What is Boris Godunov?
{{about|the Russian Tsar|[[Pushkin]]'s play|Boris Godunov (play)|[[Mussorgsky]]'s opera|Boris Godunov (opera)}} {{Infobox royalty | type = monarch | name = Boris Godunov | title = Regent of Russia (de facto)<br>Tsar of All Russia | image = Boris Godunov by anonim (17th c., GIM).jpg | caption = | succession = [[Regent]] Tsardom of Russia(''de facto'') | reign = c. 1585-1598 | predecessor = <small>''none''</small> | successor = '''himself''' <small>as Tsar of All Russia</small> | succession1 = Tsar of Russia | reign1 = 21 February 1598 - {{OldStyleDate|23 April|1605|13 April}} | coronation1 = 1 September 1598 | cor-type1 = Coronation | predecessor1 = Feodor I | successor1 = Feodor II | spouse = Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya | issue = Feodor II of Russia<br/> Xenia Godunova | full name = Boris Feodorovich Godunov | house = Godunov | house-type = Dynasty | father = Feodor Ivanovich Godunov | mother = Stepanida Ivanovna | birth_date = c. 1551 | birth_place = | death_date = {{OldStyleDate|23 April|1605|13 April}}<br/> (aged 54) | death_place = [[Moscow]] | burial_date = | burial_place = Godunov [[Mausoleum]] in front of the Cathedral of the Assumption at the [[Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius]] | religion = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] |}} '''Boris Fyodorovich Godunov''' ({{lang-ru|Бори́с Фёдорович Годуно́в}}, c. 1551 – {{OldStyleDate|23 April|1605|13 April}}) was a famous [[tsar]] (emperor) of [[Russia]]. He ruled as a [[regent]] from about [[1585]] to [[1598]] and then as tsar from [[1598]] to [[1605]]. In many ways he was a good tsar, but he had not [[inherit]]ed the throne. He became more and more anxious that a [[pretender]] would come who would claim to be Dmitri, the son of the previous tsar, Ivan IV ([[Ivan the Terrible]]) and try to get the throne. Dmitri had actually been murdered. The story of Boris Godunov is told in [[Pushkin]]’s play ''[[Boris Godunov (play)|Boris Godunov]