Ivan Barkov

Ivan Semyonovich Barkov (Russian: Ива́н Семёнович Барко́в; IPA: [ɪˈvan sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ bɐrˈkof]; c. 1732–1768) was a Russian poet, the author of erotic "Shameful Odes". He was a student of Mikhail Lomonosov, whose works he frequently parodied. He was also a translator and editor at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Biography

Ivan Barkov was born in 1732 in the family of an Orthodox priest. In 1744 he entered an Orthodox Seminary where he spent 5 years. In 1748 at Lomonosov's recommendation he was admitted to the Academic Gymnasium. Language and poetry were his fields of study. He was an uneven student, and he repeatedly was subjected to corporal punishment (whippings) for drunkenness, insolence, and slander against the rector. In 1751 he was "demoted" to a typesetter at the Academy's printing workshop, and in 1753 he was promoted to the position of a scribe in the Academy's administrative office.

In 1755-56 he was Lomonosov's personal secretary, and in this period he wrote "A Brief History of Russia", which was published in 1762. In 1759-60 he edited the medieval "Nestor's Chronicle" for publication. In 1756 he was dismissed from the Academy for drunkenness and insubordination, after several reprieves, and reinstated until final dismissal in 1766.