mud and debris. The remains of the great Russian writer have been lost forever. In 2008 within the framework of the writer's 200th birth anniversary, one of the streets in Taganrog was named after Kukolnik. . Trivia The word "kukolnik (кукольник)" is Russian for "puppeteer" or "puppet-maker". In Dostoyevsky's novel Demons, the character of Varvara Petrovna Stavrogin uses Kukolnik (as portrayed in Briullov's portrait above) as the model for her idealized presentation of Stepan Verkhovensky. External links and references Poetry of Nestor Kukolnik in Russian and English The Taganrog period in the work of Kukolnik 1809 births 1868 deaths Writers from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Rusyns Russian nobility Russian opera librettists Russian dramatists and playwrights Russian male dramatists and playwrights Russian male poets 19th-century poets 19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire