Andreas Ascharin

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Andreas Ascharin

Andreas Ascharin (also Russian Андрей Александрович Ашарин / Andrei Alexandrovich Ascharin ;. Scientific transliteration Andrey Aleksandrovich Ašarin; born June 12 . Jul / 24. June  1843 greg. In Parnu , Governorate of Livonia , † December 12 jul. / 24. December  1896 greg. in Riga ) was a Baltic-Russian writer , educator and translator . He was also known as a chess player .

biography

Asharin's father was Russian and his mother belonged to a Baltic German family. After attending grammar school in Dorpat , he studied law at the University of Dorpat ; According to other sources, he first studied mathematics and then law from 1865 to 1874. Between 1875 and 1879 he lived in the Russian capital and wrote as a journalist for the St. Petersburg newspaper and the St. Petersburg Herald . In 1879 he then moved to Riga and taught German at the Alexander and Lomonossow grammar school. Ascharin also remained active as a journalist in the later years.

Literary translator and poet

His origins proved to be trend-setting, because Ascharin stood out particularly as a translator of Russian literature into German. He also published his own poems. In Ascharin's transmission, works by Alexander Pushkin , Michail Lermontow , Alexei Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol , among others , became known for the first time in Germany. Ascharin explained his translation theory in the foreword to the volume of poetry Nordische Klänge (1894).

Chess activity

During his time in Saint Petersburg he took part in several chess tournaments. In 1876, Ascharin won the first Russian championship tournament in front of Michail Chigorin and Emanuel Schiffers . In 1877 he lost a match against Friedrich Amelung 4: 5 (+3 = 2-4). At the Petersburg tournament of 1879, which Chigorin won through a playoff against Simon Alapin , Asharin came in sixth. In Riga he was responsible for chess columns in the Rigaer Tageblatt and the Düna newspaper . He was also the chairman of the Riga Chess Club. Two years before his death he published under the title of chess Humoresken one of the early books on humor and chess, which includes both memories of chess opponents like Chigorin or his friend Amelung.

Works (selection)

  • Poems ; Riga 1878
  • Russian Novell Treasure , 2 volumes; Mitau 1879-1880
  • Nordic sounds. Russian seals in German transmissions ; Riga 1894
  • Chess humoresques ; Riga 1894

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Diel : "Andreas Ascharin"; in: Schach-Report , No. 12, 1996, pp. 85-86
  2. ↑ University of Potsdam: German Literary Life in St. Petersburg (see web link)
  3. ↑ Diel's statement (see web link) that Ascharin studied at the University of St. Petersburg during this time is incorrect .
  4. ^ Bill Wall: Russian Chess History

literature

Web links

Commons : Andreas Ascharin  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Asharin, Andreas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ашарин, Андрей Александрович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Baltic-Russian translator and chess player
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Parnu
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1896
Place of death Riga