Delwig Anton Antonovich

Anton Antonovich Delvig (1798-1831) - one of the closest friends of A.S. Pushkin. They came together at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, both young men had an extraordinary love for literature, tried themselves in versification.

The first poetic experiments of Delvig and Pushkin were published in 1814 in the journal Herald of Europe: in No. 12 and No. 13, respectively. In the future, they will constantly cooperate in the publishing field until the early death of Delvig in 1831.

The poet was seriously worried about premature loss, the whole soul was divided for preserving the bright memory of a friend. No later than 1834, Pushkin drafted an article about Delvig, which remained, unfortunately, incomplete: "His abilities developed slowly. His memory was dumb, the concepts of lazy. In the 14th year, he did not know any foreign language and did not show a penchant for any science. Only the vivacity of imagination was noticeable in it [...] The love of poetry awakened in him early. He knew almost by heart the Collection of Russian Poems published by Zhukovsky. He did not part with Derzhavin. Klopstock, Schiller and Gelti were read by him with one of his companions, a lively lexicon and an inspired commentary; Horace studied in a class under the guidance of Professor Koshansky. Delvig never interfered in games that required agility and strength; he preferred walks in the alleys of Tsarskoye Selo and conversations with comrades whose mental inclinations resembled his own. His first experiments in the poem were imitations of Horace. The odes "To Dion," "To Lilet," "Dorid" were written by him in the fifteenth year and printed in the collection of his works without any change. In them, an extraordinary sense of harmony and the classical harmony that he never changed is already noticeable. At that time (1814) the late Vlad. Izmaylov was the publisher of the Herald of Europe. Delvig sent him his first experiments; they were printed without his name and attracted the attention of one connoisseur who, seeing the works of a new, unknown pen, already bearing the seal of experience and maturity, puzzled his head, trying to guess the secret of the anonymous [...] he was not appreciated at an early appearance in his brief field; he is not yet appreciated and now, when he rests in his untimely grave! "