Woe from Wit

Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov (1795-1829) was a talented poet, playwright and outstanding Russian diplomat. He served as ambassador to Persia and died there, heroically defending the diplomatic mission building during an attack by religious fanatics. He gained literary fame with the comedy Woe from Wit, conceived as a satire on the aristocratic society of the early 19th century. The plot centers on the conflict between the progressive young Alexander Chatsky and the ossified capital's high society. Although the play's path to the theater stage was difficult, it immediately became a source of quotations that have become firmly established in our lexicon.