Nikolay Nekrasov

Nikolay Alekseyevich Nekrasov (1821–1878) was a Russian poet, editor and publisher, born in Podolia and raised on his father's estate on the Volga. He settled in St. Petersburg, where he edited the journals The Contemporary and, later, Notes of the Fatherland, and became the leading voice of Russian civic poetry. His verse turned from the drawing-room to the lives of peasants, city poor and serf-haulers, written in a language close to folk song. His last great work, Who Can Be Happy and Free in Russia?, was left unfinished at his death on 27 December 1877 (Old Style), which is 8 January 1878 in the modern calendar, and was first published in 1879.