Where did Shchedrin study? "Domestic Notes"

A brilliant and inquisitive mind, a lively language filled with sharp satire. His works are transferred to Russian reality of the mid-19th century. With the help of pen and paper, he was able to create accurate and succinct images of the official of that time, to expose the main vices - bribery, bureaucracy, fear of the slightest changes.

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the brightest writers of his time. His “History of a City” and “The Tale of How a Man Fed Two Generals” are classics and are still relevant today.

Childhood

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (Shchedrin is a pseudonym) was born on January 15, 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province. Now this is the Taldomsky district of the Moscow region. He was the sixth child in a large noble family. Father Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov had the rank of collegiate adviser, and mother Olga Mikhailovna was from a wealthy family merchant family Zabelins. The age difference between the parents was 25 years.

My father, after retiring, did nothing special. He rarely traveled outside the boundaries of the estate; he mostly stayed at home and read books of mystical content. The mother was in charge of all affairs - a strict, domineering and calculating woman. Over the course of several years, she was able to significantly increase her husband’s fortune.

Raising children fell on the shoulders of governesses, numerous nannies, and invited teachers. The younger generation of Saltykovs were kept in strictness; their mother often personally punished them with rods for misdeeds. “I remember being whipped, for what, by whom exactly, I don’t remember, but they whipped me very painfully with a rod. The governess of my older brothers and sisters is trying to intercede, because I am still too young. I was two years old."

Members of a large family will later become the prototypes of heroes various works. The novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” completely describes the way of life noble family and is largely considered autobiographical.

Best on the course

At 10 home education is finally ending. Mikhail goes to Moscow to enter the Noble Institute. After entrance exams The boy is immediately enrolled in third grade. And after two years, a talented student, the best in the class, is transferred to the prestigious Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

Here Saltykov also demonstrates extraordinary abilities. For which he receives the nickname “smart guy.” He is also called “Pushkin of his course.” The young man tries himself in poetry, his first poems “Lyrics” and “Our Century” are published in major Moscow magazines. But Mikhail is very strict with himself and after a few years, re-reading his works, he realizes that poetry is not his thing and he doesn’t write any more poems.

At the Lyceum, Saltykov meets Mikhail Petrashevsky, he is studying several years older. They are united by the ideas of democratic reforms in Russia, the abolition of serfdom and universal equality. Strong influence on young man influences the work of Herzen and Belinsky, also imbued with the spirit of change.

Mikhail graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum in 1844 and was awarded the rank of 10th grade - collegiate secretary.

In the same 1844, 18-year-old Mikhail Saltykov entered the public service. He is accepted into the office of the War Ministry. At the same time, they take a receipt that he is not and will not be a member of any secret societies. The young official does not like his job.

Salvation is meeting with like-minded people on Fridays at Petrashevsky, theater and literature. The young author writes a lot, his stories - “Entangled Affair” and “Contradictions” - reflect idealistic views on life. Works are published in the magazine " Domestic notes».

It coincides that at the same time the publication was closely monitored by a special commission created by order of the emperor. The magazine will be considered harmful, and the young official and writer will first be sent to St. Petersburg to a guardhouse, and then into exile in Vyatka (now Kirov). Mikhail Saltykov will spend 7 years there, from 1848 to 1855. Numerous petitions from parents, influential relatives and friends will not help. Nicholas I will remain categorical.

In Vyatka, Saltykov first works as an ordinary scribe. Then he is appointed senior official special assignments under the governor, later as an adviser to the provincial government. Mikhail Evgrafovich travels a lot around the province, organizes a large agricultural exhibition, conducts an inventory of real estate, and writes his thoughts on the topic “Improving public and economic affairs.”

Writer and Lieutenant Governor

Mikhail Evgrafovich goes to St. Petersburg, where he works in the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an official for special assignments under the minister. He is sent to the Tver and Vladimir provinces to check the work of several committees. What he saw would form the basis of the famous “Provincial Sketches”; they were published in 1857 in the “Russian Bulletin” under the pseudonym Nikolai Shchedrin.

The work will bring fame to the author, and the essays will be published in enormous quantities. The created images are so subtle and truthful, they show the psychology of a Russian official so accurately that they will begin to talk about the author as the founder of accusatory literature.

For a long time, Mikhail Evgrafovich managed to combine two types of activities: public service and writing. Mikhail Saltykov is building a career, holding the position of vice-governor in the Ryazan and Tver provinces, fighting bribery and bureaucracy. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is a successful author who writes a lot and is published in all famous magazines Moscow and St. Petersburg. He is faithful to his chosen path - to expose the shortcomings of Russian reality. The most famous work – satirical novel“The History of a City,” which tells about the structure of the fictional Foolov and its inhabitants, the Foolovites.

Also among the author’s popular books are a cycle of fairy tales, the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity”, “The Golovlev Lords”. In addition, Saltykov-Shchedrin was a successful publisher; under his leadership, Otechestvennye zapiski and Sovremennik significantly increased their circulation.

Personal life

During his exile, Saltykov-Shchedrin falls in love with a 12-year-old girl, Elizaveta Boltin, the daughter of the Vyatka vice-governor. The writer waits 4 years before proposing. The young couple got married in the summer of 1856. The marriage produces two children: daughter Lisa and son Konstantin.

Mikhail Evgrafovich considered his wife very flighty and eccentric, but admitted that he could not live without her even a day. “My wife is not too smart and demanding. He will spend half a day in the store, then he will bring guests home and treat them with raisins, wine berries, sweets with tea and coffee. And he changes clothes endlessly.”

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born on January 27 (15), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazinsky district, Tver province (now Taldomsky district, Moscow region).
Saltykov's father, Evgraf Vasilyevich, a pillar nobleman, served as a collegiate adviser. He came from an old noble family.
Mother, Olga Mikhailovna, nee Zabelina, Muscovite, merchant daughter. Mikhail was the sixth of her nine children.
For the first 10 years of his life, Saltykov lives on his father’s family estate, where he receives his primary education at home. The future writer's first teachers were his elder sister and the serf painter Pavel.
1836 – 1838 – studied at the Moscow Noble Institute.
1838 - for excellent academic achievements, Mikhail Saltykov was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum as a state-funded student, that is, trained at the expense of the state treasury.
1841 – Saltykov’s first poetic experiments. The poem “Lyra” was even published in the magazine “Library for Reading,” but Saltykov quickly understands that poetry is not for him, since he does not have the necessary abilities. He leaves poetry.
1844 – graduation from the lyceum in the second category, with the rank of X class. Saltykov enters service in the office of the Military Department, but serves all states. He manages to get his first full-time position only after two years, this is the position of assistant secretary.
1847 – Mikhail Saltykov’s first story “Contradictions” is published.
Beginning of 1848 - the story “A Confused Affair” was published in Otechestvennye zapiski.
April of the same year - the tsarist government was too shocked by the revolution that took place in France, and Saltykov was arrested for the story “A Confused Affair”, more precisely for “... a harmful way of thinking and a harmful desire to spread ideas that have already shaken the whole of Western Europe...”. He was exiled to Vyatka.
1848 - 1855 - service in Vyatka, under the provincial government, first as a clerical official, then as a senior official for special assignments under the governor and ruler of the governor's office. Saltykov ends his exile in the position of adviser to the provincial government.
1855 - with the death of Emperor Nicholas I, Shchedrin gets the opportunity to “live wherever he wishes” and returns to St. Petersburg. Here he entered the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a year later he was appointed an official of special assignments under the minister. Sent on a business trip to the Tver and Vladimir provinces.
June 1856 - Saltykov marries the daughter of the vice-governor of Vyatka, Elizaveta Apollonovna Boltina.
1856 – 1857 – satirical cycle “ Provincial essays"is published in the magazine "Russian Bulletin" with the caption "Nadvorny Councilor N. Shchedrin." The writer becomes famous, he is called the successor of N.V.’s work. Gogol.
1858 - appointment as vice-governor in Ryazan.
1860 - 1862 - Saltykov served as vice-governor in Tver for two years, after which he retired and returned to St. Petersburg.
December 1862 - 1864 - collaboration of Mikhail Saltykov with the Sovremennik magazine at the invitation of N.A. Nekrasova. After leaving the editorial board of the magazine, the writer returned to public service. Appointed chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber.
1866 - moved to Tula to the position of manager of the Tula Treasury Chamber.
1867 - Saltykov is transferred to Ryazan to the same position. The fact that Saltykov-Shchedrin could not last long in one place of service is explained by the fact that he did not hesitate to ridicule his superiors in grotesque “fairy tales.” In addition, the writer behaved too atypically for an official: he fought against bribery, embezzlement and simply theft, and defended the interests of the lower strata of the population.
1868 - the complaint of the Ryazan governor becomes the last in the writer’s career. He was dismissed with the rank of active state councilor.
September of the same year - Saltykov became a member of the editorial board of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, headed by N.A. Nekrasov.
1869 - 1870 - the fairy tales “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”, “ Wild landowner", novel "The History of a City".
1872 - the Saltykovs’ son Konstantin is born.
1873 – birth of daughter Elizabeth.
1876 - Nekrasov becomes seriously ill, and Saltykov-Shchedrin replaces him as editor-in-chief of Otechestvennye zapiski. He worked unofficially for two years and was approved for this position in 1878.
1880 – publication of the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs”.
1884 - “Domestic Notes” are banned.
1887 - 1889 - the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” is published in “Bulletin of Europe”.
March 1889 – sharp deterioration writer's health.
May 10 (April 28), 1889 - Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin dies. According to his own will, he was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg next to

04/28/1889 (05/11).– Writer Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin died

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (01/15/1828–04/28/1889), writer and publicist (pseud. Saltykov-Shchedrin). Born into a noble family, on his parents' estate, in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazinsky district, Tver province. Childhood years spent in family estate, in a serf-dominated environment, had a huge impact on the formation of his social views.

He studied at the Moscow Noble Institute, from where in 1838 he best student he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here Saltykov-Shchedrin became interested in literature, and in 1841 he published his first poem. He was reprimanded by teachers for “rudeness,” smoking, careless dress, and writing poems with “disapproving” content. Then his acquaintance with V.G. Belinsky influenced him political position, close to revolutionary. In 1847–1848 he became interested in the theories of utopian socialists and attended M.V.’s “Fridays.” Petrashevsky, with whom he later separated. At the same time, he wrote his first stories, “Contradiction” and “Entangled Affair,” which aroused dissatisfaction with the authorities due to their acute social and accusatory nature.

However, the “despotic regime” was such that all this time, from 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, Saltykov served in the office of the War Ministry. In 1848, for a “harmful way of thinking,” he was simply sent to serve in Vyatka, where he held the position of senior official and adviser to the provincial government. Judging by the note about land unrest in Slobodsky district, he ardently took his responsibilities to heart when they brought him into contact with people's troubles.

The death of Emperor Nicholas I in 1855 and the beginning of a liberal government course allowed Saltykov to return to St. Petersburg, where he gained fame with his “Provincial Sketches” (signed under the pseudonym N. Shchedrin). “Provincial Sketches” were published in “Russian Bulletin” since 1856, and in 1857, collected together, went through two editions (later two more, in 1864 and 1882). They laid the foundation for literature that was called “accusatory,” but they themselves only partly belonged to it. The external side of the bureaucratic world, well known to Saltykov-Shchedrin, of slander, bribes and other abuses completely fills only some of the essays; the psychology of bureaucratic life is more important there; “Gogolian humor” alternates with lyricism.

During these years, the critic and accuser Saltykov-Shchedrin served as an official of special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was sent to the Tver and Vladimir provinces to review the paperwork of the provincial militia committees (on the occasion Crimean War). The note he compiled during the execution of this assignment reveals many of the abuses he discovered. He then participated in the preparation of the peasant reform of 1861. In 1858–1862. was appointed vice-governor in Ryazan, then in Tver, constantly fought against bribery.

He resigned to devote himself entirely to literature. He moved to St. Petersburg and, by invitation, joined the editorial staff of the Sovremennik magazine, but gave his main attention to the monthly review Our public life". In 1864, he left the editorial board of Sovremennik due to disagreements on the tactics of “social struggle.” He returned to public service in 1865–1868, heading the State Chambers in Penza, Tula, Ryazan, which ended in his final resignation resigned with the rank of active state councilor (after a complaint from the Ryazan governor). From 1868, at the invitation of Nekrasov, he worked for 16 years at Otechestvennye Zapiski, and after Nekrasov’s death he headed the editorial office.

Saltykov-Shchedrin did not spare the new liberal institutions of Alexander II - the zemstvo, the court, the bar - because he demanded a lot from them and was indignant at every imperfection. Although this direction of his work is not tied only to his time. Particularly well known in this regard are the allegorical tales and parables of Saltykov-Shchedrin, the images of which have entered into proverbs and become household names: " The wise minnow", "Poor Wolf", "Crucian Crucian Idealist", "Ram the Unremembered" and others. In them, however, not only bureaucratic vices are ridiculed, but also the very principle of autocracy. "Poshekhon Antiquity" is also well known - a bright and biased picture life of serf Russia. In the work of this writer, and especially in fairy tales, there is generally a caricature denunciation of the Russian order of that time, by which one cannot judge that Russia (although we still encounter these quotes at every step - already in justification of the modern criminal regime: supposedly this has always been the case in Rus'...).

Nevertheless, Saltykov-Shchedrin cannot be counted among revolutionary democrats, as they did under Soviet rule. Here, apparently, at first he showed the same peculiarity of Russian denunciation as in: heightened mental and moral sensitivity and rejection social evil with the inability to correctly understand the problem of theodicy: the existence of evil in the world under the all-merciful and all-powerful Creator. Saltykov-Shchedrin also lacked an understanding of the spiritual nature of evil, and therefore the social ideal was considered utopian. Indicative here is the fairy tale “The Adventure with Kramolnikov,” in which the writer writes about his hero that the reason for his “seditious” writings was love for his country and pain for it, which was transmitted to others in the form of sedition. And in “Poshekhon Antiquity” Nikanor Zatrapezny, through whose mouth the author himself undoubtedly also speaks, describes the effect produced on him by reading the Gospel. “The humiliated and insulted stood before me, illuminated by the light, and loudly cried out against the innate injustice, which gave them nothing but chains.”

That is, in the heat of morally cheap experiences and denunciations, the writer exaggerated the ulcers of his time, essentially condemning the sinfulness of man himself, but shifting responsibility for it to “society” and the existing Orthodox government. However, at the same time, Saltykov-Shchedrin remained a believer (reflections on the resurrection of Christ in “Provincial Sketches”, “A Christmas Tale”, “Conscience Lost”, “Christ’s Night”, etc.) and this “saves” many of his works for the classics of Russian literature . The Christian basis of the writer’s intransigence towards evil appears, for example, in a speech about the fate of a Russian peasant woman, put by the author into the mouth of a village teacher (“Dream in summer night"): "Who sees the tears of a peasant woman? Who hears how they flow drop by drop? Only the little Russian peasant sees and hears them, but in him they revive moral sense and plant the first seeds of good in his heart.”

Even at their most negative characters Saltykov-Shchedrin sees human traits. In the socio-psychological novel "The Golovlevs" (a symbol of the decay of the idle life of a noble family), he even reveals them in "Judas" (Porfiry Golovlev) - a man who blasphemously covers up his amazing immorality and sinfulness with ostentatious prayerful piety, quotes from Holy Scripture and so on. (the character became a household name and even famous). In the depiction of the crisis experienced by Judas on Holy Week and leading him to repentance and death, it is shown that Judas also has a conscience; in the words of Saltykov-Shchedrin, it can only be temporarily “driven away and, as it were, forgotten.” This novel rightfully introduces Saltykov-Shchedrin into the ranks of real Russian writers.

So in the fairy tale “Conscience is Missing” - conscience, which everyone is burdened with as a burden and from which they are trying to get rid of, she says to her to the last owner: “Find me a small Russian child, dissolve his pure heart before me and bury me in it: perhaps he, an innocent baby, will shelter and nurture me, perhaps he will produce me according to the measure of his age and then come out to people with me - he will not disdain... That’s why she and so it happened. A tradesman found a little Russian child, and with him his conscience grows. And there will be a little child big man, and there will be a great conscience in him. And then all untruths, deceit and violence will disappear, because the conscience will not be timid and will want to manage everything itself.”

Often Saltykov-Shchedrin in his works translates the gospel commandments in his own words, although sometimes too freely and boldly.

In 1875–1876 he was treated abroad, visited countries Western Europe V different years life. In Paris he met with Flaubert, Zola.

Among the most significant works of Saltykov are: " Well-Intentioned Speeches"(1872-76), "The History of a City" (1870), "Lords of Tashkent" (1869–1872), "Lords Golovlevs" (1880), "Fairy Tales" (1869–1886), "Little Things in Life" (1886– 1887), "Poshekhon antiquity" (1887–1889).

Shchedrin, real name Saltykov, was born in 1826, in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, now Moscow region, on the family estate.

The strictest economy, parental scandals and swearing, cruel treatment of serfs - this is the world of his childhood, captured in the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity.”

Having received elementary education in the family, the writer studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where senior government officials were trained. There his literary and poetic abilities manifested themselves.

Upon completion of his studies, he began service, which continued with a short break until 1868.

In 1848 the young official, already taking part in the literary and social life of the capital, almost suffered the fate of Dostoevsky: Saltykov was arrested for the stories “Contradictions” (1847) and “A Confused Case” (1848). He continues to serve in Vyatka, from where he returns after the death of Nicholas I, in 1855.

In 1856 - 1857, the satirist, basing his impressions of the province and for the first time using his favorite form - a cycle of closely related stories and scenes, embodied his plan - “Provincial Sketches”.

1858 Saltykov is the vice-governor of Ryazan, later of Tver, and in 1865 - 1868 he served in important posts in Penza, Tula, and Ryazan. According to contemporaries, official he was respectable, incorruptible, zealous. But intransigence, rigidity and inflexibility, some cynicism and caustic temperament, reluctance to adapt to the leaders and the current situation, became the reason for leaving the civil service.

Shchedrin devotes himself entirely to literary craft. True experience of life in the outback and awareness of the structure of the state apparatus from the inside made the writer an expert on the national foundations of that time. " Innocent stories", "Satires in Prose", "Pompadours and Pompadours", the brilliant "History of a City", which in its genre became a satirical parody of historical work.

In 1863 - 1864, having temporarily retired from service, Saltykov collaborated with Nekrasov in the Sovremennik magazine. In 1868 - becomes co-editor of Otechestvennye Zapiski, connecting his further literary work with this magazine - social activity. In 1880 The socio-psychological novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” has been completed.

In 1884 By decision of the government, the popular and democratic “Otechestvennye Zapiski” is closed. The writer perceives this as a personal life disaster. The mental wound inflicted by the banning of the publication, into which so much effort and heart had been invested, did not heal until his death in 1889.

Despite his painful illness and depressed mental state, Saltykov continues to compose. This time includes: “Poshekhon Antiquity”, “Little Things in Life”. Bright, expressive, sharp in their themes fairy tales, the images of which have become household names. The author begins " Forgotten words", in the genre of poetic prose, but death interrupts his work.

All works of the classic are not combined genre affiliation, not by theme or even a special, sarcastic method of describing what is happening, but by the fact that they are peculiar parts and fragments of one great work, which depicted Russian life late XIX century.

M.E. Saltykov, thanks to the strength and depth of his amazing talent, is a rare, amazing phenomenon. He rightfully occupies a special niche in literature.

A very short biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was born in the Tver province in 1826. At the age of 10, he began studying at the Moscow Noble Institute. Having shown himself to be an excellent student, he soon received a transfer to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

At the age of 19, Mikhail entered the military service, to the office. At this time, his works began to be published for the first time.

He was exiled to Vyatka in 1848 because his way of thinking was not accepted by many. There he served as a senior official under the governor and later became an advisor to the governor's board.

It was not until 1856 that his residence restriction was lifted. At this time, Mikhail returned to St. Petersburg. There he started studying again writing activity. In addition, the writer worked at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and took part in reforms. In 1858, Saltykov-Shchedrin became vice-governor in Ryazan, and then in Tver. At the age of 36, he resigned, returned to St. Petersburg and began working as editor of Sovremennik magazine.

For several years he tried to return to public service, but the attempts were unsuccessful.

Almost until his death, Mikhail worked in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, first as one of the editors, and then as the managing editor of the magazine. At this time he created his famous work - “The History of a City”.

). Future writer was the sixth child in the family hereditary nobleman and retired collegiate adviser Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov (1776-1851). M. E. Saltykov spent his childhood years on his father’s estate.

In 1836-1838, M. E. Saltykov studied at the Moscow Noble Institute, in 1838-1844 - at the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo (since 1843 - Alexander) Lyceum. During his studies, he began to write and publish poetry.

After graduating from the Lyceum, M. E. Saltykov served in the office of the War Ministry (1844-1848). In the 1840s he experienced a craze utopian socialism C. Fourier and Saint-Simon, became close to the socialist circle of M. V. Petrashevsky.

The first stories of M. E. Saltykov “Contradictions” (1847) and “A Confused Affair” (1848), filled with acute social issues, caused discontent among the authorities. In April 1848, the writer was arrested and then sent to serve in Vyatka (now) “for a harmful way of thinking.”

In M.E. Saltykov held the position of senior official for special assignments under the governor, and from August 1850 he was an adviser to the provincial government. From numerous official trips around Vyatka and adjacent provinces, he brought away a rich supply of observations on peasant life and the provincial bureaucratic world.

After the accession of the Emperor, M.E. Saltykov was allowed to leave. At the end of 1855, he returned to the situation of the ensuing social upsurge and immediately resumed the interrupted exile. literary work. The writer’s “Provincial Sketches” (1856-1857), published under the name of “court adviser N. Shchedrin,” brought enormous success and fame to the writer. This pseudonym has almost replaced real name the author in the minds of his contemporaries.

In 1856-1858, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin served as an official of special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and participated in the preparation of the peasant reform. In 1858-1862 he served as vice-governor in, then in. As an administrator, M. E. Saltykov actively fought against landlord tyranny and corruption in the bureaucracy. At the beginning of 1862, he retired “due to illness.”

During the years of vice-government M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin continued to publish stories, essays, plays, scenes (since 1860, most often in the Sovremennik magazine). Most of them were included in the books “Innocent Stories” and “Satires in Prose” (both 1863). After leaving the service, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin attempted to publish his own magazine “Russian Truth”, but did not receive permission from the authorities.

After the arrest and 8-month suspension of the publication of Sovremennik, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, by invitation, became one of the co-editors of the magazine. His monthly reviews "Our Public Life" remained outstanding monument Russian journalism and literary criticism 1860s. In 1864, due to disagreements within the management of Sovremennik, M. E. Saltykov left its editorial office, but did not stop his authorial collaboration with the publication.

In 1865, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to public service. In 1865-1868 he headed the Treasury Chambers in, and. Observations made during the service formed the basis of “Letters from the Province” and partly “Signs of the Times” (both -1869).

In 1868, by order of M.E. Saltykov, he was permanently dismissed with a ban on holding any position in the public service. At the same time, he accepted an invitation to become a member of the updated journal Otechestvennye zapiski, designed to replace Sovremennik, which was closed in 1866. Sixteen years of work by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in “Notes of the Fatherland” form the central chapter in the writer’s biography. In 1878, after the death, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin headed the editorial board of the magazine.

The 1870-1880s became the time of the highest creative achievements M. E. Saltykova-Shchedrin. At this time, he wrote the satirical chronicle “The History of a City” (1869-1870), a series of essays “Gentlemen of Tashkent” (1869-1872), “Diary of a Provincial in” (1872), “Well-Intentioned Speeches” (1872-1876) and “Refuge of Monrepos” (1878-1879), socio-psychological novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” (1875-1880).

In 1875-1876, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was treated abroad. Subsequently, he traveled to Europe in 1880, 1881, 1883 and 1885; he reflected his impressions of the trips in the book “Abroad” (1880-1881). The writer’s artistic and journalistic cycles “Modern Idyll” (1877-1881), “Letters to Auntie” (1881-1882) and “Poshekhonsky Stories” (1883-1884) were devoted to the fight against the political reaction of the 1880s.

In 1884, the publication of Otechestvennye Zapiski was prohibited. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin had a hard time with the closure of the magazine. He was forced to publish in Vestnik Evropy and Russkie Vedomosti, which were foreign to him. IN last years During his lifetime he created “Fairy Tales” (1882-1886), which reflected almost all the main themes of his work. The chronicle novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” (1887-1889) reflected the writer’s childhood memories of the life of his parents’ estate.