Aleksandr Ostrovsky
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, (b.
March 31 [April 12, New Style], 1823,
Moscow, Russia—d. June 2 [June 14],
1886, Shchelykovo), Russian dramatist
who is generally considered the greatest
representative of the Russian realistic
period.
The son of a government clerk, Ostrovsky
attended the University of Moscow law
school. From 1843 to 1848 he was
employed as a clerk at the Moscow
juvenile court. He wrote his first play,
Kartiny semeynogo schastya (“Scenes of
Family Happiness”), in 1847. His next
play, Bankrot (“The Bankrupt”), later
renamed Svoi lyudi sochtemsya (It’s a
Family Affair, We’ll Settle It Among
Ourselves), written in 1850, provoked an
outcry because it exposed bogus
bankruptcy cases among Moscow merchants
and brought about Ostrovsky’s dismissal
from the civil service. The play was
banned for 13 years.
Ostrovsky wrote several historical plays
in the 1860s. His main dramatic work,
however, was concerned with the Russian
merchant class and included two
tragedies and numerous comedies,
including the masterpiece Bednost ne
porok (1853; “Poverty Is No Disgrace”).
His Snegurochka (1873; “The Snow
Maiden”) was adapted as an opera by
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in 1880–81.
Ostrovsky was closely associated with
the Maly (“Little”) Theatre, Moscow’s
only dramatic state theatre, where all
his plays were first performed under his
supervision. He served as the first
president of the Society of Russia
Playwrights, which was founded on his
initiative in 1874, and in 1885 he
became artistic director of the Moscow
imperial theatres. The author of 47
original plays, Ostrovsky almost
single-handedly created a Russian
national repertoire. His dramas are
among the most widely read and
frequently performed stage pieces in
Russia.
