Biography Batiushkov Konstantin Nikolaevich
(1787 – 1855)
Poet.
Born May 18 (29 N. p.) In Vologda in a noble family of nobility. Childhood years passed in the family estate – the village of Danilovsky Tver province. Home education was led by the grandfather, the leader of the nobility of the Ustyuzhna Uyezd.
From the age of ten Batiushkov studied in Petersburg in private foreign boarding houses, he owned many foreign languages.
From 1802 he lived in St. Petersburg in the house of his relative M. Muravyov, a writer and educator, who played a decisive role in shaping the personality and talent of the poet. He studies the philosophy and literature of the French Enlightenment, ancient poetry, the literature of the Italian Renaissance. For five years he serves as an official in the Ministry of Public Education.
In 1805 he made his debut in print satirical poems “Message to my poems.” During this period he writes poetry mainly of a satirical genre (“Epistle to Chloe”,
In 1807, he was enrolled in the militia and sent to the Prussian campaign as a hundredfold start of the militia battalion. In the battle of Heilsberg was seriously wounded, but remained in the army and in 1808 – 09 participated in the war with Sweden. After retiring, he devotes himself entirely to literary creation.
Satire’s “Vision on the Bregs of Summer”, written in the summer of 1809, marks the beginning of the mature stage of Batyushkov’s creativity, although it was published only in 1841.
In 1810 – 12 he actively collaborates in the journal Vestnik Evropy, is close to Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky and other writers. His poems “Merry Hour”, “Lucky One”, “Source”, “My Penates”, etc. appear.
During the war of 1812 Batyushkov, because of illness, who did not leave the army, experienced “all the horrors of the war,” ” poverty, fires, famine, “which was later reflected in the” Epistle to Dashkov “(1813). In 1813 – 14 participated
In 1814 – 17 Batiushkov travels a lot, rarely remaining in one place for more than six months. Experiencing a severe spiritual crisis: disappointment in the ideas of enlightenment philosophy. Religious sentiments are growing. His poetry is painted in sad and tragic tones: the elegy of Separation, The Shadow of a Friend, Awakening, My Genius, Tavrida, and others. In 1817 a collection of Experiments in Verses and Prose appeared, which included translations, articles, essays and poems.
In 1819 he left for Italy at the place of the new service – he was appointed an official under the neo-missionary mission. In 1821 he was overcome by an incurable mental illness (persecution mania). Treatment in the best European clinics did not succeed – Batiushkov no longer returned to normal life. His last years passed from relatives in Vologda.
July 7 (19 N. p.) 1855. He was buried in the Savior-Prilutsk Monastery.
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