Book Description

Aleksandr Pushkin, 1799 - 1837, is said to be the greatest Russian poet. He also wrote a number of successful novels that are still widely read today, including Marie, A Story of Russian Love.Pushkin was born in Moscow in the summer of 1799 to a noble family. He was especially proud of his great-grandfather Hannibal, a black general who had served under Peter the Great.Pushkin demonstrated an early gift for poetry and was taken into the ministry of foreign affairs in Saint Petersburg in 1817. He enjoyed the social life that his position brought him, but he also belonged to an underground revolutionary group. This activity came to the attention of the authorities in 1820 and Pushkin was exiled to the Caucasus. He did, however, continue to hold official posts until a superior had him dismissed from the government posts in 1824 and banished him to his mother's estate near Pskov.Recognizing Pushkin's enormous popularity, Czar Nichols I pardoned Pushkin in 1826. Pushkin died in 1837 from wounds he suffered in a duel in St. Petersburg.Pushkin provided a literary heritage for Russians, whose native language had hitherto been considered unfit for literature. He was also a versatile writer of great vigor and optimism who understood the many facets of the Russian character.In 1831 Pushkin married, and soon after appeared his charming novel, "Marie," a picture of garrison life on the Russian plains. Peter and Marie of this Northern story are as pure as their native snows, and whilst listening to the recital, we inhale the odor of the steppe, and catch glimpses of the semi-barbarous Kalmouk and the Cossack of the Don.