Fofanov K.M. (1862-1911), poet

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FOFANOV Konstantin Mikhailovich (1862, St. Petersburg - 1911, at the same place), poet. He had little formal education. After leaving home in 1885, he wandered a lot and lived in poverty all his life. He appeared in various (mostly St. Petersburg) periodicals from the early 1880s (Niva, Russkoe Bogatstvo, Severny Vestnik etc.). He was a regular contributor to Novoe Vremya. All Fofanov's collections of poetry came out in St. Petersburg. The poetry of Fofanov directly opposes the world of a fairy tale, dream and illusion, prefering the prose of life; his poetry displays the morbid imagination of a big city resident who keenly feels the disharmony of the world. Among other things, this imagination influenced the poems dedicated to St. Petersburg (The Capital Was Raving, Stifled with Its Throes..., On the Neva etc.). Fofanov was highly appreciated by S.Y. Nadson, A.P. Chekhov, L.N. Tolstoy, A.N. Maykov, V.Y. Bryusov, D.S. Merezhkovsky. In 1890-1906 he lived in Gatchina; now the site of his house (11 Dostoevskogo Street) is marked with a memorial plaque. He was buried at Novodevichye cemetery.

References: Тарланов Е. З. Константин Фофанов: Легенда и действительность. Петрозаводск, 1993.

A. B. Muratov. Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich
Chekhov Anton Pavlovich
Fofanov Konstantin Mikhailovich
Maykov Apollon Nikolaevich
Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeevich
Nadson Semen Yakovlevich
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, Count
Тарланов Е. З. Константин Фофанов: Легенда и действительность. Петрозаводск, 1993 Niva (Field), journal
Russkoe Bogatstvo (The Russian Wealth), journal, 1876-1918
Severny Vestnik (Northern Herald), journal, 1885-1898
Novoe vremya (The New Time), newspaper, 1868-1917
Novodevichye Cemetery
Novodevichye Cemetery