Dostoevsky was born into a family. Always be in the mood

In October 1821, a second child was born into the family of nobleman Mikhail Dostoevsky, who worked in a hospital for the poor. The boy was named Fedor. Thus the future was born great writer, author immortal works"The Idiot", "The Brothers Karamazov", "Crime and Punishment".

They say that Fyodor Dostoevsky’s father was distinguished by a very hot-tempered character, which to some extent was passed on to the future writer. The children’s nanny, Alena Frolovna, skillfully extinguished their emotional nature. Otherwise, the children were forced to grow up in an atmosphere of total fear and obedience, which, however, also had some impact on the future of the writer.

Studying in St. Petersburg and the beginning of a creative path

1837 turned out to be a difficult year for the Dostoevsky family. Mom passes away. The father, who has seven children left in his care, decides to send his eldest sons to a boarding school in St. Petersburg. So Fedor, together with his older brother, ends up in northern capital. Here he goes to study at a military engineering school. A year before graduation, he begins translating. And in 1843 he published his own translation of Balzac’s work “Eugenie Grande”.

The writer’s own creative path begins with the story “Poor People.” Tragedy described little man found worthy praise from the critic Belinsky and the already popular poet Nekrasov at that time. Dostoevsky enters the circle of writers and meets Turgenev.

Over the next three years, Fyodor Dostoevsky published the works “The Double,” “The Mistress,” “White Nights,” and “Netochka Nezvanova.” In all of them, he made an attempt to penetrate into the human soul, describing in detail the subtleties of the characters’ character. But these works were received very coolly by critics. Nekrasov and Turgenev, both revered by Dostoevsky, did not accept the innovation. This forced the writer to move away from his friends.

In exile

In 1849, the writer was sentenced to death penalty. This was connected with the “Petrashevsky case”, for which sufficient evidence was collected. The writer prepared for the worst, but just before his execution his sentence was changed. At the last moment, the condemned are read a decree according to which they must go to hard labor. All the time that Dostoevsky spent awaiting execution, he tried to portray all his emotions and experiences in the image of the hero of the novel “The Idiot,” Prince Myshkin.

The writer spent four years in hard labor. Then he was pardoned for good behavior and sent to serve in the military battalion of Semipalatinsk. Immediately he found his destiny: in 1857 he married the widow of the official Isaev. It should be noted that during the same period, Fyodor Dostoevsky turned to religion, deeply idealizing the image of Christ.

In 1859, the writer moved to Tver, and then to St. Petersburg. Ten years of wandering through hard labor and military service made him very sensitive to human suffering. The writer experienced a real revolution in his worldview.

European period

The beginning of the 60s was marked by stormy events in the writer’s personal life: he fell in love with Appolinaria Suslova, who fled abroad with someone else. Fyodor Dostoevsky followed his beloved to Europe and traveled with her for two months different countries. At the same time, he became addicted to playing roulette.

The year 1865 was marked by the writing of Crime and Punishment. After its publication, fame came to the writer. At the same time, appears in his life new love. She was the young stenographer Anna Snitkina, who became his faithful friend until her death. With her, he fled from Russia, hiding from large debts. Already in Europe he wrote the novel “The Idiot”.

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich (1821-1881)

Great Russian writer. Born in Moscow. Father, Mikhail Andreevich - staff doctor at the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor; in 1828 he received the title of hereditary nobleman. Mother - Maria Fedorovna (nee Nechaeva). There were six more children in the Dostoevsky family.

In May 1837 future writer travels with his brother Mikhail to St. Petersburg and enters the preparatory boarding school of K. F. Kostomarov. A literary circle is formed around Dostoevsky at the school. After graduating from college (end of 1843), he was enlisted as a field engineer-second lieutenant in the St. Petersburg engineering team, but already in the early summer of 1844, having decided to devote himself entirely to literature, he resigned and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant. I finished translating the story “Eugene Grande” by Balzac. The translation became Dostoevsky's first published literary work. In May 1845, after numerous alterations, he finished the novel “Poor People,” which was an exceptional success.

From March-April 1847, Dostoevsky became a visitor to M.V.’s “Fridays.” Butashevich-Petrashevsky. He also participates in the organization of a secret printing house for printing appeals to peasants and soldiers. Dostoevsky's arrest occurred on April 23, 1849; his archive was taken away during his arrest and probably destroyed in the III department. Dostoevsky spent eight months in the Alekseevsky ravelin Peter and Paul Fortress under investigation, during which he showed courage, hiding many facts and trying, if possible, to mitigate the guilt of his comrades. On December 22, 1849, Dostoevsky, along with others, awaited the execution of the death sentence at the Semenovsky parade ground. According to the resolution of Nicholas I, his execution was replaced by 4 years of hard labor with deprivation of “all rights of state” and subsequent surrender to the army.

From January 1850 to 1854 Dostoevsky was serving hard labor, but was able to resume correspondence with his brother Mikhail and friend A. Maikov. In November 1855, Dostoevsky was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and then to ensign; in the spring of 1857 was returned to the writer hereditary nobility and the right to publish. Police supervision over him remained until 1875.

In 1857, Dostoevsky married the widowed M.D. Isaeva. The marriage was not happy: Isaeva agreed after much hesitation that tormented Dostoevsky. Creates two “provincial” comic stories - “ Uncle's dream" and "The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants." In December 1859 he came to live in St. Petersburg.

Dostoevsky's intensive activity combined editorial work on “other people's” manuscripts with the publication of his own articles. The novel “Humiliated and Insulted” was published, “Notes from the House of the Dead” was a huge success.

In June 1862, Dostoevsky traveled abroad for the first time; visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, England. In August 1863, the writer went abroad for the second time. In Paris he met with A.P. Suslova, whose dramatic relationship was reflected in the novels “The Player”, “The Idiot” and other works.

In October 1863 he returned to Russia. 1864 brought heavy losses to Dostoevsky. On April 15, his wife died of consumption. The personality of Maria Dmitrievna, as well as the circumstances of their “unhappy” love, were reflected in many of Dostoevsky’s works (in the images of Katerina Ivanovna - “Crime and Punishment” and Nastasya Filippovna - “Idiot”) On June 10, M. M. Dostoevsky died.

In 1866, an expiring contract with a publisher forced Dostoevsky to simultaneously work on two novels - Crime and Punishment and The Gambler. In October 1866, the stenographer A.G. Snitkina came to him, who in the winter of 1867 became Dostoevsky’s wife. The new marriage was more successful. Until July 1871, Dostoevsky and his wife lived abroad (Berlin; Dresden; Baden-Baden, Geneva, Milan, Florence).

In 1867-1868 Dostoevsky worked on the novel "The Idiot".

At Nekrasov’s suggestion, the writer publishes in “ Domestic notes" mine new novel"Teenager".

IN last years life, Dostoevsky's popularity increases. In 1877 he was elected corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1878, after the death of his beloved son Alyosha, he made a trip to Optina Pustyn, where he talked with Elder Ambrose. He writes “The Brothers Karamazov” - the final work of the writer, in which many ideas of his work received artistic embodiment. On the night of January 25-26, 1881, Dostoevsky’s throat began to bleed. On the afternoon of January 28, the writer said goodbye to the children; in the evening he died.
On January 31, 1881, the writer’s funeral took place in front of a huge crowd of people. He is buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Biography and episodes of life Fyodor Dostoevsky. When born and died Fedor Dostoevsky, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Writer quotes, Photo and video.

Years of life of Fyodor Dostoevsky:

born November 11, 1821, died February 9, 1881

Epitaph

“Longing in the world as if in hell,
Ugly, convulsively bright,
In my prophetic delirium
He has outlined our disastrous age.”
From a poem by Vladimir Nabokov dedicated to Dostoevsky

Biography

His name is known all over the world - along with other such Russian writers, like Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov. Although popularity in the biography of Dostoevsky came to him only in the last years of his life, and real glory attacked the writer after his death.

He was born in Moscow into a fairly wealthy and prosperous family. But when Fedor was 16 years old, he lost his mother, and at 18, his father, who was killed by his own serfs, whom he treated poorly. By this time, Fedor and his brother Mikhail were already studying in St. Petersburg. Fyodor Dostoevsky graduated from engineering school with the rank of engineer-second lieutenant and went into service. But real hobbies young man were literature, history and philosophy, he even attended Belinsky’s circle, and over time he became interested in revolutionary ideas. Dostoevsky wrote his first story at the age of 21 - “Poor People” was greeted warmly even by the most severe literary critics. Dostoevsky was predicted to have a great literary future, but five years later his life changed dramatically. He was first arrested for participating in a conspiracy against the government, then imprisoned and sentenced to death. Fortunately, the sentence was overturned, but Dostoevsky was deprived of his nobility, ranks, money and sent to hard labor in Siberia for four years. After hard labor he was enlisted as an ordinary soldier - the fact that Dostoevsky was not deprived of civil rights, was not accidental. Dostoevsky's talent as a writer was appreciated by Emperor Nicholas I himself, which is why the first one survived. Soon Dostoevsky regained his officer rank.

Due to Dostoevsky's health (he had epilepsy), he was dismissed, returned to St. Petersburg and took up literature. He published his novel “Humiliated and Insulted” in his own magazine “Time,” which he published together with his brother. When brother Mikhail died, it was a terrible blow for Dostoevsky; he was very attached to Mikhail. Then he wrote his most famous work, “Crime and Punishment,” followed by “The Idiot” and “Demons.” All three works were deservedly recognized by Russian society.

The good times for the writer began when he entered into his second and last marriage. Anna Snitkina became his true friend and ally. She helped him submit his works on time, took care of his financial affairs, putting them in order, and helped him get rid of his addiction to gambling. These years of life in happy family with his beloved wife became fruitful and successful for Dostoevsky. At the same time, he gained the greatest popularity of his entire life.

Dostoevsky's death occurred on January 28, 1881. The cause of Dostoevsky's death was an exacerbation of emphysema. Dostoevsky's funeral took place on February 1, Dostoevsky's grave is located at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Life line

October 30, 1821 Date of birth of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
1838 Admission to the Engineering School.
1843 Graduation from college, enlistment as an officer.
1844 Dismissal.
1846 Release of the novel "Poor People".
1849 Arrest of Dostoevsky in the Petrashevsky case.
1850 Exile to Omsk prison.
1854 End of hard labor, enrollment in the Siberian battalion.
February 6, 1857 Marriage to Maria Isaeva.
1859 Resignation.
1860 Publication of the magazine "Time".
1863 Ban on publication of the magazine "Time".
1864 Death of Dostoevsky's wife.
1866 Publication “Crimes and Punishments”.
February 15, 1867 Marriage to Anna Snitkina.
1869 Birth of daughter Lyubov.
1868-1873 Writing the novels "The Idiot" and "Demons".
1871 Birth of son Fedor.
1875 Publication of the novel "Teenager".
August 10, 1875 Birth of son Alexei.
1880 The end of The Brothers Karamazov.
January 28, 1881 Date of death of Dostoevsky.
February 1, 1881 Funeral of Dostoevsky.

Memorable places

1. Dostoevsky's apartment museum in Moscow, where the writer lived from birth until 1837.
2. Darovoye Estate, owned by Dostoevsky, where the writer spent time in 1832-1836.
3. Dostoevsky’s house in St. Petersburg in 1841-1842.
4. Peter and Paul Fortress, where Dostoevsky was imprisoned from April 23 to December 24, 1849.
5. Dostoevsky's house in Staraya Russa(now a house museum).
6. Dostoevsky’s house in St. Petersburg in 1878-1881. (now the Literary and Memorial Museum of F. M. Dostoevsky).
7. Monument to Dostoevsky in Moscow.
8. Monument to Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg.
9. Monument to Dostoevsky in Dresden.
10. Tikhvin cemetery, where Dostoevsky is buried.

Episodes of life

When Dostoevsky met his last wife, he was completely in debt. He was even forced to enter into an enslaving contract with a publisher, under which he promised to sell his works and write new ones in a short time. Friends advised him to hire a stenographer - this is how Dostoevsky met Anna, who was 25 years younger than him. Over time, Snitkina took control of the writer’s financial affairs and put them in order. When Dostoevsky died, his wife, who gave birth to the writer three children, was only 35 years old, but she never remarried, remaining faithful to her husband.

Dostoevsky was diagnosed with pulmonary emphysema back in 1879. The writer was advised to avoid worries and stress. There is a version that two days before the death of Fyodor Dostoevsky, his sister came to him, with whom the writer had a stormy quarrel, which may have become the reason for the deterioration of Dostoevsky’s health. According to other information, Dostoevsky often worked at night and on one of these nights, shortly before his death, he dropped his pen, which rolled under a heavy bookcase. Dostoevsky moved it from its place, which provoked severe bleeding from the throat. On the morning of his death, Dostoevsky said to his wife: “I know, I must die today.” In the evening he died.

Covenant

“If you want to conquer the whole world, defeat yourself.”

Documentary film about Fyodor Dostoevsky

Condolences

“I had never seen this man and never had a direct relationship with him, and suddenly, when he died, I realized that he was the closest, dearest, and most necessary person to me. Some support bounced off me. I was confused, and then it became clear how dear he was to me, and I cried, and now I cry.”
Leo Tolstoy, writer

“Death took him away, truly full of plans.”
Anna Dostoevskaya, the writer's wife

“A man had to appear who would embody in his soul the memory of all these human torments and reflect this terrible memory - this man Dostoevsky.”
Maxim Gorky, writer

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky born October 30 (November 11), 1821. The writer's father came from ancient family Rtishchev, descendants of the defender of the Orthodox faith of South-Western Rus' Daniil Ivanovich Rtishchev. For his special successes, he was given the village of Dostoevo (Podolsk province), where the Dostoevsky surname originates.

TO early XIX centuries, the Dostoevsky family became poorer. The writer's grandfather, Andrei Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, served as an archpriest in the town of Bratslav, Podolsk province. The writer's father, Mikhail Andreevich, graduated from the Medical-Surgical Academy. In 1812, during Patriotic War, he fought against the French, and in 1819 he married the daughter of a Moscow merchant, Maria Fedorovna Nechaeva. After retiring, Mikhail Andreevich decided to take the position of doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, which was nicknamed Bozhedomka in Moscow.

The Dostoevsky family's apartment was located in a wing of the hospital. In the right wing of Bozhedomka, allocated to the doctor as a government apartment, Fyodor Mikhailovich was born. The writer's mother came from a merchant family. Pictures of instability, illness, poverty, premature deaths are the child’s first impressions, under the influence of which the future writer’s unusual view of the world was formed.

The Dostoevsky family, which eventually grew to nine people, huddled in two rooms in the front room. The writer's father, Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky, was a hot-tempered and suspicious person. Mother, Maria Fedorovna, was of a completely different type: kind, cheerful, economical. The relationship between the parents was built on complete submission to the will and whims of father Mikhail Fedorovich. The writer's mother and nanny sacredly revered religious traditions, raising children with deep respect for the Orthodox faith. Fyodor Mikhailovich's mother died early, at the age of 36. She was buried at the Lazarevskoye cemetery.

Science and education in the Dostoevsky family were given importance great importance. Fedor Mikhailovich in early age found joy in learning and reading books. At first it was folk tales Arina Arkhipovna's nannies, then Zhukovsky and Pushkin - his mother's favorite writers. At an early age, Fyodor Mikhailovich met the classics of world literature: Homer, Cervantes and Hugo. Father arranged in the evenings family reading“History of the Russian State” N.M. Karamzin.

In 1827, the writer's father, Mikhail Andreevich, for excellent and diligent service, was awarded the order St. Anne 3rd degree, and a year later he was awarded the rank of collegiate assessor, which gave the right to hereditary nobility. He knew the price well higher education, therefore, he sought to seriously prepare his children for admission to higher educational institutions.

In his childhood, the future writer experienced a tragedy that left an indelible mark on his soul for the rest of his life. With sincere childish feelings, he fell in love with a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a cook. In one of summer days a cry was heard in the garden. Fedya ran out into the street and saw that this girl was lying on the ground in a torn white dress, and some women were bending over her. From their conversation, he realized that the tragedy was caused by a drunken tramp. They sent for her father, but his help was not needed: the girl died.

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky received his primary education in a private Moscow boarding school. In 1838 he entered the Main Engineering School in St. Petersburg, which he graduated in 1843 with the title of military engineer.

The Engineering School in those years was considered one of the best educational institutions in Russia. It is no coincidence that a lot came out of it wonderful people. Among Dostoevsky's classmates there were many talented people who later became outstanding personalities: famous writer Dmitry Grigorovich, artist Konstantin Trutovsky, physiologist Ilya Sechenov, organizer of the Sevastopol defense Eduard Totleben, hero of Shipka Fyodor Radetsky. The school taught both special and humanities: Russian literature, domestic and world history, civil architecture and drawing.

Dostoevsky preferred solitude to the noisy student society. His favorite pastime was reading. Dostoevsky's erudition amazed his comrades. He read the works of Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Hoffmann, and Balzac. However, the desire for solitude and loneliness was not an innate trait of his character. As an ardent, enthusiastic nature, he was in a constant search for new impressions. But at the school, he experienced first-hand the tragedy of the “little man’s” soul. Most of the students in this educational institution were children of the highest military and bureaucratic bureaucracy. Wealthy parents spared no expense for their children and generously gifted teachers. In this environment, Dostoevsky looked like a “black sheep” and was often subjected to ridicule and insults. For several years, a feeling of wounded pride flared up in his soul, which was later reflected in his work.

However, despite ridicule and humiliation, Dostoevsky managed to gain the respect of both teachers and schoolmates. Over time, they all became convinced that he was a man of outstanding abilities and extraordinary intelligence.

During his studies, Dostoevsky was influenced by Ivan Nikolaevich Shidlovsky, a graduate of Kharkov University who served in the Ministry of Finance. Shidlovsky wrote poetry and dreamed of literary fame. He believed in a huge, world-transforming power poetic word and argued that all great poets were “builders” and “world creators.” In 1839, Shidlovsky unexpectedly left St. Petersburg and left for an unknown direction. Later, Dostoevsky found out that he had gone to the Valuysky monastery, but then, on the advice of one of the wise elders, he decided to perform a “Christian feat” in the world, among his peasants. He began to preach the Gospel and achieved great success in this field. Shidlovsky, a religious romantic thinker, became the prototype of Prince Myshkin and Alyosha Karamazov, heroes who have occupied a special place in world literature.

On July 8, 1839, the writer’s father died suddenly from an apoplexy. There were rumors that he did not die a natural death, but was killed by men for his tough temper. This news greatly shocked Dostoevsky, and he suffered his first seizure - a harbinger of epilepsy - a serious illness from which the writer suffered for the rest of his life.

On August 12, 1843, Dostoevsky graduated full course Sciences in the upper officer class and was enlisted in the engineering corps at the St. Petersburg engineering team, but he did not serve there for long. On October 19, 1844, he decided to resign and devote himself to literary creativity. Dostoevsky had a passion for literature for a long time. After graduating, he began translating the works of foreign classics, in particular Balzac. Page after page, he became deeply involved in the train of thought, in the movement of images of the great French writer. He liked to imagine himself as some kind of famous romantic hero, most often Schiller's... But in January 1845, Dostoevsky experienced an important event, which he later called “the vision on the Neva.” Returning home from Vyborgskaya one winter evening, he “cast a piercing glance along the river” into the “frosty, muddy distance.” And then it seemed to him that “this whole world, with all its inhabitants, strong and weak, with all their dwellings, beggars’ shelters or gilded chambers, in this twilight hour resembles a fantastic dream, a dream, which, in turn, immediately will disappear, disappear into steam towards the dark blue sky.” And at that very moment, a “completely new world” opened up before him, some strange “completely prosaic” figures. “Not Don Carlos and Poses at all,” but “quite titular advisers.” And “another story loomed, in some dark corners, some titular heart, honest and pure... and with it some girl, offended and sad.” And his “heart was deeply torn by their whole story.”

A sudden revolution took place in Dostoevsky’s soul. The heroes, so dearly loved by him just recently, who lived in the world of romantic dreams, were forgotten. The writer looked at the world with a different look, through the eyes of “little people” - a poor official, Makar Alekseevich Devushkin and his beloved girl, Varenka Dobroselova. This is how the idea of ​​the novel arose in the letters of “Poor People,” Dostoevsky’s first work of fiction. Then followed the novellas and short stories “The Double”, “Mr. Prokharchin”, “The Mistress”, “White Nights”, “Netochka Nezvanova”.

In 1847, Dostoevsky became close to Mikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, passionate fan and propagandist Fourier, and began to attend his famous “Fridays”. Here he met the poets Alexei Pleshcheev, Apollon Maikov, Sergei Durov, Alexander Palm, prose writer Mikhail Saltykov, young scientists Nikolai Mordvinov and Vladimir Milyutin. At meetings of the Petrashevites circle, the latest socialist teachings and programs for revolutionary coups were discussed. Dostoevsky was among the supporters of the immediate abolition of serfdom in Russia. But the government became aware of the existence of the circle, and on April 23, 1849, thirty-seven of its members, including Dostoevsky, were arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. They were tried by military law and sentenced to death, but by order of the emperor the sentence was commuted, and Dostoevsky was exiled to Siberia for hard labor.

On December 25, 1849, the writer was shackled, seated in an open sleigh and sent to long journey... It took sixteen days to get to Tobolsk in forty-degree frosts. Remembering his journey to Siberia, Dostoevsky wrote: “I was frozen to my heart.”

In Tobolsk, the Petrashevites were visited by the wives of the Decembrists Natalia Dmitrievna Fonvizina and Praskovya Egorovna Annenkova - Russian women whose spiritual feat was admired by all of Russia. They presented each condemned person with a Gospel, in the binding of which money was hidden. The prisoners were forbidden to have their own money, and the shrewdness of their friends to some extent at first made it easier for them to endure the harsh situation in the Siberian prison. This eternal book, the only one allowed in the prison, the Dostoevsky coast all my life, like a shrine.

At hard labor, Dostoevsky realized how far the speculative, rationalistic ideas of the “new Christianity” were from that “heartfelt” feeling of Christ, the true bearer of which is the people. From here Dostoevsky brought out a new “symbol of faith”, which was based on the people’s feeling of Christ, folk type Christian worldview. “This symbol of faith is very simple,” he said, “to believe that there is nothing more beautiful, deeper, more sympathetic, more intelligent, more courageous and more perfect than Christ, and not only is there not, but with jealous love I tell myself that it cannot be... »

The writer's four-year hard labor changed military service: from Omsk Dostoevsky was escorted under escort to Semipalatinsk. Here he served as a private, then received an officer rank. He returned to St. Petersburg only at the end of 1859. Has begun spiritual search new ways social development Russia, which ended in the 60s with the formation of Dostoevsky’s so-called pochvennik beliefs. Since 1861, the writer, together with his brother Mikhail, began publishing the magazine “Time”, and after its ban, the magazine “Epoch”. Working on magazines and new books, Dostoevsky developed his own view of the tasks of the Russian writer and public figure- a peculiar, Russian version of Christian socialism.

In 1861, Dostoevsky’s first novel, written after hard labor, was published, “The Humiliated and Insulted,” which expressed the author’s sympathy for the “little people” who are subjected to incessant insults from the powers that be. “Notes from dead house"(1861-1863), conceived and started by Dostoevsky while still in hard labor. In 1863, the magazine “Time” published “Winter Notes on summer impressions", in which the writer criticized the system political beliefs Western Europe. In 1864, “Notes from the Underground” was published - a kind of confession by Dostoevsky, in which he renounced his previous ideals, love for man, and faith in the truth of love.

In 1866, the novel “Crime and Punishment” was published, one of the writer’s most significant novels, and in 1868, the novel “The Idiot” was published, in which Dostoevsky tried to create the image of a positive hero opposing the cruel world of predators. Dostoevsky's novels “The Demons” (1871) and “The Teenager” (1879) became widely known. The last piece that sums it up creative activity writer, became the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” (1879-1880). The main character of this work, Alyosha Karamazov, helping people in their troubles and alleviating their suffering, becomes convinced that the most important thing in life is a feeling of love and forgiveness. On January 28 (February 9), 1881, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky died in St. Petersburg.

1821, October 30 (November 11) Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born, in Moscow in the right wing of the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor. There were six more children in the Dostoevsky family: Mikhail (1820-1864), Varvara (1822-1893), Andrei, Vera (1829-1896), Nikolai (1831-1883), Alexandra (1835-1889). Fyodor grew up in a rather harsh environment, over which hovered the gloomy spirit of his father - a “nervous, irritable and proud” man, always busy caring for the well-being of the family.

Children were brought up in fear and obedience, according to the traditions of antiquity, spending most time in front of parents. Rarely leaving the walls of the hospital building, they communicated very little with the outside world, except through the patients, with whom Fyodor Mikhailovich, secretly from his father, sometimes spoke. There was also a nanny, hired from among Moscow bourgeois women, whose name was Alena Frolovna. Dostoevsky remembered her with the same tenderness as Pushkin remembered Arina Rodionovna. It was from her that he heard the first fairy tales: about the Firebird, Alyosha Popovich, Blue Bird etc.

Father, Mikhail Andreevich (1789-1839), the son of a Uniate priest, a doctor (head doctor, surgeon) at the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, received the title of hereditary nobleman in 1828. In 1831 he acquired the village of Darovoye, Kashira district, Tula province, and in 1833 the neighboring village of Chermoshnya.

In raising his children, the father was an independent, educated, caring family man, but had a quick-tempered and suspicious character. After the death of his wife in 1837, he retired and settled in Darovo. According to documents, he died of apoplexy; according to the memories of relatives and oral traditions, was killed by his peasants.

Mother, Maria Fedorovna (née Nechaeva; 1800-1837) - from merchant family, a religious woman, annually took children to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, taught them to read from the book “One Hundred and Four sacred stories The Old and New Testaments" (in the novel "" memories of this book are included in the story of Elder Zosima about his childhood). In the parents’ house they read aloud “The History of the Russian State” by N. M. Karamzin, the works of G. R. Derzhavin, V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin.

With particular animation, Dostoevsky recalled in his mature years his acquaintance with Scripture: “In our family, we knew the Gospel almost from our first childhood.” The Old Testament “Book of Job” also became a vivid childhood impression of the writer. Fyodor Mikhailovich’s younger brother Andrei Mikhailovich wrote that “brother Fedya read more historical works, serious works, as well as novels that came across. Brother Mikhail loved poetry and wrote poems himself... But at Pushkin they made peace, and both, it seems, then knew almost everything by heart...”

The death of Alexander Sergeevich by young Fedya was perceived as a personal grief. Andrei Mikhailovich wrote: “brother Fedya, in conversations with his older brother, repeated several times that if we did not have family mourning (mother Maria Feodorovna died), then he would ask his father’s permission to mourn for Pushkin.”

Dostoevsky's youth

Since 1832, the family annually spent the summer in the village of Darovoye (Tula province), purchased by their father. Meetings and conversations with men were forever etched in Dostoevsky’s memory and later served as creative material (the story “” from the “Diary of a Writer” for 1876).

In 1832, Dostoevsky and his older brother Mikhail began studying with teachers who came to the house, from 1833 they studied at the boarding house of N. I. Drashusov (Sushara), then at the boarding house of L. I. Chermak, where the astronomer D. M. Perevoshchikov and paleologist taught A. M. Kubarev. Russian language teacher N.I. Bilevich played a certain role in spiritual development Dostoevsky.

Memories of the boarding school served as material for many of the writer’s works. The atmosphere of educational institutions and isolation from the family caused a painful reaction in Dostoevsky (autobiographical traits of the hero of the novel "", experiencing deep moral upheavals in the "Tushara boarding house"). At the same time, the years of study were marked by an awakened passion for reading.

In 1837, the writer’s mother died, and soon his father took Dostoevsky and his brother Mikhail to St. Petersburg to continue their education. More writer did not meet his father, who died in 1839 (according to official information, he died of apoplexy; according to family legends, he was killed by serfs). Dostoevsky's attitude towards his father, a suspicious and morbidly suspicious man, was ambivalent.

Having had a hard time surviving the death of her mother, which coincided with the news of the death of A.S. Pushkin (which he perceived as a personal loss), Dostoevsky in May 1837 traveled with his brother Mikhail to St. Petersburg and entered the preparatory boarding school of K. F. Kostomarov. At the same time, he met I. N. Shidlovsky, whose religious and romantic mood captivated Dostoevsky.

First literary publications

Even on the way to St. Petersburg, Dostoevsky mentally “composed a novel from Venetian life,” and in 1838 Riesenkampf spoke “about his own literary experiences.”

From January 1838, Dostoevsky studied at the Main Engineering School, where he described a typical day as follows: “... from early morning until evening, we in classes barely have time to follow the lectures. ...We are sent to military training, we are given lessons in fencing, dancing, singing...we are put on guard, and this is how the whole time passes...”

The heavy impression of the “hard labor years” was partially brightened by the training friendly relations with V. Grigorovich, doctor A. E. Riesenkampf, duty officer A. I. Savelyev, artist K. A. Trutovsky. Subsequently, Dostoevsky always believed that choice educational institution was wrong. He suffered from the military atmosphere and drill, from disciplines alien to his interests and from loneliness.

As his college friend, the artist K. A. Trutovsky, testified, Dostoevsky kept himself aloof, but amazed his comrades with his erudition, and a literary circle formed around him. The first literary ideas took shape at the school.

In 1841, at an evening organized by his brother Mikhail, Dostoevsky read excerpts from his dramatic works, which are known only by their names - “Mary Stuart” and “Boris Godunov” - giving rise to associations with the names of F. Schiller and A. S. Pushkin, apparently the deepest literary hobbies of the young Dostoevsky; was also read by N.V. Gogol, E. Hoffmann, W. Scott, George Sand, V. Hugo.

After graduating from college, having served less than a year in the St. Petersburg engineering team, in the summer of 1844 Dostoevsky retired with the rank of lieutenant, deciding to devote himself entirely to literary creativity.

Among Dostoevsky’s literary passions at that time was O. de Balzac: with the translation of his story “Eugenia Grande” (1844, without indicating the name of the translator), the writer entered the literary field. At the same time, Dostoevsky worked on translating the novels of Eugene Sue and George Sand (they did not appear in print). The choice of works testified to the literary tastes of the aspiring writer: in those years he was not alien to romantic and sentimentalist styles, he liked dramatic collisions, large-scale characters, and action-packed storytelling. In the works of George Sand, as he recalled at the end of his life, he was “struck ... by the chaste, highest purity of types and ideals and the modest charm of the strict, restrained tone of the story.”

Dostoevsky informed his brother about the work on the drama “The Jew Yankel” in January 1844. The manuscripts of the dramas have not survived, but from their titles one can clearly see literary hobbies aspiring writer: Schiller, Pushkin, Gogol. After the death of his father, the relatives of the writer’s mother took care of younger brothers and Dostoevsky's sisters, and Fyodor and Mikhail received a small inheritance.

After graduating from college (end of 1843), he was enlisted as a field engineer-second lieutenant in the St. Petersburg engineering team, but already in the early summer of 1844, having decided to devote himself entirely to literature, he resigned and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant.

In January 1844, Dostoevsky completed the translation of Balzac's story "Eugene Grande", which he was especially keen on at that time. The translation became Dostoevsky's first published literary work. In 1844 he began and in May 1845, after numerous alterations, he finished the novel ““.

The novel “Poor People”, whose connection with “ Stationmaster Dostoevsky himself emphasized Pushkin and Gogol’s “The Overcoat” and was an exceptional success. Based on the traditions of the physiological essay, Dostoevsky creates a realistic picture of the life of the “downtrodden” inhabitants of the “St. Petersburg corners”, a gallery social types from street beggar to “His Excellency.”

Dostoevsky spent the summer of 1845 (as well as the next) in Reval with his brother Mikhail. In the fall of 1845, upon returning to St. Petersburg, he often met with Belinsky. In October, the writer, together with Nekrasov and Grigorovich, compiled an anonymous program announcement for the almanac “Zuboskal” (03, 1845, No. 11), and in early December, at an evening with Belinsky, he read the chapters “” (03, 1846, No. 2), in which for the first time gives a psychological analysis of split consciousness, “dualism.” The story "" (1846) and the story "" (1847), in which many of the motives, ideas and characters of Dostoevsky's works of the 1860-1870s were outlined, were not understood by modern criticism.

Belinsky also radically changed his attitude towards Dostoevsky, condemning the “fantastic” element, “pretentiousness”, “manneredness” of these works. In other works of the young Dostoevsky - in the stories "", "", the cycle of acute socio-psychological feuilletons "The Petersburg Chronicle" and the unfinished novel "" - the problems of the writer's creativity are expanded, psychologism is intensified with a characteristic emphasis on the analysis of the most complex, elusive internal phenomena.

At the end of 1846, there was a cooling in the relations between Dostoevsky and Belinsky. Later, he had a conflict with the editors of Sovremennik: Dostoevsky’s suspicious, proud character played a big role here. The ridicule of the writer by recent friends (especially Turgenev, Nekrasov), the harsh tone of Belinsky’s critical reviews of his works were acutely felt by the writer. Around this time, according to the testimony of Dr. S.D. Yanovsky, Dostoevsky showed the first symptoms of epilepsy.

The writer is burdened by exhausting work for “Notes of the Fatherland”. Poverty forced him to take on any job literary work(in particular, he edited articles for the Reference encyclopedic dictionary"A. V. Starchevsky).

Arrest and exile

In 1846, Dostoevsky became close to the Maykov family, regularly visited the literary and philosophical circle of the Beketov brothers, which was dominated by V. Maykov, and permanent participants were A.N. Maikov and A.N. Pleshcheev are friends of Dostoevsky. From March-April 1847, Dostoevsky became a visitor to the “Fridays” of M.V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky. He also participates in the organization of a secret printing house for printing appeals to peasants and soldiers.

Dostoevsky's arrest occurred on April 23, 1849; his archive was taken away during his arrest and probably destroyed in the III department. Dostoevsky spent 8 months in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress under investigation, during which he showed courage, hiding many facts and trying, if possible, to mitigate the guilt of his comrades. He was recognized by the investigation as “one of the most important” among the Petrashevites, guilty of “intent to overthrow existing domestic laws and public order.”

The initial verdict of the military judicial commission read: “... the retired engineer-lieutenant Dostoevsky, for failure to report the dissemination of a criminal letter about religion and government by the writer Belinsky and the malicious writing of lieutenant Grigoriev, will be deprived of his ranks, all rights of state and subjected to the death penalty by shooting.”

On December 22, 1849, Dostoevsky, along with others, awaited the execution of the death sentence on the Semyonovsky parade ground. According to the resolution of Nicholas I, his execution was replaced by 4 years of hard labor with deprivation of “all rights of state” and subsequent surrender to the army.

On the night of December 24, Dostoevsky was sent from St. Petersburg in chains. On January 10, 1850 he arrived in Tobolsk, where in the caretaker’s apartment the writer met with the wives of the Decembrists - P.E. Annenkova, A.G. Muravyova and N.D. Fonvizina; they gave him the Gospel, which he kept all his life. From January 1850 to 1854, Dostoevsky, together with Durov, served hard labor as a “laborer” in the Omsk fortress.

In January 1854, he was enlisted as a private in the 7th Line Battalion (Semipalatinsk) and was able to resume correspondence with his brother Mikhail and A. Maikov. In November 1855, Dostoevsky was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and after much trouble from prosecutor Wrangel and other Siberian and St. Petersburg acquaintances (including E.I. Totleben) to warrant officer; in the spring of 1857, the writer was returned to hereditary nobility and the right to publish, but police surveillance over him remained until 1875.

In 1857 Dostoevsky married the widowed M.D. Isaeva, who, according to him, was “a woman of the most sublime and enthusiastic soul... An idealist in the full sense of the word... she was both pure and naive, and she was just like a child.” The marriage was not happy: Isaeva agreed after much hesitation that tormented Dostoevsky.

In Siberia, the writer began work on his memoirs about hard labor (“Siberian” notebook containing folklore, ethnographic and diary entries, served as a source for "" and many other books by Dostoevsky). In 1857 his brother published the story " Little hero", written by Dostoevsky in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Having created two “provincial” comic stories - “” and “”, Dostoevsky entered into negotiations with M.N. through his brother Mikhail. Katkov, Nekrasov, A.A. Kraevsky. However modern criticism did not appreciate and passed by almost completely in silence these first works of the “new” Dostoevsky.

On March 18, 1859, Dostoevsky, upon request, was dismissed “due to illness” with the rank of second lieutenant and received permission to live in Tver (with a ban on entry into the St. Petersburg and Moscow provinces). On July 2, 1859, he left Semipalatinsk with his wife and stepson. From 1859 - in Tver, where he renewed his previous literary acquaintances and made new ones. Later, the chief of gendarmes notified the Tver governor about permission for Dostoevsky to live in St. Petersburg, where he arrived in December 1859.

The flowering of Dostoevsky's creativity

Dostoevsky’s intensive activity combined editorial work on “other people’s” manuscripts with the publication of his own articles, polemical notes, notes, and most importantly works of art.

“- a transitional work, a peculiar return at a new stage of development to the motives of creativity of the 1840s, enriched by the experience of what was experienced and felt in the 1850s; it has very strong autobiographical motives. At the same time, the novel contained the features of the plots, style and characters of the works of the late Dostoevsky. ““ was a huge success.

In Siberia, according to Dostoevsky, his “convictions” changed “gradually and after a very, very long time.” The essence of these changes, Dostoevsky in the very general form formulated as “a return to folk root, to the recognition of the Russian soul, to the recognition of the national spirit." In the magazines “Time” and “Epoch” the Dostoevsky brothers acted as ideologists of “pochvennichestvo” - a specific modification of the ideas of Slavophilism.

“Pochvennichestvo” was rather an attempt to outline the contours of the “general idea”, to find a platform that would reconcile Westerners and Slavophiles, “civilization” and folk origin. Skeptical about the revolutionary ways of transforming Russia and Europe, Dostoevsky expressed these doubts in works of art, articles and announcements of Vremya, in sharp polemics with the publications of Sovremennik.

The essence of Dostoevsky's objections is the possibility, after the reform, of a rapprochement between the government and the intelligentsia and the people, their peaceful cooperation. Dostoevsky continues this polemic in the story “” (“Epoch”, 1864) - a philosophical and artistic prelude to the writer’s “ideological” novels.

Dostoevsky wrote: “I am proud that for the first time I brought out the real man of the Russian majority and for the first time exposed his ugly and tragic side. Tragedy lies in the consciousness of ugliness. I alone brought out the tragedy of the underground, which consists in suffering, in self-punishment, in the consciousness of the best and in the impossibility of achieving it and, most importantly, in the vivid conviction of these unfortunates that everyone is like that, and therefore there is no need to improve!”

In June 1862, Dostoevsky traveled abroad for the first time; visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, England. In August 1863 the writer went abroad for the second time. In Paris he met with A.P. Suslova, whose dramatic relationship (1861-1866) was reflected in the novel ““, “” and other works.

In Baden-Baden, carried away by the gambling nature of his nature, playing roulette, he loses “all, completely to the ground”; This long-term hobby of Dostoevsky is one of the qualities of his passionate nature.

In October 1863 he returned to Russia. Until mid-November he lived with his sick wife in Vladimir, and at the end of 1863-April 1864 in Moscow, traveling to St. Petersburg on business. 1864 brought heavy losses to Dostoevsky. On April 15, his wife died of consumption. The personality of Maria Dmitrievna, as well as the circumstances of their “unhappy” love, were reflected in many of Dostoevsky’s works (in particular, in the images of Katerina Ivanovna - “ ” and Nastasya Filippovna - “ “).

On June 10, M.M. died. Dostoevsky. On September 26, Dostoevsky attends Grigoriev’s funeral. After the death of his brother, Dostoevsky took over the publication of the magazine “Epoch”, which was burdened with a large debt and lagged behind by 3 months; The magazine began to appear more regularly, but a sharp drop in subscriptions in 1865 forced the writer to stop publishing. He owed creditors about 15 thousand rubles, which he was able to pay only towards the end of his life. In an effort to provide working conditions, Dostoevsky entered into a contract with F.T. Stellovsky for the publication of collected works and undertook to write a new novel for him by November 1, 1866.

In the spring of 1865, Dostoevsky was a frequent guest of the family of General V.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, eldest daughter whom A.V. Korvin-Krukovskaya he was very passionate about. In July he went to Wiesbaden, from where in the fall of 1865 he offered Katkov a story for the Russian Messenger, which later developed into a novel.

In the summer of 1866, Dostoevsky was in Moscow and at the dacha in the village of Lyublino, near the family of his sister Vera Mikhailovna, where he wrote the novel ““ at night. “A psychological report of a crime” became the plot outline of the novel, the main idea of ​​which Dostoevsky outlined as follows: “Unsolvable questions arise before the murderer, unsuspected and unexpected feelings torment his heart. God's truth, earthly law takes its toll, and he ends up being forced to denounce himself. Forced to die in hard labor, but to join the people again...”

The novel accurately and multifacetedly depicts Petersburg and “current reality,” a wealth of social characters, “a whole world of class and professional types,” but this is reality transformed and revealed by the artist, whose gaze penetrates to the very essence of things. Intense philosophical debates, prophetic dreams, confessions and nightmares, grotesque caricature scenes that naturally turn into tragic, symbolic meetings of heroes, an apocalyptic image of a ghostly city are organically linked in Dostoevsky’s novel. The novel, according to the author himself, was “extremely successful” and raised his “reputation as a writer.”

In 1866, the expiring contract with the publisher forced Dostoevsky to simultaneously work on two novels - "" and "". Dostoevsky resorts to in an unusual way works: October 4, 1866 stenographer A.G. comes to him. Snitkina; he began to dictate to her the novel “The Gambler,” which reflected the writer’s impressions of his acquaintance with Western Europe.

At the center of the novel is the clash of a “multi-developed, but unfinished in everything, distrustful and not daring not to believe, rebelling against authority and fearing them” “foreign Russian” with “complete” European types. The main character is “a poet in his own way, but the fact is that he himself is ashamed of this poetry, for he deeply feels its baseness, although the need for risk ennobles him in his own eyes.”

In the winter of 1867, Snitkina became Dostoevsky's wife. The new marriage was more successful. From April 1867 to July 1871, Dostoevsky and his wife lived abroad (Berlin, Dresden, Baden-Baden, Geneva, Milan, Florence). There, on February 22, 1868, a daughter, Sophia, was born, whose sudden death (May of the same year) Dostoevsky took seriously. On September 14, 1869, daughter Lyubov was born; later in Russia July 16, 1871 - son Fedor; Aug 12 1875 - son Alexey, who died at the age of three from an epileptic fit.

In 1867-1868 Dostoevsky worked on the novel ““. “The idea of ​​the novel,” the author pointed out, “is my old and favorite one, but it is so difficult that I did not dare take on it for a long time. the main idea novel - portray positively wonderful person. There is nothing more difficult in the world than this, and especially now...”

Dostoevsky began the novel "" by interrupting work on the widely conceived epics "Atheism" and "The Life of a Great Sinner" and hastily composing the "story" "". The immediate impetus for the creation of the novel was the “Nechaev case.”

Activity secret society“People’s reprisal”, the murder by five members of the organization of a student of the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy I.I. Ivanov - these are the events that formed the basis of “Demons” and received a philosophical and psychological interpretation in the novel. The writer's attention was drawn to the circumstances of the murder, ideological and organizational principles terrorists (“Catechism of a Revolutionary”), figures of accomplices in the crime, the personality of the head of the society S.G. Nechaeva.

In the process of working on the novel, the concept was modified many times. Initially, it is a direct response to events. The scope of the pamphlet subsequently expanded significantly, not only Nechaevites, but also figures of the 1860s, liberals of the 1840s, T.N. Granovsky, Petrashevites, Belinsky, V.S. Pecherin, A.I. Herzen, even the Decembrists and P.Ya. The Chaadaevs find themselves in the grotesque-tragic space of the novel.

Gradually, the novel develops into a critical depiction of the common “disease” experienced by Russia and Europe, a clear symptom of which is the “demonism” of Nechaev and the Nechaevites. At the center of the novel, its philosophical and ideological focus is not the sinister “swindler” Pyotr Verkhovensky (Nechaev), but the mysterious and demonic figure of Nikolai Stavrogin, who “allowed everything.”

In July 1871, Dostoevsky with his wife and daughter returned to St. Petersburg. The writer and his family spent the summer of 1872 in Staraya Russa; this city has become permanent place family's summer stay. In 1876 Dostoevsky purchased a house here.

In 1872, the writer visited the “Wednesdays” of Prince V.P. Meshchersky, a supporter of counter-reforms and publisher of the newspaper-magazine “Citizen”. At the request of the publisher, supported by A. Maikov and Tyutchev, Dostoevsky in December 1872 agreed to take over the editorship of “Citizen”, stipulating in advance that he would assume these responsibilities temporarily.

In “The Citizen” (1873), Dostoevsky carried out the long-conceived idea of ​​“A Writer’s Diary” (a cycle of essays of a political, literary and memoir nature, united by the idea of ​​direct, personal communication with the reader), published a number of articles and notes (including political reviews “Foreign Events ").

Soon Dostoevsky began to feel burdened by the editor. work, the clashes with Meshchersky also became increasingly harsh, and the impossibility of turning the weekly into “an organ of people with independent convictions” became more obvious. In the spring of 1874, the writer refused to be an editor, although he occasionally collaborated with The Citizen and later. Due to deteriorating health (increased emphysema), in June 1847 he left for treatment in Ems and repeated trips there in 1875, 1876 and 1879.

In the mid-1870s. Dostoevsky's relationship with Saltykov-Shchedrin, interrupted at the height of the controversy between "Epoch" and "Sovremennik", and with Nekrasov, was renewed, at whose suggestion (1874) the writer published his new novel "" - "a novel of education" in "Otechestvennye zapiski" kind of “Fathers and Sons” by Dostoevsky.

The hero’s personality and worldview are formed in an environment of “general decay” and the collapse of the foundations of society, in the fight against the temptations of the age. The confession of a teenager analyzes the complex, contradictory, chaotic process of personality formation in an “ugly” world that has lost its “moral center,” the slow maturation of a new “idea” under the powerful influence of “ great thought“the wanderer Versilov and the philosophy of life of the “genteel” wanderer Makar Dolgoruky.

In con. 1875 Dostoevsky again returns to journalistic work - the “mono-magazine” “” (1876 and 1877), which had great success and allowed the writer to enter into a direct dialogue with corresponding readers.

The author defined the nature of the publication in this way: “A Writer’s Diary will be similar to a feuilleton, but with the difference that a month’s feuilleton naturally cannot be similar to a week’s feuilleton. I am not a chronicler: on the contrary, this is a perfect diary in the full sense of the word, that is, a report on what interested me most personally.”

“Diary” 1876-1877 - a fusion of journalistic articles, essays, feuilletons, “anti-critics,” memoirs and works of art. The Diary refracted Dostoevsky’s immediate, hot on the heels, impressions and opinions about the most important phenomena European and Russian socio-political and cultural life, which worried Dostoevsky about legal, social, ethical-pedagogical, aesthetic and political problems.

A large place in the “Diary” is occupied by the writer’s attempts to see in the modern chaos the contours of a “new creation”, the foundations of an “emerging” life, and to predict the appearance of the “coming future Russia” honest people who want only one truth."
Criticism of bourgeois Europe and a deep analysis of the state of post-reform Russia are paradoxically combined in the “Diary” with polemics against various trends of social thought of the 1870s, from conservative utopias to populist and socialist ideas.

In the last years of his life, Dostoevsky's popularity increased. In 1877 he was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In May 1879, the writer was invited to the International Literary Congress in London, at the session of which he was elected a member of the honorary committee of the international literary association.

Dostoevsky actively participates in the activities of the St. Petersburg Frebel Society. He often performs at literary and musical evenings and matinees, reading excerpts from his works and poems by Pushkin. In January 1877 Dostoevsky was impressed by " Latest songs“Nekrasova visits the dying poet, often sees him in November; On December 30, he makes a speech at Nekrasov’s funeral.

Dostoevsky's activities required direct acquaintance with “living life.” He visits (with the assistance of A.F. Koni) colonies for juvenile delinquents (1875) and the Orphanage (1876). In 1878, after the death of his beloved son Alyosha, he made a trip to Optina Pustyn, where he talked with Elder Ambrose. The writer is especially concerned about events in Russia.

In March 1878, Dostoevsky was at the trial of Vera Zasulich in the St. Petersburg District Court, and in April he responded to a letter from students asking to speak out about the beating of student demonstration participants by shopkeepers; In February 1880, he was present at the execution of I. O. Mlodetsky, who shot M. T. Loris-Melikov.

Intensive, diverse contacts with the surrounding reality, active journalistic and social activity served as multifaceted preparation for a new stage in the writer’s work. In the "Diary of a Writer" ideas and the plot of it matured and were tested. last novel. At the end of 1877, Dostoevsky announced the termination of the Diary in connection with his intention to engage in “one artistic work that took shape... during these two years of publication of the Diary, inconspicuously and involuntarily.”

“” is the final work of the writer, in which many of the ideas of his work received artistic embodiment. The history of the Karamazovs, as the author wrote, is not just a family chronicle, but a typified and generalized “depiction of our modern reality, our modern intelligentsia Russia.”

The philosophy and psychology of “crime and punishment”, the dilemma of “socialism and Christianity”, the eternal struggle between “God” and “the devil” in the souls of people, the traditional theme of “fathers and sons” in classical Russian literature - these are the problems of the novel. In "" the criminal offense is connected with the great world "questions" and eternal artistic and philosophical themes.

In January 1881, Dostoevsky speaks at a meeting of the council of the Slavic Benevolent Society, works on the first issue of the renewed “Diary of a Writer,” learns the role of a schema-monk in “The Death of Ivan the Terrible” by A. K. Tolstoy for a home performance in S. A. Tolstoy’s salon, makes the decision “ definitely take part in the Pushkin evening” on January 29. He was going to “publish the “Diary of a Writer”... for two years, and then dreamed of writing the second part ““, where almost all the previous heroes would appear...”. On the night of January 25-26, Dostoevsky’s throat began to bleed. On the afternoon of January 28, Dostoevsky said goodbye to the children at 8:38 a.m. evening he died.

Death and funeral of the writer

On January 31, 1881, the writer’s funeral took place in front of a huge crowd of people. He is buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Books on the biography of Dostoevsky F.M.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich // Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg-M., 1896-1918.

Pereverzev V. F., Riza-Zade F. Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich // Literary encyclopedia. - M.: Publishing House Kom. Acad., 1930. - T. 3.

Friedlander G. M. Dostoevsky // History of Russian literature. - USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute rus. lit. (Pushkin. House). - M.; L.: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1956. - T. 9. - P. 7-118.

Grossman L. P. Dostoevsky. - M.: Young Guard, 1962. - 543 p. - (Life of wonderful people; issue 357).

Friedlander G. M. F. M. Dostoevsky // History of Russian literature. - USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute rus. lit. (Pushkin. House). - L.: Nauka., 1982. - T. 3. - P. 695-760.

Ornatskaya T.I., Tunimanov V.A. Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich // Russian writers. 1800-1917.

Biographical Dictionary.. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1992. - T. 2. - P. 165-177. - 624 s. - ISBN 5-85270-064-9.

Chronicle of the life and work of F. M. Dostoevsky: 1821-1881 / Comp. Yakubovich I. D., Ornatskaya T. I.. - Institute of Russian literature ( Pushkin House) RAS. - St. Petersburg: Academic Project, 1993. - T. 1 (1821-1864). - 540 s. - ISBN 5-7331-043-5.

Chronicle of the life and work of F. M. Dostoevsky: 1821–1881 / Comp. Yakubovich I. D., Ornatskaya T. I.. - Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) RAS. - St. Petersburg: Academic Project, 1994. - T. 2 (1865-1874). - 586 p. - ISBN 5-7331-006-0.

Chronicle of the life and work of F. M. Dostoevsky: 1821–1881 / Comp. Yakubovich I. D., Ornatskaya T. I.. - Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) RAS. - St. Petersburg: Academic Project, 1995. - T. 3 (1875-1881). - 614 p. - ISBN 5-7331-0002-8.

Troyat A. Fyodor Dostoevsky. - M.: Eksmo, 2005. - 480 p. - (“Russian biographies”). - ISBN 5-699-03260-6.

Saraskina L. I. Dostoevsky. - M.: Young Guard, 2011. - 825 p. - (Life of remarkable people; issue 1320). - ISBN 978-5-235-03458-7.

Inna Svechenovskaya. Dostoevsky. A duel with passion. Publisher: "Neva", 2006. - ISBN: 5-7654-4739-2.

Saraskina L.I. Dostoevsky. 2nd edition. Publishing house "Young Guard", 2013 Series: Life of remarkable people. — ISBN: 978-5-235-03458-7.