Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet,playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature
Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow. His matrilineal great-grandfather was Abram Gannibal, who was brought over as a slave from what is now Cameroon.Pushkin published his first poem at the age of fifteen, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.
While under the strict surveillance of theTsar's political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov. His novel in verse,Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832.
Pushkin was fatally wounded in a duel withGeorges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment who attempted to seduce the poet's wife, Natalya Pushkina.