Athanasius Fet. Makeev M.

The unlucky circumstances of the birth of Athanasius Fet, the son of the Darmstadt bourgeois, largely predetermined his rejection of a university career, parting with his beloved, and military service. The struggle against the blows of fate was formed by his “uncomfortable” character and a special situation in literature. Young poems considered the author of lyrical masterpieces to their idol, and the liberal public - a "miserable poet". He translated the works of ancient Roman classics and read the works of modern philosophers, introduced advanced land use, served as a justice of the peace, spoke in the press about the system of education, community, zemstvo self -government.

What is the reason for Fet's obsessive desire to become a Russian nobility? For what Alexander II gave the “king of poets” a ruby ​​ring, and Alexander III made him a chamberlain? How did the lyrical poet become a successful businessman? Why was the advanced landowner called a serf and a actress? What brought him closer to Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy and quarreled with Nekrasov and Chernyshevsky? These questions are answered by the book of Doctor of Philology Mikhail Makeev - the first detailed biography of the great poet, a pessimistic thinker and a violent publicist.