Lermontov (English spelling) Mihail Yur'evich Lermontov

A Russian poet. He also excelled in plays and novels. Born on October 15th in Moscow to a poor aristocrat and veteran father and a frail, music-loving mother, he grew up on the estate of his maternal grandmother, a wealthy landowning aristocrat. When his mother died when he was three years old, his father and grandmother, who were not on good terms, clashed and separated, and he was raised by his grandmother, who had a strong love for poetry and a strong desire to control. He had a keen sense of language from an early age, and was deeply impressed by the nature of the Caucasus, which he visited three times between the ages of four and ten, and experienced a precocious awakening of love, and showed an early talent for poetry and painting. In 1828, his education-conscious grandmother transferred him to the fourth year of the Moscow University Boarding School for Nobles. By the time he entered the Faculty of Ethics and Politics at Moscow University in 1830, he had written the epic poem "Demon," which he revised many times throughout his life, as well as many lyric poems, some of which were published in handwritten coterie magazines. After entering the university, he continued to write poetry, and experienced an intense and unhappy love affair, which became the subject of his poetry, but he distanced himself from the activities of the Belinsky, Herzen, and Ogarov circles. His autobiographical plays and lyric poems show that he suffered from the mysterious relationship between his father (died 1831) and his grandmother and mother. Lermontov participated in the conflict to expel reactionary professors and left school in 1832. He failed to transfer to St. Petersburg University and ended up spending "two terrifying years" at the Imperial Guard Military Academy. After graduating in 1834, he was assigned to the Imperial Guard Light Cavalry Regiment in Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin), but he immersed himself in the capital's high society and closely observed the corrupt lifestyle of the upper class. His unfinished novel "Princess Ligovskaya" and the poetic drama "Masquerade" are literary achievements. His indignation when his romantic epic poem Hadji Abrek, set in the Caucasus, was published without his permission in a magazine and received favorable reviews was perhaps a reflection of the seriousness with which he approached his poetry.

When Pushkin fell in a duel with Dantes in January 1837, Lermontov wrote the poem "Death of the Poet," which denounced the plotters "loitering near the throne," and circulated it with his close friend in handwritten copies. Although he quickly gained a reputation as a literary figure who was the second coming of Pushkin, he was arrested by the authorities for his accusations and was effectively exiled to a regiment in the Caucasus. The idea for "A Hero of Our Time" was born from this dramatic fate. His interactions with the Decembrists and Georgian revolutionary aristocrats in his exile gave his later works a deeper ideological depth and a sharper sense of problem. His grandmother's efforts paid off, and he returned to the capital in 1838. Now a famous poet, he became increasingly estranged from high society, and he developed the anguish and skepticism seen in "Thoughts" and "The Poet." During this time, he wrote such masterpieces as epics as "The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov" (1838) and "Mtsyri" (1840), and lyric poems such as "The Sail" (1832) and "The Clouds" (1840). In 1840, just before the publication of "A Hero of Our Time," he fought a duel with the son of the French ambassador, which ended in a draw, and was discovered by the authorities, and he was exiled to the Caucasus again. He fought bravely while secretly harboring sympathy for the mountain peoples because he had aspired to retire and live as a writer, but on July 27, 1841, while resting in Pyatigorsk, he challenged to a duel over a trivial matter, and was shot dead by his friend from his days at the Imperial Guard Academy, Martynov, and never returned. His grave and memorial are in his grandmother's estate, Tarkhany (now Lermontovo).

[Takashi Kimura]

"Selected Works of Lermontov, edited by Kentaro Ikeda and Tonoyoshi Kusaka, two volumes (1974, 1976, Kowado)" ▽ "Biography of Lermontov, by Tadahiko Okazaki (1981, Shichigatsudo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシアの詩人。戯曲、小説にも優れる。貧しい貴族で退役軍人の父と虚弱で音楽好きな母の間に10月15日モスクワで生まれ、裕福な地主貴族だった母方の祖母の領地で育った。3歳のとき母が亡くなると、不仲な父と祖母は衝突して別れ、以後偏愛と支配欲の強い祖母に養育された。幼少から語感が鋭敏で、4歳から10歳までに三度訪れたカフカスの自然から強烈な印象を受け、早熟な愛の目覚めを体験し、詩作や絵画の才能を早くから発揮した。1828年、教育熱心な祖母はモスクワ大学付属貴族寄宿学校4年次へ編入させた。1830年にモスクワ大学倫理政治学部へ入学するまでに、一生改作を重ねた叙事詩『悪魔(デーモン)』や多数の叙情詩を書き、一部は手書きの同人誌に載せたらしい。入学後も詩作は続き、その題材にもなった激しい不幸な恋も経験したが、ベリンスキー、ゲルツェン、オガリョフらのサークル活動とは距離を置いた。父（1831没）と祖母や母との不可解な関係に苦しんだことは、自伝的要素の濃い戯曲や叙情詩からもうかがえる。反動教授排斥紛争に加わり、1832年に退学したレールモントフは、ペテルブルグ大学への移籍に失敗し、近衛(このえ)士官学校で「恐怖の2年間」を過ごすはめになった。1834年に卒業して配属されたのはツァールスコエ・セロー（現、プーシキン市）の近衛軽騎兵連隊であったが、首都の社交界に入りびたり、上流階級の腐敗した生態をつぶさに観察した。未完の小説『リゴフスカーヤ公爵夫人』や詩劇『仮面舞踏会』はその文学的成果である。カフカスを舞台にしたロマン主義的叙事詩『ハジ・アブレク』が無断で雑誌に発表され、好評を得たのに立腹したのは、詩作への真剣な態度の表れであろう。

　1837年1月プーシキンがダンテスとの決闘に倒れたとき、レールモントフは「玉座近くにたむろする」謀略家たちを告発した詩『詩人の死』を書いて親友と手写で流布させた。プーシキンの再来との文名を一躍高めたものの、その告発で当局によって逮捕され、カフカスの連隊へ事実上追放された。『現代の英雄』の構想はこの劇的運命を契機としてできた。追放の地でデカブリストやジョージア（グルジア）の革命的貴族と交流できたことは、後の作品に思想的深みと問題意識の先鋭化をもたらした。祖母の奔走が実って1838年に首都へ戻る。いまや有名詩人となった彼は社交界との溝をますます深め、『思い』や『詩人』にみられる苦悩と懐疑主義を募らせた。この間、『商人カラーシニコフの歌』（1838）、『ムツィリ』（1840）などの叙事詩、『帆』（1832）、『雲』（1840）などの叙情詩の名編を生んだ。1840年、『現代の英雄』の出版を目前に控えたある日、フランス大使の息子と引き分けた決闘が当局に発覚、ふたたびカフカスへ追放された。山岳民族への同情を秘めつつ勇敢に戦ったのは、退役して作家として生きることを熱望していたからであったが、1841年7月27日、静養先のピャチゴールスクで、ささいなことで決闘に応じ、近衛士官学校時代からの友人マルティノフの凶弾を受けて不帰の人となった。墓所、記念館が祖母の領地タルハーヌィ（現、レールモントボ）にある。

［木村　崇］

『池田健太郎・草鹿外吉編『レールモントフ選集』全二巻（1974、1976・光和堂）』▽『岡崎忠彦著『評伝レールモントフ』（1981・七月堂）』

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