Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov
Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov ( Russian Александр Петрович Сумароков , scientific transliteration Aleksandr Petrovič Sumarokov ; * November 14th July / November 25th 1717 greg. In Moscow ; † October 1st jul. / October 12, 1777 greg. Ibid.) Was a Russian greg 18th century poet , writer and playwright .
biography
Alexander Sumarokov was born into a noble family. He received his training at home and while serving in the aristocratic corps, where he began to rewrite psalms in poetry and, using the example of Wassili Trediakowski's odes to the imperial house, to write on behalf of the corps. From 1740 he served in the military chancellery under Burkhard Christoph von Münnich , then as an adjutant to Count Alexei Rasumowski .
He became famous for his first tragedy called Khorev, written in 1747 and played at court . Sumarokov's plays were performed by the Yaroslavl theater company of Fyodor Volkov . When a regular theater was established in Saint Petersburg in 1756 , Sumarokov was appointed director. He remained the main author of the plays performed there for a long time and is therefore often referred to as the “father of Russian theater”. On Chorew followed eight tragedies, comedies twelve and three opera librettos .
At the same time, Sumarokow, who was characterized by an extremely productive way of working, developed in other areas of literature. After he was an active contributor to the academic journal "Monthly Seals" for several years, he founded his own and nationwide first private journal in 1759, called "Busy Bee", which had a satirical and instructive content. He published fables between 1762 and 1769 and poems between 1769 and 1774.
Despite the proximity to the imperial court, the patronage of high officials and great fame, Sumarokov often complained about a lack of appreciation, censorship and poor education of the public. In 1761 he lost his post at the court theater and moved to Moscow in 1769. Forgotten at court, impoverished and run down, he died on October 12, 1777 and was buried in the cemetery of the Donskoy monastery .
plant
Sumarokov's work developed within the framework of classicism in the form it had taken in France in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Contemporaries often referred to Sumarokov as the Russian Molière or the Russian Jean de La Fontaine . Sumarokov's literary activity was extremely diverse and encompassed all genres: philosophical, spiritual and triumphant odes, elegies , songs, epigrams , satirical works, etc. He used a wide variety of poetry techniques and experimented with rhymes and stanza structures.
Sumarokov differed from Lomonosov, however, in his pursuit of a less "elevated" subject. He brought motives of a personal, sometimes even intimate character into his work. Sumarokov created a large number of lyrical works in the genre of love songs, wrote comedies and satires. As he himself wrote, he saw his task in "correcting the morals" through tips against officials, landowners and other groups. He thought Lomonosov was an officious poet and distanced himself from him.
Web links
- A selection of Sumarokov's literary works in the Russian Virtual Library
- Article Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sumarokov, Alexander Petrovich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Сумароков, Александр Петрович (Russian); Sumarokov, Aleksandr Petrovič (scientific transliteration) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Russian poet, writer and playwright |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 25, 1717 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Moscow |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1777 |
| Place of death | Moscow |