Born: 14 April 1745 · Died: 12 December 1792 · Age at death: 47
How old was Denis Fonvizin when he died?
Denis Fonvizin died aged 47. He was born on 14 April 1745 and died on 12 December 1792.
Russian playwright of the Enlightenment whose satirical comedy The Minor is the oldest Russian play still regularly performed
Did you know?His most famous play, The Minor, was so successful that it became a staple of Russian school curricula for over two centuries.
Quick facts
Date of birth14 April 1745
Date of death12 December 1792
Age at death47
NationalityRussian
BirthplaceMoscow, Russia
Occupationlinguist, writer, playwright
Editor's Take:
Denis Fonvizin wrote the first Russian comedies that still hold the stage today. He came from a Moscow noble family of German descent and studied at the new Moscow University. He worked as a translator and secretary in the foreign ministry under Count Nikita Panin. His comedy The Brigadier mocked Russian nobles who aped everything French. His masterpiece, The Minor, appeared in 1782. It satirised a lazy, spoiled noble boy and his brutal mother, and attacked the ignorance and cruelty of provincial landowners. Catherine the Great's censors grew wary of his sharp pen. A series of strokes left him partly paralysed in his last years.
Key Milestones
1769: Writes The Brigadier
1769: Becomes secretary to Count Nikita Panin
1782: The Minor premieres in Saint Petersburg
1785: Suffers the first of several strokes
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (Russian: Денис Иванович Фонвизин, IPA:; 14 April 1745 – 12 December 1792) was a Russian playwright during the Age of Enlightenment. He was one of the founders of literary comedy in Russia.
