Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich
Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich (1784–1833) was a prominent Russian poet and translator, celebrated primarily for his translation of Homer's epic poem, The Iliad. Born in Poltava to a struggling family, Gnedich faced significant challenges in life, including disfigurement from smallpox and the loss of his mother at birth. He received his education at the Poltava seminary and Kharkov collegium, later attending Moscow University, where he deepened his study of classical Greek and Latin. Gnedich began publishing in 1802 and became an influential figure in St. Petersburg's progressive literary circles, contributing to various literary journals and engaging in theatrical pursuits.
His translation of The Iliad, which he commenced in 1807, was funded by a pension from Grand Princess Ekaterina Pavlovna, and excerpts began appearing in print in 1813, with the complete work published in 1829. Throughout his career, Gnedich was known for his innovative metrical techniques and his ability to balance colloquial and literary language, influencing notable contemporaries such as Alexander Pushkin. His contributions to literature have secured his legacy as a vital figure in Russian literary history.
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Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich
Writer
- Born: February 2, 1784
- Birthplace: Poltava, Russia
- Died: February 3, 1833
- Place of death: Peterburg, Russia
Biography
Best known for his translation of Homer’s The Iliad, the Russian poet Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich’s entrance into the world, in Poltava, Russia, on February 2, 1784, was inauspicious. His father was impoverished and his mother died while giving birth to him. Smallpox left a young Gnedich disfigured and without the use of his right eye. He was educated at the Poltava seminary and the Kharkov collegium. In 1800 Gnedich entered Moscow University, where he studied classical Greek and Latin and was involved in theater; however, he did not graduate. In 1802 Gnedich’s first publications appeared. Abiufar: Ili, Arabskaia sem’ia (Abufar: or, an Arab family) was a verse translation of Jean François Ducis’s 1795 tragedy Abufar, an original collection of articles, poems, and theater pieces. Gnedich moved to St. Petersburg the following year and found work in the Department of Public Education, where he remained until 1817. He established himself in progressive literary circles and was involved in the journals Dramaticheskii vestnik (the dramatic messenger), Liubitel’ slovesnosti (lover of literature), Severnyi vestnik (the northern messenger), and Tsvetnik (flower garden).
Gnedich composed civic poetry, elegies, romances, and verse epistles during his early years in St. Petersburg and became increasingly active in the theater. He translated and adapted the work of William Shakespeare and Friedrich Schiller, and he also worked as a drama coach and wrote dramatic scenes and a comedy, Stikhotvorets v khlopotakh (the versifier’s troubles), in which he played the leading role in its 1815 realization on Count Aleksei Nikolaevich Olenin’s estate. The initial results of Gnedich’s translation of The Iliad, begun in 1807, led Grand Princess Ekaterina Pavlovna to provide him with a pension to finish the project. The first published excerpts from Gnedich’s translation appeared in 1813, in Chtenie v besede liubitelei russkago slova (readers in the collegium of lovers of the Russian word); excerpts continued to appear, mainly in Syn otechestva (son of the fatherland), until the book’s publication in 1829.
Over the course of the decades Gnedich spent working on The Iliad, he lectured on the state of the Russian literary language, including the issue of balancing colloquial and literary elements, which he faced in trying to render Homer’s simplicity. Gnedich’s efforts were recognized and lauded by his peers: He was elected to the Vol’noe Obshchestvo Liubitelei Russkogo Slova (free Society of lovers of the Russian word) and to the Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the field of literature and history of the Slavic people, made librarian of the Imperial Public Library, and invited to read at meetings of the literary society Zelenaia Lampa (Green Lamp). Gnedich’s metrical innovations and his concern with combinations of high and low diction influenced subsequent poets, including Evgenii Abramovich Baratynsky, Baron Anton Antonovich Del’vig, and Alexander Pushkin.