Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743–1816) is a gigantic figure in the history of Russian classical literature. But the milestones in his destiny were, perhaps, not books, not odes, not collected works. He considered himself first and foremost a statesman. Over the years, Derzhavin held the highest positions in the Russian Empire: he headed the Olonets and Tambov provinces, was the cabinet secretary of Empress Catherine the Great, president of the Commerce Collegium, and minister of justice under Emperor Alexander. And at the same time he remained the first poet of the Empire. “There is one God, one is Derzhavin” - this is how only a truly brilliant poet could write about himself, and it doesn’t matter at all that this is a quote from an essentially ironic poem. For many of us, Derzhavin remained in memory only thanks to Pushkin’s lines: already on the threshold of death, “going to his grave,” he “blessed” the future “sun of our poetry,” lyceum student Pushkin. But Derzhavin’s own work is not at all outdated. It became unexpectedly relevant in the 20th century and remains so to this day. “Many roads in Russia - literary, political, military - lead to Derzhavin,” says the author of the book, historian and writer Arseny Zamostyanov. sign of information products 16+