Vasily Zhukovsky was one of the most well-known Russian poets of the 1810s and continued to be a leading figure in Russian literature for the first half of the 19th century. He was held in very high regard in the Imperial Court and was a tutor to Alexandra Feodorovna, and then later to her son, the future tsar Alexander II
Why was he significant?
The main reason Zhukovsky is significant is his tutorage to Alexander II. Zhukovsky was one of the enlightened poets and, as such, is believed to have been a fairly liberal man. It was his progressive teachings that gave Alexander II a more liberal perspective on life, love, and the treatment of human beings. It was because of these teachings instilled in Alexander, that he ushered in the more liberal reforms of the 1860s, such as the emancipation of the serfs, which changed the course of Russia forever.