# Boris Goudounov — Short Fiction character guide

> Boris Goudounov in Short Fiction by Aleksandr Kuprin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Boris

**First appearance:** 0034-the-idiot

## Snapshot

A Tsar whose name shadows a tale of Petersburg excess, where fortunes are flung away at supper and a burnt banknote buys a single cigarette.

## Who they are

Boris Goudounov belongs to the older, grander Russia invoked as backdrop to Prince Andrey's Petersburg whirl — a world where landowners outspend bankers and a man's whole fortune can vanish in an evening. He is less a presence than a measure: the historical weight against which the prince's caprices and the artist Rozanof's quiet rebuke are weighed. His name gives the story its sense of scale, reminding the reader that the extravagance on display has a long and costly pedigree.

## In the story

### [Black Fog](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/black-fog)

The narrator's friend from the south, full of health and vigor, who arrives in Petersburg and later dies suddenly.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/ii)

One of the children at the table, who recites grace before the meal.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/boris_goudounov
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters