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.
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Alexander Polezhayev. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
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
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Alexander Polezhayev, revision 1371331042 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Died at
1- MoscowPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Alexander PayneAuthor
- Alexander PennAuthor
- Alexander PetrunkevitchAuthor
- Alexander PolAuthor
- Alexander PopeAuthor
- Alexander PoseyAuthor
- Alexander PotebnjaAuthor
- Alexander ProkhanovAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Alexander Polezhayev?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.