Which Russian poet is considered the father of modern Russian literature?

Alexander Pushkin is widely considered the father of modern Russian literature. His poetry, fiction, drama, and criticism helped establish the expressive Russian literary language used by later writers.

Pushkin was born in Moscow in 1799 and became a leading figure of Russia's Golden Age of literature. He drew on Russian speech, folklore, European literary forms, and the traditions of earlier Russian poets, combining them into a flexible and influential style. His verse novel 'Eugene Onegin' is one of his best-known works.

Pushkin's importance extends beyond poetry. He wrote the historical drama 'Boris Godunov', the novella 'The Queen of Spades', narrative poems, short stories, and literary journalism. His work helped demonstrate that Russian could support sophisticated treatment of virtually every major literary genre.

Later authors, including Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, and Leo Tolstoy, were influenced by his language and example. Gogol and Dostoevsky became towering successors, but the traditional title belongs to Pushkin because of his foundational role in shaping modern Russian literary culture.