Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow on 26th May, 1799. His father was able to trace his distinguished ancestry back to the 12th century and his mother came from Swedish and German nobility. Pushkin's great grandfather was a black African, rescued from slavery by Peter the Great who raised and educated him. To the present day, Pushkin is still considered as the greatest poet Russia has ever produced and the founder of Russian literature. His talent was recognised from the age of 15 when he published his first poem but due to his commitment to social reform and his becoming a spokesperson for the radical literary set, he was unpopular with the Tsarist government who expelled him from the capital and prevented him from travelling or publishing at will. In 1828 he met and proposed to the famed teenage beauty, Natalya Goncharova but she didn't accept his proposal until she received assurances from the government that Pushkin would not be persecuted. They eventually married in 1830 and had 4 children. Opinion is divided as to whether Pushkin was a Romantic or paved the way for Realism, but it is unanimously agreed that his literary legacy cannot be over estimated as his rich talent for expression spread into Russian culture with his invention of numerous new words or claques that are still used today. He died on 10th February 1837. Here we publish some of his finest works.
