Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich (1799–1837)

Russian poet and writer. His works include the novel in verse Eugene Onegin (1823–31) and the tragic drama Boris Godunov (1825). Pushkin's range was wide, and his willingness to experiment freed later Russian writers from many of the archaic conventions of the literature of his time.

Pushkin was born in Moscow. He was exiled in 1820 for his political verse and in 1824 was in trouble for his atheistic opinions. He wrote ballads such as The Gypsies (1827), and the prose pieces The Captain's Daughter (1836) and The Queen of Spades (1834). He was mortally wounded in a duel with his brother-in-law.