Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (Russian: Михаил Васильевич Ломоносов; 19 November [O.S. 8 November] 1711 – 15 April [O.S. 4 April] 1765) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. He was also a poet and influenced the formation of the modern Russian literary language.

Quotes

• Колумбы Росские, презрев угрюмый рок,
  Меж льдами новый путь отворят на восток,
  И наша досягнет в Америку держава.
  • Russian Columbuses, despising gloomy fate,
    shall open a new path mid ice floes to the east,
    and to America our empire shall extend.
  • Пётр Великий, героическая поэма ('Peter the Great, A Heroic Poem'; 1760) Canto 1. Translated by Vladimir Nabokov (1951–57) Verses and Versions (USA: Harcourt, 2008) p. 27