Aleksey Vasilyevich Koltsov

Aleksey Vasilyevich Koltsov (born Oct. 15 [Oct. 3, Old Style], 1809, Voronezh, Russian Empire—died Nov. 10 [Oct. 29], 1842, Voronezh) was a poet whose works describe the Russian peasant life in which he was brought up.

The son of a cattle dealer who treated him harshly and was unsympathetic to his interest in poetry, Koltsov began to publish in Moscow periodicals in 1831 and attracted the attention of the noted literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. With Belinsky’s help a volume of Koltsov’s poems was published in 1835. Although much of his work is derivative, being modeled on that of Aleksandr Pushkin and others, he is noted for his success in introducing into Russian verse the authentic language of the Russian peasant. His most successful works were his songs, on such themes as the sorrows and hardships of the peasant’s life.