Part of his problem was that he was partially black and Russians are well known for their racist sentiments. His grandfather or great grandfather (can't recall which) was a very important man serving Peter the Great (he was black) and so even though Pushkin was from a noble family, this was certainly something that lowered his class status at the time. I remember in school we had a modified version of one of his poems... can't remember all the words now, but the words were something describing a beautiful area with an oak tree, which we (the kids) changed to a tree that's been cut down... anyway, it was pretty funny at the time and everyone prided themselves on knowing this alternate versi...

Part of his problem was that he was partially black and Russians are well known for their racist sentiments. His grandfather or great grandfather (can't recall which) was a very important man serving Peter the Great (he was black) and so even though Pushkin was from a noble family, this was certainly something that lowered his class status at the time. I remember in school we had a modified version of one of his poems... can't remember all the words now, but the words were something describing a beautiful area with an oak tree, which we (the kids) changed to a tree that's been cut down... anyway, it was pretty funny at the time and everyone prided themselves on knowing this alternate version of Pushkin's poem.

I was never a big fan of poetry, but I sincerely loved reading his stuff. I'm glad people still bring up his name, especially in other countries... he more than deserves it.