Mikhail Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was a poet, prose writer, dramatist, and artist.

He was born in Moscow, in the house by the Red Gate, on the night of October 2–3 (14–15, n.s.). His father, Yury Petrovich, was a retired infantry captain from a poor noble family; his mother, Maria Mikhailovna, née Arsenyeva, was from the Stolypin family.

In 1815 the young family lived in the village of Tarkhany in Penza Province, the estate of the future poet’s grandmother, E. Arsenyeva. Lermontov spent his childhood there. He lost his mother early (she died in 1817, at the age of 21) and grew up separated from his father. His grandmother did everything for her only, adored grandson, sparing no expense for tutors and governesses. He received an excellent home education: from childhood he was fluent in French and German, drew and sculpted well, and studied music (playing the flute, piano, and violin).

Fearing for the health of her ailing grandson, his grandmother undertook exhausting trips to the Caucasus (1818, 1820, 1825) for treatment with mineral waters. The impressions from these journeys remained with Lermontov for life and were reflected in his early work: “Caucasus” (1830); “Blue Mountains of the Caucasus, I greet you!” (1832).

In 1827 his grandmother brought her grandson to Moscow to continue his education. On September 1, 1828, Lermontov entered the Moscow University Noble Boarding School as a half-board student, one of the best educational institutions in Russia. He received a humanities education, which he supplemented by independent reading. At the boarding school he wrote poetry, realizing very early that poetry was his calling. During these years he came under the influence of Byron’s poetry and wrote several “Byronic poems” (“The Circassians,” “The Caucasian Prisoner,” “Corsair,” “The Criminal,” “Oleg,” “Two Brothers”); in 1829 he conceived the poem “The Demon,” on which he would work almost until the end of his life.

In autumn 1830 he entered Moscow