Mikhail Popov (writer)

He entered Moscow University in 1765, and began to translate comedies from German and French.

During 1771–1772 he translated the poem Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) by Torquato Tasso.

To this end, he conducted some rather inaccurate research and wrote the essay, Описание древнеславянского баснословия (The Description of Ancient Slavic Fable-writing, 1768).

He included this essay in the collection of his poems, translations and plays called Dosugi (Досуги – Lesure Hours), published at the request of Empress Catherine II.

The music hasn’t survived, and the composer is unknown, although it is sometimes attributed to Vasily Pashkevich or even to Yevstigney Fomin, who at that time was just 11 years old.