Mikhail Zagoskin

Who was Mikhail Zagoskin?

Mikhail Nikolayevich Zagoskin, was a Russian writer of social comedies and historical novels.

Zagoskin was born in the village of Ramzay in Penza Oblast. He began his official career as a librarian, then became part of the management of the Imperial Theatres, and lastly served as director of the Moscow Armory Museum. In the 1810s and 20s he published a series of comedies. His best known work, the historical novel Yury Miloslavsky, was published in 1829 and became the first Russian best-seller. His historical novels, including Yury Miloslavsky, were open imitations of Sir Walter Scott, and were immensely popular. Zagoskin attempted to Russify his characters and provided authentic descriptive detail; his "contribution lies in his innovative of language to create an illusion of antiquity. The dramatist in him shows through in the preponderance of dialogue over description or exposition, and in the use of colloquial speech, and the oral speech of the common people." Sergey Aksakov described the extraordinary impact of Yury Miloslavsky: