Minaev, Dmitrii Dmitrievich

Minaev, Dmitrii Dmitrievich 

Born Oct. 21 (Nov. 2), 1835, in Simbirsk, now Ul’ianovsk; died there July 10 (22), 1889. Russian poet.

Minaev was the son of a military official and man of letters. In 1852 he graduated from a military school in St. Petersburg. In 1857, Minaev left the service and devoted himself to literary activity. In 1859 his collection of literary parodies entitled The Same Old Thing appeared. Minaev’s contributions to democratic journals, including Sovremennik (The Contemporary), Russkoe slovo (The Russian Word), and Iskra (The Spark), revealed his gift as a satirical poet. In 1862 he edited the satirical journal Gudok (The Whistle).

Minaev joined the Nekrasov school and in his poetry expressed sympathy for the oppressed peasantry. He wrote exposes on liberals, bureaucrats, the reactionary press, and censorship. He became renowned as “the king of rhythm,” a master of the epigram, parody, versified feuilleton, and, in particular, the pun.

WORKS

Dumy i pesni, 2 vols. St. Petersburg, 1863–64. [Verse] in the collection Poety “Iskry,” vol. 2. Edited, with introduction and commentary, by I. lampol’skii. Leningrad, 1955.

REFERENCES

Dobroliubov, N. A. “Perepevy.” Sobr. soch., vol. 6. Moscow-Leningrad, 1963.
Istoriia russkoi literatury XIX v.: Bibliograficheskii ukazatel’. Moscow-Leningrad, 1962.