Ivan Andreevich Krylov

Born in Moscow and raised in difficult financial circumstances after his father’s death, Krylov had little formal schooling and largely educated himself. He worked in government service while beginning a literary career that first moved through comedy, satire, and journalism before settling on the form that made him famous.

Krylov became celebrated for his fables, which drew on the traditions of Aesop and La Fontaine but sounded distinctly Russian in their language and social detail. His short tales use humor, common sense, and a keen eye for vanity, greed, laziness, and pretension, and many of their lines became familiar sayings in Russian speech.

He is remembered not only as a popular writer of moral tales, but as a major voice in Russian literature whose simple, lively style gave his work lasting appeal. Though the date is sometimes listed as 1768 in older sources, major modern references commonly give his life as 1769–1844.