Profitable business: What are the fees received by the great Russian writers

It is widely believed that in pre-revolutionary Russia, writers and poets were virtually disinterested. That is, their fees were so meager that they did not allow writers to lead a decent life. Pushkin, for example, left behind a huge debt, Lermontov hardly managed to maintain a befitting nobleman lifestyle. Were the incomes of the great Russian writers really very small?

Alexander Pushkin

The genius of Russian literature by today’s standards was not a poor man. For example, the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was purchased by the publisher for 1500 rubles. Continue reading →