Kondratii Fedorovich Ryleev
Kondratii Fedorovich Ryleev was a notable Russian poet and political figure born on September 18, 1795, in Batovo, Russia. Growing up in a challenging family environment, he found solace in writing poetry during his time at a military academy, where he faced severe discipline. His military service, particularly during the campaigns against Napoleon, exposed him to the disparities between Russian conditions and those in Europe, igniting his desire for reform. Ryleev became prominent in literary circles in St. Petersburg, known for his civic-minded poetry and critiques of government corruption, ultimately co-editing a journal and writing significant works like *Dumy* and *Voinarovskii*. His political engagement deepened when he joined the radical Severnoe obshchestvo, aligning himself with the Decembrist movement. Ryleev played a key role in the Decembrist Revolt of December 1825, advocating for change while expressing concern for the younger revolutionaries involved. Following the failed uprising, he was arrested and executed on July 13, 1826, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with Russia's literary and political history.
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Kondratii Fedorovich Ryleev
Poet
- Born: September 18, 1795
- Birthplace: Batovo, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Died: July 13, 1826
Biography
Kondratii Fedorovich Ryleev was born on September 18, 1795, in Batovo, a small town in St. Petersburg province, Russia. His father was a retired officer in the Russian army and his mother came from a landowning family. His father was despotic and his wife left him when Ryleev was five years old. Ryleev was enrolled in a military academy where he was frequently flogged for even minor transgressions, but he endured his punishments bravely. He started to write poems in the academy. After he graduated, he was commissioned into the army and stationed in Dresden, Germany, in 1814, where the Russian troops were battling Napoleon I’s army. His experience during the war gave Ryleev opportunities to realize that life in Russia was far worse than in other European countries and spurred his desire to do something to improve conditions in his country.
Back in Russia, he served in several army posts. He became acquainted with a retired army officer and his two daughters, whom he tutored in literacy, and he married one of the daughters in 1819. He wrote poems with heavy civic overtones, as one of many Russians who had seen Europe. One of his satirical poems, disguised as an imitation of a classical Roman poet, made him famous and he was accepted by literary circles in St. Petersburg, where he entered civil service as a judge.
Appalled by government corruption, he began to voice his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and to associate with secret societies that were working for change. At the same time, he refused to become a revolutionary. He studied Russian history and wrote about it in a book of poems, Dumy (1825), in which he reevaluated Russia’s past in order to awaken Russians’ civic responsibility and pride in their nation. Although Ryleev was neither a great poet nor a great historian, Dumy enhanced Ryleev’s literary reputation.
Ryleev turned to journalism and coedited a popular journal, Poliarnaia zvezda. Influenced by Lord Byron, he wrote a long narrative poem, Voinarovskii (1825), about the nephew of the famous Cossack leader Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa, who was exiled to Siberia. Ryleev joined a radical political group, Severnoe obshchestvo, and became more politically involved, as reflected in the propaganda poems he wrote at this time. The culmination of his political activity came in December, 1825, when he was one of the major leaders of the Decembrist Revolt. Ryleev was arrested and assumed full responsibility for his role in the rebellion, asking that the young conspirators be pardoned. While waiting to be executed, he slipped visitors notes of his last poems. He was executed on July 13, 1826.