Primary sourceBook1836
The Captain's Daughter
Alexander Pushkin · 1836
Pushkin's only completed novel, a historical story of love and the Pugachev rebellion, based on his own archival research.
This is Pushkin's only completed novel, written by him near the end of his life.
About this source
What it is
The Captain's Daughter is a historical novel by Alexander Pushkin, first published in 1836 in the journal Sovremennik. It is his only finished novel and tells a fictional story set during the real Pugachev Rebellion of 1773–1774.
Why it matters
The novel follows young officer Pyotr Grinyov, his love Masha, and their encounters with the rebel leader Pugachev, who claims to be the murdered Tsar Peter III. Pushkin had researched the rebellion seriously, turning archival history into fiction about honour, loyalty and rebellion. It shows how Pushkin, by this point in his life, was working as both a writer of fiction and a historian of Russia's past.
Look closer
- Why might Pushkin have chosen fiction, rather than a history book, to explore the Pugachev rebellion?
- What does the friendship between Pyotr and Pugachev suggest about how Pushkin viewed rebels and loyalty?
- What parts of real history does the novel leave out or simplify for the sake of the story?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Alexander Pushkin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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