Borodino: A Tale and Poems

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov 1814–1841 - a Russian poet, prose writer, playwright, and a bright representative of the Golden Age of Russian literature. He was born in Moscow into the family of an officer. His mother, Maria Mikhailovna, died when the... boy was not even 3 years old. The future poet was raised by his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Alexeyevna Arsenyeva, and the boy spent his childhood at her estate in Tarkhany, Penza province. Initially, the future poet received home education. From 1828 to 1830, he studied at a boarding school at Moscow University, where he wrote his first poems. In 1830–1832, M.Y. Lermontov studied at Moscow University but, not completing the course, submitted a request for expulsion. In 1832, he entered the School of Guards Sub-officers and Cavalry Cadets, after which he was assigned to a hussar regiment. During those years, M.Y. Lermontov's poetic talent was not known to the wider public - he only presented his works in officer and social circles. The first publication occurred without M.Y. Lermontov's knowledge - in 1835, the manuscript of the poem Hajji Abrek was secretly given to the magazine Library for Reading by his distant relative N.D. Yuryev. Despite the successful debut, M.Y. Lermontov did not want to publish his poems. True fame came to M.Y. Lermontov with the poem The Death of the Poet, 1837 - a response to the last duel of A.S. Pushkin. And although this poem was not published but circulated in copies, it still caused extreme displeasure to the emperor, for which the poet was sent into exile in the Caucasus with the active army. Here, M.Y. Lermontov wrote numerous poetic works; moreover, he began to engage in painting. In 1840, M.Y. Lermontov was exiled to the Caucasus again, and this was once more a time of extraordinary creative ascent. The Caucasian mountains are sacred to me, - thus M.Y. Lermontov wrote about his relationship with the Caucasus. In May 1841, Lermontov had a duel with his former classmate N.S. Martynov, and the opponent's bullet proved fatal for the poet. The works of M.Y. Lermontov include numerous literary pieces that have become masterpieces of Russian literature, such as Borodino, Mtsyri, Demon, A Hero of Our Time, Masquerade, and others.