Leskov's creative path summary. Brief biography of Leskov: the most important and basic

to formulate the skills and abilities of analyzing a lyric-epic work written in the style of symbolism;
show the close connection of all levels of the subsystems of the work, their focus on expressing the ideological and aesthetic content of the poem;
know the plot, understand system of images, artistic originality poems.

During the classes.

1. Organizational point: communication of the topic, purpose, forms of work in the lesson.

A. Blok’s work is completed by three works, which literary criticism calls the “January trilogy”;

They are united by time and history.

3. Student report - historical background.

The poem “The Twelve” belongs to an extremely short and vibrant era of history: the last months of 1917 and January 1918 were apocalyptic weeks - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, red terror, the beginning of the Civil War, shelling of the Kremlin, pogroms and lynchings, arson of estates and murders of landowners, rumors of the arson of Mikhailovsky and his native Shakhmatovo, the murder in the hospital of the ministers of the provisional government Shingarev and Kokoshkin, whom Blok knew well. According to the writer A. M. Remizov, the news of this murder became the impetus for the start of work on the poem “The Twelve.”

A poem written in less than a month, at its highest level creative forces, remains a monument to the briefest era of the first weeks of the 1917 revolution. Having finished it, Blok said: “Today I am a genius.”

4. The teacher's word.

According to Blok himself, the poem “The Twelve” began for him with the consonant “w” in the phrase:

I'm using a knife
I'll strip, I'll strip

If we pay attention to the method of phonetic repetition in this phrase, we can easily read the word U - w - a - s

And yet, before the poem there was an article “Intellectuals and Revolution”. Now we will work with a fragment of the article. Our goal is to understand how Blok perceives and explains the Russian Revolution to his contemporaries. (A fragment of the article was recorded in a Russian language lesson as a dictation and is given to every student).

5. Work with the article “Intellectuals and Revolution” on issues.

How does Blok characterize his era? (Suggested answer: as great).

What is the responsibility of artists at a time like this? (See and hear what his people intended).

And what do they have in mind, according to Blok? (Transform life from ugly to beautiful).

How? (With the help of revolution).

The first conclusion: the revolution was conceived and carried out by the Russian people to make life beautiful.

What phenomena does Blok compare the revolution with? (Stormy stream, menacing whirlwind, snowstorm).

What do these phenomena have in common? (They express the forces of the elements and the powerlessness of man before them).

Find in the text the verbs on which the personification of the revolution is built (Deceives, cripples, endures...).

Second conclusion: Blok considers cruelty and deception to be particular properties of the revolution, and the main thing is scope and greatness, the renewal of the world.

What is the peculiarity of the Russian revolution and its difference from a rebellion, according to Blok? (The scope and goal is to remake the whole world in the name of brotherhood and peace of nations).

What did Blok call the intelligentsia to do? (“With all your body, with all your heart, with all your mind – listen to the revolution”).

These words will be the epigraph of our lesson.

Blok believed: “The spirit of music is the basis of world harmony, the transformation of the chaos of reality into the Cosmos of the spirit. Blok believed that revolution is an inevitable natural catastrophe through which the world and Russia must go through on the path to renewal, to divine harmony.

Third conclusion: Blok accepted and justified the revolution romantically - as retribution to the old world, from which the harmony of the future should be born.

But we know of cases when the work was perceived by readers in a way that was ambivalent to the writer’s views.

6. Work on the content of the poem “The Twelve”.

(Reading of the poem in class by the teacher and students in roles).

- What questions have arisen regarding the content of the poem and what do you not understand?

What images and fragments of the poem aroused your strongest feelings?

7. Work in groups on questions (according to the existing algorithm).

Algorithm for working on a poem:

1. What type of literature do you consider the poem “The Twelve” to be: epic, lyrical, lyric-epic? Does the poem have elements of drama? What does Blok achieve by such a mixture of all types of literature?

Suggested Answers: This is a lyric-epic work with elements of drama, because the poem is a series of paintings - chapters from the real life of night revolutionary St. Petersburg. Eat epic heroes and an epic plot - the actions of the patrol. At the same time, the poem has a lyrical beginning: the landscape of the first chapter, where it is not yet twelve, and Christ is seen in the final chapter lyrical hero. And chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 are written in the form of a dialogue between the characters and Petka’s internal monologue. This combination of types of literature allows Blok to express a larger picture of the world in a small volume and convey the rapidity of events, as well as his feelings about what is happening.

2. Determine the chronotope of the poem (the place and space of the events taking place).

Suggested answer: Petrograd, winter, evening-night, at the same time the whole “God’s light”; at the end of the poem “The blizzard casts dust in their eyes all day and night long”...

3. Identify the main characters of the poem. Find the portrait of the “twelve” in the text: how does it characterize the heroes? What actions do they perform? Which of the heroes can be called “representatives of the old world”? Where are these heroes concentrated and why?

Suggested answer: The main characters are twelve Red Guards - a patrol. According to the author's description - convicts, thieves, criminals; they kill Katka, threaten to kill Vanka too, rob and shoot.

The heroes of the first chapter are representatives of the “old world”; they are described clearly satirically - their time has passed. The events of the revolution cause bewilderment and fear in them; for them it is a tragedy.

4. Convey the plot of the poem, is it limited only to a realistic, everyday plan?

Suggested answer: The realistic, everyday plot is poor. A patrol of twelve people walks through Petrograd on a winter night, accidentally kills and leaves the ex-girlfriend of one of them in the snow and moves on. But the plot is not limited to the everyday plan; the symbolic plan is of great importance in the poem, which is why it is so interesting and voluminous.

4. Name the symbolic images of the poem.

Suggested answer: The image of the elements, the “twelve”, the image of color, the image of a dog, Christ...

8. Homemade exercise- auction: purchase of an “individual task” for a semantic version of the image-symbol. (Students offer their understanding of the image-symbol, receive comments from the teacher, recommended literature for an individual answer in the next lesson).

General assignment: find gospel details in the poem; in chapter eight, explain the purpose of assonance and alliteration. How many times does the expression “without a cross” sound in the poem, that is, renunciation of God? What follows this renunciation, what actions?

How many times are the words “black” and “white” heard? Where and when does Blok’s favorite epithet “pearly” sound?

Lesson #2.

Topic: The meaning of the symbolism of A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”

Goals:

revealing the associative connections contained in images - symbols, determine their role in the ideological and aesthetic content of the poem;
identify the relationship figurative system and the author's concept in the depiction of the revolution and man;

During the classes.

1. Organizational point: message of the topic, purpose, forms of work in the lesson.

Lesson epigraph: “A symbol is only a true symbol when it is inexhaustible and limitless in its meaning... It has many faces, many thoughts...”Vyacheslav Ivanov.

A possible way to start the lesson is to watch a fragment from the film “ silver Age Russian poetry. A. Blok." Fragment "Faust" and "Gospel". Their influence on the symbolism of the poem.

2. Checking homework – student performance: the meaning and content of the images – symbols of the poem.

a) The image of the elements - blizzards, blizzards...

Suggested answer.

The image of a blizzard or blizzard is traditional in Russian classical literature. Suffice it to recall the story “The Snowstorm” by A. S. Pushkin, his “The Captain’s Daughter”... The snowstorm determined the fate of the main characters against their wishes, swept away everything old, familiar paths and roads, brought Grinev to Pugachev, Marya Ivanovna to Burmin. Thus, a blizzard is a symbol of God’s providence, the fate of fate. The same blizzard swirls the heroes around the black city between snowdrifts and snow pillars. She is a symbol of the element of revolution, destroying everything old.

b) Color symbol.

Suggested answer.

Blok’s color symbolism is philosophical. The poem has two colors: black and white - this contrast not so much reproduces the picture of St. Petersburg at night, but rather expresses the class meaning of the revolution, the balance of forces of history and at the same time the relationship between good and evil, light and darkness. The color black predominates: Russia is immersed in the evil satanic - black. White is used only three times: at the beginning of the poem and at the end - the crown of Christ.

c) The image-symbol of a “dog”.

Suggested answer.

The dog, according to Blok’s plan, is the embodiment of the old world. He himself says " Old world, like a rootless dog...” At the same time, the dog in world classical literature is a symbol and embodiment of satanic forces. Let us remember that in Goethe’s work “Faust” Mephistopheles emerges from the dog that previously pursued Faust in the form of a poodle.

What is this, a fairy tale or reality?
And everything swells up and down,
He can reach the ceiling.
No, this is not becoming a dog!
I brought evil spirits under my vault!
She opened her mouth like a hippopotamus,
Eyes filled with fire -
A creature made from demonic small creatures.

By the end of the poem, following the patrol, he turns into a wolf: “The hungry wolf bares his teeth”... Doesn’t disappear, doesn’t become weaker.

d) Version of the image - the symbol “Twelve”.

Suggested answer.

Twelve - magic number, it permeates the entire poem. Realistic detail: patrols back then actually consisted of twelve people. The poem has twelve chapters. An association arises with the Twelve Apostles - the disciples of Christ, who appear at the end of the poem. I think, in search of historical analogies, Blok could compare the fall of tsarism with the fall of the Roman Empire, and he considered the teachings of Christ to be the herald of the fall of Rome.

3. The teacher's word.

At the end of the first chapter, Blok, using the technique of onomatopoeia, suggests another meaning of this image:

Black, black sky - m
Anger - m sad anger - m
It boils in my chest...
Black anger - m, holy anger - m...
Comrade! Look both ways - M.

What do you hear?

Suggested answer.

His conscience stopped tormenting him, because 11 people, as one, told him that conscience is nonsense, there is no time for it now...

Teacher's conclusion: a terrible process of replacing personal conscience and personal responsibility with the interests and opinion of the collective took place, a process that will happen to the entire country and will result in the destruction of the conscience and morality of the people and the death of millions of “Katek”.

And now, when killing Katya is nonsense, then “having fun is not a sin”:

Unlock the floors
Today there will be robberies...

(Teacher reading chapter 8)

Why does Block use assonance and alliteration in this chapter?

(assonance conveys moaning, crying, howling, hysterical singing).

Who's crying?

(Petka: Chapter 8 is his internal monologue).

Teacher: His crying and howling are understandable. But further... The assonance stops, but the author uses alliteration - z-z-r sounds– here is the “horror” and anger we read. Suffering and torment of conscience are looking for a way out, but there is none, because the only way out is repentance, but it is rejected along with the cross, with God, and hatred takes the place of conscience. It seems that the soul has found a way out, Petka wants to ask God for the soul of his beloved: “Lord, rest the soul of your servant...” And he does not finish the phrase, does not name the name, but says: “Boring.”

Boredom is a sin, it combines melancholy and anger, this is where the dog appears, also melancholy and evil - the devilish forces triumph, snow pillars swirl, in which, according to folk legends, evil spirits have fun.

Once again we will hear from Petka: “Oh, what a blizzard, Savior...” “Savior” - the savior Jesus, but what a collapse of anger in response. (reading a fragment) The result of everything that happened is expressed by the phrase “Ali’s hands are not covered in blood...” - tied in blood, they turned into a gang.

Conclusion: no matter what Blok wanted to think about the revolution, he told the truth about it: the revolution is a tragedy and the people who carry it out are criminal, but the people who follow them, having lost God, are also criminal. A dead end awaits him ahead.

4. Work with the class on the image of Christ.

They have not yet found, and are unlikely to ever find, an unambiguous “coincidence” between the number of Red Guards in the patrol and the number of Apostles and an explanation for the last lines of the poem. The poet M. Voloshin suggested that it is not Christ “who leads the Red Guards, but they “escort” Him.”

The philosopher S. Bulgakov believed that Blok saw the Antichrist under the guise of Christ. But most often the Twelve are called “apostles of the revolution.”

I, too, was inclined to this version, it was pushed towards it by many details leading to the Gospel: the Twelve denied Christ three times, and in the “Bible Dictionary” in the article “Apostle Peter” it says that Peter was led to Christ by brother Andrew. Remember: “Andryukha, help, Petrukha, run from behind”... Peter denied Jesus three times on the last night, and he forgave his disciple, only asking three times if he loved his Teacher... The Twelve’s path to God seemed simple and natural.

I turned to the priest of our church, hoping for confirmation of this version. And do you know what Father said? That this poem is blasphemous. It was created during a short period of Blok’s lack of faith. That's why he never read it himself, and felt enormous guilt for creating it.

I tried to object, citing the fact that Blok did not renounce Christ in the poem, no matter how representatives of the new government asked him to do so, he said: “I feel this way - only Jesus.” And he didn’t renounce. Father replied: “He very soon understood everything about the revolution. Unbelief was only a period. God always lived in his soul.”

And then I turned again to the poem, Chapter Twelve.

5. Work in groups.

Group 1 task: Draw an illustration orally for this chapter, based on details from the text.

Suggested answer.

It is very difficult to draw an illustration because there is no color and light. You can only use graphics. Black silhouettes of houses and heroes in overcoats crumpled by the wind, guns aimed in different directions. Behind, closest to the viewer, the wolf bares its teeth. There is a snowdrift ahead, a dead end. But there is a second, “above-blizzard” plan: above the blizzard, that is, in the sky there is light, in a white crown - Jesus. In his hands is a thin flagpole, but it is not red, but bloody - this can be seen in the light. And the Twelve flag will be black because it is dark. They don't see Jesus.

Group 2 task: determine Twelve’s state based on the characters’ remarks and their intonation.

Suggested answer.

In Chapter Twelve, elements of drama are used - cues. But this is not a dialogue between the heroes, the lines and their intonation betray fear, threat, panic, anger, bewilderment - the Twelve do not find or see the enemy, they are disunited.

Group 3 task:“sound out” the text based on sound images.

Suggested answer.

We hear only the howl of the blizzard, laughter, frightened screams, threats and indiscriminate shooting.

Teacher's conclusion: everything black, demonic, released by godlessness and the malice of people. They senselessly circle around the black city with a “powerful step”, just like puppets walk.

And suddenly, as if the orchestra stopped the cacophony of tuning and a divine overture began to sound...

(Teacher reading the final stanzas of the poem).

Who is Jesus leading? There is a clue in the text, be able to solve it. Blok’s favorite epithet “pearly” appears twice in the poem - where and when?

Suggested answer.

“She threw her face back - her teeth sparkled like pearls”... And “...a snowy scattering of pearls”... The reflection of Katya’s smile next to Christ is hardly accidental. So who is flying the bloody flag of Jesus? Whom does he gather and lead - the bandits or their victims?

Teacher's conclusion: I have to repeat myself, no matter how Blok wanted to see the revolution, he portrayed it objectively, following his call “with your whole body, with your whole heart, with your whole mind - listen to the revolution.” He heard it in January 1917, and in January he understood it and... fell silent. Only once more, on February 11, 1921, were his new poems heard “ Pushkin House- poems to the one who was for Blok the embodiment of Russia and the spirit of its people. "No. “Pushkin was not killed by Dantes’ bullet,” Blok will say, “he was killed by the lack of air, his secret freedom was taken away from him.”

(Reading the poem “To Pushkin’s House”).

Final words from the teacher: With this bow to the poet, who said the prophetic words: “God forbid you to see the Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless,” we will finish the lesson.

Name: Nikolay Leskov

Age: 64 years old

Activity: writer

Family status: was divorced

Nikolai Leskov: biography

Nikolai Leskov is called the founder of Russian skaz - in this regard, the writer stands on a par with. The author became famous as a publicist with a sharp pen that exposed the vices of society. And later he surprised his colleagues with his knowledge of the psychology, morals and customs of the people of his native country.

Childhood and youth

Leskov was born in the village of Gorokhovo (Oryol province). The writer's father, Semyon Dmitrievich, came from an old spiritual family - his grandfather and father served as priests at a church in the village of Leski (hence the surname).

And the future writer’s parent himself graduated from the seminary, but then worked in the Oryol Criminal Chamber. He was distinguished by his great talent as an investigator, capable of unraveling even the most complex case, for which he quickly rose through the ranks and received noble title. Mom Maria Petrovna came from the Moscow nobility.

In the Leskov family, which settled in the administrative center of the province, five children grew up - two daughters and three sons, Nikolai was the eldest. When the boy was 8 years old, his father had a strong quarrel with his superiors and, taking his family, retired to the village of Panino, where he took up agriculture- I plowed, sowed, looked after the garden myself.

Young Kolya had a disgusting relationship with his studies. For five years the boy studied at the Oryol gymnasium, and in the end he had a certificate of completion of only two classes. Leskov’s biographers blame this on the education system of those times, which through cramming and inertia discouraged the desire to comprehend science. Especially such extraordinary ones, creative personalities as Kolya Leskov.

Nikolai had to go to work. The father assigned his son to the criminal ward as an employee, and a year later he died of cholera. At the same time, another grief befell the Leskov family - the house with all its property burned to the ground.

Young Nikolai set off to explore the world. At his own request, the young man was transferred to the government chamber in Kyiv, where his uncle lived and taught at the university. In the Ukrainian capital, Leskov plunged into an interesting, eventful life - he became interested in languages, literature, philosophy, sat at his desk as a volunteer at the university, and moved in the circles of sectarians and Old Believers.

Enriched life experience the future writer's job is with another uncle. My mother’s sister’s English husband invited his nephew to join his company, Schcott and Wilkens, a position that required long and frequent business trips throughout Russia. The writer called this time the best in his biography.

Literature

The idea of devoting his life to the art of words visited Leskov for a long time. For the first time, the young man thought about the writing field while traveling around the Russian expanses with assignments from the company “Schcott and Wilkens” - the trips gave bright events and types of people who just asked to be written down on paper.

Nikolai Semenovich took his first steps into literature as a publicist. He wrote articles “on the topic of the day” in St. Petersburg and Kyiv newspapers; officials and police doctors were criticized for corruption. The success of the publications was enormous, and several internal investigations were opened.

Trying to write as an author works of art happened only at the age of 32 - Nikolai Leskov wrote the story “The Life of a Woman” (today we know it as “Cupid in Shoes”), which was received by readers of the magazine “Library for Reading”.

From the very first works, people started talking about the writer as a master who could vividly convey female images With tragic fate. And all because after the first story came the brilliant, heartfelt and complex essays “Lady Macbeth” Mtsensk district" and "Warrior". Leskov skillfully wove individual humor and sarcasm into the dark side of life presented, demonstrating a unique style, which was later recognized as a type of skaz.

In a circle literary interests Nikolai Semenovich also included dramaturgy. Beginning in 1867, the writer began creating plays for theaters. One of the popular ones is “Spendthrift”.

Leskov loudly declared himself as a novelist. In the books “Nowhere”, “Bypassed”, “On Knives” he ridiculed revolutionaries and nihilists, declaring Russia’s unpreparedness for radical changes. After reading the novel “On Knives” he gave this assessment of the writer’s work:

“...after the evil novel “On Knives” literary creativity Leskova immediately becomes a bright painting or, rather, an icon painting - he begins to create for Russia an iconostasis of its saints and righteous people.”

After the publication of novels criticizing revolutionary democrats, magazine editors organized a boycott of Leskov. Only Mikhail Katkov, who heads the Russian Messenger, did not refuse to cooperate with the writer, but it was impossible to work with this writer - he mercilessly corrected the manuscript.

Next piece who entered the treasury native literature, became the legend about the master gunsmith “Lefty”. In it, Leskov’s unique style shone with new facets, the author sprinkled in original neologisms, layered events on top of each other, creating a complex framework. They started talking about Nikolai Semenovich as a strong writer.

In the 70s the writer was worried hard times. The Ministry of Public Education appointed Leskov to the position of evaluator of new books - he decided whether publications could be released to the reader or not, and received a meager salary for this. In addition, the next story, “The Enchanted Wanderer,” was rejected by all editors, including Katkov.

The writer conceived this work as an alternative to the traditional genre of the novel. The story combines unrelated plots, and they are not finished. Critics smashed “free form” to smithereens, and Nikolai Semenovich had to publish fragments of his brainchild in a scattering of publications.

Subsequently, the author turned to creating idealized characters. From his pen came a collection of short stories, “The Righteous,” which included sketches “The Man on the Clock,” “The Figure,” and others. The writer presented straightforward, conscientious people, claiming that he met everyone at life path. However, critics and colleagues accepted the work with sarcasm. In the 80s, the righteous acquired religious traits - Leskov wrote about heroes early Christianity.

At the end of his life, Nikolai Semenovich again turned to exposing officials, military men, and representatives of the church, giving literature the works “The Beast,” “The Stupid Artist,” and “The Scarecrow.” And it was at this time that Leskov wrote stories for children's reading, which magazine editors gladly accepted.

Among the literary geniuses who later became famous, there were loyal fans of Nikolai Leskov. considered the nugget from the Oryol outback “the most Russian writer,” and they elevated the man to the rank of their mentors.

Personal life

By the standards of the 19th century, Nikolai Semenovich’s personal life was unsuccessful. The writer managed to walk down the aisle twice, the second time with his first wife alive.

Leskov married early, at 22 years old. The chosen one was Olga Smirnova, the heiress of a Kyiv entrepreneur. This marriage produced a daughter, Vera, and a son, Mitya, who died while still young. The wife suffered from a mental disorder and later was often treated at the St. Nicholas Clinic in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Semenovich, in fact, lost his wife and decided to enter into a civil marriage with Ekaterina Bubnova, who had been a widow for several years. In 1866, Leskov became a father for the third time - his son Andrei was born. Along this line, in 1922, the future ballet celebrity Tatyana Leskova, great-granddaughter of the author of The Enchanted Wanderer, was born. But Nikolai Semenovich did not get along with his second wife either; after 11 years, the couple separated.

Leskov was known as an ideological vegetarian; he believed that animals should not be killed for food. The man published an article in which he divided vegans into two camps - those who eat meat, observing a kind of fast, and those who feel sorry for innocent living beings. He considered himself one of the latter. The writer called for the creation of a cookbook for like-minded Russians, which would include “green” recipes from products available to Russians. And in 1893 such a publication appeared.

Death

Nikolai Leskov suffered from asthma all his life, last years the disease worsened, attacks of suffocation began to happen more and more often.

On February 21 (March 5, new style), 1895, the writer was unable to cope with the exacerbation of the illness. Nikolai Semenovich was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery.

Bibliography

1863 – “The Life of a Woman”
1864 – “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”
1864 – “Nowhere”
1865 – “Bypassed”
1866 – “Islanders”
1866 – “Warrior”
1870 – “At Knives”
1872 – “The Soborians”
1872 – “The Sealed Angel”
1873 – “The Enchanted Wanderer”
1874 – “A Seedy Family”
1881 – “Lefty”
1890 – “Devil's Dolls”

(461 words) The second half of the 19th century for Russian literature is the era of the birth of the greatest prose writers. Among them, N.S. especially stood out. Leskov, who reflected in his prose the inimitable National character Rus'.

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (1831-1895) came from the province (Oryol province), from a commoner family. As a child, the future writer was not distinguished by his diligence: he spent 5 years in the gymnasium, but during this time he completed only two classes. When Leskov was sixteen, his father died of cholera, and the young man had to leave his studies and start feeding his family.

Two years later, the young man moved to Kyiv, where he studied languages and icon painting. Later, M. Gorky would compare Leskov’s author’s style with this ancient art. Being the grandson of a priest, Nikolai was keenly interested in religion, moving in a religious and philosophical circle, where he was familiar with sectarians and Old Believers.

Career and service

Continuing to move along career ladder, Leskov married in 1853 Olga Smirnova, the daughter of a businessman. The government service was not to the liking of the future writer, and he left it in 1957 to work in his uncle’s private company, Shcott and Wilkins. At the same time family problems force spouses to separate.

As an agent, he traveled a lot, became acquainted with the everyday and linguistic diversity of the country, which will play an important role in his work.

Literary activity

After the collapse of the company in 1860, the author moved back to Kyiv, where he actively worked as a journalist and writer in the media. The province did not satisfy his ambitions, and he goes to conquer the capital. He manifests himself as literary critic in the famous magazine “Northern Bee”. The author begins his first steps in the literary field under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky, sometimes signed by Leskov-Stebnitsky.

The year 1863 became one of the most fruitful in the life of the writer. He publishes the stories “The Life of a Woman” and “Musk Ox”, and also publishes the novel “Nowhere” in the magazine “Library for Reading”. These debut creations attracted the attention of critics, but there were few flattering reviews. Radicals saw the aspiring author as a reactionary slanderer, for which most reputable writers turned away from him. The insightful Apollo Grigoriev, who highly valued the work “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”, published in 1864, was approving of Leskov.

Fame and success

The success of the writer was brought by one of his main novels, “The Cathedralians,” which, in the chronicle genre, tells about the life of the clergy. Leskov's conservative views appealed to the empress, thanks to which he became a member of the committee at the Ministry of Education.

However, towards the end of his life, the author departs from his previous beliefs and joins the radicals, for which he loses his place on the committee. His later works are full of satire and the desire to expose officials and the clergy, such as “The Beast”, “The Stupid Artist”, “The Scarecrow”.

Recognition and death

Many contemporaries appreciated Leskov for unique language his works. It was important for the author that his characters speak as befits their occupation and place of residence. Not all writers were able to reconstruct the speech of a merchant or priest so accurately.

L.N. Tolstoy called the writer a nugget, M. Gorky put him on a par with Turgenev and Gogol, and Chekhov considered Leskov his mentor.

He died from complications of serious illnesses. It is known that the author for a long time suffered from asthma.

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Born on February 4 (16 NS) in the village of Gorokhov, Oryol province, in the family of an official of the criminal chamber, who came from the clergy. His childhood years were spent on the estate of the Strakhov relatives, then in Orel. After his retirement, Leskov’s father took up farming in the Panin farmstead he acquired in Kromsky district. In the Oryol wilderness future writer I was able to see and learn a lot, which later gave him the right to say: “I did not study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cab drivers... I grew up among the people... I was one of the people with the people... I was closer to these people than all the priests. ..” In 1841 1846 Leskov studied at the Oryol gymnasium, which he failed to graduate: in his sixteenth year he lost his father, and the family’s property was destroyed in a fire. Leskov entered the service of the Oryol Criminal Chamber of the Court, which gave him good material for future works.

In 1849, with the support of his uncle, Kyiv professor S. Alferyev, Leskov was transferred to Kyiv as an official of the treasury chamber. In the house of his uncle, mother's brother, professor of medicine, under the influence of progressive university professors, Leskov's ardent interest in Herzen, in the great poet of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko, in Ukrainian culture, he became interested in ancient painting and architecture of Kyiv, later becoming an outstanding expert on ancient Russian art.

In 1857, Leskov retired and entered private service in a large trading company, which was engaged in the resettlement of peasants to new lands and on whose business he traveled almost all over the world. European part Russia.

Start literary activity Leskova dates back to 1860, when he first appeared as a progressive publicist. In January 1861 Leskov settled in St. Petersburg with the desire to devote himself to literary and journalistic activity. He began publishing in Otechestvennye zapiski.

Leskov came to Russian literature with a large stock of observations on Russian life, with sincere sympathy for the needs of the people, which was reflected in his stories “The Extinguished Cause” (1862), “The Robber”; in the stories “The Life of a Woman” (1863), “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (1865).

In 1862, as a correspondent for the newspaper "Northern Bee", he visited Poland, Western Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. He wanted to get acquainted with everyday life, art and poetry Western Slavs, with whom he was very sympathetic. The trip ended with a visit to Paris. In the spring of 1863 Leskov returned to Russia.

Knowing the province well, its needs, human characters, details of everyday life and deep ideological currents, Leskov did not accept the calculations of “theorists” divorced from Russian roots. He speaks about this in the story “Musk Ox” (1863), in the novels “Nowhere” (1864), “Bypassed” (1865), “On Knives” (1870). They outline the theme of Russia’s unpreparedness for the revolution and tragic fate people who have connected their lives with the hope of its speedy fulfillment. Hence the disagreements with the revolutionary democrats.

In 1870 1880 Leskov overestimated a lot; acquaintance with Tolstoy has an impact on him big influence. National-historical issues appeared in his work: the novel “The Cathedral People” (1872), “A Seedy Family” (1874). During these years, he wrote several stories about artists: “The Islanders”, “The Captured Angel”.

The talent of the Russian man, the kindness and generosity of his soul always admired Leskov, and this theme found its expression in the stories “Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea)” (1881), “The Stupid Artist” (1883), “The Man on hours" (1887).

In Leskov's legacy great place occupied by satire, humor and irony: “Selected Grain”, “Shameless”, “Idle Dancers”, etc. The story “Hare Remise” was the last major work of the writer.

Leskov died in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov(1831-1895) - Russian writer.

Leskov Nikolay Semenovich

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895) Biography

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was born on February 16 (4), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province.

Leskov's father, Semyon Dmitrievich, worked as an official of the criminal chamber, earned hereditary nobility, although he came from the clergy class.

Leskova's mother, Marya Petrovna, nee Alfereva, was a noblewoman.

Nikolai Leskov's childhood years were spent in Orel and on the estates of the Oryol province belonging to his parents. Leskov spends several years in the house of the Strakhovs, wealthy relatives on his mother’s side, where he was sent due to the parents’ lack of funds for home schooling son. The Strakhovs hired a Russian, a German, and a French teacher to raise their children. Leskov studies with cousins and sisters, and far surpasses them in abilities. This was the reason for sending him back to his parents.

1841 - 1846 - Leskov studies at the gymnasium in Orel, but due to the death of his father full course there is no training.

1847 - Nikolai Leskov gets a job as a minor clerk in the Oryol Chamber of the Criminal Court. The impressions from working here would later form the basis of many of the writer’s works, in particular, the story “The Extinguished Cause.”

1849 - Leskov leaves the service and leaves for Kyiv at the invitation of his maternal uncle, professor and practicing therapist S.P. Alferyeva. In Kyiv, he gets a job as an assistant to the head of the recruitment desk of the audit department of the Kyiv Treasury Chamber.

1849 - 1857 - in Kyiv, Leskov begins to attend lectures at the university (as a volunteer), studies Polish language, Slavic culture. He is interested in religion, and communicates both with Orthodox Christians and with Old Believers and sectarians.

1850 - Leskov marries the daughter of a Kyiv merchant. The marriage was hasty; her relatives did not approve of it. Nevertheless, the wedding took place.

Nikolai Leskov’s career in the “Kyiv” years develops as follows: in 1853, from assistant clerk, he was promoted to collegiate registrar, then to clerk. In 1856, Leskov became provincial secretary.

1857 - 1860 - Leskov works in the private company Shcott and Wilkins, which is engaged in the resettlement of peasants to new lands. He spends all these years on business trips around Russia.

During the same period, the Leskovs’ first-born, named Mitya, dies in infancy. This breaks the relationship between spouses who are not very close to each other.

1860 - beginning journalistic activities Nikolai Leskov. He collaborates with the St. Petersburg and Kyiv press, writes short notes and essays. In the same year, he got a job in the police, but due to an article exposing the arbitrariness of police doctors, he was forced to resign.

1861 – the Leskov family moved from Kyiv to St. Petersburg. Nikolai Semenovich continues to collaborate with newspapers and begins writing for Otechestvennye zapiski, Russian Rech, and Northern Bee. Leskov’s first major publication, “Essays on the Distilling Industry,” dates back to the same year.

1862 – trip abroad as a correspondent for the newspaper “Northern Bee”. Leskov visits Western Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, and France.

1863 - official beginning writing career Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. He publishes his stories “The Life of a Woman”, “Musk Ox”, and is working on the novel “Nowhere”. Because of this controversial novel, which denies the then fashionable, revolutionary nihilistic ideas, many writers are turning away from Leskov, in particular the publishers of Otechestvennye Zapiski. The writer is published in the Russian Bulletin, signing with the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky.

1865 - “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” was written.

1866 – birth of son Andrei. In the 1930s and 1940s, it was he who for the first time wrote a biography of his father.

1867 - Leskov turns to drama, this year on stage Alexandrinsky Theater His play “The Spendthrift” is being staged.

1870 - 1871 - work on the second, just as “anti-nihilistic” as “Nowhere”, the novel “On Knives”. The work already entails political accusations against the author.

1873 - Nikolai Leskov’s stories “The Enchanted Wanderer” and “The Sealed Angel” are published. Gradually, the writer’s relationship with the “Russian Messenger” deteriorated. A breakup occurs, and Leskov’s family is threatened by lack of money.

1874 - 1883 - Leskov works in a special department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education for the “review of books published for the people.” This brings a small, but still income.

1875 - second trip abroad. Leskov is completely disillusioned with his religious hobbies. Upon his return, he writes a number of anecdotal and sometimes satirical essays about clergy (“Little things in bishop’s life,” “Diocesan Court,” “Synodal Persons,” etc.).

1877 - Empress Maria Alexandrovna speaks positively about Nikolai Leskov’s novel “The Soborians”. The author immediately manages to get a job as a member of the educational department of the Ministry of State Property.

1881 - one of Leskov’s most famous works “Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea)” was written.

1883 – final dismissal from government service. Leskov accepts the resignation with joy.

1887 - Nikolai Semenovich Leskov meets L.N. Tolstoy, who had a huge influence on the writer’s later work. In his own words, Leskov “sensing his (Tolstoy’s) enormous strength, threw down his bowl and went after his lantern.”

In their latest works Leskov criticizes everything political system Russian Empire. All the time, starting with the break with the magazine "Russian Messenger", Leskov was forced to publish in specialized and small-circulation, sometimes provincial leaflets, newspapers and magazines. Of the major publications, his works are taken only by “Historical Bulletin”, “Russian Thought”, “Week”, and in the 1890s - “Bulletin of Europe”. He does not sign every work with his own name, but the writer does not have a permanent pseudonym. His most famous pseudonyms are V. Peresvetov, Nikolai Ponukalov, priest. Peter Kastorsky, Psalmist, Man from the Crowd, Lover of Watches.

March 5 (February 21), 1895 - Nikolai Semenovich Leskov dies in St. Petersburg. The cause of death is an asthma attack, which tormented the writer for the last 5 years of his life. Buried at Volkovskoye Cemetery