OSTROVSKIY, ALEXANDER NIKOLAIVICH (1823-1886)

This article appears in Volume V20, Page 363 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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OSTROVSKIY, ALEXANDER NIKOLAIVICH (1823-1886) , Russian dramatic author,.was born on the 12th of April 1823 in Moscow, where his father was an official of the senate. He studied
By those whose experience is derived from the observation of captive ostriches this fact has been often disputed. But, the difference of circumstances under which they find themselves, and in particular their removal from the heat-retaining sands of the desert and its burning sunshine, is quite enough to account for the

change

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. 冠 urmu', to bend)

of habit. Von Heuglin also (p. 933) is explicit on this point.
law in the university of that city, which he quitted 'without having submitted to the final examination. He was then employed as a clerk in the office of the " Court of Conscience," and subsequently in that of the Commercial Court at Moscow. Both tribunals were called upon to settle disputes chiefly among the Russian merchant class, from which Ostrovskiy was thus enabled to draw the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

characters for his earliest comedies. Among these are Byednaya Nivesta (" The Poor

Bride

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

"), Byednost ne Porok (" Poverty not a Vice "), and Ne v'svoi sani ne sadis (literally " Don't put yourself in another's sledge," meaning " Don't put yourself in a position for which you are not suited "). Of this last Nicholas I. said, " it was not a play, but a lesson." The uncultured, self-satisfied Moscow merchants are strikingly portrayed in Grozk (" The Tempest ") and Svoyi lyudi sochtyomsya (" Between near relatives no accounts are needed "), which was originally called " The Bankrupt." The last-mentioned comedy was prohibited for ten years, until the accession of Alexander II., and Ostrovskiy was dismissed the government service and placed under the supervision of the police. The Liberal tendencies of the new reign, however, soon brought relief, Ostrovskiy was one of several well-known literary men who were sent into the provinces to report on the

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

of the people. Ostrovskiy's field of inquiry lay along the upper

Volga

VOLGA (known to the
Tatars
- TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)
as Etil, Jill or Atel; to the Finnish tribes as Rau, and to the ancients as Rha and Oarus)

, a

part

PART

of the country memorable for some of the most important events in Russian history. This mission induced him to write several historical dramas of

great

GREAT

merit, such as Kuzma Zakharich Minin Soukhorouk (the full name of the famous butcher who saved Moscow from the Poles); " The False Demetrius" and " Vassily Shuisky "; Vassilisa Melentieva (the name of a favourite court lady of Ivan the Terrible), and the comedy, Voivoda eeli Son na V olge (" The Military

Commander

COMMANDER

," or " A dream on the

Volga

VOLGA (known to the
Tatars
- TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)
as Etil, Jill or Atel; to the Finnish tribes as Rau, and to the ancients as Rha and Oarus)

"). Many of his later works treat of the Russian

nobility

NOBILITY

, and include Byeshani Dengi (literally " Mad Money "), Vospeetinitsa (" A Girl brought up in a Stranger's Family "), and Volki e Ovtsi (" Wolves and Sheep "); others relate to the world of actors, such as Liess (" Forest "), Bez vini vinovatiya (" Guiltlessly guilty "), and Talenti e Pokloniki (" Talents and their Admirers "). Ostrovskiy enjoyed the patronage of Alexander III., and received a pension of 3000 roubles a year. With the help of Moscow capitalists he established in that city a model theatre and school of dramatic art, of which he became the first director. He also founded the Society of Russian Dramatic Art and Opera Composers. His death took place on the 24th of June 1886, while travelling to his estate in Kostroma.

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