Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov (1821–1878) — a Russian poet, writer, and publicist.
Distinctive features of his poetry include a firm connection to the life of the country, closeness to the people and their hopes, and the ability to speak in a language understandable to them.
Leading the major Russian journals of the 19th century — «Sovremennik» and «Otechestvennye zapiski» — Nekrasov found himself at the very center of the literary and public life of his time. On the pages of these publications, I. Turgenev, A. Goncharov, A. Ostrovsky, and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin gained recognition. Nekrasov also introduced readers to F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy.
The collection includes Nekrasov’s most famous works: the poem «Who Can Be Happy and Free in Rus’» (1863–1876), the poems «Motherland», «The Poet and the Citizen», «Frost, Red Nose», «Peasant Children», «Reflections at the High-Mansard Entrance», «The Railway» and others.
F. M. Dostoevsky believed that Nekrasov, as a poet, «…should stand directly after Pushkin and Lermontov».