(1822 – 1864)

Grigoryev Apollon Alexandrovich (1822 – 1864), translator, critic. He was born on July 16 (28 N.) in Moscow. His mother, the daughter of a serf coachman, gave birth to a son before the young people were married, so the “illegitimate” was long considered a Moscow petty bourgeois. Father served in the city magistrate, the family lived in prosperity. Children’s years of Grigoriev were held in Zamoskvorechye. He received a wonderful home education.
In 1838 – 42 he studied at the Moscow University at the Faculty of Law, was fond of philosophy and poetry, was friends with A. Fet and Ya. Polonsky. At this time, experiencing unhappy love, reflected in his lyrics. In 1843 in the magazine Moskvityanin published his poems.
In 1844

he left for Petersburg, intending to start the life of a professional writer. He publishes critical articles in the “Repertoire and the Pantheon”, “The Finnish Herald”. In 1846 the book “Poems of Apollon Grigoriev” was published, positively estimated by V. Belinsky.
In 1846 he returned to Moscow, cooperated in the Moscow City Leaflet, where he met A. Ostrovsky, who together with whom in 1851-55 he headed the editorial office of Moskvityanin, while also being the leading critic and author of poems and translations. In this period begins his long unrequited love for L. Wizard, which left a deep mark in the poetry of Grigoriev.
In 1856 the “Moskvityanin” ceased to exist. Deprived of his means of subsistence, the poet is forced to become the home teacher of Prince I. Trubetskoi and go to Italy. In 1856 – 58 already independently lives abroad: in Italy, France, Germany. Returning to Petersburg, he edited the magazine “Russian Word” and published critical articles in it. Appreciates the works of M. Lermontov, A. Herzen, I. Turgenev (“A look at Russian literature from the death of Pushkin”, “I. S. Turgenev and his work…”, 1859). Hope to create a family life did not come true, although the poet tried to do this with the girl M. Dubrovskaya saved from the dump. Together with her, he went to Orenburg, where he taught at the Cadet Corps in 1861 – 62. After the break with Dubrovskaya returned to St. Petersburg, he published critical articles in the journals “
Great place in the creative heritage of Grigoriev is theatrical criticism, in which he advocated a democratic theater with a serious educational repertoire. He is the author of articles on Russian drama, about plays and the actors’ play, he left beautiful descriptions of outstanding Russian actors in their best roles.
Grigoriev did a lot of translation (Sophocles, Shakespeare, Byron, Goethe, Schiller, etc.). He translated such plays as “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Venetian Merchant”, “Romeo and Juliet”.
A. Grigoriev died in St. Petersburg on September 25 (October 7, current) in 1864.
A short biography from the book: Russian writers and poets. A short biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.