Every year on June 6, Russia celebrates the birthday of the greatest Russian poet of all time: Alexander Pushkin. This year was no exception. There were many poetic evenings and exhibitions consecrated to this luminary of Russian poetry within the country and abroad.

There was a joke about it: “If not for a mortal duel with d'Anthès, Pushkin would be 217 years old.” This joke reflects the Russian attitude towards the great poet - in our consciousness, he is still alive.

Alexander Pushkin

And how can it be otherwise if Russian literature basically began with Pushkin? If verses from his poems became part of our everyday life and every child from the early ages can declaim his poems by heart? He is an inseparable part of our culture and our soul.

By the way, now Pushkin’s poetry is also available in English: the best translations were made by a succesful American lawyer by the name of Julian Henry Lowenfeld. Watch one of his performances in Russian and in English: