Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov was born in St. Petersburg on November 14 (25), 1717, into the family of a nobleman and military official. He received his initial education at home. In 1732, he entered the Land Noble Corps, known as the "Knight Academy," intended for the children of the highest nobility. In 1740, at the end of his studies, two of his odes dedicated to Empress Anna Ioannovna were published.

After graduating, Sumarokov became an adjutant to the Vice-Chancellor Count M. Golovkin. When Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne in 1741, he was appointed adjutant to Count A. Razumovsky. During this period, Sumarokov wrote popular pastoral and love songs, creating his musical, light verse in hexameter. He competed with Lomonosov, creating parodies of his odes, which were called autoparodies.

Alexander Petrovich tried his hand at all genres of classicism and became the founder of the genre of poetic tragedy in Russia. He created nine tragedies, among which the most famous are "Sinav and Truvor" (1750), "Dmitry the Pretender" (1771), and "Khorev" (1747).

In 1756, Sumarokov was appointed the first director of the Russian Theater in St. Petersburg, remaining the main author of the repertoire for a long time, for which he is called the "father of Russian theater." After "Khorev," he wrote eight more tragedies, twelve comedies, and three opera librettos. He is also the author of about 400 fables and more than 130 songs.

Sumarokov actively developed in other literary genres. From 1755 to 1758, he collaborated with the academic journal "Monthly Writings," and in 1759, he published his own satirical and instructive journal "The Diligent Bee," the first private journal in Russia, where he published Russian translations of Horace, Voltaire, and Swift.

From 1762 to 1769, collections of his fables were published, and from 1769 to 1774, collections of his poems. Despite his closeness to the court and the patronage of nobles, Sumarokov felt undervalued and complained about a lack of attention, censorship, and the ignorance of the public.

Soon he fell out of favor with Empress Catherine II and lost control of the theater in 1761. In 1769, he moved to Moscow, where, forgotten by his patrons and ruined, suffering from alcoholism, he died on October 11, 1777. He was buried at the Don Cemetery in Moscow.

Alexander Sumarokov was one of the greatest representatives of Russian literature of the 18th century and is considered the first professional Russian writer.