We have all heard of this writer since school. He is the greatest poet of all time and nations. He is essentially the founder of modern Russian literary language.

1. Pushkin’s ancestors are believed to hail from Ethiopia.

2. The poet himself claimed to remember himself from the age of four. In 1803, he narrowly avoided being trampled by the horse of Emperor Alexander I. No one was hurt, and only the nanny was in shock.

3. Pushkin survived 20 duels, but the 21st proved fatal for him.

4. Pushkin had a strange phobia – he was afraid of breaking the long nail on his little finger, so he always carried a golden thimble on his travels.

5. Alexander composed his first poems in French.

6. In his childhood, the poet was not known for his diligence in acquiring knowledge, and he only entered the prestigious Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum thanks to the efforts of his influential uncle, Vasily Lvovich.

7. Pushkin was of below-average height even for his time – only 166 cm.

8. We often imagine the poet as a handsome man with curly hair and fashionable sideburns. However, his contemporaries considered Pushkin unattractive, which is also evident in the portraits of the poet made in the first half of the 20th century.

9. While courting his future wife, Natalia Goncharova, Alexander Sergeevich often said to his friends, “I am amazed, I am enchanted, In short – I am ‘ogoncharovan’!“ (a play on words in Russian)

10. Being a fan of card games, Pushkin often lost large sums of money.

11. In Addis Ababa, there is even a monument to Pushkin, near which fresh flowers are always placed.

12. Pushkin was a superstitious person.

13. Out of the 30 students in the lyceum, Pushkin ranked 26th in overall academic performance at the time of his graduation from this prestigious educational institution.

14. Pushkin consistently enjoyed success with the opposite sex, and there were many women in his life.

15. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin remembered himself from the age of 4.

16. Pushkin grew up as a plump and clumsy child. He was forgetful and untidy, which greatly annoyed the mother of the future writer. By the way, his strict mother did not have much love for the boy and only referred to him as “Sasha“ (a diminutive of Alexander) like his nanny, Arina Rodionovna.

17. At the age of 19, Pushkin suffered from a severe illness. For 6 weeks, he suffered from an infectious disease with a prolonged fever known as “putrid fever.“ The poet wore a wig. Once during a performance at the Bolshoi Theater, he took off his wig and waved it demonstratively. This act caused laughter and indignation in the audience, almost disrupting the performance. As doctors later presumed, Pushkin’s illness was malaria.

18. Pushkin felt uncomfortable standing next to his own wife because his short stature embarrassed those around him.

19. Before this fateful duel, Alexander asked his wife, Natalia Goncharova, whom she would mourn for. She replied succinctly, “For the one who dies.“

20. Pushkin’s brother described him as an unattractive man.

21. It is thanks to Alexander Sergeyevich that the Russian language has been enriched with many new words.

22. Pushkin was a brilliant polyglot.

23. Pushkin preferred champagne over other alcoholic beverages. He especially loved French champagne, “Veuve Clicquot.“

24. Pushkin had a talisman. Yevgenia Vorontsova gave the poet a ring with a tanzanite, which he considered his amulet. Interestingly, on the day of the fatal duel, Pushkin did not wear this talisman.