Fyodor Dmitrievich Batyushkov (Фёдор Дмитриевич Батюшков, September 7 .s. August 26 1857, Kosma village,

Tver Governorate Tver Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Tver. The governorate was lo ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– March 19, 1920,

Petrograd 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, ...

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

) was a Russian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, editor (''Kosmopolis'', 1897–1898; '' Mir Bozhy'', 1902–1906), literary critic, theatre and

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

Biography

Fyodor Batyushkov was born in Tver Governorate, to a noble Russian family. He was a distant relative (great-nephew) of Konstantin Batyushkov, a renowned early 19th-century poet. His father Dmitry Batyushkov was a governor in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

. Having graduated the 1st Gymnasium in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Fyodor Batyushkov enrolled into the Saint Petersburg University and joined its history and philology faculty which he graduated in 1880. Several years later, after a trip abroad, he became the Petersburg University professor. In 1890s Batyushkov contributed regularly to ''

Vestnik Evropy ''Vestnik Evropy'' () (''Herald of Europe'' or ''Messenger of Europe'') was the major liberal magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia. It was published from 1866 to 1918. The magazine (named for an earlier publication edited by Nikolay Kara ...

'', '' Zhurnal Dlya Vsekh'', ''Novaya Zhyzn'', ''Vseobshchy Zhurnal'', later to ''

Rech Rech may refer to: People * Almine Rech, French art dealer * Anthony Rech (born 1992), French ice hockey player * Bianca Rech (born 1981), German football player * Erich Rech, Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military ...

'' newspaper. In 1897–1898 he was an editor of ''Kosmopolis'' (Russian section), then joined '' Mir Bozhy'' of which he was a head in 1902–1906. Mir Bozhy was closed after the publication of a Vyborg proclamation ("To the people from the People's representatives") and there was a case opened against Batyushkov in court. One of the leading literary critics of his times, Batyshkov reviewed works by all the prominent Russian authors of the time:

Leonid Andreev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian literature. He is regarded as one of the most talented and prolific ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

Alexander Kuprin Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (; – 25 August 1938) was a Russian writer best known for his novels ''The Duel'' (1905)Kuprin scholar Nicholas Luker, in his biography ''Alexander Kuprin'', calls ''The Duel'' his "greatest masterpiece" (ch ...

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Konstantin Balmont Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont ( rus, Константи́н Дми́триевич Ба́льмо́нт, p=, a=Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal'mont.ru.vorb.oga; – 23 December 1942) was a Russian symbolist poet and translator who became one of ...

Valery Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov ( rus, Вале́рий Я́ковлевич Брю́сов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbrʲusəf, a=Valyeriy Yakovlyevich Bryusov.ru.vorb.oga; – 9 October 1924) was a Russian poet, prose writer, drama ...

among many others. He was regularly corresponding with Kuprin (his close friend), Gorky,

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, Repin and Korolenko. A French and

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

scholar, Batyushkov, wrote numerous treatises and essays (on

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, Middle Age European authors), and was an editor and co-author of ''The History of the Western Literature'' in 3 volumes (1912–1914). A biographer of prominent Russian dramatists (

Lev Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

among others), Batyushkov regularly reviewed theatre productions and in 1917 became a head of the Saint Petersburg State Theatres committee before being fired by

Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (, born ''Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov''; – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Soviet People's Commissar (minister) of Education, as well as an active playwright, critic, es ...

. He died in 1920 in poverty and was buried at the

Nikolskoe Cemetery Nikolskoe Cemetery () is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. The third cemetery to be established in the monastery complex, the Nikolskoe ...

of the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batyushkov, Fyodor 1857 births 1920 deaths Literary critics from the Russian Empire Editors from the Russian Empire People from Tver Governorate Burials at Nikolskoe Cemetery