Y.A. Boratynsky (1800-1844)
(1800 – 1844)
Еevgeny Boratynsky was born on February 19, 1800 in his parents' estate in the Tambov province. Already in the childhood Boratynsky was found out to be very talented. Being 6 years old he fluently spoke French and could easily read French authors. In 1812 his mother who already was a widow sent him into The Corps of Pages. However in 1816 Yevgeny was expelled because of a serious fault and state service was until then forbidden for him. Three years later he had to enlist as private to one of the regiments of St. Petersburg garrison. In that time the young poet became close to Pushkin, Kuchelbeker and the other young writers. In 1819 his first poems were published.
In 1820-1825 Boratynsky stayed in the Neyshlotsky regiment in Finland. Five years in that northern country became a kind of exile for the poet. After having been promoted in 1825 Boratynsky finally resigned.
By that time Boratynsky wrote such famous poems as "Finland", "The Disappointment" and "A Confession" which Pushkin considered to be the best one of Boratynsky's elegies. In 1820 Boratynsky wrote his first large poem, "The Feasts" which was published along with the poem "Eda". The first separate collection of poems by Boratynsky was published in 1827 and a year later his long poem "The Ball" is published with Pushkin's "Count Nulin".
In June 9, 1826 Boratynsky married L.A. Engelgardt, the daughter of a resigned general. Having moved to Moscow he entered the literary life of the city. He visited famous literary circles; his works were published in popular magazines. His closest friends in Moscow were I.Kireevsky and P.Vyazemsky. After the publication of the second collection of his poems Boratynsky almostly stopped issuing his works. He moves to Muranovo, his wife's family estate, where he was occupied mainly with household problems.
By 1829 Boratynsky already had 7 children: Alexandra, Maria, July, Zinaida, Lev, Dmitry and Nicholas. In 1842 the whole family moved to Muranovo to the newly built house. This year Boratynsky's last poem collection in his life was published. It was "The Twilight".
In autumn of 1843 the Boratynsky set off on a journey abroad. They spent winter in Paris where the poet met A. De Vigny, P. Merimes , D. Lamartine and other French writers. Then the family moved to Naples, where Boratynsky suddenly died on June 29,1844. In 1845 his remains were brought to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery cemetery.
A famous literary critic V. Belinsky wrote: "the greatest among all the poets of Pushkin's time was Boratynsky". As Belinsky said, Boratynsky's poems are marked with deep thought. Life as the victim of death, sense as the enemy of emotion, truth as the murderer of happiness - that is the main subject of Boratynsky's poetry. A. Pushkin also respected the peculiarity of Boratynsky's way of writing. He wrote: "Boratynsky is a perfect poet. He is remarkable because he is thoughtful. And he would be remarkable in any country because he thinks in his independent way and his thoughts and feelings are always deep".
