Ivan Andreevich Krylov
Ivan Andreevich Krylov was a prominent Russian writer and playwright born on February 2, 1769, in Moscow. Following the early death of his father, Krylov's family faced financial hardships, leading him to work as a scribe while receiving education from private tutors. His literary career began in his teenage years, with early works including a comic opera titled "Kofeinitsa." After relocating to St. Petersburg in 1782, Krylov pursued drama, creating plays such as "Filomela," which debuted much later, in 1793. He became known for his satirical fables, launching a monthly journal called "Pochta dukov" in 1789 that explored moral and political themes through correspondence between fantastical characters.
Despite facing censorship and government intervention, Krylov's creativity flourished, and he continued to write plays and fables, eventually dedicating himself entirely to fables by 1805. His contributions earned him recognition within literary circles, leading to a position at the Imperial Public Library and membership in the Russian Academy. Krylov's legacy includes a rich collection of fables that reflect his keen observations of society and human nature. He passed away on November 9, 1844, leaving behind a significant mark on Russian literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Ivan Andreevich Krylov
Fabulist
- Born: February 2, 1769
- Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
- Died: November 9, 1844
Biography
Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born in Moscow, Russia, on February 2, 1769. He lived for a short while in Orenburg, after which he moved with his family to Tver, where his father, Andrei Prokhorocih Krylov, a former staff captain in the Russian army, served as chairman of the town council. His father’s death in 1778 left Krylov, his younger brother Lev, and his mother impoverished. Krylov took work as a scribe for the town council. His mother worked as a servant and young Krylov was educated by the tutors of her wealthy employers. Krylov showed an early passion for literature and writing, producing a comic opera, Kofeinitsa, while still a teenager. The work was never published in his lifetime.
In 1782, the Krylov family moved to St. Peterburg, where Krylov worked as a clerk in the government revenue department. He turned to writing drama and, after several failed attempts. produced Filomela, a variation on the theme of Philomela from Greek tragedy that was not published until 1793. In the interim, Krylov returned to comedic writing, producing the comic operas Beshenaia sem’ia, written in 1786, and Amerikantsky, written in 1788. Unable to get these works produced for the stage owing to differences of artistic vision with theater directors, Krylov vented his frustrations in Sochinitel’v prikhozheri, and Prokazniki, both plays written in 1788 and both concerned with the tribulations and bad behavior of poet protagonists. Krylov worked in the Department of Mines between 1786 and 1788, the year his mother died. He then embarked on a full-time writing career.
In 1789, with the financial backing of a liberal patron, he launched Pochta dukov, a monthly journal of satirical fables written entirely by Krylov. The stories, which were presented as the transcribed correspondence between a sorcerer and the heavenly hosts and denizens of the underworld, allowed Krylov to wax philosophically on moral and political themes. The journal ran from January to August of 1789. Three years later, with the assistance of others in the arts community, Krylov launched the press I. Krylov and Friends, which published Zritel’, a journal featuring a wide variety of works, including Krylov’s satirical sketches and speeches, much of it couched in terms of fantasy and fable. The journal aroused the anger of Russian authorities for its negative depictions of government officials, and as a result of repeated investigations by the police the magazine folded after less than a year. Krylov returned the following year with the journal Sanktpeterburgskii Merkurii, but again government authorities intervened and closed it down after year.
Frustrated, Krylov left St. Petersburg and became a private tutor for a family in the Ukraine until 1801. In this interval he began writing satirical plays with a strong political slant, among them Podschipa, and Pirog, both written in 1799. Krylov returned to St. Petersburg in 1805, and divided his time between writing comic plays and fables. He gave up playwriting by 1805 to devote himself exclusively to fables, which he wrote into the 1830’s. In 1812, a friend offered him a position at the Imperial Public Library. Thereafter he became part of established literary circles in St. Petersburg and was made a member of the Russian Academy. For most of the last decade of his life, he gave up writing completely. He died on November 9, 1844.