Vasily Zhukovsky

Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (29 Jan/9 Feb 1783, Mishenskoe near Tula - 12/24 Apr 1852, Baden-Baden) was the foremost Russian poet and translator of the 1810s. He is credited with introducing the Romantic movement to the Russian literature. Quite a few of his translations proved to be more competently written and enduring works than their originals.

Related Topics:
29 Jan/9 Feb - 1783 - Tula - 12/24 Apr - 1852 - Baden-Baden - Russia - 1810s - Romantic movement - Russian literature - Translation

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Named after his godfather, Zhukovsky was the illegitimate son of a landlord named Bunin by his Turkish slave girl. In his youth, he lived in Moscow and frequented the house of Nikolay Karamzin, later succeeding him as the unofficial leader of the Russian poetry. His first publication, a translation of Thomas Gray's An Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard (1802), is usually taken as a starting point of the Russian Romanticism.

Related Topics:
Moscow - Nikolay Karamzin - Thomas Gray - Elegy - 1802

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As Nabokov put it, Zhukovsky belonged to the class of poets who incidentally verge on greatness but never attain that glory. The main body of his literary output consists of free translations, covering a wide range of poets, from Ferdowsi to Schiller. Zhukovsky was particularly admired for his first-rank melodious translations of German and English ballads. Among his own attempts at this genre, Svetlana (1808) is considered a landmark in the Russian poetry. He dedicated this ballad to a niece, unrequited love for whom clouded his personal life for years.

Related Topics:
Nabokov - Ferdowsi - Schiller - Ballad - 1808

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During Napoleon's invasion (1812) Zhukovsky joined the Russian army and wrote much patriotic verse there. He composed the lyrics for the national anthem of Imperial Russia, God Save the Tsar! In order to promote Karamzin's anti-classicist aesthetics, he founded the humorous Arzamas literary society. Members included young Alexander Pushkin. Upon the latter's death, Zhukovsky acted as his executor, diligently preparing for publication some of his unedited pieces.

Related Topics:
Napoleon's invasion - 1812 - Anthem - Imperial Russia - God Save the Tsar! - Classicist - Aesthetics - Alexander Pushkin

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In 1826, he was appointed tutor to the future Alexander II. Such a great influence he had on the tsesarevich, that the liberal reforms of the 1860s are sometimes attributed to the influence of Zhukovsky's education. The poet often used his high repute at the St Petersburg court to take up the cudgels for such rebellious writers as Pushkin, Lermontov, Alexander Herzen, Taras Shevchenko, and the Decembrists.

Related Topics:
1826 - Alexander II - Tsesarevich - 1860s - St Petersburg - Lermontov - Alexander Herzen - Taras Shevchenko - Decembrists

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In 1841, he retired from the court on account of ill health and settled in Germany. By that time, he discontinued writing original verse and concentrated his efforts on translating Homer's Odyssey (printed in 1849).

Related Topics:
1841 - Germany - Homer - Odyssey - 1849

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