Krilof

Krilof, Ivan Andreovitch (1768-1844), a Russian writer and fabulist, who has been called the La Fontaine of Russia. He was born at Moscow, and, losing his father in 1782. he entered a public office, where he remained till 1788, when he quitted it for a literary career. Prince Sergius Galitzin made him his secretary, and in 1806 he received a Government appointment at St. Petersburg and an appointment in the Imperial Library in 1821. The latter part of his life was spent in comfort, and, as he was of desultory habits and careless of fame, he lived in much content. Some of his fables were published in the Moscow Spectator in 1805, and a collection of twenty-three was published in 1809, and followed by a further collection of twenty-one in 1811. His humour, satire, and deep sympathies won him general esteem, and his funeral was the occasion of a great display of admiration. He is commemorated by a bronze statue in the Summer Garden.