Genius polyglots: 6 Russian writers who knew many foreign languages

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Knowledge of foreign languages in the modern world can hardly be overestimated. Knowing at least one, in addition to your native, international language, you can count on getting a good job, and it is quite interesting to communicate with peers or colleagues from other countries. In pre-revolutionary Russia, knowledge of two languages was considered commonplace, however, among Russian writers there were always people who did not see anything difficult in learning ten foreign languages.

Mikhail Lomonosov

The genius of the Russian land, who did not even know how to write until the age of 14, at a mature age could boast of knowledge of more than a dozen foreign languages.

Possessing an incredible thirst for knowledge, upon arrival in Moscow, the future genius, having forged documents in which he was now listed as the son of a nobleman, became a student of the Spassky schools. Here he began his acquaintance with the sciences and mastered the Greek language, Latin and Hebrew. The writer and scholar continued the study of languages already at the St. Petersburg Academy. As a result, he knew German perfectly. He could read, write, communicate in this language, easily switching to it from Russian and vice versa. At the same time, Italian, French and English were subdued to Lomonosov.

The rest of the European languages, like Mongolian, were mastered by the scientist and writer on their own. For Lomonosov, languages were not an end in itself, they simply helped him to read scientific works of foreign colleagues. However, he himself wrote works in Latin, and also translated Roman poets.

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Alexander Griboyedov

The Russian writer has shown his talent for learning languages since childhood. At the age of six, he had already perfectly mastered three foreign languages, by his youth he could already communicate in six languages, four of which he knew perfectly: English, German, Italian and French. He could read, write and understand speech in Latin and Ancient Greek.

Having entered the service in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, he began to study the Georgian language, and with it also Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Alexander Griboyedov enjoyed reading the works of foreign writers in the original, believing that this is the only way to truly appreciate the work, because it is impossible to translate a genius.

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Lev Tolstoy

Lev Nikolaevich also liked to read the classics in the original, having a special weakness for the Greek. As a child, he studied German and French with the tutors. Having decided to continue his education at Kazan University, he began to take lessons in the Tatar language. In addition to these three, Leo Tolstoy studied all other languages independently. As a result, he spoke English, Turkish and Latin almost perfectly. Later Bulgarian and Ukrainian, Greek and Polish, Czech, Italian and Serbian were added to them. At the same time, it could take him only three months to master a new language, sometimes a little more.

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Nikolay Chernyshevsky

The basics of academic knowledge were given to Nikolai Chernyshevsky by his priest father, with whom the boy studied Greek and Latin. Thanks to his father, the boy fell in love with knowledge, his contemporaries noted his extraordinary erudition and high education.

Nikolai Gavrilovich also preferred to get acquainted with the works of foreign public figures, philosophers and writers in the original language. In the arsenal of Chernyshevsky was knowledge of 16 languages, including Latin and Hebrew, English and Polish, Greek, German and French. At the same time, the writer studied almost all languages independently. His father helped him to study Greek and Latin, he mastered French in seminary, and studied Persian in communication with a Persian fruit merchant.

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Constantin Balmont

The Russian poet and essayist could amaze the imagination of his contemporaries with his knowledge of 16 languages. At the same time, in his works, you can find translations from almost 30 languages. They were far from always literal and exactly reflecting the essence of the original work, but the very fact of the ability to work with so many languages cannot but surprise. Many reproached the author for bringing too much of his own individuality into his translations, distorting the initial work.

Vasily Vodovozov

In addition to teaching and writing works for children, Vasily Vodovozov was engaged in translations all his life, since he knew 10 languages almost perfectly. Vasily Ivanovich translated the works of Goethe and Heine, Beranger and Sophocles, Horace, Byron and others.

True talent usually cannot be limited by the framework of only one field of science or art. As you know, it should be manifested "in everything." There are many examples to prove this fact. For such personalities, they even created a special term. They are called polymates. You should definitely get acquainted with the story about people who have earned the epithet "great" in history, and about those talents who remained "behind the scenes" of their main activity.