Of noble parentage, Venevitinov entered the
Moscow University in 1824. He became a member of the circle of "wisdom-lovers" (
Lyubomudry), led by Prince
Vladimir Odoevsky. Venevitinov and his friends were the young
Idealists who introduced into Russia the cult of
Goethe and
Schelling's metaphysics. Venevitinov's poems (of which there are forty) dwell on philosophical subjects. According to
D.S. Mirsky, "his diction is very pure, and his rhythms pure and majestic". In one of his better known poems, Venevitinov vainly pleaded
Pushkin to address an ode to Goethe. Venevitinov's early death was lamented by a number of Russian poets and critics. His line "Kak znal on zhizn'! kak malo zhil!" (
How well he knew life! how little he did live!) was carved on his tomb at the
Simonov Monastery. The Soviets had his remains moved to the
Novodevichy Cemetery. == References ==