Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin

Born in Moscow in 1799, Pushkin began writing while studying at the Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo. He came from an aristocratic family, but his writing quickly gave Russian literature a new kind of natural energy, blending high art with everyday speech in a way that influenced generations of writers.

He is widely regarded as Russia's greatest poet and a founding figure of modern Russian literature. His major works include the narrative poem Ruslan and Lyudmila, the novel in verse Eugene Onegin, the drama Boris Godunov, and prose such as The Captain's Daughter and The Queen of Spades.

Pushkin's life was marked by political scrutiny, exile, and constant literary activity. He died in St. Petersburg in 1837 after a duel, but his reputation only grew, and his writing remains central to Russian culture and to readers far beyond it.