The Russian literary critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky (1811-1848) was a major force in the intellectual and literary life of his country, and his writings form the foundation of Russian literary criticism.

Vissarion Belinsky was born on May 30, 1811, in Suomenlinna (Sveaborg), Finland, the son of a naval doctor. His youth was spent in Chembar, Penza Province, Russia, where his father was district physician. Vissarion attended the local grammar school and the Penza Gymnasium. In 1829 he entered Moscow University as a student of literature; his record was not brilliant because he was already weakened by tuberculosis and furthermore was concentrating all his energy (he is remembered by his contemporaries as "furious Vissarion") on literary projects outside the university. In 1831 he published some reviews and poems in Listok. The following year he was expelled from the university because his play Dmitry Kalinin attacked serfdom.

In 1834 Belinsky published a series of critical...