Mikhail Lomonosov
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (November 19 [O.S. November 8] 1711 – April 15 [O.S. April 4] 1765) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art, philology, optical devices and others. Lomonosov was also a poet and influenced the formation of the modern Russian literary language.
Poet
In 1755, he wrote a grammar that reformed the Russian literary language by combining Old Church Slavonic with the vernacular tongue. To further his literary theories, he wrote more than 20 solemn ceremonial odes, notably the Evening Meditation on the God's Grandeur. He applied an idiosyncratic theory to his later poems– tender subjects needed words containing the front vowel sounds E, I, Y and U, whereas things that may cause fear (like "anger", "envy", "pain" and "sorrow") needed words with back vowel sounds O, U and Y. That was a version of what is now called sound symbolism. Lomonosov published a history of Russia in 1760. In addition, he unsuccessfully attempted to write an epic about Peter the Great, to be based on the Aeneid by Vergil.
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