Alexander Sumarokov

Template:Short description Template:Expand Russian Template:Infobox person Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (Template:Langx; Template:OldStyleDateDY, Villmanstrand – Template:OldStyleDateDY) was a Russian poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia, thus assisting Mikhail Lomonosov to inaugurate the reign of classicism in Russian literature.

Life and works

Alexander Sumarakov was born in 1717 into a family of Muscovite gentry. He was born in Villmanstrand (now Lappeenranta) in Swedish-ruled Finland, where his father was most likely serving in the Great Northern War against Sweden.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sumarokov was educated at the Cadet School in Saint Petersburg, where he became closely familiar with French learning. Neither an aristocratic dilettante like Antiokh Kantemir nor a learned professor like Vasily Trediakovsky or Mikhail Lomonosov, he was the first gentleman in Russia to choose the profession of letters.<ref name="Mirsky62"/> He consequently may be called the father of the Russian literary profession.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His pursuits did not undermine his position in the family; indeed, his grandson was made a count and, when the Sumarokov family became extinct a century later, the title eventually passed to Prince Felix Yusupov, who also held the title of Count Sumarokov-Elston.Template:Citation needed

Sumarokov wrote much and regularly, chiefly in those literary genres neglected by Lomonosov. His principal importance rests in his plays, among which Khorev (1749) is regarded as the first regular Russian drama. He ran the first permanent public theatre in the Russian capital, where he worked with the likes of Fyodor Volkov and Ivan Dmitrevsky. His plays were based on the subjects taken from Russian history (Dmitry Samozvanets), proto-Russian legends (Khorev) or on Shakespearean plots (Makbet, Hamlet).

In his evaluation of Sumarokov's plays, literary historian D. S. Mirsky writes:

It was no doubt that the good acting made the reputation of Sumarokov, as the literary value of his plays is small. His tragedies are a stultification of the classical method; their Alexandrine couplets are exceedingly harsh; their characters are marionettes. His comedies are adaptations of French plays, with a feeble sprinkling of Russian traits. Their dialogue is a stilted prose that had never been spoken by anyone and reeked of translation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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Sumarokov also wrote non-dramatic works. He was the first Russian author to write fables, a genre which subsequently flourished in Russia. His satires, in which he sometimes imitates the style of popular poetry, are described by Mirsky as "racy and witty attacks against the government clerks and officers of law."<ref name="Mirsky62">Template:Cite book</ref> He wrote love songs intended for popular consumption, which brought him fame and made him chief among a group of songwriting poets who followed him.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Mirsky praises Sumarokov's songs for their "prodigious metrical inventiveness (which was not so much as imitated by any of his successors) and a genuine gift of melody."<ref name="Mirsky62"/>

Sumarokov was also one of the earliest Russian journalists and literary critics. He edited the journal Yezhemesyachnye sochineniya (Monthly compositions) from 1759 to 1764. According to Mirsky, Sumarokov's literary criticism is "usually carping and superficial" but played a significant role in teaching Russian readers the rules of classical taste. He was a follower of Voltaire and was proud of having exchanged several letters with him.<ref name="Mirsky62"/> Amanda Ewington has argued that Sumarokov was not only influenced by Voltaire as such but accessed a wide variety of European influences, from Shakespeare to Lope de Vega, through the conduit of Voltaire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Mirsky describes the playwright's personality as follows:

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His daughter Ekaterina, an 18th-century poet, is often considered to be the first Russian woman writer,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> as she, together with Template:Interlanguage link multi and Template:Interlanguage link multi were the first women to see their works printed in Russian journals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Opera libretti

Sumarokov wrote the first Russian-language libretto for an opera: that of Tsefal i Prokris (Cephalus and Prokris), by Francesco Araja, an Italian composer in the Russian court. The opera was staged in Saint Petersburg on 7 March [O.S. 27 February] 1755. He also wrote the libretto for the second opera set to a Russian text, Altsesta (Alceste, 1758), by German composer Hermann Raupach (1728–1778), also serving in the Russian court.

Editions in English

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Notes

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External links

• Poems by Alexander Sumarokov Template:In lang
• Biography and works of Alexander Sumarokov on the Russian Virtual Library Template:In lang