Ivan Krylov
Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (2 February [O.S.] 1769 – 9 November [O.S.] 1844) was a Russian fabulist, poet, playwright, and journalist renowned for composing over 200 satirical fables that depicted human vices and societal shortcomings through anthropomorphic animals, drawing from classical traditions while incorporating Russian folk wisdom.[1][2] Born in Moscow to an impoverished family of minor nobility, with his father an army captain who died when Krylov was ten, he received scant formal schooling yet pursued self-education voraciously, mastering languages and literature independently.[3][1] Early in his career, Krylov authored comedies, operas, and satirical periodicals in Saint Petersburg, but his enduring legacy stems from nine volumes of fables commencing with Basni in 1809, which propelled him to national acclaim for their epigrammatic style and moral acuity, as lauded by figures like Pushkin and Gogol.[1] Influenced by Jean de La Fontaine's adaptations of Aesop, Krylov's narratives employed accessible prose blended with vernacular speech to expose folly, idleness, and corruption, rendering aphorisms such as those from "The Quartet" or "Demyan's Fish Soup" staples of Russian idiom and pedagogy.[1][2] In later years, from 1812 to 1841, he held the position of librarian at the Imperial Public Library, retiring as a state councillor before his death in Saint Petersburg.[1][3]
Biography
Early Life and Family Background
Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born on February 13, 1769 (February 2 in the Julian calendar then used in Russia), in Moscow, to Andrei Prokhorovich Krylov, a low-ranking army officer from a minor noble family, and his wife, whose limited education reflected the family's modest circumstances.[4][3] The Krylovs belonged to the lower echelons of the Russian nobility, with Andrei Krylov serving in various provincial garrisons, including a brief posting in Orenburg where the family resided for a short period during Ivan's infancy.[5] In 1775, Andrei retired from military service due to health issues or administrative reasons, prompting the family to relocate to Tver, where they settled into deepening poverty amid the provincial economy.[3] Andrei Krylov's death in January 1779, when Ivan was nine years old, left the family destitute, with no significant inheritance or pension to sustain them; the officer had accumulated debts and left behind only a modest library of books, which became an early intellectual resource for the young Krylov.[1][6] Krylov's mother, described in contemporary accounts as a devout but unlettered woman of simple disposition, struggled to provide for her children by taking menial work, including as a domestic servant for wealthier households in Tver.[1] This environment exposed Ivan to rudimentary literacy through self-study and occasional tutoring from the employers of his mother's patrons, though he received no systematic formal education equivalent to that of higher nobility.[5][4] To contribute to the household, Krylov began clerical work at age nine under a local magistrate in Tver, performing tasks such as copying documents and running errands, which honed his practical skills but offered little intellectual stimulation beyond exposure to administrative routines.[4] The family's hardships instilled a lifelong frugality and resilience in Krylov, shaping his later satirical portrayals of human folly amid adversity, though primary accounts emphasize his early independence rather than any dramatic rebellion against circumstances.[7]Self-Education and Initial Influences
Ivan Andreyevich Krylov received no systematic formal education owing to his family's impoverished circumstances following his father's death in 1779, when Krylov was ten years old.[4][3] Instead, while serving as a footman in the household of Tver landowner Nikolay Lvov around 1775–1778, he was permitted to attend the home lessons provided to Lvov's children, gaining rudimentary exposure to basic subjects.[1][3] This limited access supplemented but did not substitute for structured schooling, as the family could not afford tutors or enrollment in institutions.[8] Krylov pursued self-education voraciously, beginning in childhood by devouring the contents of a large box of books inherited from his father's traveling library.[1] These included works by French neoclassical authors such as Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, Molière, and Jean Racine, which introduced him to principles of satire, drama, and moral critique.[1] He independently studied foreign languages, including French and later Italian and Greek (mastering the latter by around age 50), alongside pursuits in drawing and violin playing to broaden his intellectual and artistic skills.[3][1] This autodidactic approach, driven by personal curiosity rather than institutional guidance, laid the foundation for his early literary ambitions, evident in his teenage compositions of tragedies, comedies, and operas.[4] Initial influences stemmed primarily from this eclectic reading and the satirical traditions of Russian predecessors like Nikolay Novikov and Denis Fonvizin, whose works emphasized social commentary, though Krylov's access to them likely postdated his foundational French exposures.[3] The Lvov household provided indirect mentorship through observational learning, fostering discipline amid menial duties, while the absence of elite patronage in his youth compelled reliance on solitary study over collaborative networks.[1] These elements cultivated Krylov's independent critical style, prioritizing empirical observation of human folly over abstract philosophy.[8]Early Career in Journalism and Drama
Krylov commenced his literary pursuits in drama during his early teens, composing works for the theater amid financial hardship following his father's death in 1777. In 1782, at age 13, he wrote the comedy Kofeynitsa (The Coffee Box or The Coffee-Grounds Fortune Teller), a libretto for a comic opera satirizing fortune-telling.[1] He produced additional dramatic pieces in the 1780s, including the comic opera Filomena (1786), the play Amerikancy (1788), and tragedies such as Cleopatra and Philomela, none of which achieved significant acclaim or provided income.[1][7] His satirical comedy Prokazniki (The Pranksters, 1788) mocked prominent figures, including actress Ekaterina Sumarokova, but was prohibited from staging by censors, exacerbating tensions with the theater directorate and playwright Yakov Knyazhnin, his early patron.[1][7] This censorship reflected broader imperial restrictions on subversive content under Catherine II, curtailing Krylov's dramatic ambitions temporarily.[7] Shifting to journalism in 1789, Krylov founded and edited the satirical monthly Pochta dukhov (Mail of Spirits), which depicted societal vices, noble indolence, and bureaucratic inefficiencies through allegorical letters from spirits; it ran for eight issues before folding due to low subscriptions and official disfavor.[7][9] In 1790, he co-edited Zritel' (The Spectator) with Aleksei Klushin, a more successful venture offering literary critiques and social commentary, later retitled Sankt-Peterburgskii Merkurii (St. Petersburg Mercury), though it ceased by December amid similar pressures.[7][1] These publications, influenced by Enlightenment models like Addison and Steele's Spectator, marked Krylov's initial foray into public satire but were hampered by autocratic oversight, prompting his intermittent retreats from writing.[9][7]Fable-Writing Phase and Later Years
Krylov transitioned to fable-writing in the early 19th century, publishing his first collection, Basni, in 1809, which included 23 original fables inspired by but distinct from Jean de La Fontaine's works.[1] This debut garnered immediate acclaim, establishing his reputation as a moralist satirist, and was followed by a second collection, Novyia basni, in 1811.[1] Over the subsequent decades, he issued eight more collections, culminating in a total of 203 fables by 1844, with editions continually revised and expanded to reflect contemporary observations.[1][7] The success of his fables secured imperial patronage, enabling Krylov to join the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg in 1812 as an assistant librarian, a position that evolved into head of the Russian department by 1816.[9] This sinecure, lasting 29 years until his retirement in 1841, imposed minimal duties—such as basic cataloging and reader assistance—affording him substantial leisure for composition amid the library's vast resources.[9][1] Honored with election to the Russian Academy and a literary gold medal, he supplemented his income with escalating pensions recognizing his contributions to Russian letters.[7] In later years, Krylov resided as a lifelong bachelor in a library-adjacent apartment on Nevsky Prospekt, cultivating a persona marked by indolence, untidiness, and reticence; contemporaries noted his habitual silence in salons despite social invitations, alongside eccentricities like delayed arrivals and voracious appetites.[1][9] Retiring with the rank of state councillor—equivalent to major general—and a generous pension, he continued refining fables until shortly before his death.[1] Krylov died on November 21, 1844, in St. Petersburg, attributed to pneumonia or excessive eating, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery's Lavra; by then, his fables had sold 77,000 copies in Russia alone.[7][10][1]Personal Habits and Death
Krylov led a reclusive existence, earning a reputation as Russia's laziest man for habitually reclining on a sofa to read novels during his library duties.[1] He dressed untidily in worn-out clothes and consumed 35 to 50 cigars each day.[1] Numerous anecdotes, often semi-legendary, portrayed him as gluttonous with a voracious appetite and possessed of quick wit, though he remained taciturn and seemingly indifferent in social gatherings.[7][1] Financial hardships precluded marriage, leaving him a lifelong bachelor.[1] Krylov succumbed on November 21, 1844, in St. Petersburg at age 75.[1] Accounts differ on the cause, citing either excessive eating or pneumonia.[7] His final utterance was "Lord, forgive me my trespasses!" while he dispatched a volume of his fables as a parting gift.[1] Interment occurred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, within the Necropolis of the Masters of Arts.[1][7]