From 1816 he lived in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, and then in
Vilnius. He managed the nearby family estate and published, initially anonymously, in Polish-language magazines published in Vilnius: Dziennik Wileński, , . He significantly developed his literary and publishing activities in Saint Petersburg, where he went in 1819 and made friends with the leading local writers. He worked in the personal office of the
Emperor of Russia. It is known that he held a pro-court position in his literary activity; he was a censor and informer of the imperial police. He helped
Adam Mickiewicz escape from Russia. He was one of the top
Russian conservatives. In 1820, Bulgarin travelled from Warsaw to St. Petersburg, where he published a critical review of
Polish literature and started editing
The Northern Archive. He also made friends with the playwright
Alexander Griboyedov and the philologist
Nikolay Gretsch. The latter helped him to edit the newspaper
Northern Bee (1825–1839), the literary journal ''
Fatherland's Son'' (1825–1859), and other
reactionary periodicals. Bulgarin's unscrupulous manners made him the most odious journalist in the Russian Empire. The leading Russian poets
Alexander Pushkin and
Mikhail Lermontov devoted critical
epigrams to Bulgarin. Alexander Pushkin, in particular, ridiculed him in a number of
epigrams, written in Moscow magazine
Telescop as well. Pushkin was changing his name to Figlyarin (from a Russian word for "clown") in one of the epigrams called
Vidok Figlyarin. In turn, Bulgarin intensively criticized Pushkin in his works. Bulgarin retorted with epigrams, in which Pushkin's name was rendered as Chushkin (from the Russian word for "nonsense").
Books Inspired by Sir
Walter Scott, Bulgarin wrote the
Vejeeghen (Vyzhigin) series of
historical novels, which used to be popular in Russia and abroad. He followed these with two sententious novels
Dmitry the Pretender (1830), about the
False Dmitry I, and
Mazepa (1834) about
Ivan Mazepa. In 1837 he published under his own name a lengthy description of Imperial Russia, although much of the work was actually by
Nikolai Alexeyevich Ivanov, then a Ph.D. student at
Dorpat University. Some of Bulgarin's stories are
science fiction: •
Plausible Fantasies is a
far future novel about the 29th century •
Improbable Fables is a fantastic voyage into
hollow Earth • (
The Adventures of Mitrofanushka in the Moon) (1837), a satirical fantasy novel.
Quotes and criticism Bulgarin's biography always was subject of discussion among Russian society and especially among poets as he served in the Third Department under the rule of the Nicholas I. His friend and colleague
Nikolay Gretsch wrote about him: "During his lifetime, some praised him, others tolerated him, some hated him, many argued and quarreled with him, but undoubtedly, no one ever slandered him—except in unpublished epigrams. It seems they feared his sharp, relentless pen. But after his death, he became the subject of universal malice and ridicule. People who wouldn't be fit to work as his janitors now curse and vilify him in the most merciless, shameless way." == Death ==