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1800-9
February, born in the Tambov province, in the town of Mara.
1810
Two years after moving his family to Moscow, Baratynsky's
father, Abram Andreevich, dies and his mother returns with
the children to Mara.
1812
Sent to Petersburg to study at a German boarding school.
Six months later, Baratynsky enters the Pages' Corps.
1816
In the Corps, Baratynsky falls into a crowd of boys who
model themselves after characters in Schiller's dramas.
Their pranks culminate in the theft of 500 rubles and a
valuable snuff box. The Emperor personally intervenes in
the affair, expelling Baratynsky from the Pages' Corps and
forbidding him to serve any rank higher than private.
1818
Meets members of the Lycee circle, including Pushkin,
Delvig, Kyukhelbeker.
1819
He enlists in the army and moves in with Delvig. Meets more
Petersburg literary personlaities, among them Zhukovsky,
Gnedich and Davydov. He begins writing verse, which Delvig
publishes late in the year in his Literary Gazette.
1820
Despite the Emperor's former decree, Baratynsky, now a known
poet, is promoted to officer (albeit non-commissioned) and
is immediately transferred to Finland.
1824
Through the influence of friends like Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky
and others, Baratynsky is promoted to Lieutenant. He returns
to Moscow.
1825
After retiring from the army, Baratynsky marries Nastasya
Lvovna Engelhardt, a devoted, intelligent woman who contributed
significantly to her husband's writing, serving as both
critic and editor throughout his career (see right). Publishes
"Eda, Tale of Finland" and "Feasts, a Long
Descriptive Poem."
1827
The first collection of Baratynsky's verse is published
in Moscow. Goes to work for the government as a land surveyor
and spends most of his time traveling, living variously
in Moscow, Mara, and on his wife's family's various estates.
1828
1831-The Ball; works on publication of The Moscow
Herald; Gypsy Girl; retires from his government
post.
1832-1833
Works with Kireevsky on The European, a journal with
a paradoxical philosophical mission: to defend Russian culture
from Western influences by carrying out a Western-style
Enlightenment. The imperial censor shuts down publication.
A year later, the same group puts together another journal,
The Moscow Observer, with similar aspirations, which
meets a similar end. Baratynsky begins to dissociate himself
from Kireevsky and the other Slavophiles.
1835
A second collection of Baratynsky's verse makes next to
no impression on the literary scene.
1840
After a long absence and almost a decade of little more
than managing his wife's estate, Baratynsky returns to Petersburg
for the first time since 1825. He meets with old friends,
such as Zhukovsky and Vyazemsky, and makes the acquaintance
of Lermontov.
1842
Publishes the short collection Dusk,which garners
little attention.
1843
Baratynsky travels throughout Western Europe, where he spends
time in the Paris literary circles and enjoys considerable
success in the Russian emigre community there.
1844
29 June, in Naples, Baratynsky suddenly dies. His body is
returned the next year to Petersburg, where it is buried
in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
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