Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) was a Russian poet and essayist. He is noted for being the first Jewish poet to achieve national fame in the Russian Empire.

Biography

Nadson's father was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

who converted to

Greek Orthodoxy Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Roma ...

, and was a civil servant in St. Petersburg. When Nadson was two years old, his father died in a lunatic asylum. His mother, Antonina Stepanovna Mamontova, was the offspring of an old noble

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

family, the Mamontovs. She supported her family by working as a housekeeper and teacher. She later remarried and settled in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. When she died of tuberculosis in 1873, Nadson became the ward of his uncle, I.S. Mamontov, an anti-Semite. According to his account, he suffered living under his household. Nadson studied high school in a military school. After graduating in 1879, he joined a cadet school and became a lieutenant of the 148th Caspian Regiment in 1882. When he retired in 1884, he traveled to Europe with a female companion, Maria Vatson. Upon his return to Russia, Nadson settled in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He 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 ...

in Yalta in 1887. He was 24 years old.

Works

Despite publishing only one book of poems, Nadson enjoyed significant success, although he was underrated by critics for long time. His Poem "Pora" ("It Is Time" in English), was set to music by

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

(Op.14, No. 12). Some of his other poems were also incorporated into songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff,

César Cui César Antonovich Cui (; ; ; 26 March 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, member of the Belyayev circle and The Five – a group of composers combined by the idea of creating a specifically Russian type of music. As an officer o ...

, and others. A collection of his essays called ''Literary Sketches'' was published in 1887. Nadson's popularity reached its height during the ascension and reign of Alexander III of Russia. After the assassination of Alexander II, members of the

People's Will Narodnaya Volya () was a late 19th-century revolutionary socialist political organization operating in the Russian Empire, which conducted assassinations of government officials in an attempt to overthrow the autocratic Tsarist system. The org ...

were arrested along with the monarch's killers. Nadson's works, which focused on decay, depression, sickness, and death resonated with their sympathizers and students with antimonarchistic convictions. It crystallized the dispirited atmosphere of the period and his emphasis on the impotence of his "weak voice" in his poetry was equated with the voice of his land. He was considered Russia's most popular poet in the three decades that preceded the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and was the first Jew to have achieved such national renown.

References

External links

Several poems by Nadson translated into English

A Nadson poem
(Russian)

(Russian)

(Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadson, Semyon 1862 births 1887 deaths 19th-century poets from the Russian Empire 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Male poets from the Russian Empire Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian people of Jewish descent Tuberculosis deaths in the Russian Empire Writers from Saint Petersburg

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links