person
Alexei Vasilyevich Koltsov
Koltsov
also: Кольцов, Прасол Кольцов, А. В. Кольцов
Self-taught Voronezh cattle-dealer ("prasol") turned lyric poet (1809-1842), celebrated for folk-inflected verse despite his lack of formal education; Chekhov holds him up as more whole, intelligent, and cultivated than all of the present-day young poets combined.
Reading notes
- To D. V. Grigorovich, 12 January 1888. Moscow. §7 Koltsov the huckster
Alexei Koltsov, a self-taught Voronezh cattle-dealer ("prasol") turned celebrated folk poet, who died in 1842; Chekhov cites him as proof that talent and seriousness matter more than formal education, since Koltsov -- despite writing ungrammatically -- surpassed all of the present-day young poets combined.