Biography

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745 - 1792) was an author and playwright of the Russian Enlightenment, best known as one of the founders of literary comedy in Russia. His reputation rests almost entirely on his two comedies, "The Brigadier-General" and "The Minor", considered the most popular Russian plays before Aleksander Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit". They are both written in prose and adhere to the conventions of classical comedy. Fonvizin's principal model was not Molière, but Dano-Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg, some of whose plays he has translated.