1552-1605. Tsar of Russia from 1598. He was
assassinated by a pretender to the throne.
The legend that has grown up around this
forms the basis of Pushkin's play Boris
Godunov 1831 and Mussorgsky's opera of the
same name 1874. Boris Godunov was elected
after the death of Fyodor I, son of Ivan the
Terrible. He died during a revolt led by one
who professed to be Dmitri, a brother of
Fyodor and the rightful heir. The true
Dmitri, however, had died in 1591 by cutting
his own throat during an epileptic fit. An
apocryphal story of Boris killing the true
Dmitri to gain the throne was fostered by
Russian historians anxious to discredit Boris
because he was not descended from the main
ruling families. Godunov's rule was marked by
a strengthening of the Russian church, but
was also the beginning of the Time of
Troubles, a period of instability.