Alexander Navrotsky
| Alexander Navrotsky | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
March 13, 1839 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | September 27, 1878 (aged 39) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Occupation | poet, novelist, playwright, editor |
 The Stenka Razin Cliff (Есть на Волге Утёс), performed by Pyatnitsky Choir (YouTube) |
Alexander Alexandrrovich Navrotsky (Russian: Александр Александрович Навроцкий, 13 March 1839, — 10 June 1914) was a Russian writer, poet and playwright, known also under his pen name N. A. Vrotsky. His best-known poem, "The Stenka Razin Cliff" (Утёс Стеньки Разина), set to music by himself, became popular among Russian revolutionaries in the late 19th-early 20th century and is now considered part of Russian musical folklore.
Navrotsky was born in Saint Petersburg to a noble Russian family based in Moscow Governorate. After graduating from the Second St. Petersburg Cadet Corps, he joined the Moscow Guard Regiment, but was forced to retire in 1867 due to serious head injury he received in Poland in 1863 while taking part in the suppression of the January Uprising. After graduating the Military Law Academy in Petersburg, he went on to serve as a deputy military procurator of Moscow, then returned to Saint Petersburg to start a career of a successful military lawyer.
In 1869 Navrotsky debuted as novelist with Semeistvo Tarskikh (Семейство Тарских, The Tarsky Family). It was dismissed by the contemporary critics as 'empty and preposterous', but made him known in the literary circles. Navrotsky started to contribute regularly to the liberal Vestnik Evropy. He joined the Military History Society, then started to attend the literary salons of Anna Filosofova and Sofya Tolstaya, became friends with Nikolai Leskov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, visited Leo Tolstoy at his Yasnaya Polyana estate.
In 1879 Navrotsky launched his own magazine Russkaya Retch where he published some of his major work, including the historical dramas in verse The Last Rus, as well as The Conversion of Lithuania and Jesuits in Lithuania. A conservative Slavophile, Navrotsky's agenda as a publicist included the critique of nihilism, materialism, 'western Socialism', all kinds of radicalism, but also bureaucratic inefficiency, so as to highlight the role of the Tsar as a zealous reformer, eager to get as close as possible to his own people.
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