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Tyutchev (Òþò÷åâ) Fyodor Ivanovich
(1803—1873)
Fyodor Tyutchev is generally considered the last of three great Romantic poets of Russia, following Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.
Tyutchev was born into an old noble family in Ovstug near Bryansk. His childhood years were spent in Moscow, where he joined the classicist academy of Professor Merzlyakov at the age of 15. His first printed work was a translation of Horace's epistle to Maecenas. From that time on, his poetic language was distinguished from that of Pushkin and other contemporaries by its liberal use of majestic, solemn Slavonic archaisms.
His family teacher was Semyon Raich, one of the first Russian experts in German philosophy; it was him who imparted to Tyutchev a taste for metaphysical speculations. In 1819-1821, Tyutchev attended Moscow University, where he specialized in philology. In 1822 he joined the Foreign Office and accompanied his relative, Count Ostermann-Tolstoy, to Munich. He fell in love with the city and remained abroad for 22 years.
In Munich he fell in love with Bavarian Countess Amalie Lerchenfeld. Tyutchev's poem «Tears» coincides with one of their dates, and most likely dedicated to Amalie. Among other poems inspired by Amalie are «K N.», and «Ia pomniu vremia zolotoe…» The published letters and diaries of Count Maximilian Joseph von Lerchenfeld illuminate the first years of Tyutchev as a diplomat in Munich (1822–26), giving details of his frustrated love affair for Amalie, nearly involving a duel with his colleague, Baron Alexander von Krüdener (on January 19, 1825). After they both got married, they continued to be friends and frequented the same diplomatic society in Munich. In 1870, Tyutchev met Amalie again and her new husband, Governor-General of Finland Nikolay Adlerberg in Karlsbad resort. This resulted in the poem «Ia vstretil vas - i vsio biloe» titled K.B.. The poet later explained to Yakov Polonsky that the characters stand for Krüdener Baroness. Their last meeting took place on March 31, 1873 when Amalie Adlerberg visited Tyutchev on his deathbed.
It was also in Munich that Tyutchev met his first wife, Bavarian countess and widow of a
Russian diplomat Emilia-Eleonora Peterson, who maintained a fashionable salon frequented by the likes of Heine and Schelling. Upon her death, Tyutchev married Ernestina Dörnberg, née Countess von Pfeffel, who had been his mistress for 6 years and had a child by him. Both of his wives didn't understand a single word in Russian. This is hardly surprising, given the fact that Tyutchev spoke French better than Russian, and all his private correspondence was Francophone.
In 1836, the "Jesuit" Prince Gagarin obtained from Tyutchev a permission to publish his selected poems in «Sovremennik», a literary journal edited by Pushkin. Although appreciated by the great Russian poet, these superb lyrics failed to spark off any public interest. For the following 14 years, Tyutchev didn't publish a single line of poetry. He wrote several political articles, though, which were published in «Revue des Deux Mondes». These articles brought him in touch with the diplomat Prince Gorchakov, who would remain Tyutchev's intimate friend for the rest of his life.
In 1837, Tyutchev was transferred from Munich to the Russian embassy in Turin. He found his new place of residence uncongenial to his disposition and retired from service to settle in Munich. Upon leaving Turin it was discovered that Tyutchev had not received permission to leave his post, and was officially dismissed from his diplomatic position as a result. He continued to live in Germany for five more years without position before returning to Russia.
Upon his eventual return to St Petersburg in 1844, the poet was much lionized in the highest society. His daughter Kitty caused a sensation, and the novelist Leo Tolstoy wooed her, "almost prepared to marry her impassively, without love, but she received me with studied coldness", as he remarked in a diary. Kitty would later become influential at Pobedonostsev's circle at the Russian court.
As a poet, Tyutchev was little known during his lifetime. His 300 short poems are the only pieces he ever wrote in Russian, with every fifth of them being a translation. Tyutchev regarded his poems as bagatelles, not worthy of study, revision or publication. He generally didn't care to write them down and, if he did, he would often lose papers they were scribbled upon. Nikolay Nekrasov, when listing Russian poets in 1850, praised Tyutchev as one of the most talented among "minor poets". It was only in 1854 that his first collection of verse was printed, and that was prepared by Turgenev, without any help from the author.
In 1846 Tyutchev met Elena Denisyeva, over twenty years his junior, and began an illicit affair with her. Having born three children to the poet, she succumbed to tuberculosis, but a small body of lyrics dedicated to Denisyeva are rightfully considered among the finest love poems in the language. Written in the form of dramatic dialogues and deftly employing odd rhythms and rhymes, they are permeated with a sublime feeling of subdued despair. One of these poems, The Last Love, is often cited as Tyutchev's masterpiece.
In the early 1870s, the deaths of his brother, son, and daughter left Tyutchev partly paralysed. He died in Tsarskoe Selo in 1873 and was interred at Novodevichy Monastery in St Petersburg.
Tyutchev is one of the most memorized and quoted Russian poets. Occasional pieces and political poems constitute about a half of his sparse poetical output. Politically, he was a militant Slavophile, who never needed a particular reason to berate the Western powers, Vatican, Ottoman Empire, or Poland, perceived by him as Judas of pan-Slavic interests. The failure of the Crimean War made him look critically at the Russian government, too.
The rest of his poems, whether describing a scene of nature or passions of love, put a premium on metaphysics. Tyutchev's world is bipolar. He commonly operates with such categories as night and day, north and south, dream and reality, cosmos and chaos, still world of winter and spring teeming with life. Each of these images is imbued with specific meaning. Tyutchev's idea of night, for example, was defined by critics as "the poetic image often covering economically and simply the vast notions of time and space as they affect man in his struggle through life". In the chaotic and fathomless world of "night", "winter", or "north" man feels himself tragically abandoned and lonely. Hence, a modernist sense of frightening anxiety that permeates his poetry. Unsurprisingly, it was not until 20th century that Tyutchev was rediscovered and hailed as a great poet by the Russian Symbolists such as Andrey Bely and Alexander Blok.
Russia, 2005, Animals, poem of Tyutchev
Russia, 
Ovstug. Day of Tyutchev's Poetry
Russia, 2003.12.05, Bryansk. Birth Bicentenary of Tyutchev
Russia, 2003, 
Ovstug. House of Tyutchev
USSR, 1984, Tyutchev monument in Ovstug
Russia, 2003, 
Birth bicentenary of Fyodor Tyutchev
USSR, 1972.08.22, Museum in Muranovo
USSR, 1984.07.04, Tyutchev monument in Ovstug
USSR, 1985.02.08, Museums of Tolstoy and Tyutchev
