Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky (born May 30 [June 11, New Style], 1811, Sveaborg, Fin., Russian Empire—died May 26 [June 7], 1848, St. Petersburg, Russia) was an eminent Russian literary critic who is often called the “father” of the Russian radical intelligentsia.. The son of a provincial doctor, Belinsky was expelled from the University of Moscow (1832) and earned his …