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Alexander Polezhayev

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Period
  
1825-1838

Role
  
Poet

Name
  
Alexander Polezhayev


Notable works
  
Sashka (1826)

Genre
  
Poetry

Alexander Polezhayev wwwaudiobooksuaimagesbrieflypolezhaevjpg

Born
  
11 September 1804Penza Governorate, Russian Empire (
1804-09-11
)

Subject
  
Political and social satire

Died
  
January 28, 1838, Moscow, Russia

Education
  
Moscow State University

Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Полежа́ев, 11 September [o.s. 30 August] 1804, v.Pokryshkino, Penza Governorate, Russian Empire – 28 [o.s. 16] January 1838, Moscow, Russian Empire), was a controversial Russian poet, best known for his satirical poem Sashka which in 1826 resulted in his being demoted to the Russian Army in the Caucasus, by a special decree of Nicolas I who saw this daring challenge as a continuation of the Decembrist revolt. Polezhayev continued to write satires (describing the Russian Tsar as 'a hangman' and 'an Emperor corporal') and in the early 1830s became close to the radicals, one of whom, Alexander Hertzen, later remembered him with great warmth in his book of memoirs My Past and Thoughts. A volatile and rebellious character prone to heavy drinking, Polezhayev got involved in a series of incidents, the last of which resulted in his being punished by flogging so severe, fragments of twigs had to be extracted surgically form his back. After that, in the course of several months, Alexander Polezhayev fell ill with tuberculosis and died.

Alexander Polezhayev Alexander PolezhayevNikolay Ogarev Russian Classic Poetry Soviet LP

"Polezhayev's fate was of a peculiar, I'd say proto-Soviet kind. The Tsarist army became his GULAG," wrote poet and Russian poetry historian Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

References

Alexander Polezhayev Wikipedia


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