Semen Egorovich Raich
Semen Egorovich Raich was a Russian poet and translator born in September 1792 in Orel province. Raised in a strict clerical household, he initially pursued a path toward monastic life but ultimately sought a university education, leading him to teach and influence notable figures such as the poet Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev. Raich began his literary career during the tumultuous period of the 1812 invasion of Russia, with his notable translation of Virgil marking a significant contribution to Russian literature. He became involved in several literary societies and established his own literary circle, focusing on literary theory and aesthetics.
Throughout his career, Raich taught Russian literature at Moscow University and other institutions, despite facing criticism for promoting foreign literary influences. His poetry, heavily inspired by Italian literature, explored the contrasts between beauty and the hardships of Russian life. In 1849, he published his long poem "Areta," which faced rejection from critics who deemed it outdated. Raich's later years were marked by relative obscurity, yet his impact on the early works of poets like Tiutchev and Mikhail Lermontov remains significant, highlighting his role in shaping Russian literary culture.
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Semen Egorovich Raich
Poet
- Born: September 1, 1792
- Birthplace: Rai-Vysokoe, Orel, Russia
- Died: October 28, 1855
Biography
Semen Egorovich Raich was born in a small village in Orel province, Russia, in September, 1792. His father was a clergyman demanding a strict patriarchal life at home. Raich was enrolled in a monastery seminary, where he studied classical languages and literature and began to translate and write poems. Expected to become a monk, he desired to go to a university but had to be released of his planned religious vocation, which he did under the pretext of illness.
While in a more advanced school, Raich tutored children of aristocratic families, among them Fedor Ivanovich Tiutchev, on whom Raich had great influence and who would eventually become a leading poet. During the 1812 invasion of Russia, Raich was forced to live outside of Moscow but returned after the war and attended Moscow University. In reality he began his literary career at this time, publishing his excellent translation of Virgil into modern Russian. Raich became involved with several literary societies and formed his own literary circle, studying literary theory, aesthetics, and translation. From 1837 to 1841, he taught Russian literature at Moscow University’s school for gentry students, including the future poet Mikhail Lermontov. Although Raich wrote many poems in that period, he never published them in a book form. These poems reflect the heavy influence of Italian poetry, especially its melodiousness and hedonistic spirit. Raich compared his poems with the gloomy aspects of Russian everyday life.
Raich married in 1829 and briefly edited several journals. He also came into conflict with many writers who resented his championing foreign cultures at the expense of Russian culture. Nevertheless, he continued to translate classical writers, including Torquato Tasso. He taught Russian literature at various schools while living a modest life with his wife and five children and remaining in conflict with most of the literary establishment.
In 1849 Raich published a long poem Areta, in which he counterposes Areta, a Roman and convert to Christianity, as a stark contrast to the paganism and materialism of contemporary life in Russia. The poem was met with silence or outright rejection by critics who thought it was archaic and too conservative. Raich spent his last years in relative obscurity, although he continued his scholarly work and teaching. However, his intellectual energy, his attempts to introduce something different to literature, and his contribution to the early development of Russian poets Tiutchev and Lermontov cannot be ignored.