What is Alexander Pushkin?
[[File:AleksandrPushkin.jpg|right|thumb|Aleksandr Pushkin by [[Vasily Tropinin]] ]] '''Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin''' was born 6 June (26 May, [[Julian calendar|Old Style]]) 1799, [[Moscow]], and died 10 February 1837 (29 January, New Style), [[St Petersburg]]. He was a [[Russia]]n [[poet]], [[novel]]ist, [[drama]]tist and [[writer]] of [[short story|short stories]]. Many think he was the greatest Russian poet. He started the great tradition of Russian [[literature]]. Pushkin wrote in a way that no other Russian had done before: he used the [[Russian language]] as it was spoken instead of writing in a style based on old [[church]] books. His [[influence]] on other Russian writers was enormous and several Russian [[composer]]s set his stories and poems to [[music]]. His poetry is very hard to [[translate]] well into other languages because the words are full of special meanings in Russian [[culture]]. His novels, especially [[Eugene Onegin]], are widely read. Pushkin’s great-grandfather was an [[Africa]]n [[slave]] who was set free by [[Tzar]] [[Peter the Great]]. Pushkin was killed in a [[duel]] in 1837 at the age of 37. == Early years == Pushkin's father came from an old [[aristocratic]] family. On his mother's side Pushkin had [[Africa]]n ancestors. His [[grandparent|great-grandfather]] Abram Gannibal was an [[Abyssinia]]n who was living in a palace of the [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[sultan]] in [[Istanbul]]. The Russian [[ambassador]] bought him as a present for [[Peter the Great]], the [[tsar]] of Russia. Gannibal became a favourite of Peter the Great and he was sent to [[Paris]] to study. He became very rich. Pushkin was proud of his great-grandfather and wrote about him in a novel called ''The Negro of Peter the Great''. In [[19th century Russia]] all aristocratic families learned to speak [[French language|French]], so Pushkin and his brother and sister spoke and wrote in French more than in Russian. The children were cared for by a [[nurse]], Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva. It was the nurse who taught them to