Eugene Onegin and Other Poems

Eugene Onegin (1833) is a comedy of manners, written in exquisitely crafted verse, about two young members of the Russian gentry, the eponymous hero, Onegin, and Tatyana. It is considered the greatest masterpiece of Russian literature — the source of the human archetypes and the attitudes that define and govern the towering fictional creations of nineteenth-century Russia. It is one of the most celebrated epic poems of the world.

Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era, who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, and the founder of modern Russian literature. Before Pushkin wrote Eugene Onegin, his nation’s literature was a parochial one; after he wrote it, due in no small part to its power and influence, the Russian literary tradition became one of the revered traditions of Western civilization.

The life of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837) mirrors his classic tale. 

Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow. His father, Sergey Lvovich Pushkin, belonged to Pushkin noble families. His maternal great-grandfather was Central-African-born general Abram Petrovich Gannibal in the court of Peter the Great. Pushkin published his first poem at the age of 15, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Upon graduation from the Lycee, Pushkin recited his controversial poem "Ode to Liberty,” one of several that led to his exile by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

Pushkin is widely regarded as the “father of Russian literature” and curator of the modern Russian language. His most famous works include the drama Boris Godunov, a novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, and fairy tales, such as Ruslan and Lyudmilla.

In 1837, Pushkin was fatally wounded in a duel with his brother-in-law, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment, who attempted to seduce the poet's wife, Natalia Pushkina.