Pushkin

Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin – 1799-1837

He fought in 29 duels

He lost against the French officer Georges-Charles de Heercheren d’Anthès who was trying to seduce Pushkin’s wife, Natalia née Goncharova.

Pushkin had 4 children. The lines of 2 of them still continue.

Pushkin himself was of great aristocratic lineage. He could trace his ancestors back to the 12th century on his father’s side (Russian nobility).

His Mother (on her father’s side) came from German and Scandinavian nobility. On her mother’s side, she was descended from Hannibal, Peter’s black page (possibly Ethiopian).

Pushkin published his first poem at age 15.

He met Gogol, one of the great novel writers, in 1831, and offered him his continued critical support.