How many of us today can say who Ivan Dmitriev is? Meanwhile, the name of this man was once well known to his contemporaries, because Ivan Ivanovich glorified himself in both the literary and public fields.
Consider the biography of this person in more detail.
Years of childhood and youth
The future Russian fabulist Ivan Dmitriev was born in September 1760 in the estate of his father, located in the Kazan province. The boy belonged to the noble family of Dmitrievs, who came from the Smolensk princes.
Vanya received a good home education, and then continued his studies in a private boarding school in Simbirsk.
The fate of his family was influenced by the uprising led by Pugachev, which forced his parents to move to the capital. Young Ivan was recorded in the Semenovsky regiment, and although Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev was completely not disposed to military service, he obeyed the will of his parents and became a military man.
Teachers of the future writer
Two remarkable Russian writers - two prominent Nikolai: N.I. Novikov and N.M. Karamzin, had a great influence on the formation of the personality of a young man.
It was Novikov who began printing the first poems of young Dmitriev in his journals, carried him to satire, which later grew into a fascination with fables.
N. Karamzin, being a distant relative of Dmitriev, introduced the young man to the works of the Western classics of sentimentalism and helped him find his place in Russian literature of that time. In the magazine, which was published by Nikolai Mikhailovich, Dmitriev’s poem Moaning the Blue Dove was published. This work glorified the young poet.
The third great teacher of Dmitriev was the famous Russian poet Derzhavin, who, after becoming acquainted with the work of Ivan Ivanovich, not only gave him a lot of practical advice, but also introduced his friends and writers.
The first literary successes
Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev published his first poetry collection in 1795. He called him "And my trinkets." Such an unusual name was associated with the history of this collection.
The fact is that initially Karamzin and Dmitriev planned to release a joint collection of poems, but this intention was not fulfilled for some reason. Karamzin published a collection before 1795 and called it “My Trinkets", later a book by Dmitriev was published, which resonated with the brainchild of N. M. Karamzin.
A feature of these two collections was the use of the letter “” in the texts, which was born in the works of Karamzin.
Public service
Ivan Dmitriev continues to serve his Fatherland all the years of the reign of Catherine the Great. Even a passion for literary activity did not force him to resign. In 1796, a rather unpleasant incident happened to him: he was arrested on a false denunciation (the authorities assumed that Dmitriev was preparing an attempt on the new emperor Pavel Petrovich). However, the scammer's lie was exposed, and Emperor Pavel showered Dmitriev with his graces.
Appointed to a high state post, Dmitriev is trying to really serve not for a large salary, but for his conscience. However, he does not succeed, and he resigns in 1799.
The new emperor Alexander Pavlovich calls on the already middle-aged Dmitriev to return to service. What he answers with his consent.
Ivan Dmitriev becomes a senator, and then a member of the Council of State. He serves properly, trying to really make every effort. However, intrigues and intrigues of ill-wishers tortured Dmitriev. Tired of them, Ivan Ivanovich resigned. The emperor said goodbye to the poet that he hoped for his return to public service, but this did not happen.
Ivan Dmitriev: fables and other works
Ivan Ivanovich entered the history of Russian literature as a collector of Russian folklore, translator and fabulist. Fame was brought to him by such poems as "Ermak", "To the Volga", "Another's Sense" and others.
In his works, he managed to embody the quiet lyricism of Karamzin’s poetry, Derzhavin’s solemnity, and Novikov’s satirism.
In addition to his own literary works, Ivan Ivanovich took part in the fate of his namesake - the famous fabulist Krylov, helped him to establish himself in the fact that fables are his true calling, and also contributed to the identification of the very young A.S. Pushkin in Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, which helped a lot the development of the talent of the great Russian poet.
Ivan Ivanovich died at the age of 77 in Moscow, in October 1837. He was buried at the Don cemetery. His grave has survived to this day.
The biography of Ivan Dmitriev is an example of the life of a Russian nobleman and writer. A man of honesty and fairness, who was able to create good literary works, was a student of famous Russian poets, he himself was able to help beginning writers enter a rich and multifaceted world called "Russian literature." Therefore, the example of life of this person is very instructive.