Dostoevsky information from the life of the writer. Interesting facts from the life of Dostoevsky: Biography of Dostoevsky

The life of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was full of events. A special trait of his character was dedication. This was reflected in all areas of his life. Pronounced Political Views(changed several times), love stories, gambling, and most importantly - literature - this is a list of the main passions of the great writer. His high popularity during his lifetime and conditions of severe poverty, fame as a preacher of the brightest human principles and awareness of his own imperfection, unique writing talent and the need to conclude inhumane contracts with publishers - all this arouses readers’ interest in the fate of Dostoevsky.

On January 14, 1820, Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky and Maria Fedorovna Nechaeva got married. He was the son of a priest, she was the daughter of a merchant of the III guild. Both received a good education in their youth.

Mikhail Andreevich, Dostoevsky's father, graduated Moscow branch Medical-Surgical Academy and became a doctor, despite the fact that several previous generations chose the path of clergy. Still, the young man paid tribute family tradition, having previously studied at a theological seminary, and although he chose a different professional path, Mikhail Andreevich remained a deeply church-going person throughout his life. It was he who instilled high religiosity in his children. He started out as a military medic, but in January 1821 he left the service and opened a practice at the Mariinsky Hospital for the low-income population. A young family settled here, in an outbuilding on the territory of the hospital. And on October 30 (November 11), 1821, the second child of this couple, Fedor, was born here. Dostoevsky's birth took place in a very symbolic place, where he spotted many interesting types for his works.

Childhood

Little Dostoevsky loved most of all the company of his brother Mikhail. Andrey Mikhailovich ( younger brother) in his memoirs he wrote about how from the very early years The older brothers were friendly. They carried this relationship through all the trials and tribulations adult life. The boys grew up and were raised side by side with each other. Their first mentor was their father. Keeping them in the necessary severity, Mikhail Andreevich never used corporal punishment on children and did not hide his strong fatherly love. It was he who taught the older children the basics of Latin and medicine. Later, their education was headed by Nikolai Ivanovich Drashusov, who worked at the Catherine and Alexander schools. They studied French, mathematics and literature. In 1834, the eldest sons left home to study at the Moscow boarding school. Chermak.

In 1837, the mother of the family, Maria Feodorovna, became seriously ill and died of consumption. The death of this wonderful woman, whose love and tenderness was enough for all her offspring, was taken very hard by her relatives. Just before her death, having come to her senses, she wished to bless her children and husband. This sad but deeply touching scene was remembered by everyone who came to say goodbye to Maria Fedorovna.

Almost immediately after this, the father equipped his eldest sons for the journey. Dostoevsky's education was technical and required absence from home. They went to the St. Petersburg boarding house of Koronat Filippovich Kostomarov, where they were supposed to prepare for entrance tests at the Main Engineering School. By this time, both Mikhail and Fedor had already decided that their calling was to work in the literary field, so this perspective They were upset a lot, but Mikhail Andreevich considered it the most reasonable. The young people submitted to the will of their parents.

Youth

Having entered the engineering school, Dostoevsky did not abandon his dreams of writing activity. He devoted his free time entirely to getting acquainted with domestic and foreign literature, and also made his first attempts at writing. In 1838, thanks to the interest in this field of art kindled among his comrades, the literary circle.

The year 1839 brought a new shock to the young man’s life: his father died. According to the official version, he was struck down by apoplexy, but the news reached his sons that he had fallen victim to the massacre of peasants who were taking revenge for “cruel treatment.” This deeply affected Fedor; he will never forget this grief mixed with shame.

Dostoevsky completed his studies in 1843 and immediately received the position of field engineer-second lieutenant. However, the dream of devoting himself to art did not leave the young man, so he did not serve more than a year. After his resignation, Fyodor Mikhailovich decided to try to arrange his debut works in print.

Dostoevsky tried to dilute student everyday life with work on plays and stories own composition, as well as translations foreign authors. The first experiments were lost, the second were often unfinished. So his debut was “Poor People” (1845). The work was so significant in his life that we recommend that you read it. The manuscript was highly appreciated even by seasoned writers Nekrasov and Belinsky. The famous and venerable critic saw in the author a “new Gogol.” The novel was published in Nekrasov’s “Petersburg Collection” of 1846.

Further creative path The author was not understood by his contemporaries at one time. The next novel, “The Double” (1845-1846), was considered by many to be a very weak work. The type of “underground man” discovered by Dostoevsky was not immediately recognized. Belinsky was disappointed in talent young writer. The newfound fame temporarily faded, and was even secretly ridiculed by some.

Arrest and hard labor

In the salon of Nikolai Apollonovich Maykov, where Dostoevsky was received very warmly, the writer met Alexei Nikolaevich Pleshcheev. It was he who brought the writer together with Mikhail Vasilyevich Petrashevsky. From January 1847, the young man began to attend meetings of the circle gathered around this thinker. Secret society actively thought about the future of Russia, about the possibility and necessity of carrying out a revolution. Various forbidden literature was in circulation here. At that time, the famous “Letter of Belinsky to Gogol” caused a special resonance in society. Reading it in this circle was partly the reason for further sad events. In 1849, the Petrashevites became victims of the government’s repressive fight against dissent and were imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress, and then, after considering their case, they were sentenced to civil (deprivation of the title of nobility) and death (by execution) punishment. It was subsequently decided to change the sentence due to mitigating circumstances. On December 22, 1849 (January 3, 1850), the convicts were taken to the Semenovsky parade ground and the verdict was read to them. Then they announced the replacement of drastic measures with compromise ones - exile and hard labor. Dostoevsky spoke about the horror and shock experienced during this procedure through the lips of his hero, Prince Myshkin, in the novel “The Idiot” (1867-1869).

On December 24, 1849, the convicts were sent from St. Petersburg. In mid-January they carried out the transfer in Tobolsk. Some Decembrists served their sentences there. Their noble and wealthy spouses were able to get a meeting with the new martyrs for freedom of belief and give them bibles with hidden money. Dostoevsky kept the book all his life in memory of his experiences.

Dostoevsky arrived in Omsk to serve hard labor on January 23, 1850. Aggressive and rude interactions between prisoners and inhumane conditions the maintenance of prisoners was reflected in the young man’s worldview. “I count those 4 years as the time during which I was buried alive and buried in a coffin,” Fyodor frankly told his brother Andrei.

In 1854, the writer left the Omsk prison and headed to Semipalatinsk, where he settled in the military field. Here he met his future first wife, Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva. She saved Dostoevsky from unbearable loneliness. Fedor sought to return to past life and writing activities. On August 26, 1856, on the day of his coronation, Alexander II announced a pardon for the Petrashevites. But, as usual, secret police surveillance was established over each person involved in the case in order to ensure their reliability (it was removed only in 1875). In 1857, Dostoevsky returned his title of nobility and received the right to publish. He was able to obtain these and other freedoms largely thanks to the help of friends.

Maturity

Dostoevsky began his “new” life in the summer of 1859 in Tver. This city is an intermediate point before returning to St. Petersburg, where the family was able to move in December. In 1860, Fyodor Mikhailovich published a collection of his works, consisting of 2 volumes, and the “re-debut” and return to the forefront of the literary capital was “Notes from House of the Dead"(1861), published in 1861-1862 in the magazine "Time", owned by Dostoevsky's brother. The description of the life and soul of hard labor caused a wide resonance among readers.

In 1861, Fedor began helping Mikhail in the publishing craft. The literary and critical departments were under his leadership. The magazine adhered to Slavophile and pochvenniki (the term appeared later) views. They were promoted to the masses and developed by the most zealous employees Apollo Grigoriev and Nikolai Strakhov. The publication actively polemicized with Sovremennik. In 1863, Strakhov’s article “The Fatal Question” (about Polish uprising). The magazine was closed.

At the beginning of 1864, the Dostoevsky brothers managed to obtain permission to produce new magazine. This is how “Epoch” appeared. The first chapters of Notes from Underground appeared on its pages. Contrary to expectations, the magazine was not as popular as Vremya, and the death of Mikhail, Apollo Grigoriev and financial difficulties served as reasons for closure.

In the summer of 1862, Dostoevsky went on a trip to Europe to improve his failing health. It was not possible to fully implement his plans; in Baden-Baden, he was overcome by a painful inclination - playing roulette, which clearly did not help improve his condition. The luck that smiled on him quickly gave way to a series of constant losses, which led to a serious need for money. Dostoevsky was tormented by a passion for cards for nine years. Last time he sat down to play in Wiesbaden in the spring of 1871, and after another defeat, he was finally able to overcome his passion for gambling.

Mikhail died in July 1864. This was the second blow for the writer this year, because he also buried his beloved wife. Fedor really wanted to support his brother’s family. He took upon himself the responsibility of sorting out his debts, and became even closer to the widow and orphans, comforting them in every possible way during this difficult period.

Soon Dostoevsky met and began a relationship with Anna Snitkina, which culminated in marriage. She was a stenographer and typed the novel “The Gambler” (1866): within just one month, he came up with the entire novel, and she typed the dictated text.

The last and most significant in the writer’s work, not just works, but practically projects, were “The Writer’s Diary” and the “Great Pentateuch.” “The Diary” was essentially a monthly magazine of philosophical and literary journalism. It was published in 1876-1877 and 1880-1881. It was distinguished by its versatility and multi-genre nature, as well as the wide variety of topics covered. “The Pentateuch” is 5 large-scale works of the author:

• "Crime and Punishment" (1866),
• "The Idiot" (1868),
• "Demons" (1871-1872),
• "Teenager" (1875),
• "The Brothers Karamazov" (1879-1880).

They are characterized by ideological-thematic and poetic-structural unity, therefore these novels are combined into a kind of cycle. The choice of title echoes the “Pentateuch of Moses” (the first five books of the Bible for Jews and Christians: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). It is known that the author was jealous of the success of Tolstoy’s epic, so he decided to write something that would exceed the count’s large-scale plan, but the strict framework of the contract and the need for money forced him to release the novels separately, and not as one.

Characteristic

Contemporaries noted the inconsistency of the writer’s character; he had an extraordinary psychotype. Gentleness and kindness were mixed with hot temper and self-criticism. It is noteworthy that the first impression of a meeting with Dostoevsky almost always became disappointing: his discreet appearance ensured that all the interesting qualities and personality traits of this creator began to appear later, with the appearance of a certain degree of trust in the interlocutor. On the inconsistency of the appearance and soul of the writer Vsevolod Sergeevich Solovyov:

In front of me was a man with ugly and at first glance simple face. But this was only the first and instant impression - this face was immediately and forever imprinted in memory, it bore the imprint of an exceptional, spiritual life.

Our hero gave himself a unique description, speaking as a person “with with a tender heart, but do not know how to express their feelings.” All his life he judged himself harshly for his shortcomings and complained about his hot temper. He was best able to express his feelings on paper, namely in his works.

Dostoevsky’s friend Doctor Riesenkampf said this about the writer: “Fyodor Mikhailovich belonged to those individuals around whom everyone lives well, but who themselves are constantly in need.” Incredible kindness, as well as inability to handle money, constantly pushed the writer to unforeseen expenses as a result of the desire to help all the poor people he met, petitioners, provide best conditions servants.

Dostoevsky's gentleness and loving heart were most evident in his attitude towards children, whom he adored. Before the appearance of his own offspring in the family, all the writer’s attention was paid to his nephews. Anna Grigorievna talked about her husband’s unique ability to instantly calm a child, his ability to communicate with them, gain trust, and share interests. The birth of Sophia (the first daughter from her second marriage) had a beneficial effect on the atmosphere in the Dostoevsky family. Fyodor Mikhailovich always arrived in the best mood when he was next to the girl, and was extremely ready to bestow care and affection on everyone around him, which is generally difficult to attribute to his constant state. His relationships with women were not always smooth sailing. His passions were marked by periodic changes in mood and frequent criticism to them.

The writer’s friends also noted his quarrelsomeness and high demands on people from his social circle. This pushed him all his life to seek relationships close to ideal, in order to create a family with his chosen one, which would become the stronghold of their harmonious existence.

Relationship

As a rule, biographers claim that there are three women of Dostoevsky: Maria Isaeva, Apollinaria Suslova and Anna Snitkina.

In Omsk, yesterday's convict met the beautiful Maria Isaeva. A feeling flared up between them, but she was married to a drunkard and weak-willed man A.I. Isaev. Their couple served as the prototype for the Marmeladovs from Crime and Punishment. In May 1855, the official got a job in Kuznetsk, where he moved with his family. He died in August of the same year. Dostoevsky immediately proposed to his beloved, but she hesitated, the reason for this was the disastrous state of affairs of the groom and the lack of hope for their speedy recovery. Hastily trying to improve his situation, the man in love was able to convince the woman of his worth. On February 6, 1857, Fyodor and Maria got married in Kuznetsk.

This union did not bring happiness to either him or her. The spouses had almost no agreement on anything and lived separately almost all the time. Maria refused to accompany her husband on his first trip abroad. Upon returning home in September 1862, he found his wife in a very sick condition: the woman fell ill with consumption.

And in the same summer of 1863 (during his second trip to Europe) in Baden-Baden, Dostoevsky met Appolionaria Prokofievna Suslova and fell passionately in love with her. It is difficult to imagine people with less similar views than this couple: she is a feminist, a nihilist, he is a believing conservative who adheres to patriarchal views. However, they became attracted to each other. He published several of her works in Time and Epoch. They dreamed of a new trip to Europe, but some difficulties with the magazine, and most importantly - serious condition Maria Dmitrievna forced them to abandon their original plans. Polina went to Paris alone, Fyodor returned to St. Petersburg in need. They wrote letters to him and invited him to come over, but quite unexpectedly for the writer, news from Polina stopped coming. Excited, he hurried to Paris, where he learned that she had met a Spanish student, Salvador, and became a victim of unrequited love. This is how their romance ended, and the story of this complex relationship received a literary interpretation in “The Player.” At the same time, his wife’s consumption progressed. In the fall of 1863, the Dostoevskys moved to Moscow, where it was more convenient to create acceptable conditions for the patient and care for her. On April 14, 1864, Maria Dmitrievna had a seizure. She died on the 15th.

Although their seven-year union could not be called successful, the widower continued to love his wife and experienced her death very painfully. He remembered the deceased exclusively with kind and warm words, although some evil tongues They claimed that Maria had been mentally ill all her life, and therefore could not make her husbands happy. The only thing that Dostoevsky endlessly regretted was that his marriage with Isaeva turned out to be childless. The writer captured his love for this woman in his works; his wife served as a prototype for many of his heroines.

The death of his wife and the subsequent death of his brother fell heavily on Dostoevsky’s shoulders. He could only forget himself in his work, and besides, the writer was in dire need of money. At this time, the publisher Fyodor Timofeevich Stellovsky offered the writer a financially lucrative contract to publish the complete collection of his works at that time. Despite the oppressive conditions, namely: extremely strict time frames and requirements for short term The writer agreed to provide a new, previously unpublished novel. During the same period, work began on Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky suggested publishing this novel to the editor of the Russian Messenger, Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov. In connection with everything that was happening, by the beginning of October 1866, the material promised to Stellovsky was not ready, and only a month remained. The writer would not have been able to cope with the operational work if it were not for the stenographer Anna Grigorievna Snitkina. Working together brought Dostoevsky and this girl very close. In February 1867 they got married.

Fyodor Mikhailovich finally found long-awaited happiness and a serene existence in the bosom of his family. For Anna, this period of life did not begin so wonderfully; she experienced strong hostility from her husband’s stepson, Pyotr Isaev, who had long lived at the expense of his stepfather. To change the oppressive situation, Snitkina persuaded her husband to go abroad, where they subsequently spent four years. It was then that the second period of passion for roulette began (it ended with a refusal to gamble). The family was in need again. Things were improved by his arrival in St. Petersburg in 1897, because the writer again actively took up writing.

This marriage produced four children. Two survived: Lyubov and Fedor. Eldest daughter Sophia died when she was only a few months old, youngest son Alexey lived less than three years.

He dedicated his exceptional work “The Brothers Karamazov” to Anna, and she, already a widow, published her memoirs about Fyodor Mikhailovich. Dostoevsky's wives appear in all of his works, except perhaps his early ones. The fatal passion, fate and difficult character of Maria formed the basis for the image of Katerina Ivanovna, Grushenka, Nastasya Filippovna, and Anna Grigorievna is the spitting image of Sonechka Marmeladova, Evdokia Raskolnikova, Dashenka Shatova - the angel of salvation and martyrdom.

Philosophy

Dostoevsky's worldview underwent serious changes throughout the writer's life. For example, political orientation was subject to revision and was formed gradually. Only the religiosity nurtured in the writer as a child grew stronger and developed; he never doubted his faith. We can say that Dostoevsky's philosophy is based on Orthodoxy.

Socialist illusions were debunked by Dostoevsky himself in the 60s; he developed a critical attitude towards them, perhaps because they were the reason for his arrest. Traveling around Europe inspired him to think about the bourgeois revolution. He saw that it did not help the common people in any way, and as a result, he developed an irreconcilable hostility towards the possibility of its accomplishment in Russia. Soil ideas, which he picked up during his work with Apollo Grigoriev in magazines, partly served as the basis for Dostoevsky’s later worldview. Awareness of the need to merge the elite with common people, attributing to the latter a mission to save the world from harmful ideas, returning to the bosom of nature and religion - all these ideas appealed to the writer. He felt his era as a turning point. The country was preparing for shocks and a reshaping of reality. The writer sincerely hoped that people would follow the path of self-improvement, and the new time would be marked by the degeneration of society.

There was a process to isolate the very essence, the quintessence of Russian national consciousness, the “Russian idea” - a name proposed by the author himself. For Dostoevsky, it is closely connected with religious philosophy. Arseny Vladimirovich Gulyga (Soviet philosopher, historian of philosophy and literary critic) explained Dostoevsky’s pochvenism this way: this is a call for a return to the national, this is patriotism based on moral values.

For Dostoevsky, this idea of ​​free will, inseparably linked with an unshakable moral law, became fundamental in his work, especially in later works. The writer considered man a mystery; he tried to penetrate into his spiritual nature, throughout his life he strove to find the path of his moral development.

June 8, 1880 at a meeting of the Society of Amateurs Russian literature the author read “Pushkin’s Speech,” which reveals to the reader his true views and judgments, as well as the essence of life, according to Dostoevsky. It was this poet that the author considered true national character. In the poetry of Alexander Sergeevich, the writer saw the path of the fatherland and the Russian people prophetically outlined. Then he brought out his main idea: transformation should not happen through change external factors and conditions, but through internal self-improvement.

Of course, according to Dostoevsky, the main help on this path is religion. Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin said that the “noise” created by the polyphony of characters in the writer’s novels is covered by one voice - that of God, whose word comes from the author’s soul. At the end of “Pushkin’s Speech” it is said that to be Russian means...

To strive to bring reconciliation to European contradictions completely, to indicate the outcome of European melancholy in our Russian soul, all-human and reuniting, to accommodate all our brothers with brotherly love, and in the end, perhaps, to utter the final word of great, common harmony, brotherly final agreement of all tribes according to Christ's gospel law!

Interesting facts from the life of the writer

• In 1837, Pushkin, Dostoevsky’s favorite author, tragically passed away. Fyodor Mikhailovich perceived the death of the poet as a personal tragedy. He later recalled that if not for the death of his mother, he would have asked his family to mourn the writer.
• It should be noted that the dreams of the eldest sons about a literary career were not at all perceived by their parents as a whim, but in the situation of need into which the family gradually descended, it forced Mikhail Andreevich to insist on the boys receiving an engineering education that could provide them with a financially reliable and sustainable future.
• The writer's first completed work in the field of translation was Balzac's Eugenie Grande. He was inspired by the author of this work's visit to Russia. The work was published in the publication “Repertoire and Pantheon” in 1844, but the name of the translator was not indicated there.
• In 1869 he became a father. Interesting from personal life The writer is described by his wife in her memoirs: “Fyodor Mikhailovich was unusually gentle towards his daughter, fussed with her, bathed her, carried her in his arms, rocked her and felt so happy that he wrote criticism to Strakhov: “Oh, why aren’t you married, and Why don’t you have a child, dear Nikolai Nikolaevich. I swear to you that this is 3/4 of life’s happiness, but the rest is only one quarter.”

Death

The author was first diagnosed with epilepsy while still in prison. The illness tormented the writer, but the irregularity and relatively low frequency of seizures had little effect on his mental abilities (only some memory deterioration was observed), allowing him to create until the end of his days.

Over time, Dostoevsky developed a lung disease - emphysema. There is an assumption that he owed its aggravation to an explanation with his sister V.M. Ivanova on January 26 (February 7), 1881. The woman persistently persuaded him to give up the share of the Ryazan estate inherited from his aunt Alexandra Fedorovna Kumanina to his sisters. The nervous situation, the conversation with his sister in a raised voice, the complexity of the situation - all this had a detrimental effect on the physical condition of the writer. He had a seizure: blood came down his throat.

Even on the morning of January 28 (February 9), the hemorrhages did not go away. Dostoevsky spent the whole day in bed. He said goodbye to his loved ones several times, feeling the approach of death. By evening the writer died. He was 59 years old.

Many wished to say goodbye to Dostoevsky. Relatives and friends arrived, but there was much more strangers- those who even then immensely revered Fyodor Mikhailovich’s amazing talent, who admired his gift. Among those who came was the artist V. G. Perov, he painted the famous posthumous portrait of the author.

Dostoevsky, and later his second wife, were buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Dostoevsky places

The Dostoevsky estate was located in the Kashira district of the Tula province. The village of Darovoye and the village of Cheremoshna, which made up the estate, were bought by Fyodor’s father back in 1831. Here, as a rule, the family spent the summer. A year after the purchase, there was a fire that destroyed the house, after which a wooden outbuilding was rebuilt, where the family lived. The younger brother Andrey inherited the estate.

The house in Staraya Russa was Dostoevsky's only real estate. The writer and his family first came here in 1882. The most halcyon days of his life are associated with this place. The atmosphere of this corner was most favorable for the coexistence of the entire family in harmony and for the work of the writer. “The Brothers Karamazov”, “Demons” and many other works were written here.

Meaning

Dostoevsky did not study philosophy and did not consider his works to be vehicles of corresponding ideas. But decades after its end creative activity researchers began to talk about the formulation of general questions and the complexity of the issues raised in the texts issued by the writer. The writer really gained the reputation of a preacher, an expert human soul. Therefore, his novels are still on the lists of the most popular and sought-after works around the world. For a modern writer, it is considered a great merit to earn comparison with this Russian genius. Reading such literature is part of belonging to intellectual circles, because Dostoevsky has become to a certain extent a brand, signifying the exclusivity of the taste of those who give preference to him. The Japanese especially like the work of Fyodor Mikhailovich: and Kobo Abe, both Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami recognized him as their favorite writer.

The famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud noted the phenomenal depth of the works of the Russian author and their value for science. He also sought to look deeply into the consciousness of an individual, to study the patterns and features of his work. They both revealed and dissected the inner world of man in a complex way: with all its noble thoughts and base desires.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was born on November 11, 1821. 150 years after his death, he is Russia's main literary brand in the world. On this occasion, MOIARUSSIA selected a number of interesting facts from the writer’s life and work.

Text: Igor Kuzmichev

I received three times less

Dostoevsky, although he was a superstar whose books sold like pies in huge editions, received three times less than his colleagues. He was paid 150 rubles per sheet, and Turgenev, for example, 500. And nothing could be done about it. Dostoevsky was constantly in need of money due to terrible debts and took on work without particularly bargaining. And the publishers, knowing his situation, reduced the fee - they say, he will sign anyway. At the same time, the writer himself assessed himself sensibly, as a bestselling author: “My name is worth a million,” he said. We know that Dostoevsky’s genius is worth more. Or rather, it simply has no price.

First wife and first betrayal

Dostoevsky's first wife was a certain Maria Isaeva. She suffered from tuberculosis and was the wife of a minor official who never parted with a bottle. At first, Dostoevsky and Isaeva were lovers, and when the official played the game, they got married. The happiness turned out to be short-lived: Maria, despite consumption, showed agility and started an affair with some loser named Vergunov. And she twisted it openly. That's how we lived. Then Isaeva died, and Fyodor Mikhailovich got involved with the girl Appolinaria Suslova. She was twenty, he was forty. He became her first man; Suslova quickly took the writer into her stride, pushed him around, and again openly cheated on him with a certain Salvador.

Constantly fighting for existence

Being under a constant deadline, Dostoevsky, as they say, rushed the line, not having time to finalize the texts or polish them. Therefore, his novels are full of length, confusion and banal phrases. The writer’s widow later said that, unlike the “wealthy” Tolstoy, her husband was forced to think around the clock about how to get more money. “How many times did it happen over the last fourteen years of his life that two or three chapters were already published in the magazine, the fourth was typed in the printing house, the fifth was sent by mail to the Russian Messenger, and the rest were not yet written, but only conceived...” - recalled Anna Dostoevskaya.

Russian Marquis de Sade

Sex in Dostoevsky’s life, to put it mildly, was not the least important. “I am a libertine,” he wrote, making full use of the services of prostitutes. Turgenev called his colleague “the Russian de Sade.” Professional women are one thing, they put up with the desires of a strange client, but among ordinary women it was difficult for Dostoevsky to find a young lady who would not be afraid of his habits. The problem was solved by chance: while facing another deadline, the writer found himself in a situation where he had to write and submit a novel in 26 days. Otherwise - according to the idiotic contract signed by Fyodor Mikhailovich in an eclipse of his mind - he had to write all subsequent books for nine years in a row for free.

Stenographer Anna Snitkina

In short, Fyodor Mikhailovich found himself on the edge of an abyss. Friends advised him to hire an assistant stenographer so as not to waste time scribbling paper, but simply dictate. This is how 20-year-old Anna Snitkina appeared in his life. At the first meeting, Dostoevsky frightened the modest girl. There was a reason - old, 45 years old, scary (he called himself Quasimodo), sickly and poor. But in a month collaboration Anna fell in love with this guy, and he, in turn, decided: why not get married. So we got married. Kind, quiet and submissive, the girl Snitkina turned out to be a godsend for Dostoevsky in every sense. She took her husband’s needs for granted and was, so to speak, responsive.

Having acquired a taste and not meeting resistance, Dostoevsky extended his inclinations not only to the intimate sphere, but also to ordinary life. He drew up strict rules that Anna had to strictly follow. A terrible jealous person, he demanded that his wife forget about figure-flattering dresses, not wear makeup, and not laugh at men’s jokes at all. The wife complied.

This sexism had one advantage: the writer never cheated on his wife.

Anna Dostoevskaya became a real fighting friend for her husband. After the death of the writer, despite her quite reasonable age - 35 years old - she decided that she would not marry again and would not look at men. And she will devote herself to her husband’s legacy.

For all her meekness, Anna was not a helpless mouse. Born into a wealthy family, who had skills in handling money, she quickly realized that her husband was being shamelessly robbed, and he, as they say, was just flapping his ears. Then the devoted wife took management into her own hands. She hit the publishers over the heads, extracted normal fees, established work with printing houses and began to conclude more or less decent deals.

Wife's business acumen

The money went, however, it ended up going to cover the same debts. But life has become easier. Surprisingly, her business acumen and toughness did not in any way affect her attitude towards her careless husband - Anna gave everything she earned to him and never once said that it would be nice to come to her senses and stop behaving irresponsibly. Briefly speaking, perfect, perfect wife- and he will knock out the money and obey in bed.

Death due to a fallen pen.

Suffering from lung disease, the writer, whom doctors categorically forbade any physical activity While working, he dropped the pen, bent down to pick it up, and his throat immediately began to bleed. Two days later, Fyodor Mikhailovich passed away.

The writer suffered from addiction to card games. When he lost, he pawned everything that was in the house, from cups to his wife’s earrings. Hell ended overnight when Dostoevsky realized that just a little more, and his pregnant wife would die of cold, since she had nothing to wear. Since then, Fyodor Mikhailovich has not touched roulette or cards.

Dostoevsky was weak not only in card games, but also to the attention of the public. Thank God, during his lifetime he managed to learn the taste real glory. The readings that Fyodor Mikhailovich organized attracted crowds - he was a real pop star of his time.

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Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is a famous Russian writer, philosopher and thinker. He was born in Moscow in October 1821. The family in which he was born and grew up was wealthy.

Biography

The writer's father, Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky, was a wealthy nobleman and landowner, he was a doctor who at one time graduated from the Moscow Medical-Surgical Academy. For a long time his father worked at the Mariinsky Hospital. His medical practice brought him a good income, so over time he bought the village of Darovoye in the Tula province. However, he had bad habit- addiction to alcohol. While drinking, the writer's father mistreated his serfs, punished and offended them. This was precisely the reason for his death - in 1839 he was killed by his own serfs.

The writer's mother is Maria Fedorovna Dostoevskaya ( maiden name- Nechaeva) came from a wealthy merchant family. However, after the war, her family became impoverished and practically lost their fortune. A 19-year-old girl was married to Mikhail Dostoevsky, the writer’s father. The writer remembers his mother with warmth; she was always a good housewife and loving mother. She had 8 children - 4 boys and 4 girls. Fyodor Mikhailovich was the second child in the family. Fyodor Dostoevsky's older brother, Mikhail, also became a writer. Dostoevsky developed warm family relationships with his sisters and brothers. The writer's mother died early, when the boy was only 16 years old. Her death occurred from a disease common in those days - consumption (tuberculosis).

After the death of their mother, the father sent his two eldest sons (Mikhail and Fedor) to one of the boarding houses in St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, Fyodor Dostoevsky studied at the Main Engineering School, which he entered at the age of 17.

After graduating from college, in 1842 the writer received the rank of engineer-second lieutenant, after which he was sent to serve. From his youth, Fedor was interested in literature, history and philosophy. He, like his older brother, respected the work of the great Russian writer, the young man regularly attended a literary circle, where he communicated with writers and poets of his time.

In 1844, Dostoevsky retired and wrote his first meaningful story entitled “ Poor people". This work received the most highly appreciated in domestic and world literature. Even critics of Russian society reacted favorably to this story.

The year 1849 became a turning point for the writer. He was arrested along with his accomplices for participating in a socialist conspiracy against the government (“Petrashevsky case”), long time(8 months) he was under investigation, after which he was convicted by a military court and sentenced to death. However, this sentence was not implemented and the writer remained alive. As punishment for what he had done, he was deprived of his nobility, all existing ranks and fortune, after which the writer was exiled to Siberia for hard labor for 4 years. It was a difficult time, at the end of which Dostoevsky was to be enlisted as an ordinary soldier. Saving civil rights After Dostoevsky's punishment, it was no coincidence that Emperor Nicholas I appreciated the talented young writer; before, political conspirators were most often executed.

Dostoevsky served his sentence in Siberia (Omsk), then in 1854 he was sent as an ordinary soldier to serve in Semipalatinsk. Just a year later he was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and in 1856 he again became an officer, this was the reign of Emperor Alexander II.

Dostoevsky was not a completely healthy person; all his life he suffered from epilepsy, which in the old days was called epilepsy. The disease first appeared in the writer when he was working in hard labor. For this reason, he was dismissed and returned to St. Petersburg. Now he had enough time to seriously study literature.

His older brother, Mikhail, began publishing his own literary magazine called “Time” in 1861. In this magazine the writer publishes his novel for the first time " Humiliated and insulted“, which society accepted with understanding and sympathy. Somewhat later, another work by the author came out - “ Notes from the House of the Dead“, in it, the writer, under a fictitious name, told readers about his life and the lives of other people serving time at hard labor. This work All of Russia read it and appreciated what was hidden between the lines. The Vremya magazine was closed three years later, but the brothers released a new one, Epoch. On the pages of these magazines, the world first saw such wonderful works of the author as: “ Notes from the Underground«, « Winter notes about summer impressions"and many others.

In 1866, his brother Mikhail died. This was a real blow for Fedor, who had a very close family relationship with him. During this period, Dostoevsky wrote his most famous novel, which today is the main calling card of the writer, “Crime and Punishment.” Somewhat later, in 1868, another of his works “ Idiot“, and in 1870 his novel “ Demons". Despite the fact that the writer treated Russian society cruelly in these works, it recognized all three of his works.

Later, in 1876, Dostoevsky had his own publication - “ Writer's Diary“, which literally gained great popularity in just a year (the publication was represented by multiple essays, feuilletons and notes and was produced in a small circulation - only 8 thousand copies).

Dostoevsky did not immediately find his happiness in his personal life. He was first married to Maria Isaeva, whom he married in 1957. Maria used to be the wife of an acquaintance of Dostoevsky. When her husband died, in August 1855, she married a second time. The couple was married in a church, since Dostoevsky was a deeply religious person. The woman had a son from her first marriage, Pavel, who later became the writer’s adopted son. It is unlikely that this woman loved her new young husband, she often provoked quarrels, during which she reproached him and regretted marrying him.

Appolinaria Suslova became the writer’s second beloved woman. However, she was a feminist who had different views on life, which most likely was the reason for the separation.

Anna Grigorievna Snitkina – second and last wife writer, he married her in 1986. With this woman, he finally found happiness and peace. Dostoevsky was a gambling person, there was even a period in his life when, during one of his trips abroad, he became interested in playing roulette and regularly lost money. Anna Snitkina was initially Dostoevsky's partner and stenographer. It was this woman who helped the writer compose and dictate the novel in just 26 days. Player“, thanks to which it was delivered on time. It was this woman who seriously took charge of the writer’s well-being and took upon herself all the concerns about his economic condition. Anna helped Dostoevsky quit gambling.

Starting in 1971, the author began his most fruitful period. Over the last 10 years of his life, Dostoevsky wrote many works: “ Teenager«, « Brothers Karamazov«, « Meek"and many others. It gained the greatest popularity during these years.

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky died in 1881 at the end of January and was buried in St. Petersburg in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Dostoevsky's main achievements

The creativity of this greatest writer left a significant imprint on world culture and Russian literature. Everyone perceives his works in their own way, but they are all highly valued both in our country and abroad. Being a deeply religious person, Dostoevsky tries to convey to the reader the deep meaning of human morality and ethics, calling people to honesty, justice and goodness. His way of “reaching out” the best strings the human soul is not always standard, but it is almost always effective and leads to a positive result.

Important dates in Dostoevsky's biography

• October 30, 1821 - birth of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
• 1834 – studying at the private boarding school of L.I. Chermak.
• 1838 - beginning of studies at the Engineering School.
• 1843 – graduation, receiving the rank of officer, enlistment.
• 1844 - dismissal from military service.
• 1846 - the novel " Poor people«.
• 1849 – arrest of the writer (Petrashevsky case).
• 1850 - exile to hard labor in the Omsk prison.
• 1854 - end of hard labor.
• 1854 - the writer enlisted as an ordinary soldier in the Siberian Line Battalion (Semipalatinsk).
• 1855 - promotion to non-commissioned officer.
• 1857 - wedding with Maria Isaeva.
• 1859 – resignation due to health reasons.
• 1859 - move to Tver, followed by a move to St. Petersburg.
• 1860 - the beginning of publication of the magazine "Time".
• 1860 - 1863 - publication " Notes from the House of the Dead" And " Winter notes about summer impressions«.
• 1863 - publication of the magazine "Time" was prohibited.
• 1864 - the beginning of the publishing of the magazine "Epoch".
• 1864 - death of Dostoevsky's wife.
• 1866 - Dostoevsky’s meeting with his future second wife, A.G. Snitkina.
• 1866 - completion of Crime and Punishment.
• 1867 - wedding of Dostoevsky and A.G. Snitkina.
• 1868 - 1973 - the end of the novels " Idiot" And " Demons«.
• 1875 - the novel “The Teenager” was written.
• 1880 – completion of writing the novel “ Brothers Karamazov«.
• January 28, 1881 - death of Dostoevsky.

• IN " Crime and Punishment“Dostoevsky very accurately describes the topography of St. Petersburg, especially the description of the courtyard where Raskolnikov hid the things stolen from the old woman.
• The writer was extremely jealous, constantly suspecting his beloved women of treason.
• The latter, the writer’s wife, Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, loved her husband so much that even after his death she remained faithful to her beloved until the end of her life. She served the name of Dostoevsky and never married again.
• Many films (documentary and feature) have been made about Dostoevsky, which tell about important events that happened in the writer’s life: “ The Life and Death of Dostoevsky«, « Dostoevsky«, « Three women of Dostoevsky«, « 26 days in the life of Dostoevsky"and many others.

Documentary films about Dostoevsky

In connection with the release of a serial film about Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky this Sunday on the Rossiya TV channel, I wanted to make for you a selection of interesting and little known facts about this genius of Russian literature. These facts are different, they relate to both Dostoevsky’s personal life and work, but I think they will all be of interest to you.

15 Facts about Dostoevsky!
1. In F. Dostoevsky’s novel “Demons,” the cynical and arrogant image of Stavrogin will become more understandable to you if you know one nuance. The handwritten original of the novel contains Stavrogin’s confession about the rape of a nine-year-old girl, who then hanged herself. This fact was removed from the printed publication.

2. Dostoevsky, who was in the past a member of the revolutionary organization of Petrashevsky’s lawless men, in the novel “Demons” describes the members of this organization. Meaning revolutionaries by demons, Fyodor Mikhailovich directly writes about his former accomplices - it was “... an unnatural and anti-state society of about thirteen people,” he speaks of them as “... a bestial voluptuous society” and that they are “... not socialists, but swindlers ... " For his truthful frankness about revolutionaries, V.I. Lenin called F.M. Dostoevsky “the most nasty Dostoevsky.”

3. In 1859, Dostoevsky retired from the army “due to illness” and received permission to live in Tver. At the end of the year, he moved to St. Petersburg and, together with his brother Mikhail, began publishing the magazines “Time”, then “Epoch”, combining enormous editorial work with authorship: he wrote journalistic and literary-critical articles, polemical notes, works of art. After my brother's death, what remained of the magazines was huge amount debts that Fyodor Mikhailovich had to pay almost until the end of his life.

4. Fans of the work of F.M. Dostoevsky know that the sin of parricide in The Brothers Karamazov lies with Ivan, but the reason for the crime is not clear. The handwritten original of The Brothers Karamazov indicates the real reason crimes. It turns out that son Ivan killed father F.P. Karamazov because his father raped young Ivan with the sin of sodomy, in general, for pedophilia. IN printed publications this fact was not included.

5. Dostoevsky made extensive use of the real topography of St. Petersburg in describing the places in his novel Crime and Punishment. As the writer admitted, he compiled a description of the yard in which Raskolnikov hides the things he stole from the pawnbroker’s apartment from personal experience— when one day, while walking around the city, Dostoevsky turned into a deserted courtyard to relieve himself.

6. His impressionability clearly went beyond the norm. When some street beauty told him “no,” he would faint. And if she said yes, the result was often exactly the same.

7. To say that Fyodor Mikhailovich had increased sexuality means to say almost nothing. This physiological property was so developed in him that, despite all efforts to hide it, it involuntarily broke out - in words, looks, actions. This, of course, was noticed by those around him and ridiculed him. Turgenev called him “the Russian Marquis de Sade.” Unable to control his sensual fire, he resorted to the services of prostitutes. But many of them, having once tasted Dostoevsky’s love, then refused his proposals: his love was too unusual, and, most importantly, painful.

8. Only one thing could save him from the abyss of debauchery: his beloved woman. And when such a person appeared in his life, Dostoevsky was transformed. It was she, Anna, who appeared for him as an angel-savior, and a helper, and that same sexual toy with which he could do everything, without guilt or remorse. She was 20, he was 45. Anna was young and inexperienced, and did not see anything strange in the intimate relationship that her husband offered her. She took violence and pain for granted. Even if she didn't approve or didn't like what he wanted, she didn't tell him no or show her displeasure in any way. She once wrote: “I am ready to spend the rest of my life kneeling before him.” She put his pleasure above all else. He was God to her...

9. Getting to know future wife Anna Snitkina had a very difficult period in the writer’s life. He pawned literally everything he could to the moneylenders for pennies, even his cotton coat, and yet he still had urgent debts of several thousand rubles. At this moment, Dostoevsky signed a fantastically enslaving contract with the publisher Strelovsky, according to which he had to, firstly, sell him all his already written works, and secondly, write a new one by a certain deadline. The main point in the contract was an article according to which, if a new novel was not submitted on time, Strelovsky would publish whatever Dostoevsky wrote at his discretion for nine years, without remuneration.
Despite the servitude, the contract gave Dostoevsky the opportunity to pay off the most aggressive creditors and escape from the rest abroad. But after returning, it turned out that there was a month left before the delivery of the new novel of one and a half hundred pages, and Fyodor Mikhailovich had not written a single line. Friends suggested that he use the services of “literary blacks,” but he refused. Then they advised him to invite at least a stenographer, who was young Anna Grigorievna Snitkina. The novel “The Gambler” was written (or rather, dictated by Snitkina) in 26 days and delivered on time! Moreover, under extraordinary circumstances - Strelovsky specifically left the city, and Dostoevsky had to leave the manuscript against the receipt of the bailiff of the unit where the publisher lived.
Dostoevsky proposed to the young girl (she was 20 years old at the time, he was 45) and received consent.

10. The mother of Anna Grigorievna Snitkina (second wife) was a respectable house owner and gave her daughter a dowry of thousands in the form of money, utensils and apartment building.

11. Anna Snitkina, already at a young age, led the life of a capitalist homeowner and after her wedding to Fyodor Mikhailovich, she immediately took up his financial affairs.
First of all, she pacified the numerous creditors of the late brother Mikhail, explaining to them that it is better to receive for a long time and little by little than not to receive at all.
Then she turned her business eye to the publication of her husband’s books and discovered, again, completely wild things. Thus, for the right to publish the most popular novel “Demons,” Dostoevsky was offered 500 “author’s” rubles, with payment in installments over two years. At the same time, as it turned out, printing houses, subject to fame writer's name, willingly printed books with deferred payment for six months. Printing paper could also be purchased in the same way.
It would seem that under such conditions it would be very profitable to publish your books yourself. However, the daredevils soon burned out, since monopolistic bookseller publishers, naturally, quickly cut off their oxygen. But the 26-year-old young lady turned out to be too tough for them.
As a result, “Demons” published by Anna Grigorievna, instead of the “author’s” 500 rubles offered by the publishers, brought the Dostoevsky family 4,000 rubles of net income. Subsequently, she not only independently published and sold her husband’s books, but also engaged in, as they would say now, wholesale trade in books by other authors, aimed at the regions.
To say that Fedor Mikhailovich got one of the best managers of his time for free is to tell half the truth. After all, this manager also selflessly loved him, gave birth to children and patiently managed the household for pennies (giving thousands of hard-earned rubles to creditors). In addition, for 14 years, married Anna Grigorievna also worked for free as a stenographer for her husband.

12. In his letters to Anna, Fyodor Mikhailovich was often unrestrained and filled them with many erotic allusions: “I kiss you every minute in my dreams, all the time, passionately. I especially love what it says: And he is delighted and intoxicated by this delightful object. I kiss this object every minute in all forms and intend to kiss it all my life. Oh, how I kiss you, how I kiss you! Anka, don’t say that this is rude, but what should I do, that’s who I am, you can’t judge me... I kiss your toes, then your lips, then what “I am delighted and intoxicated with.” These words were written by him at the age of 57.

13. Anna Grigorievna remained faithful to her husband until her death. The year of his death she was only 35 years old, but she considered her woman's life finished and devoted herself to serving his name. She published full meeting his works, collected his letters and notes, forced friends to write his biography, founded the Dostoevsky school in Staraya Russa, and wrote memoirs herself. In 1918, in the last year of her life, the then aspiring composer Sergei Prokofiev came to Anna Grigorievna and asked to make some kind of recording for his album “dedicated to the sun.” She wrote: “The sun of my life is Fyodor Dostoevsky. Anna Dostoevskaya..."

14. Dostoevsky was incredibly jealous. Attacks of jealousy seized him suddenly, sometimes arising out of the blue. He could suddenly return home an hour later - and start rummaging through the closets and looking under all the beds! Or, for no apparent reason, he will become jealous of his neighbor - a frail old man.
Any trifle could serve as a reason for an outburst of jealousy. For example: if the wife looked at so-and-so for too long, or smiled too broadly at so-and-so!
Dostoevsky will develop a number of rules for his second wife Anna Snitkina, which she, at his request, will adhere to in the future: do not wear tight dresses, do not smile at men, do not laugh in conversation with them, do not put on lipstick, do not apply eyeliner... And indeed , from now on Anna Grigorievna will behave with men with extreme restraint and dryness.

15. In 1873, Dostoevsky began editing the newspaper-magazine “Citizen,” where he did not limit himself to editorial work, deciding to publish his own journalistic, memoir, literary critical essays, feuilletons, and stories. This diversity was “redeemed” by the unity of intonation and views of the author, conducting a constant dialogue with the reader. This is how the “Diary of a Writer” began to be created, to which Dostoevsky dedicated recent years a lot of effort, turning it into a report on impressions of the most important phenomena public and political life and setting out on its pages their political, religious, aesthetic convictions.
"A Writer's Diary" was a huge success and prompted many people to enter into correspondence with its author. In fact, it was the first live magazine.

On October 30, 1821, one of the most outstanding and world-famous Russian writers, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, was born in Moscow. He grew up in a family subject to strictly patriarchal orders, in which there were seven children. The life and routine of the entire Dostoevsky household depended on the service regime of the father of the family, who worked as a doctor in a local hospital. At six o'clock we got up, at twelve - lunch, and at exactly nine o'clock in the evening the family had dinner, read prayers and went to bed. The routine was repeated day after day. At family gatherings and events, parents often read greatest work Russian literature and history, which formed the creative mindset of the future writer.

When Fyodor Mikhailovich was only 16 years old, his mother suddenly died. His father was forced to send Fedor and his older brother, Mikhail, to the Main Engineering School in St. Petersburg, even though both boys dreamed of studying literature.

Fyodor Mikhailovich did not like studying at all, because he was sure that this was not his calling. All free time he devoted himself to reading and translating literature, both domestic and foreign. In 1838, he and his comrades created a literature circle, which included Berezhetsky, Beketov, Grigoriev. Five years later, Dostoevsky was given the position of engineer, but he left it after a year and devoted himself to creativity.

In 1845, the Russian writer published one of his most famous novels, “Poor People.” They began to call him “the new Gogol.” Nevertheless, the next work, “Double,” was very coldly received by critics and the public. After that he tried himself in the most different genres- comedy, tragicomedy, story, story, novel.

Accusations and exile

Dostoevsky was convicted of spreading criminal thoughts against religion, although he denied all charges. He was sentenced to death penalty, but in last moment the decision was canceled and replaced by four years of hard labor in Omsk. In the work “The Idiot,” Fyodor Mikhailovich conveyed his feelings before execution, and he wrote the image of the main character from himself. The history of serving hard labor is described in “Notes from the House of the Dead.”

Life after hard labor

In 1857, the writer married for the first time. Dostoevsky and his first wife, Maria, had no children, but he had adopted son- Pavel. The whole family moved to St. Petersburg in 1859. During this period he wrote one of the most recognized works - “Humiliated and Insulted”.

The year 1864 became tragic for the philosopher. His older brother dies, followed by his wife. He gets carried away gambling, takes out a lot of loans and gets into debt. To get at least some money, he writes the novel “The Player” in exactly 21 days with the participation of stenographer Anna Grigorievna Snitkina. Anna becomes his second wife and takes on everything financial matters family. They had four children. Next years are the most fruitful in the author's career. He writes the novel “Demons”, then “The Teenager” and key work all of it life path- “The Brothers Karamazov”.

The Russian thinker and philosopher died of tuberculosis in 1881, at the age of 59, in St. Petersburg. All the author’s works are imbued with the spirit of Russian realism and personalism, which should not have been accepted by his contemporaries. He was recognized as a classic of Russian and even world literature of the 19th century after his death.

Four of Dostoevsky's novels were included in the list of one hundred in 2002 best books Norwegian Book Club, which includes the most significant works world literature according to one hundred writers from fifty-four countries. The writers chose such works of the Russian classic as “Crime and Punishment”, “The Idiot”, “Demons” and “The Brothers Karamazov”. The novels of the greatest Russian writer are studied in schools, adapted into films and staged in the theater to this day.