"Father of Russian literature," author of Eugene Onegin
A Russian poet and writer, revered as the "father of Russian literature" and founder of the modern Russian literary language. Almost single-handedly he freed Russian from the French shadow of the aristocratic salon and shaped it into a mature literary tongue for poetry and narrative. His novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, created the first "superfluous man" of Russian literature, clearing the way for the golden age of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky that followed. At thirty-seven he died in a duel fought over his wife’s honor.
His wife harassed and her honor stained, Pushkin, enraged, fought a duel and was shot dead, only thirty-seven. All Russia was shaken. A man who had shaped Russian into a great literary language ended his life in the most classical, most violent way — his death itself became a legend of Russian literature.
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