Pyotr Pletnyov

For other uses, seePletnyov.

Peter A. Pletnyov (1836).
Portrait byAlexey Tyranov

Pyotr Alexandrovich Pletnyov(Russian:Пётр Александрович Плетнёв;21 August [O.S.10 August] 1792, inTebleshi,Tver Governorate– 10 January 1866 [O.S.29 December 1865]) was a minorRussianpoetandliterary critic,who rose to become the dean of theSaint Petersburg University(1840–61) andacademicianof thePetersburg Academy of Sciences(1841).

Pletnyov befriended the poetAlexander Pushkin,who dedicated his novel in verseEugene Oneginto him. After Pushkin's death in 1837, Pletnyov edited his literary journalSovremennikuntil the latter was sold toNikolai Nekrasovin 1846. As a critic, he was strongly opposed toVissarion Belinskyand like-minded journalists who placed "progressive ideas" above the artistic mastership.

WithSergey Uvarov's support, Pletnyov gained many teaching assignments, in and aroundSaint Petersburg,including in the end a tutor's post to the futureAlexander II.His non-partisan view of various literary movements helped him to single out and applaud all of the most gifted writers of the day, fromVasily ZhukovskythroughNikolai GogoltoFyodor Dostoevsky.