Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev ( rus, Ива́н Ива́нович Дми́триев, p=ɪˈvan ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪf, a=Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriyev.ru.vorb.oga; – ) was a Russian statesman. He was also a poet associated with the sentimentalist movement in

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

. Dmitriev was born at his father's estate in the government of

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO City of Literature since 2015. The city wa ...

. In consequence of the revolt of

Yemelyan Pugachev Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev (also spelled Pugachyov; ; ) was an ataman of the Yaik Cossacks and the leader of the Pugachev's Rebellion, a major popular uprising in the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine the Great. The son of a Do ...

, the family had to flee to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and there Ivan was entered at the school of the Semenov Guards, and afterwards obtained a post in the military service. On the accession of

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch *Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Paul ...

to the imperial throne, he quit the army with the rank of colonel; and his appointment as procurator for the senate was soon after renounced for the position of privy councillor. During the four years from 1810 to 1814 he served as minister of justice under the

Emperor Alexander I Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleo ...

; but at the close of this period he retired into private life, and though he lived more than twenty years, he never again took office, but occupied himself with his literary labors and the collection of books and works of art. In the matter of language he sided with Karamsin, and did good service by his own pen against the

Old Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...

party. His poems include songs, odes,

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

s, tales, epistles, and others, as well as the fables—partly original and partly translated from

La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...

, Florian and Arnault—on which his fame chiefly rests. Several of his lyrics have become thoroughly popular from the readiness with which they can be sung; and a short dramatico-epic poem on Yermak, the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

conqueror of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, is well known. His writings occupy three volumes in the first five editions; in the 6th (Saint Petersburg, 1823) there are only two. His memoirs, to which he devoted the last years of his life, were published at

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 ...

in 1866.

English translations of his poems

Translation of long poem "Liberation of Moscow" (1795) in ''Four Centuries'' 16http://perelmuterverlag.de/FC162017.pdf ...And you, our champion, will live for the ages, As our honor, our glory, and a paragon to all! There, where the mountains prop up the clouds, A multitude of sonorous rivers will spring up, And from the millstone a mighty forest emerge; Verdant gardens will burgeon upon the plains And cities will arise and vanish, with time; An infinity of new marvels nature will create; Be they revealed to our astonished gaze; A new light will illuminate the cosmos, And the warrior, heartened by your blood, Remembering you, will become in his pride Greater ingrained, and further, further confirmed In his unshakable love for our fatherland!

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dmitiev, Ivan Ivanovich Poets from the Russian Empire Justice ministers of the Russian Empire Members of the Russian Academy Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) 1760 births 1837 deaths Active Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)