Aleksandr Ivanovich Pisarev (, 14 July 1803, village of Znamenskoye,

Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1928. Its seat was in the city of Oryol. Administrative division Oryol Governorate consisted of t ...

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

- 15 March 1828,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) was a Russian playwright, translator and theatre-critic. In the course of just five years (1824–28) he authored 23 popular vaudevilles and comedies, most of which enjoyed great success on stages of Moscow's Maly Theatre and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

's Alexandrinka. His best-known plays were ''Student and Teacher'' (Учитель и ученик, или В чужом пиру похмелье, 1824), ''The Magic Nose'' (Волшебный нос, или Талисман и финики, 1825), ''Caliph's Recreations'' (Забавы калифа, 1825, set to music by

Alexander Alyabyev Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev (; ), also rendered as Alabiev or Alabieff, was a Russian composer known as one of the fathers of the Russian art song. He wrote seven operas, twenty musical comedies, a symphony, three string quartets, more th ...

and

Alexey Verstovsky Alexey Nikolayevich Verstovsky () () was a Russian composer, musical bureaucrat and rival of Mikhail Glinka. Biography Alexey Verstovsky was born at Seliverstovo Estate, Kozlovsky Uyezd, Tambov Governorate. The grandson of General A. Selivers ...

), ''The Buzzing Man'' (Хлопотун, или Дело мастера боится, 1825, music by Alyabyev and Verstovsky), and ''How To Marry Your Daughter'' (Средство выдавать дочерей замуж, 1828). In 1826, with Alexey Verstovsky, he published the popular ''Drama Album for the Lovers of Music and Theatre'' (Драматический альбом для любителей театра и музыки). Pisarev was a controversial figure who, on the one hand used to pan "serious" drama (stating that theatre's mission was to entertain, not moralize) and to lambast

Pyotr Vyazemsky Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky (, ; 23 July 1792 – 22 November 1878) was a Russian poet and a leading personality of the Golden Age of Russian poetry. Biography His parents were a Russian prince of Rurikid stock, Prince Andrey Vyazemsk ...

and

Alexander Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (; 15 January 179511 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy '' Woe from Wit''. He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia, where he and ...

; on the other, he was himself a shrewd

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

who ridiculed in his plays and epigrams the life and manners of Russian high society as well as some of his literary contemporaries, notably

Nikolai Polevoy Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy (, ― ) was a controversial Russian editor, writer, translator, and historian; his brother was the critic and journalist Ksenofont Polevoy and his sister the writer and publisher of folktales Ekaterina Avdeeva. Bi ...

. Pisarev died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

aged only 24, much to the distress of his friends, one of whom,

Sergey Aksakov Sergey Timofeyevich Aksakov (, ) (—) was a 19th-century Russian literary figure remembered for his semi-autobiographical tales of family life, as well as his books on hunting and fishing. Early life According to the Velvet Book of Russia ...

, was convinced that in 1828 Russian literature lost one of its greatest talents, who had every potential to become the "Russian

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

". "All of our vaudevillians of today count less than this one man, Pisarev", wrote

Vissarion Belinsky Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky (; Pre-reform spelling: Виссаріонъ Григорьевичъ Бѣлинскій. – ) was a Russian literary critic of Westernizing tendency. Belinsky played one of the key roles in the career of p ...

years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisarev, Alexander 19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire People from Oryol Governorate Critics from the Russian Empire 1803 births 1828 deaths