Godunov, Boris Fyodorovich (1552–1605)
Tsar of Russia from 1598, elected after the death of Fyodor I, son of Ivan the Terrible. He was assassinated by a pretender to the throne who professed to be Dmitri, a brother of Fyodor and the rightful heir. The legend that has grown up around this forms the basis of Pushkin's play Boris Godunov (1831) and Mussorgsky's opera of the same name (1874).
An apocryphal story of Boris killing the true Dmitri in order to gain the throne was fostered by Russian historians anxious to discredit Boris because he was not descended from the main ruling families.
Godunov's rule was marked by a strengthening of the Russian church. It was also the beginning of the Time of Troubles, a period of instability.
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