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Birth of Pyotr Ershov, poet, novelist and playwright
Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov, poet, novelist and playwright was born February 22 (March 6), 1815, in the Siberian village Bezrukova, Ishim District, Tobolsk province in the family of a police officer Pavel Yershov. Ershov’s mother, Euphemia, belonged to a famous merchant family of Pilёnkovy in Tobolsk.
By vocation of the head of the family, Ershovs often had to move. Pyotr spent his childhood in Petropavlovsk, Omsk, Berezov, Tobolsk. In 1823-1825 Pyotr Ershov with his elder brother Nikolai studied in the district school in Berezov, and in winter 1825 the parents moved children to Tobolsk, where lived the relatives of Euphemia.
In April 1827, Pyotr Ershov entered a high school, whose director from 1827 to 1834 was Ivan Mendeleev, father of the famous Russian scientist, creator of the periodic table of chemical elements Dmitry Mendeleev. Having graduated with honors from the Tobolsk provincial high school, in 1831 Pyotr entered the University of St. Petersburg, Philosophy and Law Faculty.
In 1834, as a term paper Ershov presented to literature professor Pyotr Pletnev the first part of the tale "The Humpbacked Horse." The same year the whole "Russian fairy tale in three parts" was published. Organic proximity to folklore, lightness and elegance of the verse made this tale very popular among readers. During that period, Ershov met the famous poet Vasily Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin.
In 1834-1836, Pyotr Pavlovich was actively involved in the literary life of St. Petersburg, was a member of a circle of Vladimir G. Benediktov, published lyric poems, such as "Young Eagle", "Desire" and others. In 1835 Ershov’s ballad "Siberian Cossack" and a dramatic work "Thomas Smith" are published, and in 1836 appeared the play "Suvorov and the stationmaster."
In the summer of 1836, Pyotr returned to his native city of Tobolsk and was appointed first a teacher of Latin in a grammar school of Tobolsk, then a senior teacher of logic and Russian literature. One of his students was Dmitry Mendeleev. Ershov had also done a lot for the high school library: he copied the directory by copy-book hand, significantly increased the collections of books.
In 1838, Ershov met with a circle of Tobolsk Decembrists, which included: P. S. Bobrischev-Pushkin, I. A. Annenkov, A. M. Muraviyov, F. B. Wolf, P. N. Svistunov, A. P. Baryatinsky, V. I. Steinheil and others.
In 1844, Pyotr Pavlovich was appointed inspector of the Tobolsk grammar school. The same year he sent to the Ministry of Education the "Course of Russian Literature" for review. He expected it to be published, but the text was rejected in 1847. During the years in Siberia Ershov continued his literary work, despite the fact that his works, forwarded to the capital through friends, had no more success.
In January 1857, Ershov was approved an inspector of schools in the Tobolsk Province and at the same time the director of the gymnasium. With his assistance, there was opened a Sunday school for adults, women's schools; the "Welfare Society for the students of the Tobolsk Province" was organized.
March 9 (21), 1862 Ershov resigned and after that led a reclusive life.
Pyotr Ershov died August 18 (30), 1869 and was buried in the Zavalny cemetery of Tobolsk.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
По Ершовским местам : лирико-историческая фотоэкскурсия : [фотоальбом]. Ишим, 2015
Ярославцев А. К. Петр Павлович Ершов, автор сказки «Конёк-Горбунок». СПб., 1872.
The material was provided by a branch of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library in the Tyumen Region