Alexander Shakhovskoy
Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Shakhovskoy was a Russian playwright, writer, poet, librettist, pedagogue, critic, memoirist and administrator ; arguably the most influential figure in the Russian theatre in the early 19th century.
Shakhovskoy, who debuted in 1795 with the comedy Zhenskaya shutka and enjoyed his first success with Novy Stern, wrote more than a hundred comedies and vaudevilles, as well as opera librettos and divertissements. Aristophanes is considered to be his most accomplished work. Shakhovskoy's way of lampooning in his plays revered figures, like Nikolai Karamzin and Vasily Zhukovsky, was commented upon by one of his admirers, Alexander Pushkin in Evgeny Onegin.
Prince Shakhovskoy tutored several leading Russian actors and actresses, including Vasily Karatygin, Alexandra Kolosova, Ekaterina Semyonova, Ivan Sosnitsky, Yakov Bryansky, Maria Varberkhova and Nikolai Dyur, among others.
