Denis Fonvizin showed himself in various fields: he was a state councilor, a translator, an assistant to a diplomat. But he is known to many as a playwright and author of the comedy "Minor", which is still relevant.
Biography: early years
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born on April 3, 1745 in Moscow. He came from an old Livonian knightly family. His ancestors either voluntarily left their homeland to enter the civil service in Russia, or were first captured, and then swore an oath and began to serve Ivan the Terrible. One way or another, the Fonvizin family gradually became Russified, although his surname retained its original spelling for a long time: von Vizin.
Denis Ivanovich received his primary education at home, from his father. In 1755 he entered the gymnasium at Moscow University. There Fonvizin studied, among other things, German, Latin and French. The gymnasium gave him a lot in the field of linguistics. At the same time, Fonvizin was imbued with love for the theater, which he carried through his whole life.
In 1760 he became a student, but two years later he was accepted into the guard as a sergeant. Military service did not interest him, so he did not show himself in it. He soon became famous as a translator. His first debut in this area was a translation from German of fables by the Danish writer Ludwig Holberg. Voltaire's Fonvizin translation also gained wide popularity.
Career
In 1763, Fonvizin began to serve as a translator at the College of Foreign Affairs. Simultaneously with public service, he tried his hand at the literary field. His first plays blatantly imitated French models. Only a few years later he managed to write an original work. It was the play "Brigadier", which the audience greeted warmly.
Five years after the triumph, Fonvizin left for Europe for the first time. He wrote a lot on the trip. So, in his messages to his relatives, Fonvizin compared countries, reasoned and philosophized. On a trip abroad, he wrote an essay "Discourse on the indispensable laws of the state", which was addressed to Emperor Paul I. In it, he reflected on serfdom, on the reasonable combination of the tsar's firm hand and human freedom.
For the last ten years of his life, Fonvizin struggled with paralysis. A terrible illness took away a lot of his strength, but he did not stop writing. In 1782, Fonvizin presented to the public the comedy "The Minor", which became his most famous work. A year later, this comedy was staged on stage, and since then it has not left the stage. For this time, the comedy turned out to be innovative, since it had a realistic reflection of reality. The heroes of "The Little Growth" not only amused the viewer, but made them think about what was happening in the country.
Denis Fonvizin died in 1792 in St. Petersburg. He went down in the history of Russian literature as the "northern Molière" and "the father of Russian comedy."
