Andrey Asharin

Andry Asharin (12th/24th of June 1843, Pernau/Pärnu, Russian Empire – 12th/24th of December 1896, Riga, Russian Empire) –  a teacher of Riga Alexander gymnasium and establisher of the Riga Chess Society.

Andrei Asharin—a publicist, teacher, organizer, and head of the Riga Chess Society—was a versatile and highly intellectual individual. It is no coincidence that the director of the Riga Alexander Gymnasium, Yegor Belyavsky (1838–1903), characterized him as one of the most educated people in the Baltic region.

Andrei Asharin was born on 12 June (24 June, New Style) 1843 in Pernau (now Pärnu). He completed a gymnasium education and then graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Imperial University of Dorpat, after which he moved to the capital of the Russian Empire, where he worked as a journalist. In 1878, he published a book of poetry in Saint Petersburg.

Already during his gymnasium years, A. Asharin developed a strong interest in chess. In Saint Petersburg, he took sixth place in a tournament featuring the strongest chess players of Russia.

In 1879, he moved to Riga, where he began working as a teacher of the German language at the Russian Alexander Gymnasium. Asharin distinguished himself not only as a teacher, but also as a journalist and writer (publishing articles and short stories in the Riga press), as well as a translator. He translated into German the poetry of Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Nikolai Nekrasov, Afanasy Fet, and other Russian poets, as well as the prose of Nikolai Gogol, Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky, and other prominent authors. Thanks to Asharin, the German-speaking population of Riga gained broader access to Russian literature in their native language.

Asharin’s pedagogical skill is evidenced by the following fact: in 1877, he published a textbook entitled “German Grammar for Russian Secondary Educational Institutions.”

In 1890, Andrei Asharin founded the Riga Chess Society and became its chairman. The Society contributed to the popularization of chess in Riga and to the emergence of strong chess players.

In 1894, A. Asharin published another book—this time a collection of chess stories and aphorisms.

Andrei Asharin died in Riga on 12 December (24 December, New Style) 1896.

Alexander Gurin