Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin was born in 1799 in Russia. His family was aristocratic and could trace its origins back to the twelfth century (although his great-grandfather was, in fact, an African slave). Pushkin is often regarded as the father of Russian literature. He published his first poem when he was only fifteen and, by the age of twenty-one, was already a celebrity. However, his work was also radical for its time and encouraged social reform, something which got the writer into many difficulties with the conservative Tsar and his government. Pushkin was always very sensitive about his honour and fought twenty-nine duels in his short life. He was killed in the last one in 1837, a great loss for Russian literature.