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Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin
About museum
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin – a Russian poet of the Age of Enlightenment, a statesman of the Russian Empire, personal assistant to Catherine II, a senator, and an Actual Privy Councillor. Gavriil Derzhavin was born into a family of impoverished nobles in the Kazan Governorate. He was educated at the Kazan Gymnasium; from 1762 he served as a private guardsman in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 1773–1775 he took part in suppressing the uprising led by Yemelyan Pugachev.
In 1777 Derzhavin entered civil service and assumed the post of State Councillor in the Governing Senate. Over the years he headed the Olonets and Tambov viceroyalties, and also held high posts in the supreme organs of power under Empress Catherine II and Emperor Paul I.
Derzhavin's first literary works appeared during his military service. He gained wide fame with the ode 'Felitsa' (1782), dedicated to Catherine II. The poet celebrated the greatness of Russia, the empress, and universal human values in his odes, philosophical poems, and other genres.
Gavriil Derzhavin is regarded as one of the founders of Russian classical poetry. His works had a significant influence on the development of Russian literature. Derzhavin's oeuvre is studied in schools and universities, and his poems are an excellent example of the style of the Age of Enlightenment.
Date of birth
14 July 1743
Date of death
20 July 1816
Occupation
Poet