Alexander Pushkin

Pushkin, Alexander (1799–1837), poet, widely recognized as the founder of modern Russian literature. A sympathizer of the Decembrist Revolt, he spent his adult life in exile or under police surveillance. His poetic range included the political, humorous, erotic, lyrical, epic, and verse tales or novels like Russlan and Ludmilla (1820), The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1822), and his masterpiece Eugene Onegin (1833). Other works are the great drama Boris Godunov (1831) and such prose works as “The Queen of Spades” (1834) and The Captain's Daughter (1836).