Lev Aleksandrovich Mei
Lev Aleksandrovich Mei (1822–1862) was a notable Russian dramatist, poet, and translator, born in Moscow into a family steeped in Orthodox traditions and folklore. After the early death of his father, Mei was influenced by the stories of the family serf, Kirilych, which later inspired his autobiographical writings. He studied at the prestigious Tsarskoe Selo Lycée, where he began publishing poetry that explored themes of history and national identity. Mei became associated with the publication Moskvitianin and its group of young writers, advocating for authentic Russian cultural expression through literature.
His literary career flourished in St. Petersburg, where he produced a significant body of work, including historical dramas and translations of influential European authors. His prominent works, such as "Tsarskaia nevesta" and "Pskovitianka," received acclaim and were later adapted into operas by notable composers like Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Mei's poetry was characterized by its rich emotional depth and often reflected his personal struggles, drawing inspiration from both biblical themes and classical antiquity. His contributions to Russian literature were significant, melding national pride with artistic innovation during a transformative period in Russian cultural history.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Lev Aleksandrovich Mei
Poet
- Born: February 13, 1822
- Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
- Died: c. 1862
Biography
The dramatist, poet, and translator Lev Aleksandrovich Mei was born in Moscow on February 13, 1822, to Aleksandr Il’ich Mei, a retired officer, and Ol’ga Ivanovna Mei, née Shlykovaia. Shortly thereafter, Mei’s father died and the family moved in with his maternal grandmother. Both his family’s strict adherence to the Orthodox church and the folktales and proverbs recounted to Mei by the house serf, Kirilych, influenced Mei’s later writings. Kirilych is memorialized in Mei’s autobiographical story of the same name, published in 1856.
In 1831, Mei entered a Moscow boarding school for the gentry; his outstanding performance there earned him admission to the elite Tsarskoe Selo Lycée near St. Petersburg in 1836. During his time at the lycée, Mei contributed poems, often concerning history and the poet’s function, to the school literary journal Voobshche and the St. Petersburg journal Maiak. After his graduation in 1841, Mei returned to Moscow to work for the governor-general. He continued to write poetry about his love for Sof’ia Grigor’evna Polianskaia, his future wife, and about the Russian countryside. By 1949, Mei’s work was appearing consistently in the journal Moskvitianin and he was able to leave his job to devote his time to writing.
Mei became part of a group of young writers affiliated with Moskvitianin and known as the molodaia redaktsiia (young editors). In the interest of Russian narodnost’ (national identity), the group sought authentically Russian depictions and language in history, folklore, and music. A product of this Slavophile outlook, Mei’s first historical drama, Tsarskaia nevesta, was published in 1849. The following year he married Polianskaia.
In 1853, near destitution necessitated that Mei relocate to St. Petersburg, where he found work at such journals as Biblioteka dlia chtenia, Otechestvennye zapiski, Russkoe slovo, and Syn otechestva. During the 1850’s and 1860’s, while living in St. Petersburg, Mei worked, and drank, intensely; he wrote poems, historical dramas, and songs, as well as translated literary works into Russian. Mei’s poetry from this period, the pinnacle of his literary career, reflects his straitened circumstances. Mei drew inspiration not only from the Bible, as revealed in such poems as “Evreiskie pesni” (1856) but also from classical antiquity. For example, the historical drama Serviliia looks to ancient Rome for passion and discord. Far better received, however, was Pskovitianka (1860), Mei’s drama that aims, by way of rich historical detail and psychological portraiture, to elucidate Czar Ivan the Terrible’s relative compassion for the people of Pskov.
Mei’s vast linguistic knowledge resulted in acclaimed and faithfully rendered translations of Heinrich Heine, Adam Mickiewicz, Friedrich Schiller, Theocritus, and the Russian epic Slovo o polku Igoreve. His plays Tsarskaia nevesta, Servilia, and Pskovitianka were adapted as operas by the composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, while a number of Mei’s songs were set to music by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.