Oral story about Turgenev. Life and work of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Biography and episodes of life Ivan Turgenev. When born and died Ivan Turgenev, memorable places and dates of important events of his life. Writer quotes, images and videos.

Years of life of Ivan Turgenev:

born October 28, 1818, died August 22, 1883

Epitaph

“The days are passing. And now it's been ten years
It's been a while since death approached you.
But there is no death for your creatures,
The crowd of your visions, O poet,
Illuminated with immortality forever.”
Konstantin Balmont, from the poem “In Memory of I. S. Turgenev”

Biography

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was not only one of the greatest Russian writers, who literally became classics of Russian literature during his lifetime. He also became the most famous Russian writer in Europe. Turgenev was respected and revered by such great people as Maupassant, Zola, Galsworthy; he lived abroad for a long time and was a kind of symbol, the quintessence of the best features that distinguished the Russian nobleman. Moreover, Turgenev’s literary talent placed him on the same level as the greatest writers of Europe.

Turgenev was the heir to a wealthy noble family (through his mother) and therefore never needed funds. Young Turgenev studied at St. Petersburg University, then went to complete his education in Berlin. The future writer was impressed by the European way of life and upset by the stark contrast with Russian reality. Since then, Turgenev lived abroad for a long time, returning to St. Petersburg only on short visits.

Ivan Sergeevich tried his hand at poetry, which, however, did not seem good enough to his contemporaries. But Russia learned about Turgenev as an excellent writer and a true master of words after fragments of his “Notes of a Hunter” were published in Sovremennik. During this period, Turgenev decided that it was his duty to fight serfdom, and therefore he went abroad again, since he could not “breathe the same air, stay close to what he hated.”

Portrait of I. Turgenev by Repin, 1879

After complications in relations with the authorities, Turgenev moved to Baden-Baden, where he quickly entered the circle of the intellectual European elite. He communicated with the greatest minds of the time: George Sand, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Victor Hugo, Prosper Merimee, Anatole France. By the end of his life, Turgenev became an undisputed idol both in his homeland and in Europe, where he continued to live permanently.

Ivan Turgenev died in the Paris suburb of Bougival after several years of painful illness. Only after death, doctor S.P. Botkin discovered the true cause of death - myxosarcoma (a cancerous tumor of the spine). Before the writer’s funeral, events were held in Paris, attended by more than four hundred people.

Ivan Turgenev, photograph from the 1960s.

Life line

October 28, 1818 Date of birth of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
1833 Admission to the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University.
1834 Moving to St. Petersburg and transferring to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.
1836 Turgenev's first publication in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education.
1838 Arrival in Berlin and study at the University of Berlin.
1842 Obtaining a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology at St. Petersburg University.
1843 Publication of the first poem “Parasha”, highly appreciated by Belinsky.
1847 Work in the Sovremennik magazine together with Nekrasov and Annenkov. Publication of the story “Khor and Kalinich”. Departure abroad.
1850 Return to Russia. Exile to the native village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo.
1852 Release of the book “Notes of a Hunter”.
1856“Rudin” is published in Sovremennik.
1859“The Noble Nest” is published in Sovremennik.
1860“On the Eve” is published in the “Russian Bulletin”. Turgenev becomes a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
1862“Fathers and Sons” are published in “Russian Bulletin”.
1863 Transfer to Baden-Baden.
1879 Turgenev becomes an honorary doctor of Oxford University.
August 22, 1883 Date of death of Ivan Turgenev.
August 27, 1883 Turgenev's body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.

Memorable places

1. House No. 11 on the street. Turgenev in Orel, the city where Turgenev was born; now it is a museum of the writer.
2. Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, where Turgenev’s ancestral estate was located, is now a house-museum.
3. House No. 37/7, building 1 on the street. Ostozhenka in Moscow, where Turgenev lived with his mother from 1840 to 1850, while visiting Moscow. Nowadays it is the Turgenev house-museum.
4. House No. 38 on the embankment. Fontanka River in St. Petersburg (Stepanov's apartment building), where Turgenev lived in 1854-1856.
5. House No. 13 on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street in St. Petersburg (Weber apartment building), where Turgenev lived in 1858-1860.
6. House No. 6 on Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg (formerly the France Hotel), where Turgenev lived in 1864-1867.
7. Baden-Baden, where Turgenev lived for a total of about 10 years.
8. House No. 16 on the embankment. Turgenev in Bougival (Paris), where Turgenev lived for many years and died; now it is the writer’s house-museum.
9. Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg, where Turgenev is buried.

Episodes of life

Turgenev had many hobbies in his life, and they were often reflected in his work. Thus, one of the first ended with the appearance in 1842 of an illegitimate daughter, whom Turgenev officially recognized in 1857. But the most famous (and most dubious) episode in the personal life of Turgenev, who never started his own family, was his relationship with the actress Polina Viardot and his life with the Viardots in Europe for many years.

Ivan Turgenev was one of the most passionate hunters in Russia of his time. When meeting Pauline Viardot, he was recommended to the actress as “a glorious hunter and a bad poet.”

Living abroad, from 1874 Turgenev participated in the so-called bachelor “dinners of five” - monthly meetings with Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet and Zola in Parisian restaurants or in the writers’ apartments.

Turgenev became one of the highest paid writers in the country, which aroused rejection and envy among many - in particular F. M. Dostoevsky. The latter considered such high fees unfair given Turgenev’s already magnificent fortune, which he received after the death of his mother.

Testaments

“In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language!.. Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home . But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!”

“Our life does not depend on us; but we all have one anchor from which, unless you want to, you will never break free: a sense of duty.”

“No matter what a person prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer boils down to the following: “Great God, make sure that two and two do not become four!”

“If you wait for the minute when everything, absolutely everything is ready, you will never have to start.”

Documentary and journalistic film “Turgenev and Viardot. More than love"

Condolences

“And yet it hurts... Russian society owes too much to this man to treat his death with simple objectivity.”
Nikolai Mikhailovsky, critic, literary critic and theorist of populism

“Turgenev was also a native Russian person in spirit. Wasn’t he master of the genius of the Russian language with the impeccable perfection available to him, perhaps only to Pushkin?”
Dmitry Merezhkovsky, writer and critic

“If now the English novel has any manners and grace, then it owes this primarily to Turgenev.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright

19th century. He lived in the heyday of Russian culture, and his works became an adornment of Russian literature. Today, the name of the writer Turgenev is known to many, even schoolchildren, because his works are included in the compulsory school curriculum in literature.

Ivan Turgenev was born in the Oryol province of the Russian Empire, in the glorious city of Orel in October 1818. His father was a hereditary nobleman, served as an officer in the Russian army. Mother came from a family of wealthy landowners.

The Turgenev family estate is Spasskoye-Lutovino. It was here that the future famous Russian writer spent his entire childhood. On the estate, Ivan’s upbringing was mainly carried out by various teachers and tutors, both local and foreign.

In 1827 the family moved to Moscow. Here the boy is sent to a boarding school, where he undergoes training for about two years. In subsequent years, Ivan Turgenev studied at home, listening to lessons from private teachers.

At the age of 15, in 1833, Ivan Sergeevich entered Moscow University. A year later he will continue his studies in the capital of the Russian Empire, at St. Petersburg University. In 1836, studies at the university will be completed.

Two years later, Ivan Turgenev will travel to Berlin, Germany, where he will listen to lectures by famous professors on philosophy and philology. He spent a year and a half in Germany, and during this time he managed to meet Stankevich and Bakunin. Acquaintance with two famous cultural figures left a big imprint on the further development of the biography of Ivan Sergeevich.

In 1841, Turgenev returned to the Russian Empire. Living in Moscow, he is preparing for his master's exams. Here he met Khomyakov, Gogol and Aksakov, and later met Herzen.

In 1843, Ivan Sergeevich entered the public service. His new place of work was the “special office” under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He did not work in the civil service for long, only two years. But during this time he managed to make friends with Belinsky and other members of the circle of the famous publicist and writer.

After leaving the civil service, Turgenev went abroad for some time. Shortly before his departure, his essay “Khor and Kalinich” was published in Russia. Having returned, he begins to work at the Sovremennik magazine.

In 1852, a book was published - a collection of Turgenev’s works with the title “Notes of a Hunter”. In addition to the works included in the collection by him, there are such works (stories, plays, novels) as: “Bachelor”, “A Month in the Country”, “Freeloader”, “Provincial Woman”.

In the same year Nikolai Gogol dies. The sad event made a strong impression on Ivan Turgenev. He writes an obituary, which was banned by censorship. He was arrested for freethinking and imprisoned for a month.

Afterwards, Ivan Sergeevich was exiled to the family estate in the Oryol province. A year later he was allowed to return to the capital. During the time spent in exile in the Oryol province, Turgenev wrote his most famous work - the story “Mumu”. In subsequent years he would write: “Rudin”, “The Noble Nest”, “Fathers and Sons”, “On the Eve”.

Subsequently, in the writer’s life there was a break with the Sovremennik magazine and with Herzen. Turgenev considered Herzen's revolutionary, socialist ideas unviable. Ivan Sergeevich, one of many writers who, at the beginning of their creative career, were critical of the tsarist power, and their minds were shrouded in revolutionary romance.

When Turgenev’s personality was fully established, Ivan Sergeevich abandoned his thoughts and partnership with personalities like Herzen. Pushkin and Dostoevsky, for example, had similar experiences.

Beginning in 1863, Ivan Turgenev lived and worked abroad. In the next decade of the 19th century, he again remembered the ideas of his youth and sympathized with the Narodnaya Volya movement. At the end of the decade he came to his homeland, where he was solemnly welcomed. Soon Ivan Sergeevich became seriously ill, and died in August 1883. Turgenev with his creativity left a big mark on the development of Russian culture and literature.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a famous Russian prose writer, poet, classic of world literature, playwright, critic, memoirist and translator. He is the author of many outstanding works. The fate of this great writer will be discussed in this article.

Early childhood

Turgenev's biography (brief in our review, but very rich in reality) began in 1818. The future writer was born on November 9 in the city of Orel. His dad, Sergei Nikolaevich, was a combat officer in a cuirassier regiment, but retired soon after Ivan’s birth. The boy’s mother, Varvara Petrovna, was a representative of a wealthy noble family. It was on the family estate of this powerful woman - Spasskoye-Lutovinovo - that the first years of Ivan’s life passed. Despite her difficult, unbending disposition, Varvara Petrovna was a very enlightened and educated person. She managed to instill in her children (in the family, besides Ivan, his older brother Nikolai was raised) a love of science and Russian literature.

Education

The future writer received his primary education at home. So that it could continue in a dignified manner, the Turgenev family moved to Moscow. Here Turgenev’s biography (short) took a new turn: the boy’s parents went abroad, and he was kept in various boarding houses. First he lived and was brought up in Weidenhammer's establishment, then in Krause's. At the age of fifteen (in 1833), Ivan entered Moscow State University at the Faculty of Literature. After the eldest son Nikolai joined the Guards cavalry, the Turgenev family moved to St. Petersburg. Here the future writer became a student at a local university and began studying philosophy. In 1837, Ivan graduated from this educational institution.

Trying out the pen and further education

For many, Turgenev’s work is associated with writing prose works. However, Ivan Sergeevich initially planned to become a poet. In 1934, he wrote several lyrical works, including the poem “The Wall,” which was appreciated by his mentor, P. A. Pletnev. Over the next three years, the young writer has already composed about a hundred poems. In 1838, several of his works (“To the Venus of Medicine,” “Evening”) were published in the famous Sovremennik. The young poet felt an inclination towards scientific activity and in 1838 went to Germany to continue his education at the University of Berlin. Here he studied Roman and Greek literature. Ivan Sergeevich quickly became imbued with the Western European way of life. A year later, the writer returned to Russia briefly, but already in 1840 he left his homeland again and lived in Italy, Austria and Germany. Turgenev returned to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo in 1841, and a year later he turned to Moscow State University with a request to allow him to take the exam for a master's degree in philosophy. This was denied to him.

Pauline Viardot

Ivan Sergeevich managed to obtain a scientific degree at St. Petersburg University, but by that time he had already lost interest in this type of activity. In search of a worthy career in life, in 1843 the writer entered the service of the ministerial office, but his ambitious aspirations quickly faded away. In 1843, the writer published the poem “Parasha,” which impressed V. G. Belinsky. Success inspired Ivan Sergeevich, and he decided to devote his life to creativity. In the same year, Turgenev’s (brief) biography was marked by another fateful event: the writer met the outstanding French singer Pauline Viardot. Having seen the beauty at the St. Petersburg Opera House, Ivan Sergeevich decided to meet her. At first, the girl did not pay attention to the little-known writer, but Turgenev was so amazed by the singer’s charm that he followed the Viardot family to Paris. For many years he accompanied Polina on her foreign tours, despite the obvious disapproval of his relatives.

Creativity flourishes

In 1946, Ivan Sergeevich actively took part in updating the Sovremennik magazine. He meets Nekrasov, and he becomes his best friend. For two years (1950-1952) the writer was torn between abroad and Russia. During this period, Turgenev's creativity began to gain serious momentum. The series of stories “Notes of a Hunter” was almost entirely written in Germany and made the writer famous throughout the world. In the next decade, the classic author created a number of outstanding prose works: “The Noble Nest”, “Rudin”, “Fathers and Sons”, “On the Eve”. During the same period, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev quarreled with Nekrasov. Their controversy over the novel “On the Eve” ended in a complete break. The writer leaves Sovremennik and goes abroad.

Abroad

Turgenev's life abroad began in Baden-Baden. Here Ivan Sergeevich found himself in the very center of Western European cultural life. He began to maintain relationships with many world literary celebrities: Hugo, Dickens, Maupassant, France, Thackeray and others. The writer actively promoted Russian culture abroad. For example, in 1874 in Paris, Ivan Sergeevich, together with Daudet, Flaubert, Goncourt and Zola, organized the now famous “bachelor dinners at five” in the capital’s restaurants. Turgenev's characterization during this period was very flattering: he turned into the most popular, famous and read Russian writer in Europe. In 1878, Ivan Sergeevich was elected vice-president of the International Literary Congress in Paris. Since 1877, the writer has been an honorary doctor of Oxford University.

Creativity of recent years

Turgenev's biography - short but vivid - indicates that the long years spent abroad did not alienate the writer from Russian life and its pressing problems. He still writes a lot about his homeland. So, in 1867, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the novel “Smoke,” which caused a large-scale public outcry in Russia. In 1877, the writer composed the novel “New,” which became the result of his creative reflections in the 1870s.

Demise

For the first time, a serious illness that interrupted the writer’s life made itself felt in 1882. Despite severe physical suffering, Ivan Sergeevich continued to create. A few months before his death, the first part of the book “Poems in Prose” was published. The great writer died in 1883, on September 3, in the suburbs of Paris. Relatives carried out the will of Ivan Sergeevich and transported his body to his homeland. The classic was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkov cemetery. He was accompanied on his last journey by numerous admirers.

This is the biography of Turgenev (short). This man devoted his entire life to his favorite work and forever remained in the memory of posterity as an outstanding writer and famous public figure.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a noble family on October 28, 1818. The writer's father served in a cavalry regiment and led a rather wild life. Because of his carelessness, and in order to improve his financial situation, he took Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova as his wife. She was very wealthy and came from the nobility.

Childhood

The future writer had two brothers. He himself was average, but became my mother's favorite.

The father died early and the mother raised his sons. Her character was domineering and despotic. In her childhood, she suffered from beatings from her stepfather and went to live with her uncle, who after his death left her a decent dowry. Despite her difficult character, Varvara Petrovna constantly took care of her children. To give them a good education, she moved from the Oryol province to Moscow. It was she who taught her sons to art, read the works of her contemporaries, and thanks to good teachers gave the children an education, which was useful to them in the future.

Writer's creativity

At the university, the writer studied literature from the age of 15, but due to his relatives moving from Moscow, he transferred to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.

Ivan already from a young age I saw myself as a writer and planned to connect his life with literature. During his student years, he communicated with T.N. Granovsky, a famous historian. He wrote his first poems while studying in his third year, and four years later he was already published in the Sovremennik magazine.

In 1938 Turgenev moves to Germany where he studies the work of Roman and then Greek philosophers. It was there that he met the Russian literary genius N.V. Stankevich, whose work had a great influence on Turgenev.

In 1841, Ivan Sergeevich returned to his homeland. At this time, the desire to engage in science cooled down, and creativity began to take up all my time. Two years later, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the poem “Parasha”, about which Belinsky left a positive review in “Notes of the Fatherland”. From that moment on, a strong friendship began between Turgenev and Belinsky, which lasted for a long time.

Works

The French Revolution made a strong impression on the writer, changing his worldview. The attacks and killings of people prompted the writer to write dramatic works. Turgenev spent a lot of time away from his homeland, but love for Russia always remained in the soul of Ivan Sergeevich and his creations.

• Bezhin meadow;
• Noble Nest;
• Fathers and Sons;
• Mu Mu.

Personal life

Personal life is replete with novels, but officially Turgenev never married.

The writer's biography includes a huge number of hobbies, but the most serious was romance with Pauline Viardot. She was a famous singer and the wife of a theater director in Paris. After meeting the Viardot couple, Turgenev lived in their villa for a long time and even settled his illegitimate daughter there. The complex relationship between Ivan and Polina is still not indicated in any way.

The love of the writer’s last days was actress Maria Savina, who very brightly played Verochka in the production of “A Month in the Country”. But on the part of the actress there was sincere friendship, but not love feelings.

last years of life

Turgenev gained particular popularity in the last years of his life. He was a favorite both at home and in Europe. The developing disease gout prevented the writer from working at full capacity. In recent years he lived in Paris in the winter and in the summer at the Viardot estate in Bougival.

The writer had a presentiment of his imminent death and tried with all his might to fight the disease. But on August 22, 1883, the life of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was cut short. The cause was a malignant tumor of the spine. Despite the fact that the writer died in Bougival, he was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, according to his last will. There were about four hundred people at the farewell funeral service in France alone. In Russia there was also a farewell ceremony for Turgenev, which was also attended by a lot of people.

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Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (October 28 (November 9) 1818, Oryol, Russian Empire - August 22 (September 3) 1883, Bougival, France) - Russian realist writer, poet, publicist, playwright, translator. One of the classics of Russian literature who made the most significant contribution to its development in the second half of the 19th century. Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of Russian language and literature (1860), honorary doctor of the University of Oxford (1879).

The artistic system he created influenced the poetics of not only Russian, but also Western European novels of the second half of the 19th century. Ivan Turgenev was the first in Russian literature to begin to study the personality of the “new man” - the sixties, his moral qualities and psychological characteristics, thanks to him the term “nihilist” began to be widely used in the Russian language. He was a promoter of Russian literature and drama in the West.

The study of the works of I. S. Turgenev is a mandatory part of general education school programs in Russia. The most famous works are the cycle of stories “Notes of a Hunter”, the story “Mumu”, the story “Asya”, the novels “The Noble Nest”, “Fathers and Sons”.

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 20.

Artist K. Gorbunov. 1838-1839 Watercolor

Origin and early years

The family of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev came from an ancient family of Tula nobles, the Turgenevs. In a memorial book, the mother of the future writer wrote: “On October 28, 1818, on Monday, a son, Ivan, 12 inches tall, was born in Orel, in his house, at 12 o’clock in the morning. Baptized on the 4th of November, Feodor Semenovich Uvarov and his sister Fedosya Nikolaevna Teplova.”

Ivan's father Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev (1793-1834) served at that time in a cavalry regiment. The carefree lifestyle of the handsome cavalry guard upset his finances, and to improve his position, in 1816 he entered into a marriage of convenience with the middle-aged, unattractive, but very wealthy Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova (1787-1850). In 1821, my father retired with the rank of colonel of a cuirassier regiment. Ivan was the second son in the family. The mother of the future writer, Varvara Petrovna, came from a wealthy noble family. Her marriage to Sergei Nikolaevich was not happy. The father died in 1834, leaving three sons - Nikolai, Ivan and Sergei, who died early from epilepsy. The mother was a domineering and despotic woman. She herself lost her father at an early age, suffered from the cruel attitude of her mother (whom her grandson later portrayed as an old woman in the essay “Death”), and from a violent, drinking stepfather, who often beat her. Due to constant beatings and humiliation, she later moved in with her uncle, after whose death she became the owner of a magnificent estate and 5,000 souls.

Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, father of the writer

Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, mother of the writer

Varvara Petrovna was a difficult woman. Feudal habits coexisted in her with being well-read and educated; she combined concern for raising children with family despotism. Ivan was also subjected to maternal beatings, despite the fact that he was considered her beloved son. The boy was taught literacy by frequently changing French and German tutors. In Varvara Petrovna’s family, everyone spoke exclusively French to each other, even prayers in the house were said in French. She traveled a lot and was an enlightened woman, she read a lot, but also mainly in French. But her native language and literature were not alien to her: she herself had excellent, figurative Russian speech, and Sergei Nikolaevich demanded that the children write letters to him in Russian during their father’s absences. The Turgenev family maintained connections with V. A. Zhukovsky and M. N. Zagoskin. Varvara Petrovna followed the latest literature, was well informed about the works of N. M. Karamzin, V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov and N. V. Gogol, whom she readily quoted in letters to her son.

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 7 years.

Unknown artist. 1825 Watercolor

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 12 years.

Artist I.Pirks. 1830 Watercolor

A love of Russian literature was also instilled in young Turgenev by one of the serf valets (who later became the prototype of Punin in the story “Punin and Baburin”). Until he was nine years old, Ivan Turgenev lived on his mother’s hereditary estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, 10 km from Mtsensk, Oryol province. In 1822, the Turgenev family made a trip to Europe, during which four-year-old Ivan almost died in Bern, falling from the railing of a moat with bears (Berengraben); His father saved him by catching him by the leg. In 1827, the Turgenevs, in order to give their children an education, settled in Moscow, buying a house on Samotek. The future writer first studied at the Weidenhammer boarding school, then became a boarder with the director of the Lazarev Institute I. F. Krause

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, Artist Nikolai Bodarevsky

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo

Spasskoye Lutovinovo - Sorokina Olga Aleksandrovna

Education. Beginning of literary activity

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

In 1833, at the age of 15, Turgenev entered the literature department of Moscow University. At the same time, A. I. Herzen and V. G. Belinsky studied here. A year later, after Ivan’s older brother joined the Guards Artillery, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where Ivan Turgenev transferred to the Faculty of Philosophy at St. Petersburg University. At the university, T. N. Granovsky, the future famous scientist-historian of the Western school, became his friend.

Timofey Granovsky (1813-1855), Russian historian

Pyotr Zakharov-Chechen

At first, Turgenev wanted to become a poet. In 1834, as a third-year student, he wrote the dramatic poem “Stheno” in iambic pentameter. The young author showed these samples of writing to his teacher, professor of Russian literature P. A. Pletnev. During one of his lectures, Pletnev quite strictly analyzed this poem, without revealing its authorship, but at the same time also admitted that there was “something in the author.” These words prompted the young poet to write a number of more poems, two of which Pletnev published in 1838 in the Sovremennik magazine, of which he was the editor. They were published under the signature “…..въ”. The debut poems were “Evening” and “To the Venus of Medicine”.

Portrait of Pyotr Pletnev (1836). Pushkin Museum in St. Petersburg.

Alexey Tyranov

Turgenev’s first publication appeared in 1836 - in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education he published a detailed review of A. N. Muravyov’s “On a Journey to Holy Places.” By 1837, he had already written about a hundred small poems and several poems (the unfinished “The Old Man’s Tale”, “Calm on the Sea”, “Phantasmagoria on a Moonlit Night”, “Dream”)

Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov, chamberlain of the Russian imperial court; Orthodox spiritual writer and Church historian, pilgrim and traveler; playwright, poet. Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1836).

P.Z.Zakharova-Chechen, 1838

After graduation. Abroad

In 1836, Turgenev graduated from the university with the degree of a full student. Dreaming of scientific activity, the following year he passed the final exam and received a candidate's degree. In 1838 he went to Germany, where he settled in Berlin and took up his studies seriously. At the University of Berlin he attended lectures on the history of Roman and Greek literature, and at home he studied the grammar of ancient Greek and Latin. Knowledge of ancient languages ​​allowed him to read the ancient classics fluently. During his studies, he became friends with the Russian writer and thinker N.V. Stankevich, who had a noticeable influence on him. Turgenev attended lectures by the Hegelians and became interested in German idealism with its teaching about world development, about the “absolute spirit” and about the high calling of the philosopher and poet. In general, the entire way of Western European life made a strong impression on Turgenev. The young student came to the conclusion that only the assimilation of the basic principles of universal human culture can lead Russia out of the darkness in which it is immersed. In this sense, he became a convinced “Westerner.”

Nikolai Vladimirovich Stankevich (1813-1840), public figure, philosopher, writer

Humboldt University in Berlin, 19th century

In the 1830-1850s, an extensive circle of literary acquaintances of the writer was formed. Back in 1837, there were fleeting meetings with A.S. Pushkin. At the same time, Turgenev met V. A. Zhukovsky, A. V. Nikitenko, A. V. Koltsov, and a little later - with M. Yu. Lermontov. Turgenev had only a few meetings with Lermontov, which did not lead to a close acquaintance, but Lermontov’s work had a certain influence on him. He tried to master the rhythm and stanza, stylistics and syntactic features of Lermontov's poetry. Thus, the poem “The Old Landowner” (1841) is in some places close in form to Lermontov’s “Testament,” and in “The Ballad” (1841) the influence of “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov” is felt. But the most tangible connection with Lermontov’s work is in the poem “Confession” (1845), the accusatory pathos of which brings it closer to Lermontov’s poem “Duma”.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Orest Adamovich Kiprensky

Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov

Zabolotsky, Pyotr Efimovich

In May 1839, the old house in Spassky burned down, and Turgenev returned to his homeland, but already in 1840 he went abroad again, visiting Germany, Italy and Austria. Impressed by his meeting with a girl in Frankfurt am Main, Turgenev later wrote the story “Spring Waters.” In 1841, Ivan returned to Lutovinovo.

"Spring Waters"

At the beginning of 1842, he submitted a request to Moscow University for admission to the exam for the degree of Master of Philosophy, but at that time there was no full-time professor of philosophy at the university, and his request was rejected. Unable to find a job in Moscow, Turgenev satisfactorily passed the exam for a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology in Latin at St. Petersburg University and wrote a dissertation for the literature department. But by this time, the craving for scientific activity had cooled, and literary creativity began to attract more and more. Having refused to defend his dissertation, he served until 1844 with the rank of collegiate secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Eugene Louis Lamy (1800-1890)

In 1843, Turgenev wrote the poem “Parasha”. Not really hoping for a positive review, he nevertheless took the copy to V.G. Belinsky. Belinsky praised Parasha, publishing his review in Otechestvennye zapiski two months later. From that time on, their acquaintance began, which later grew into a strong friendship; Turgenev was even godfather to Belinsky’s son, Vladimir. The poem was published in the spring of 1843 as a separate book under the initials “T. L." (Turgenev-Lutovinov). In the 1840s, in addition to Pletnev and Belinsky, Turgenev met with A. A. Fet.

Vissarion Belinsky

In November 1843, Turgenev created the poem “Foggy Morning,” which was set to music over the years by several composers, including A. F. Gedicke and G. L. Catuar. The most famous, however, is the romance version, originally published under the signature “Music of Abaza”; its affiliation with V.V. Abaza, E.A. Abaza or Yu.F. Abaza has not been definitively established. After its publication, the poem was perceived as a reflection of Turgenev's love for Pauline Viardot, whom he met at this time.

Portrait of singer Pauline Viardot

Karl Bryullov

In 1844, the poem “Pop” was written, which the writer himself characterized rather as fun, devoid of any “deep and significant ideas.” Nevertheless, the poem attracted public interest for its anti-clerical nature. The poem was truncated by Russian censorship, but was published in its entirety abroad.

In 1846, the stories “Breter” and “Three Portraits” were published. In “The Breter,” which became Turgenev’s second story, the writer tried to imagine the struggle between Lermontov’s influence and the desire to discredit posturing. The plot for his third story, “Three Portraits,” was drawn from the Lutovinov family chronicle.

Creativity flourishes

Since 1847, Ivan Turgenev participated in the transformed Sovremennik, where he became close to N. A. Nekrasov and P. V. Annenkov.

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov

Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov

The magazine published his first feuilleton, “Modern Notes,” and began publishing the first chapters of “Notes of a Hunter.” In the very first issue of Sovremennik, the story “Khor and Kalinich” was published, which opened countless editions of the famous book. The subtitle “From the Notes of a Hunter” was added by editor I. I. Panaev to attract the attention of readers to the story. The success of the story turned out to be enormous, and this gave Turgenev the idea of ​​writing a number of others of the same kind. According to Turgenev, “Notes of a Hunter” was the fulfillment of his Hannibal oath to fight to the end against the enemy whom he hated since childhood. “This enemy had a certain image, bore a well-known name: this enemy was serfdom.” To fulfill his intention, Turgenev decided to leave Russia. “I could not,” Turgenev wrote, “breathe the same air, stay close to what I hated<…>I needed to move away from my enemy so that from my very distance I could attack him more strongly.”

"Khor and Kalinich." Illustration by Elisabeth Böhm. 1883

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev “Lgov” (from the series “Notes of a Hunter”).

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev “The Swan” (from the series “Notes of a Hunter”).

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev “Peter Petrovich Karataev” (from the series “Notes of a Hunter”).

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev “Office” (from the series “Notes of a Hunter”).

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

In 1847, Turgenev and Belinsky went abroad and in 1848 lived in Paris, where he witnessed revolutionary events. Having witnessed the killing of hostages, many attacks, the construction and fall of the barricades of the February French Revolution, he forever developed a deep disgust for revolutions in general. A little later, he became close to A.I. Herzen and fell in love with Ogarev’s wife N.A. Tuchkova.

Alexander Ivanovich Herzen

Dramaturgy

The late 1840s - early 1850s became the time of Turgenev's most intense activity in the field of drama and a time of reflection on issues of history and theory of drama. In 1848 he wrote such plays as “Where it is thin, there it breaks” and “The Freeloader”, in 1849 - “Breakfast with the Leader” and “The Bachelor”, in 1850 - “A Month in the Country”, in 1851 -m - “Provincial”. Of these, “Freeloader”, “Bachelor”, “Provincial Woman” and “A Month in the Country” enjoyed success thanks to excellent stage performances. The success of “The Bachelor” was especially dear to him, which became possible largely thanks to the performing skills of A. E. Martynov, who played in four of his plays. Turgenev formulated his views on the situation of Russian theater and the tasks of dramaturgy back in 1846. He believed that the crisis in the theatrical repertoire observed at that time could be overcome by the efforts of writers committed to Gogol's dramaturism. Turgenev also counted himself among the followers of Gogol the playwright.

"In the box. 1909", Kustodiev

To master the literary techniques of drama, the writer also worked on translations of Byron and Shakespeare. At the same time, he did not try to copy Shakespeare’s dramatic techniques, he only interpreted his images, and all attempts by his contemporaries-playwrights to use Shakespeare’s work as a role model and to borrow his theatrical techniques only caused Turgenev irritation. In 1847 he wrote: “Shakespeare’s shadow looms over all dramatic writers; they cannot rid themselves of memories; These unfortunates read too much and lived too little.”

1850s

In 1850, Turgenev returned to Russia, but he never saw his mother, who died that same year. Together with his brother Nikolai, he shared his mother’s large fortune and, if possible, tried to ease the hardships of the peasants he inherited.

Nikolai Sergeevich Turgenev, brother of the writer

In 1850-1852 he lived either in Russia or abroad, and saw N.V. Gogol. After Gogol's death, Turgenev wrote an obituary, which St. Petersburg censorship did not allow. The reason for her dissatisfaction was that, as the chairman of the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee M. N. Musin-Pushkin put it, “it is criminal to speak so enthusiastically about such a writer.” Then Ivan Sergeevich sent the article to Moscow, V.P. Botkin, who published it in Moskovskie Vedomosti. The authorities saw a rebellion in the text, and the author was placed in a moving house, where he spent a month. On May 18, Turgenev was exiled to his native village, and only thanks to the efforts of Count A.K. Tolstoy, two years later the writer again received the right to live in the capitals.

Botkin Vasily Petrovich

Portrait of the writer Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy

Ilya Repin

There is an opinion that the real reason for the exile was not Gogol’s obituary, but the excessive radicalism of Turgenev’s views, manifested in sympathy for Belinsky, suspiciously frequent trips abroad, sympathetic stories about serfs, and a laudatory review of Turgenev by the emigrant Herzen. In addition, it is necessary to take into account V.P. Botkin’s warning to Turgenev in a letter on March 10, so that he should be careful in his letters, referring to third-party transmitters of advice to be more careful (the said letter from Turgenev is completely unknown, but its excerpt is from a copy in the file of the III Department - contains a harsh review of M. N. Musin-Pushkin). The enthusiastic tone of the article about Gogol only filled the gendarmerie's patience, becoming an external reason for punishment, the meaning of which was thought out by the authorities in advance. Turgenev feared that his arrest and exile would interfere with the publication of the first edition of Notes of a Hunter, but his fears were not justified - in August 1852 the book passed censorship and was published.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

However, the censor V.V. Lvov, who allowed “Notes of a Hunter” to be published, was, by personal order of Nicholas I, dismissed from service and deprived of his pension (“The highest forgiveness” followed on December 6, 1853). Russian censorship also imposed a ban on the re-publication of “Notes of a Hunter,” explaining this step by the fact that Turgenev, on the one hand, poeticized the serf peasants, and on the other hand, depicted “that these peasants are oppressed, that the landowners behave indecently and It’s illegal... finally, that it’s more comfortable for a peasant to live in freedom.”

Franz Kruger

During his exile in Spassky, Turgenev went hunting, read books, wrote stories, played chess, listened to Beethoven’s “Coriolanus” performed by A.P. Tyutcheva and her sister, who lived in Spassky at that time, and from time to time was subjected to raids by the police officer .

In 1852, while still in exile in Spassky-Lutovinovo, he wrote the now textbook story “Mumu”. Most of the “Notes of a Hunter” were created by the writer in Germany. “Notes of a Hunter” was published in Paris in a separate edition in 1854, although at the beginning of the Crimean War this publication was in the nature of anti-Russian propaganda, and Turgenev was forced to publicly express his protest against the poor quality French translation by Ernest Charrière. After the death of Nicholas I, four of the writer’s most significant works were published one after another: “Rudin” (1856), “The Noble Nest” (1859), “On the Eve” (1860) and “Fathers and Sons” (1862). The first two were published in Nekrasov’s Sovremennik, the other two in M. N. Katkov’s Russky Vestnik.

Illustrations for I.S. Turgenev’s story “Mumu”

Rudakov Konstantin Ivanovich - illustrations for the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Noble Nest"

Illustrations for the novel by I.S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons”

Sovremennik employees I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, I. I. Panaev, M. N. Longinov, V. P. Gaevsky, D. V. Grigorovich sometimes gathered in the “warlocks” circle organized by A. V. Druzhinin. The humorous improvisations of the “warlocks” sometimes went beyond censorship, so they had to be published abroad. Later, Turgenev took part in the activities of the “Society for Benefiting Needy Writers and Scientists” (Literary Fund), founded on the initiative of the same A.V. Druzhinin. From the end of 1856, the writer collaborated with the magazine “Library for Reading,” published under the editorship of A. V. Druzhinin. But his editorship did not bring the expected success to the publication, and Turgenev, who in 1856 hoped for close magazine success, in 1861 called the “Library,” edited by A.F. Pisemsky by that time, “a dead hole.”

In the fall of 1855, Turgenev's circle of friends was replenished with Leo Tolstoy. In September of the same year, Tolstoy’s story “Cutting the Forest” was published in Sovremennik with a dedication to I. S. Turgenev.

Employees of the Sovremennik magazine. Top row: L. N. Tolstoy, D. V. Grigorovich; bottom row: I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, A. V. Druzhinin, A. N. Ostrovsky. Photo by S. L. Levitsky, February 15, 1856

Turgenev took an active part in the discussion of the upcoming Peasant Reform, participated in the development of various collective letters, draft addresses addressed to Emperor Alexander II, protests, etc. From the first months of publication of Herzen’s “Bell,” Turgenev was his active collaborator. He himself did not write for Kolokol, but helped in collecting materials and preparing them for publication. An equally important role of Turgenev was to mediate between A.I. Herzen and those correspondents from Russia who, for various reasons, did not want to be in direct relations with the disgraced London emigrant. In addition, Turgenev sent detailed review letters to Herzen, information from which, without the author’s signature, was also published in Kolokol. At the same time, Turgenev every time spoke out against the harsh tone of Herzen’s materials and excessive criticism of government decisions: “Please don’t scold Alexander Nikolaevich, - otherwise he is already cruelly scolded by all the reactionaries in St. Petersburg, - why bother him like that from both sides “He’ll probably lose his spirit.”

Portrait of Emperor Alexander II. 1874. State Historical Museum

Alexey Kharlamov

In 1860, Sovremennik published an article by N. A. Dobrolyubov, “When will the real day come?”, in which the critic spoke very flatteringly about the new novel “On the Eve” and Turgenev’s work in general. Nevertheless, Turgenev was not satisfied with Dobrolyubov’s far-reaching conclusions that he made after reading the novel. Dobrolyubov connected the idea of ​​Turgenev’s work with the events of the approaching revolutionary transformation of Russia, which the liberal Turgenev could not reconcile with. Dobrolyubov wrote: “Then a complete, sharply and vividly outlined image of the Russian Insarov will appear in literature. And we won’t have to wait long for him: this is guaranteed by the feverish, painful impatience with which we await his appearance in life.<…>This day will finally come! And, in any case, the eve is not far from the next day: just some night separates them!...” The writer gave N.A. Nekrasov an ultimatum: either he, Turgenev, or Dobrolyubov. Nekrasov preferred Dobrolyubov. After this, Turgenev left Sovremennik and stopped communicating with Nekrasov, and subsequently Dobrolyubov became one of the prototypes for the image of Bazarov in the novel Fathers and Sons.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Turgenev gravitated toward the circle of Westernized writers who professed the principles of “pure art,” which opposed the tendentious creativity of the common revolutionaries: P. V. Annenkov, V. P. Botkin, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin. For a short time Leo Tolstoy also joined this circle. For some time, Tolstoy lived in Turgenev’s apartment. After Tolstoy’s marriage to S.A. Bers, Turgenev found a close relative in Tolstoy, but even before the wedding, in May 1861, when both prose writers were visiting A.A. Fet on the Stepanovo estate, a serious quarrel occurred between them, almost which ended in a duel and spoiled the relationship between the writers for 17 long years. For some time, the writer developed complex relationships with Fet himself, as well as with some other contemporaries - F. M. Dostoevsky, I. A. Goncharov

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Dmitry Vasilievich Grigorovich

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

“Portrait of the poet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet.”

Ilya Efimovich Repin

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

Vasily Perov.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov

In 1862, good relations with former friends of Turgenev’s youth began to become complicated - A. I. Herzen and M. A. Bakunin. From July 1, 1862 to February 15, 1863, Herzen’s “Bell” published a series of articles “Ends and Beginnings” consisting of eight letters. Without naming the addressee of Turgenev’s letters, Herzen defended his understanding of the historical development of Russia, which, in his opinion, should move along the path of peasant socialism. Herzen contrasted peasant Russia with bourgeois Western Europe, whose revolutionary potential he considered already exhausted. Turgenev objected to Herzen in private letters, insisting on the commonality of historical development for different states and peoples.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin

At the end of 1862, Turgenev was involved in the trial of the 32 in the case of “persons accused of having relations with London propagandists.” After the authorities ordered an immediate appearance at the Senate, Turgenev decided to write a letter to the sovereign, trying to convince him of the loyalty of his convictions, “completely independent, but conscientious.” He asked for the interrogation points to be sent to him in Paris. In the end, he was forced to go to Russia in 1864 for Senate interrogation, where he managed to avert all suspicions from himself. The Senate found him not guilty. Turgenev’s appeal personally to Emperor Alexander II caused Herzen’s bilious reaction in The Bell. Much later, this moment in the relationship between the two writers was used by V.I. Lenin to illustrate the difference between the liberal vacillations of Turgenev and Herzen: “When the liberal Turgenev wrote a private letter to Alexander II with assurance of his loyal feelings and donated two gold pieces for the soldiers wounded during the pacification of the Polish uprising , “The Bell” wrote about “the gray-haired Magdalene (masculine), who wrote to the sovereign that she did not know sleep, tormented, that the sovereign did not know about the repentance that had befallen her.” And Turgenev immediately recognized himself.” But Turgenev’s hesitation between tsarism and revolutionary democracy manifested itself in another way.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

In 1863, Turgenev settled in Baden-Baden. The writer actively participated in the cultural life of Western Europe, establishing acquaintances with the greatest writers of Germany, France and England, promoting Russian literature abroad and introducing Russian readers to the best works of contemporary Western authors. Among his acquaintances or correspondents were Friedrich Bodenstedt, William Thackeray, Charles Dickens, Henry James, George Sand, Victor Hugo, Charles Saint-Beuve, Hippolyte Taine, Prosper Mérimée, Ernest Renan, Théophile Gautier, Edmond Goncourt, Emile Zola, Anatole France , Guy de Maupassant, Alphonse Daudet, Gustave Flaubert.

I. S. Turgenev at the dacha of the Milyutin brothers in Baden-Baden, 1867

Despite living abroad, all of Turgenev’s thoughts were still connected with Russia. He wrote the novel “Smoke” (1867), which caused a lot of controversy in Russian society. According to the author, everyone criticized the novel: “both red and white, and above, and below, and from the side - especially from the side.

In 1868, Turgenev became a permanent contributor to the liberal magazine “Bulletin of Europe” and broke ties with M. N. Katkov. The breakup did not go easily - the writer began to be persecuted in the Russky Vestnik and in the Moskovskie Vedomosti. The attacks especially intensified at the end of the 1870s, when, regarding the ovation that Turgenev received, the Katkovsky newspaper assured that the writer was “tumbling” in front of progressive youth

Since 1874, the famous bachelor “dinners of the five” - Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet, Zola and Turgenev - were held in the Parisian restaurants of Riche or Pellet. The idea belonged to Flaubert, but Turgenev was given the main role in them. Luncheons took place once a month. They raised various topics - about the features of literature, about the structure of the French language, told stories and simply enjoyed delicious food. Dinners were held not only at Parisian restaurateurs, but also at the homes of the writers themselves.

A feast of the classics. A. Daudet, G. Flaubert, E. Zola, I. S. Turgenev

I. S. Turgenev acted as a consultant and editor for foreign translators of Russian writers, wrote prefaces and notes to translations of Russian writers into European languages, as well as to Russian translations of works by famous European writers. He translated Western writers into Russian and Russian writers and poets into French and German. This is how translations of Flaubert’s works “Herodias” and “The Tale of St. Julian the Merciful" for Russian readers and Pushkin's works for French readers. For some time, Turgenev became the most famous and most read Russian author in Europe, where criticism ranked him among the first writers of the century. In 1878, at the international literary congress in Paris, the writer was elected vice-president. On June 18, 1879, he was awarded the title of honorary doctor of the University of Oxford, despite the fact that the university had never given such an honor to any fiction writer before him.

Photo by I.S. Turgenev (from the collection of A.F. Onegin in Paris). Filmed in Baden-Baden, 1871. The photograph was first published in print on August 25, 1913.

The fruit of the writer’s thoughts in the 1870s was the largest of his novels in terms of volume, Nov (1877), which was also criticized. For example, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin regarded this novel as a service to the autocracy.

Turgenev was friends with the Minister of Education A.V. Golovnin, with the Milyutin brothers (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of War), N.I. Turgenev, and was closely acquainted with the Minister of Finance M.H. Reitern. At the end of the 1870s, Turgenev became closer friends with the leaders of revolutionary emigration from Russia; his circle of acquaintances included P. L. Lavrov, P. A. Kropotkin, G. A. Lopatin and many others. Among other revolutionaries, he put German Lopatin above everyone else, admiring his intelligence, courage and moral strength.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 1872

Vasily Perov

In April 1878, Leo Tolstoy invited Turgenev to forget all the misunderstandings between them, to which Turgenev happily agreed. Friendly relations and correspondence were resumed. Turgenev explained the significance of modern Russian literature, including Tolstoy's work, to Western readers. In general, Ivan Turgenev played a big role in promoting Russian literature abroad.

However, Dostoevsky in his novel “Demons” portrayed Turgenev as the “great writer Karmazinov” - a loud, petty, well-worn and practically mediocre writer who considers himself a genius and is holed up abroad. Such an attitude towards Turgenev by the always needy Dostoevsky was caused, among other things, by Turgenev’s secure position in his noble life and the very high literary fees for those times: “To Turgenev for his “Noble Nest” (I finally read it. Extremely well) Katkov himself (from whom I I ask for 100 rubles per sheet) I gave 4000 rubles, that is, 400 rubles per sheet. My friend! I know very well that I write worse than Turgenev, but not too much worse, and finally, I hope to write not worse at all. Why am I, with my needs, taking only 100 rubles, and Turgenev, who has 2000 souls, 400?”

Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky

His visits to Russia in 1878-1881 were real triumphs. All the more alarming in 1882 was the news of a severe exacerbation of his usual gouty pain. In the spring of 1882, the first signs of the disease were discovered, which soon turned out to be fatal for Turgenev. With temporary relief from the pain, he continued to work and a few months before his death he published the first part of “Poems in Prose” - a cycle of lyrical miniatures, which became his kind of farewell to life, homeland and art. The book opened with the prose poem “Village”, and ended with “Russian Language” - a lyrical hymn in which the author invested his faith in the great destiny of his country:

In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language!.. Without you, how would I not fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home. But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 1879

Ilya Repin

Parisian doctors Charcot and Jacquot diagnosed the writer with angina pectoris; Soon she was joined by intercostal neuralgia. The last time Turgenev was in Spassky-Lutovinovo was in the summer of 1881. The sick writer spent the winters in Paris, and in the summer he was transported to Bougival to the Viardot estate.

By January 1883 the pain had become so severe that he could not sleep without morphine. He had surgery to remove a neuroma in the lower abdomen, but the surgery helped little because it did not relieve the pain in the thoracic region of the spine. The disease progressed; in March and April the writer suffered so much that those around him began to notice momentary cloudings of reason, caused in part by taking morphine. The writer was fully aware of his imminent death and came to terms with the consequences of the disease, which deprived him of the ability to walk or simply stand.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Ilya Repin

Death and funeral

The confrontation between “an unimaginably painful illness and an unimaginably strong organism” (P.V. Annenkov) ended on August 22 (September 3), 1883 in Bougival near Paris. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev died from myxosarcoma (a malignant tumor of the bones of the spine). Doctor S.P. Botkin testified that the true cause of death was clarified only after an autopsy, during which his brain was also weighed by physiologists. As it turned out, among those whose brains were weighed, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev had the largest brain (2012 grams, which is almost 600 grams more than the average weight).

Turgenev's death was a great shock for his admirers, resulting in a very impressive funeral. The funeral was preceded by mourning celebrations in Paris, in which over four hundred people took part. Among them were at least a hundred Frenchmen: Edmond Abou, Jules Simon, Emile Ogier, Emile Zola, Alphonse Daudet, Juliette Adam, artist Alfred Dieudonnet (French) Russian, composer Jules Massenet. Ernest Renan addressed the mourners with a heartfelt speech. In accordance with the will of the deceased, on September 27 his body was brought to St. Petersburg

Ivan Turgenev on his deathbed. A drawing sketched in Bougival, on the day of the death of the great writer, by the artist E. Lipgardt

Even from the border station of Verzhbolovo, memorial services were held at stops. On the platform of the St. Petersburg Warsaw Station there was a solemn meeting between the coffin and the body of the writer. Senator A.F. Koni recalled the funeral at the Volkovskoye cemetery:

The reception of the coffin in St. Petersburg and its passage to the Volkovo cemetery presented unusual spectacles in their beauty, majestic character and complete, voluntary and unanimous observance of order. A continuous chain of 176 deputations from literature, from newspapers and magazines, scientists, educational and educational institutions, from zemstvos, Siberians, Poles and Bulgarians occupied a space of several miles, attracting the sympathetic and often moved attention of the huge public, crowding the sidewalks - carried by deputations graceful, magnificent wreaths and banners with meaningful inscriptions. So, there was a wreath “To the Author of “Mum”” from the Society for the Protection of Animals... a wreath with the inscription “Love is stronger than death” from women’s pedagogical courses...

— A.F. Koni, “Turgenev’s Funeral,” Collected Works in eight volumes. T. 6. M., Legal literature, 1968. Pp. 385-386.

There were some misunderstandings. The day after the funeral of Turgenev’s body in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Daru Street in Paris, on September 19, the famous emigrant populist P. L. Lavrov published in the Paris newspaper “Justice” (French) Russian, edited by the future socialist Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau a letter in which he reported that I. S. Turgenev, on his own initiative, transferred 500 francs to Lavrov annually for three years to facilitate the publication of the revolutionary emigrant newspaper “Forward”.

Russian liberals were outraged by this news, considering it a provocation. The conservative press represented by M. N. Katkov, on the contrary, took advantage of Lavrov’s message to posthumously persecute Turgenev in the Russky Vestnik and Moskovskiye Vedomosti in order to prevent the honoring in Russia of the deceased writer, whose body “without any publicity, with special caution” should was to arrive in the capital from Paris for burial. The trace of Turgenev's ashes greatly worried the Minister of Internal Affairs D. A. Tolstoy, who feared spontaneous rallies. According to the editor of Vestnik Evropy, M. M. Stasyulevich, who accompanied Turgenev’s body, the precautions taken by officials were as inappropriate as if he had accompanied the Nightingale the Robber, and not the body of the great writer

Tombstone bust of Turgenev at Volkovskoye Cemetery

Monument to I. S. Turgenev

Bust of I. S. Turgenev

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgenev,_Ivan_Sergeevich