Alexander Polezhayev
Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev (11 September [O.S. 30 August] 1804 – 28 [O.S. 16] January 1838) was a controversial Russian poet, best known for his satirical poem Sashka which in 1826 resulted in his being demoted to the Russian Army in the Caucasus, by a special decree of Nicolas I who saw this daring challenge as a continuation of the Decembrist revolt. He was arrested by the police, brought to the tsar, and forced to recite the poem out loud in the presence of the emperor, after which the emperor said, "I give you the means of rehabilitating yourself by military service. Are you ready to serve as a private in the army?" His service in the military was considered admirable by those who otherwise would have disliked Polezhayev.
Also recorded as Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev
Alexander Polezhayev
художник Александр Сергеевич Ястребилов (1793 —?) · Полежаев А.И. Стихотворения А. Полежаева: С портр. авт. и ст. о его соч., писанною В. Белинским. - 2-е изд. - Москва: К. Солдатенков и Н. Щепкин, 1859. - 210, III с. URL · Public domain
- Name
- Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev
- Born
- 11 September 1804
- Birthplace
- Penza Governorate, Russian Empire
- Died
- 28 January 1838
- Place of death
- Moscow, Russian Empire
- Education
- Moscow University
- Nationality
- Russian Empire.
- Occupation
- poet, writer and translator.
- Movements
- Romanticism.
- Languages
- Russian.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev (11 September [O.S. 30 August] 1804 – 28 [O.S. 16] January 1838) was a controversial Russian poet, best known for his satirical poem Sashka which in 1826 resulted in his being demoted to the Russian Army in the Caucasus, by a special decree of Nicolas I who saw this daring challenge as a continuation of the Decembrist revolt. He was arrested by the police, brought to the tsar, and forced to recite the poem out loud in the presence of the emperor, after which the emperor said, "I give you the means of rehabilitating yourself by military service. Are you ready to serve as a private in the army?" His service in the military was considered admirable by those who otherwise would have disliked Polezhayev.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2621545 · wikipedia · Alexander Polezhayev
In this article
Biography
Biography
Polezhayev continued to write satires (describing the Russian Tsar as 'a hangman' and 'an Emperor corporal') and in the early 1830s became close to the radicals, one of whom, Alexander Herzen, later remembered him with great warmth in his book of memoirs My Past and Thoughts. A volatile and rebellious character prone to heavy drinking, Polezhayev got involved in a series of incidents, the last of which resulted in his being punished by flogging so severe, fragments of twigs had to be extracted surgically form his back. After that, in the course of several months, Alexander Polezhayev fell ill with tuberculosis and died. "Polezhayev's fate was of a peculiar, I'd say proto-Soviet kind. The Tsarist army became his GULAG," wrote poet and Russian poetry historian Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

The book «Gallery of Russian writers», printed in Moscow, 1901. Page 139.
multiple (editor is I. Ignatov) · book scan

Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev, from the book «Gallery of Russian writers», 1901, page 139.
book scan
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Alexander Ivanovich Polezhayev • Born — 11 September 1804 • Birthplace — Penza Governorate, Russian Empire • Died — 28 January 1838 • Place of death — Moscow, Russian Empire • Period — 1825-1838 • Genre — Poetry • Subject — Political and social satire • Notable Works — Sashka (1826) • Education — Moscow University
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1804
Alexander Polezhayev was born on 30 August 1804.
1838
Alexander Polezhayev died on 16 January 1838.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ruzayevka.
Birth place
Moscow.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Alexander Polezhayev”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2621545: Alexander Polezhayev
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Translittération universitaire: Aleksandr Ivanovič Poležaev
- 2.Dans le calendrier julien en vigueur à l'époque en Russie.
- 3.Полежаев Александр Иванович
- 4.Il est donc le cousin germain du poète Dmitri Strouïski (1806-1856)
- 5.Encyclopédie Brockhaus et Efron, article sur Polejaïev
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Alexandre Herzen: Passé et Pensées, vol. I.
- Белинский В. Г., Стихотворения Полежаева, Полн. собр. соч., т. 6, М., 1955.
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