Mikhail Ivanovich Popov
Mikhail Ivanovich Popov was a notable Russian author born in 1742 into a merchant family. He began his career in the arts as an actor in Saint Petersburg during the 1750s and transitioned into writing, initially focusing on translating foreign plays into Russian. In 1765, he published two translated plays and a collection of original love songs titled "Pesni." His move to Moscow allowed him to study at Moscow University, and in 1767, he became a secretary for Czarina Catherine the Great's commission on legal reform. During this time, he developed an interest in ancient mythology, resulting in the 1768 publication of a dictionary on Slavic mythology. His literary contributions continued with the successful adventure novel "Slavenskie drevnosti" and a comic opera called "Aniuta," produced in 1772. Popov's works were compiled in the two-volume collection "Dosugi," which was published in 1772. He is believed to have passed away around 1790, leaving behind a diverse literary legacy.
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Mikhail Ivanovich Popov
Writer
- Born: 1742
- Died: c. 1790
Biography
Russian author Mikhail Ivanovich Popov was born in 1742 to a family of merchants. In the 1750’s, Popov began an acting career in Saint Petersburg. Popov’s first known efforts at writing were translations of foreign-language plays into Russian. He published two translated plays in a volume entitled Nedoverchivyi; i pri nei malaia komediia Devkalion i Pirra g. Sent’fua in 1765, and continued to translate plays and novels throughout his life.
In 1765, Popov published another book, Pesni, a collection of thirteen original love songs. In the 1760’s he moved to Moscow, where he studied at Moscow University. In 1767, Popov was hired as a secretary to Czarina Catherine the Great’s commission that was composing a new code of law for the Russian nation. While working on the code, Popov spent a great deal of time studying ancient mythology. In 1768, he published a dictionary of the mythology of the ancient Slavs, Opisanie drevniago slavenskogo iazycheskago basnosloviia, sobrannago iz raznykh pisatelei, i snabdennago primechaniiami.
A year later, Popov was awarded the rank of collegiate registrar for his diligent work on the new law code, and he published a number of poems in the journal Truten’. Popov followed this with his extremely successful adventure novel about Slavic princes entitled Slavenskie drevnosti: Ili, Prikliucheniia slavenskikh kniazei (1770-1771). Popov also wrote a comic opera, Aniuta, produced in 1772. Popov’s collected works were published in the two-volume Dosugi: Ili, Sobranie sochinenii i perevodov (1772). He died in or about 1790.