Alexander Pushkin (Cyclopedia of World Authors)

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (POOSH-kuhn), Russia’s first important poet, was descended on his father’s side from a family of impoverished nobility and on his mother’s from an Abyssinian officer in the service of Peter the Great. Pushkin was proud of both heritages, and the distinctive character of his verse, a combination of classical form and romantic feeling, may have been influenced by them.

Born in Moscow on June 6, 1799, he studied at home and at the Lyceum (1811-1817), where he absorbed Latin and eighteenth century French literature and began publishing verses:...

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