Origins & Early Life

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (Russian: Денис Иванович Фонвизин, IPA: [dʲɪˈnʲis ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ fɐnˈvʲizʲɪn]; 14 April [O.S. 3 April] 1745 – 12 December [O.S. 1 December] 1792) was a Russian playwright during the Age of Enlightenment. He was one of the founders of literary comedy in Russia.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His main works are two satirical comedies—including The Minor, which mocks contemporary Russian gentry—which are still staged today. Denis Fonvizin was born in Moscow into a noble Russian Orthodox family. He was the first of eight children. His mother Ekaterina Vasilievna Fonvizina (née Dmitrieva-Mamonova) (born 1718) belonged to the Smolensk Rurik branch on her father's side and to the Grushetsky family on her mother's side; she was a cousin-niece of Tsaritsa Agafya Grushetskaya and an aunt to Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov, who was famously a lover of Catherine the Great. His father Ivan Fonvizin (1705–1785) started as an army officer, then served in the Collegium of Accounting, becoming a State Councillor in 1783.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

His ancestor Baron Berndt von Wiesen belonged to the Livonian Order, was captured during the Livonian War and became a naturalized Russian citizen; his descendants Russified, and the family...

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