Anton Antonovich Del'vig
Baron Anton Antonovich Del'vig was a notable Russian poet and literary figure born on August 6, 1798. He came from a family connected to the military and the sciences, receiving his education at the elite lycée in Tsarskoe Selo, where he developed a passion for poetry amid a backdrop of European and Russian literature. Despite struggling academically, he became the first among his peers, including the renowned Alexander Pushkin, to publish works in the influential journal Vestnik Evropy. Del'vig was recognized for his innovative poetic style, which encompassed various forms and themes, including love, history, and human experience.
In addition to his poetry, he contributed to the literary community through his work with the Vol'noe Obshchestvo Liubitelei Slovesnosti, Nauk i Khudozhestv and by founding the journal Severnye tsvety in 1824. His literary efforts extended to editing the Literaturnaia gazeta, which provided a platform for marginalized writers. Del'vig lived a Bohemian lifestyle and maintained connections with contemporary artists and musicians, further enriching the cultural landscape of his time. He married Sofiia Mikhailovna Saltykova in 1825 and had a daughter, but his life was tragically cut short when he died at the young age of thirty-two in 1830. His legacy endures through his contributions to Russian literature and his influence on fellow writers and composers.
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Anton Antonovich Del'vig
Poet
- Born: August 6, 1798
- Died: January 14, 1831
Biography
Baron Anton Antonovich Del’vig was born on August 6, 1798, to an army staff officer and the daughter of an astronomer. By most accounts, Del’vig was a sickly child with a lively imagination and a deep interest in mythology. His formal education began with his enrollment in the elite lycée at Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg, created by Alexander I to prepare the sons of nobility for a life of high-ranking public service. The study of European and Russian literature occupied a significant portion of the lycée’s curriculum, and many of its students wrote poetry. While Del’vig consistently ranked near the bottom of his class, he was the first among his esteemed peers—a group that included Alexander Pushkin—to have his poems published in the prominent journal Vestnik Evropy (herald of Europe). Del’vig graduated from the lycée in 1817. The following year he was elected to membership in the esteemed Vol’noe Obshchestvo Liubitelei Slovesnosti, Nauk i Khudozhestv (free society of lovers of letters, sciences, and the arts) in St. Petersburg. Known as a keen judge of poetry (he was the first person to note Pushkin’s talent), Del’vig was quickly enlisted to read submissions and contribute to the journals published by the society. His own poetic output, though small, demonstrates variety, innovation, and experimentation with metrical forms and with archaic, folkloric, and contemporary Russian language. His many poems—including elegies, idylls, imitations of Russian folk poetry, songs, and verse epistles—treat a wide range of subjects: everyday trivia, history, lost innocence, love, philosophy, and youth.
Del’vig worked briefly at the Department of Mining and Salt Industry and at the Chancellery of the Ministry of Finance until 1821, when he was hired at the St. Petersburg Public Library. During this period, Del’vig affected a Bohemian lifestyle, frequenting both lower-class establishments and drawing rooms of the city’s literary patrons. In 1824 he founded the influential literary journal Severnye tsvety (northern flowers), which flourished in large part because of Del’vig’s ability to corral contributions from interesting writers. He loved the fine arts and was acquainted with many contemporary artists, art critics, and musicians. While Del’vig had a reputation as a lazy but sociable and adept Romantic poet, some have suggested that his apparent indolence was an indifference to societal expectations. The year 1825 saw his resignation from the library and his marriage to Sofiia Mikhailovna Saltykova, a well-educated admirer of the arts. They had a daughter, Elizaveta, in 1830, just eight months prior to Del’vig’s death at the age of thirty-two. Following his marriage, Del’vig hosted a selective salon at his house. In 1829 and 1830 he edited Literaturnaia gazeta (literary gazette), which published work by writers, including exiled Decembrists, who were kept out of more established journals. In addition to poetry, Del’vig published review articles and open letters to the editors of other literary periodicals. The composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka set a number of Del’vig’s poems to music; one of these would end up in Glinka’s 1836 opera Zhizn’ za tsaria (a life for the czar).