How Pushkin Became a Prophet (from the History of Pushkin's Early Biographies)

Igor Nemirovsky focuses on three books by Pavel Annenkov: Materials to Pushkin's Biography (1855), Pushkin in Alexander's Epoch (1874), and The Social Ideals of Pushkin (1880). By comparing these biographies of the same poet written by, the same scholar at different times, Nemirovsky demonstrates how they reflect significant changes in Russian ideological context. In each case, Annenkov's central concept is based on"dramatic changes in Pushkin's worldview and public behavior around 1824. The article also shows how Annenkov who in the beginning denied Pushkin's role as "prophet", in the end recognizes the poet as such, under the influence of Pushkin's jubilee atmosphere of 1880 and the famous Dostoevsky's speech at the unveiling of the monument to Pushkin in Moscow.