The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Apukhtin, Aleksei Nikolayevitch

APUKHTIN, ä-pooh'tēn, Aleksei Nikolayevitch, Russian man of letters, b. Bolkhov, 15 Nov. 1840; d. 17 Jan. 1893. He descended from an old noble family. A man of extraordinary ability, he, while yet a child, betrayed an astounding memory and a fondness for reading, especially of poetry. While yet under 10 he knew by heart the works of Pushkin and Lermontov. Besides these his favorite poets and authors of later years were Griboyedov, Baratinski, Tyuchev, Fet, A. Tolstoi, L. Tolstoi, Turgenev, Dostoyevski and Ostrovski. In 1852 he entered a law-school from which he was graduated with distinction in 1859. He then entered the civil service as a member of the Ministry of Justice and after two years retirement in the country (1862-64), became associated with the Ministry of the Interior. Because of a chronic disease (obesity), which began developing in his youth, he kept away from society. He spent most of his life in Saint Petersburg. His literary career began while he was yet a student. To his juvenile productions belong 35 poems which due to his self-criticism appeared only in a posthumous edition. His other attempts of childhood (‘Epaminondas,’ ‘Imitation of the Arabic,’ ‘Ode on the occasion of the birth of the great duchess Vera Konstantinovna’) were published in the Invalid, 1854-55. His poems of 1859-62 appeared in the periodicals Sovremennik, Vremya and Russkaya Riech. They met with great success and earned the approval of Turgenev, Nekrassov and Fet. Despite this approval he wrote nothing during 1862-68. His best works belong to the period which followed this pause. At first he did not publish anything. His works of 1868 ‘Requiem,’ ‘A Night in the Monastery,’ ‘Old Love,’ and a few others were circulated in manuscript. In 1872 his poem ‘The Unfinished Monument’ appeared anonymously in Grazhdanik (Citizen). Only in 1884 did he begin to contribute to Viestnik Yevropui, Russkaya Muisl and Sievernui Viestnik. The first edition of his works appeared in 3,000 copies in 1866. In 1890 he began writing novels. At his request his three novels ‘From the Archives of a Countess’ (1890), ‘Diary of Pavlik Dolski’ (1891) and ‘Between Life and Death’ (1892) were published posthumously. He was, however, at his best in his poems. His poetry is characterized by sincerity, simplicity, purity and deep feeling. Their form is elaborated with great care. Some of his poems (‘Mad Nights’) have been set to music. Translations of some of his works (‘The Russian Parnassus,’ ‘Flies,’ ‘I am not sorry,’ ‘Old Love’) are contained in the collection of Fidler. Criticisms can be found in Russkaya Muisl (No. 5, 1886); Viestnik Yevropui (Vol. 2); Arsenyev, K. K., ‘Critical Studies’; Gogorov K., ‘Contemporary Poets’; Vengerov, ‘Critical and Biographical Dictionary of Russian Writers and Scholars’; Skabichevski, ‘History of Modern Literature.’