofula and rickets, educated at home in languages, music, and painting - conditions that made him lonely and introspective. By 1829 he was writing poetry in Moscow, influenced by Pushkin and Byron, and traveling to the Caucasus for his health, landscapes that marked him permanently. In 1832 he moved to Saint Petersburg for cavalry school and joined the Life-Guard Hussars, where his sharp wit made enemies as fast as his pen made pages. His poem "Death of the Poet," written after Pushkin's death in 1837, brought fame and immediate exile to the Caucasus for its controversial edge. That exile fed A Hero of Our Time and some of his finest work, but his rebellious streak and another duel sent him back a second time. In 1841, fellow officer Nikolai Martynov shot him dead in a duel at twenty-six.

Country

Russia

Writers from Russia 6

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Vladimir Mayakovsky74.9

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