Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev
Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev was a notable Russian poet, born on November 23, 1803, in Ovstug, Russia, into an aristocratic family. He received a home education and was fluent in French, which was the language he used for personal correspondence and political writing. Tiutchev studied philology at Moscow University and entered government service, eventually working in various diplomatic roles in Europe. His personal life was marked by two marriages and six children, with many of his poems inspired by his relationships with women. His lyrical poetry, which encompasses themes of nature, love, dreams, and fate, was initially published in the journal Sovremennik but garnered limited attention during his lifetime. Despite his aristocratic background and Slavophile political views, Tiutchev also served as a liberal censor in the Russian government. Although not widely recognized in his time, his work gained significant appreciation later on, particularly among Russian Symbolists, and continues to be celebrated for its depth and impressionistic qualities. Tiutchev's legacy remains influential in Russian literature, notably since the 1960s.
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Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev
- Born: November 23, 1803
- Birthplace: Ovstug, Russia
- Died: May 15, 1873
- Place of death: Tsarskoe Selo, Russia
Biography
One of the most memorized and oft-quoted Russian poets, Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev was born in Ovstug, Russia, on November 23, 1803, into an old aristocratic family. His father, Ivan Nikolaevich Tiutchev, and mother, Ekaterina L’vovna Tolstaia, had him educated at home; his tutor Semen Egorovich Raich was an important influence. As was by no means uncommon at the time, French was Tiutchev’s first language, and the language he used to write letters and political articles and to speak with his family.
At the age of sixteen, Tiutchev entered Moscow University; he earned his degree in philology in 1821. The following year he commenced government service, in the Office of Foreign Affairs, and was soon thereafter sent to work in the Russian Legation in Munich. In Bavaria, Tiutchev enjoyed an active social life. He met the aristocrat Eleanor Peterson, née Bothmer, whom he married in 1826. They had three daughters together. Tiutchev was transferred to Turin, Italy, in 1837; however, his stint there was brief. After his first wife’s death in 1838, Tiutchev wed Baroness Ernestine Dornberg, née Pfeffel, who had been his mistress and with whom he also had three children, a daughter and two sons.
A number of Tiutchev’s lyric poems were published in the journal Sovremennik (the contemporary) in 1836; however, public interest was minimal, perhaps in part due to the poems’ riddling quality. Tiutchev’s lyrics, of which there are more than four hundred and which operate in part by way of impressionism, explore the world and its constituent elements—landscape, day and night, wind, water, and storms. He was also interested in sleep and dreams, fate and love.
Many of his poetic cycles were inspired by the women he loved. Those love lyrics he composed during the 1850’s are considered to be a part of the Denis’eva cycle, after Elena Aleksandrovna Denis’eva, a young woman with whom he had an ongoing affair and three more children. From 1850 until Denis’eva’s death in 1864, Tiutchev split his time between his two families.
Tiutchev also composed occasional poems, less accomplished than his lyrics, and wrote political essays exhibiting his Slavophile sympathies. The first such work, “Lettre à M. de Docteur Gustave Kolb,” published in Ausburger allgemeine Zeitung (Augsburg general newspaper) in 1844, likely met with official approval, for Tiutchev was appointed senior censor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs upon his return to Russia in 1844. Despite his allegiance to the monarchy and his authorship of Slavophile tracts, he was a liberal censor. He became president of the Committee of Foreign Censorship in 1858. While he was not a popular poet during his own time, Tiutchev was later rediscovered and celebrated by the Russian Symbolists. His poetry has received further and sustained attention since the 1960’s.