GRIBOYEDOFF, gre'bo-y6d'of, ALEXANDER SERGLYEVICH (1795-1829). A Russian dramatic poet and statesman, born at Moscow. His mother gave him the best obtainable education, prepar ing him for a diplomatic career. By the time he entered Moscow University, he knew French, German, English, Italian, and had studied music both practically and theoretically. On leaving the university he entered military service when Napoleon invaded Russia, but never got to the fighting line, and, becoming tired of inaction, resigned in 1816. A year previously he trans lated De Lesser's work Secret du menage, and in 1817 Barth's Fausses infidelites. His comedy, Misfortune of Being Too Clever, was read to his friends in 1824; but the censor found the play too pointed, and did not permit its publi cation, with the result that the comedy circulated in thousands of manuscript copies. The only performance of the comedy the author ever saw was at a private theatrical in Erivan in 1825; the first public performance took place in 1831. Griboyedoff was commissioned by General Paskie vitch to carry on the peace negotiations with Turkey and Persia, and for this service Emperor Nicholas I. made him Minister Plenipotentiary at Teheran. Here, with thirty-six others, he was slain, sword in hand, defending the embassy against an unruly mob during an uprising at the Persian capital. The singular literary merits of his only original comedy, Misfortune of Being Too Clever, seem to give sufficient ground to be lieve that death probably cut short the career of one of Russia's greatest poets. The comedy,
over which he brooded and worked in all nearly ten years, is a satirical picture of the struggle between two generations about 1820. The char acters are endowed with bold traits typical of all periods of transition, when one part of society desperately clings to the obsolete forms, while the other, in the enthusiasm of reform, is eager to break with the old. But the great vitalizing spirit of the comedy, besides its masterly char acter drawing and biting satire, is its remark able style—a style defiant of all canons of dra matic construction—and its still more remarkable language. The best edition of Griboyedoff's works is that by I. A. Shlyapkin, with exhaustive notes and bibliography (Saint Petersburg, 1889). For an analysis of the play, consult: Gontcharoff, Million of Tortures, vol. ix. of collected works (Saint Petersburg, 1899) ; Veselofski, Russian Library, vol. v. (1875). The comedy has been translated into German (1831 and 1853), Polish (1857), English (1857), French (acts iii. and iv., 1858), and Georgian. The best German trans lation, entitled Vcrstand sehafft Leiden, is by Dr. Bertram (Leipzig. 1853). The latest in French is by A. Legrelle, Le malheur d'avoir de Pe.oprit (1885), with a biographical sketch.