Alexander Pushkin, poet, playwright, novelist, and arguably one of the greatest artists in Russian history. He died at the age of 37 during a dual over his flirtatious wife, Natalia.

 

Pushkin only because of the operatic adaptations of his stories (e.g. The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, The Tale of the Tsar Saltan) But to Russians, he possibly the most important literary figure in history.

•English translation: The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda •1831 English translation: The Tale of Tsar Saltan •1833 –English translation: The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish •1833 –English translation: The Tale • of the Dead Princess •1834 –English translation: The Tale

 

•of the Golden Cockerel