Tearful Indian melodramas, in which there was not even a hint of eroticism, for a long time fooled us, creating an almost idyllic picture of the customs and customs of this country. Elephants, beautiful women with a fly on their foreheads, noble men who looked like Raj Kapoor in their youth, yogis and wise brahmins - these were our ideas about India. Although we already knew something about the Kama Sutra. But today's India is very far from the romantic image. Therefore, young tourists who find themselves in this country should be wary, to put it mildly, even of their own shadow. Because, according to police statistics, in the cities of India, a rape is committed every 20 minutes. Crowds of preoccupied men roam the country, who want love that is clearly not platonic. The Indian government makes a weak excuse: they say that the representatives of the stronger sex are now in the majority: you can’t get enough of all the women. In addition, he played a bad joke with the Indians technical progress. The advent of the ultrasound machine increased the number of abortions to record numbers. According to the old tradition, the birth of a daughter in the family brings only losses, and the son is the support, the owner, the successor of the family.
In addition to the danger of being abused by Hindus, tourists should beware even in small things. For example, swimming in the waters of the sacred Ganges means that you will return home with a "bouquet" of unknown exotic diseases. Also stock up on validol in advance when you decide to visit a temple. Walking in a herd of rats scurrying everywhere the size of a good cat is not the most pleasant pleasure.
Mexico
There is no doubt that Mexico is an unusual country with a distinctive culture and vibrant nature. And the local guys in sombrero dance so incendiary that the visiting tourists take their breath away and the heart begins to beat to the beat of the music. However, do not believe your eyes and remain vigilant. Mexico has a notorious reputation as a country where people are constantly kidnapped. And all for ransom. Therefore, the devil knows what thoughts one of the dancers is hatching, throwing hot glances at you.
And, in truth, the girls who dare to go to Mexico doom themselves to a certain extreme. One of the most dangerous places is the subway, which is considered an "anthill" of criminals of all stripes. And it is desirable to always sit in the first two carriages, where the police men are not allowed. Purses, gold, jewelry act on the local criminal element like a red rag on a bull. It is better to keep all this stuff in a safe and have the necessary cash on hand. And don't you dare take to the streets evening time in a miniskirt, especially in poor neighborhoods. The machos who live here literally go crazy at the sight of a white-skinned European woman. And if you get stuck on the way to the hotel, try to take a more expensive taxi. Because in the pursuit of cheapness, you can become a victim of a robbery. Local criminal punks are just waiting for this good moment.
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Also beware of Mexican street food. Often poorly fried pork or fish cause serious diseases. Drink, of course, you need only bottled water purchased in expensive stores. Excessive curiosity makes Mexicans suspicious. And this is no wonder: it is through Mexico that the traffic of illicit substances passes to the United States.
And here clouds of mosquitoes fly and the merciless sun burns, from the cruel rays of which even a protective cream does not save. In addition, sea currents are so insidious that they can carry poor tourist girls into the ocean.
Brazil
Brazil, which, with some attempts a few years ago, spent Olympic Games, was not a paradise for tourists. And I must admit, most of the trouble went to lovely women. Despite increased police patrols, they were more likely than others to become victims of robberies. Fortunately, they parted only with handbags and jewelry.
According to the existing gloomy statistics, up to 40 thousand people are killed annually in the country of a cheerful carnival. The rape of a foreign tourist is becoming a common occurrence here: the police only shrug. Because even military units with tanks do not risk looking into the slums, which are literally teeming with fugitive criminals.
If you once read The Jungle Book and are still under its influence, do not risk going into the depths of the Amazon without experienced guides. The desire to admire the outlandish nature, to listen to the splash of a playing piranha fish should not give you the illusion of complete security. Poisonous creeping reptiles, spiders stuffed with death lie in wait for tourists at every turn.
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By the way, the vaunted Brazilian beaches are not suitable for swimming at all. Giant waves rushing from the Atlantic Ocean can drag a careless bather into their depths. Note that you will have to get used to the hot and humid tropical climate for quite some time. Sun or heat stroke is a common occurrence among visiting tourists.
And the last. The dream of your life to get to the famous Brazilian carnival can be overshadowed by petty thieves, who disappeared into the crowd in great numbers. Taking advantage of the euphoria of a colorful holiday, they can rob you to the skin. In addition, try to accept passionate hints of excited Brazilian men with a forced smile. Careless rudeness does not bode well for tourists ...
Colombia
To visit Colombia is a pleasure for girls with strong spirit. For example, for those who wish to tickle their nerves at their leisure. Troubled country with guerrillas hiding in impenetrable forests, with constant skirmishes in major cities still arouses genuine interest. And, to our surprise, they do not scare away women at all. Although they should have thought that in Colombia there is and is developing sexual slavery. And do not forget about it even under the impression of the beauty of the Caribbean coast. By the way, the police adhere to a strange rule: through the sleeves to investigate sexual violations against female tourists. This is what some Colombian men use.
The north of Colombia is considered a safe place to walk. Here are the richest areas of the country, which are heavily guarded by police units. It’s better not to poke your nose to the south: gangs of criminals rage in the poorest neighborhoods. Note that children are often kidnapped in Colombia. Sadly, such crimes are almost never solved.
In 2015, world leaders agreed that all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls must be eliminated by 2030. But good intentions remain on paper for now. According to the latest data, at least one in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
Early marriages, teenage pregnancies, which, in addition to health problems, lead to the inability to get an education and a decent job, lack of access to medicine, unpaid work, and violence and trafficking in women - all these categories make the life of women in some countries unbearable. On this basis Thomson Reuters Foundation has compiled a list of 10 countries where it is better not to be born a woman.
USA is the only western country, which was in the top ten anti-rating of the worst countries for women. She owes this condescension, with what power they look at rapists, lovers of forced sex, as well as those who practice harassment.
It also played a role that the survey was conducted at the height of the #MeToo campaign, when it turned out that Harvey Weinstein (and not only) for decades forced women to have sex, taking advantage of his position in society, and everyone turned a blind eye to it.
9. Nigeria
For nine years, Nigeria has been in a state of civil war - the military is fighting Islamist groups. But the fact that this country is among the ten most dangerous states for women in 2018 is not only to blame for the war. In Nigeria, local tribal practices with an Islamic flavor are common, which pose a danger to the health and lives of women. Also, pimps from richer countries do business on Nigerians en masse, forcing them into prostitution in other countries.
8. Yemen
Yemeni territory serves as a platform for clash of interests for three years Saudi Arabia and Iran. During these three years, more than 10 thousand people were killed, more than three million were forced to leave their habitual habitats, and Yemen itself is just nothing from mass starvation.
Women in Yemen are the first to be saved by restricting (more than usual) their access to health care, economic resources, and subjecting them to crippling tribal practices.
7. Democratic Republic of the Congo
The prevalence of sexual violence in the Congo is one of the highest in the world. The eastern part of the country has been nicknamed the "rape capital of the world", while the rest of the population perceives violence against women as the norm.
Women and girls are being kidnapped and enslaved by military groups, and civilian rape has increased 17-fold. If we add to this the restrictions on education, work and medical services, it becomes clear that it is better not to be born a woman in the Congo.
6. Pakistan
Sixth place in the list of the most dangerous countries for women is occupied by Pakistan. He is notorious for the so-called "honor killings" - when women pay with their lives for the crimes of men. Every third Pakistani woman is subjected to domestic violence (and it is believed that this figure is still underestimated). Pakistani women are also limited in their right to education, work and medical care.
5. Saudi Arabia
Despite external well-being, being a woman in Saudi Arabia is not easy. The conservative kingdom restricts women in many areas, including employment opportunities, the right to education and property, thereby practically depriving them of the opportunity to earn a living.
Women are forced to ask permission from male relatives to travel abroad, get married, and so on. For the past few years, the government has been trying to increase the number of women working, finally allowing ladies to drive, and at the same time arresting and imprisoning activists.
4. Somalia
The impoverished country, located on the peninsula of the same name on the African continent, has been drawn into a civil war since 1991. Many groups are fighting for power in Somalia, ranging from Islamist Mujahideen to self-proclaimed tribal formations. The situation is exacerbated by constant droughts and resulting famine.
The fate of being born a woman in Somalia can be wished only to the enemy. Aside from ugly tribal practices, their access to food, water, and housing is even lower than that of men.
3. Syria
After seven years of civil war (of which about 510 thousand people became victims), 5.5 million Syrians emigrated to neighboring countries, and 6.1 million who remained at home (out of 18 million people) are forced to leave their homes and live as refugees.
It is not surprising that in such a country it is dangerous to be a woman - they are subjected to violence both at home, from relatives, and outside, from the military and gangs.
2. Afghanistan
Almost 17 years have passed since the fall of the Taliban regime, but the situation for women in Afghanistan has not improved. Women are victims of gang violence, domestic violence, little access to health care, and discrimination in employment and land ownership.
The Afghan state is doing nothing to ensure that those who commit violence against women are prosecuted.
1. India
It turns out that the country where everyone dances and sings has another face - and it is much less attractive. India has been firmly holding the position of the worst country for women for many years now.
To be born in India as a woman means to be subjected to high risk harassment and sexual violence. There are still high chances of becoming a victim of some cultural or historical custom, up to and including death. I would like to believe that the situation is changing, given the protest demonstrations that swept through all the cities of the country after the murder in 2012 of a student in New Delhi. However, the number of rapes in India is growing from year to year, and the government of Narendra Modi does nothing to protect its citizens.
The memoirs of Anna Grigoryevna Dostoevsky are dressed in such an attractive form that allows the reader to rely as much as possible only on facts from the life of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and draw his own conclusions. The text practically lacks the standard contrasting threads darted with large stitches, the author's own thoughts about her relationship with her husband, too subjective perception of Dostoevsky's views on various things, and there is no dissolving of his own tearful emotions. Which does credit to Anna Grigorievna, who has fallen a considerable pound of hardship.
One has to take into account the grandiose gap between Fyodor Mikhailovich and his wife, because by the time he met her he was already an accomplished writer, being 25 years older than her. Anna's memories seem to be as objective as possible, she does not try to seem smarter and better than she really was. This is supported by numerous episodes from the life of this married couple, in particular, at the stage of creating The Brothers Karamazov, the author points out that she practically did not understand anything, although she herself took shorthand of this work. Of course, not a single widow of a great writer will write badly about own husband, but the significance of all this fades against the background of what this woman had to endure during her marriage to Dostoevsky. "The wife of a genius" is the same status as "genius".
The image of Fyodor Mikhailovich is formed long before getting acquainted with his biography thanks to reading his works, but this work only strengthens the perception of the author and pleases with the similarity of thinking of some part of humanity. I join in the refutation of Strakhov's stupid letter, accusing Fyodor Mikhailovich of all mortal sins during his lifetime, which is given at the end of the work. This letter was not originally connected with the memoirs themselves, in other words, the work did not set itself the goal of somehow whitewashing Dostoevsky in the eyes of readers, especially since in currently there is no longer any need for this. People who continue to read Dostoevsky for the second hundred years have long understood everything themselves. But the pictures of Fyodor Mikhailovich's epileptic seizures, numerous relatives-on-the-neck, constant material problems throughout life, roulette games, freak publishers - very bright and realistic.
There is no need to talk about jalousie de metier (professional envy), for who is such Strakhov? Nobody heard of such a thing. Although, envy, as such, to other authors is a commendable quality, because it makes any writer move his paws, gives an additional incentive. In general, I don’t remember a single hero in Dostoevsky who suffers from excessive pride. Raskolnikov? Foma Opiskin? The dark side of Dostoevsky is always visible, and here Strakhov did not discover any Americas. But this dark side is forever mired in theories. Dostoevsky's heroes have always been unrealistic against the background of seeming realism. This contradictory romantic realism is a unique feature of the author's personality. A series of experiences, an unusually vividly lived life - this is an accident on the body of history. In that, it must be admitted, there are no special merits of Fyodor Mikhailovich himself, but a similar personality cannot repeat anything like that. Because even if there is an opportunity, there will be no desire. Dostoyevsky modestly dispersed into the corners of life.
Quite reliable conclusions about the life of Dostoevsky will always be made by a person who has read his works, which will forever remain a living illustration of the author's personality. But reading is not enough - you still need to understand, accept and feel. Thanks to Anna Grigorievna for the good work, to Fyodor Mikhailovich for being there, and to both of them for the fact that they will remain forever.
This question was asked by biographers of many famous people. How often are great women next to great men who become like-minded people, helpers, friends? Be that as it may, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was lucky: his second wife, Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, was just such a person.
In order to understand the role of Anna Grigorievna in the fate of the classic, it is enough to look at Dostoevsky's life "before" and "after" the meeting with this amazing woman. So, by the time he met her in 1866, Dostoevsky was the author of several stories, some of which were highly acclaimed. For example, "Poor people" - they were enthusiastically received by Belinsky and Nekrasov. And some, for example, "Double" - suffered a complete fiasco, having received devastating reviews from these same writers. If success in literature, although variable, was still there, then other areas of Dostoevsky's life and career looked much more deplorable: participation in the Petrashevsky case led him to four years of hard labor and exile; the magazines created with his brother were closed and left behind huge debts; health was so undermined that for almost most of his life the writer lived with a feeling of "the last days"; an unsuccessful marriage with Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva and her death - all this did not contribute to either creativity or peace of mind.
On the eve of his acquaintance with Anna Grigoryevna, one more catastrophe was added to these: under a bonded agreement with the publisher F.T. Stelovsky Dostoevsky had to submit a new novel by November 1, 1866. There was about a month left, otherwise all rights to subsequent works by F.M. Dostoevsky passed to the publisher. By the way, Dostoevsky was not the only writer who found himself in such a situation: a little earlier, on unfavorable terms for the author, the works of A.F. Pisemsky; V.V. got into the "bondage" Krestovsky, author of Petersburg Slums. For only 25 rubles, the works of M.I. Glinka at his sister L.I. Shestakova. On this occasion, Dostoevsky wrote to Maikov: “He has so much money that he will buy all Russian literature if he wants to. Does that person not have money who bought Glinka for 25 rubles».
The situation was critical. Friends suggested that the writer create the main line of the novel, a kind of synopsis, as they would say now, and divide it between them. Each of the literary friends could write a separate chapter, and the novel would be ready. But Dostoevsky could not agree to this. Then friends suggested finding a stenographer: in this case, the chance to write a novel on time still appeared.
Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina became this stenographer. It is unlikely that another woman could be so aware and feel the situation. During the day the novel was dictated by the writer, at night the chapters were transcribed and written. By the appointed date, the novel "The Gambler" was ready. It was written in just 25 days, from October 4 to October 29, 1866.
Stellovsky was not going to give up the opportunity to outplay Dostoevsky so quickly. On the day the manuscript was handed over, he simply left the city. The clerk refused to accept the manuscript. The discouraged and disappointed Dostoevsky was again rescued by Anna Grigoryevna. After consulting with acquaintances, she persuaded the writer to hand over the manuscript against receipt to the bailiff of the unit in which Stellovsky lived. The victory remained with Dostoevsky, but in many respects the merit belonged to Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, who pretty soon became not only his wife, but also true friend, assistant and companion.
To understand the relationship between them, it is necessary to turn to events much earlier. Anna Grigorievna was born in the family of a petty St. Petersburg official Grigory Ivanovich Snitkin, who was an admirer of Dostoevsky. In the family, she was even nicknamed Netochka, after the name of the heroine of the story "Netochka Nezvanova". Her mother, Anna Nikolaevna Miltopeus, a Swede of Finnish origin, was the complete opposite of her addicted and impractical husband. Energetic, imperious, she showed herself to be the complete mistress of the house.
Anna Grigorievna inherited both the understanding character of her father and the determination of her mother. And she projected the relationship between her parents onto her future husband: “... They always remained themselves, not echoing or imitating each other in the least. And they did not get entangled with their soul - I - in his psychology, he - in mine, and in this way my good husband and I - we both felt free in soul.
Anna wrote about her attitude to Dostoevsky: My love was purely head, ideological. It was rather adoration, admiration for a man so talented and possessing such high spiritual qualities. It was a soul-searching pity for a man who had suffered so much, who had never seen joy and happiness, and who had been so abandoned by those close ones who would be obliged to repay him with love and care for him for everything that (he) did for them all his life. The dream of becoming his companion in life, sharing his labors, making his life easier, giving him happiness - took possession of my imagination, and Fyodor Mikhailovich became my god, my idol, and I, it seems, was ready to kneel before him all my life X".
The family life of Anna Grigorievna and Fyodor Mikhailovich also did not escape misfortunes and uncertainty in the future. They happened to survive years of almost beggarly existence abroad, the death of two children, Dostoevsky's manic passion for playing. And yet, it was Anna Grigoryevna who managed to put their life in order, organize the work of the writer, and, in the end, free him from those financial debts that had accumulated since the unsuccessful publication of magazines. Despite the difference in age and the difficult nature of her husband, Anna was able to improve their life together. His wife also struggled with the addiction of playing roulette, and helped in the work: she took shorthand of his novels, rewrote manuscripts, read proofs and organized the book trade. Gradually, she took over all the financial affairs, and Fedor Mikhailovich no longer interfered in them, which, by the way, had an extremely positive effect on the family budget.
It was Anna Grigorievna who decided on such a desperate act as her own edition of the novel "Demons". There were no precedents at that time when a writer managed to independently publish his works and get real profit from it. Even Pushkin's attempts to receive income from the publication of his literary works have been a complete fiasco. There were several book firms: Bazunov, Volf, Isakov and others who bought the rights to publish books, and then published and distributed them throughout Russia. How much the authors lost on this can be calculated quite easily: Bazunov offered 500 rubles for the right to publish the novel "Demons" (and this is already a "cult" and not a novice writer), while income after the independent publication of the book amounted to about 4,000 rubles.
Anna Grigoryevna proved herself to be a true business woman. She delved into the matter to the smallest detail, many of which she learned literally in a “spy” way: ordering Business Cards; asking in printing houses on what conditions books are printed; pretending to be bargaining in a bookstore, I found out what extra charges he makes. From such inquiries, she found out what percentage and at what number of copies should be ceded to booksellers.
And here is the result - "Demons" were sold out instantly and extremely profitably. From that moment on, the main activity of Anna Grigoryevna was the publication of her husband's books ...
In the year of Dostoevsky's death (1881), Anna Grigorievna turned 35 years old. She did not remarry and devoted herself entirely to perpetuating the memory of Fyodor Mikhailovich. She published the collected works of the writer seven times, organized an apartment-museum, wrote memoirs, gave endless interviews, and spoke at numerous literary evenings.
In the summer of 1917, events that disturbed the whole country threw her into the Crimea, where she fell ill with severe malaria and died a year later in Yalta. They buried her away from her husband, although she asked otherwise. She dreamed of finding peace next to Fyodor Mikhailovich, in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and that at the same time they would not put a separate monument to her, but would only cut out a few lines on the tombstone. last will Anna Grigoryevna was performed only in 1968.
Victoria Zhuravleva
Anya was born in St. Petersburg at the end of August 1846, on the day of the memory of St. Alexander Nevsky. The girl's father, Grigory Ivanovich, a petty official, "an extremely cheerful character, a joker, a joker, as they say," the soul of society "" and her mother, Anna Nikolaevna, "a woman of amazing beauty - tall, thin, slender, with surprisingly regular features" * managed to create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in the family. And this despite the fact that they lived with the old mother of Grigory Ivanovich and his four brothers, one of whom was also married and had children. Anya never heard any quarrels or mutual claims between relatives. “They lived amicably and hospitably in the old-fashioned way, so that on birthdays and name days of family members, on Christmas and the Holy Day, all close and distant relatives gathered at their grandmother’s in the morning and had fun until late at night” *.
In her youth, the girl made an uncompromising decision to go to the monastery. Resting in Pskov, she realized that best moment to implement the solution will not. Anya is on her way. She was only 13 years old. Needless to say, what the parents experienced when they heard about such a desire of their beloved daughter. They had to make a lot of effort to turn the unreasonable child. Only the news of her father's serious illness (exaggerated to put it mildly) forced her to submit and return to St. Petersburg.
From her mother, a Swede of Finnish origin, Anya inherited not only accuracy, composure, a desire for order and purposefulness, but also a deep faith in God.
Anna Nikolaevna Snitkina (née Miltopeus) was a Lutheran, among her ancestors there is even a Lutheran bishop. At the age of nineteen, she became engaged to an officer who soon died during the Hungarian campaign. The grief of the girl was extraordinary. She decided never to marry. “But the years passed, and little by little the bitterness of loss softened,” her daughter wrote much later. - In that Russian society where my mother revolved, there were lovers of wooing (this was the custom of that time), and at one meeting, in fact for her, they invited two young people who were looking for a bride. They liked my mother very much, but when they asked her if she liked the young people presented, she replied: “No, I liked that old man who talked and laughed all the time.” She was talking about my father.
Grigory Ivanovich was 42 years old. Anna Nikolaevna - 29. They were introduced to each other. “... he liked her very much, but since she spoke Russian poorly, and he spoke French poorly, the conversations between them did not drag on very long. When the words of my mother were conveyed to him, he was very interested in the attention of a beautiful young lady, and he began to intensively visit the house where he could meet her. They ended up falling in love and decided to get married.
But marriage with a loved one was possible for Anna Nikolaevna only if she accepted Orthodoxy. For the girl, the choice was not easy. She prayed for a long time in the hope of hearing an answer to the torment of her heart. And then one day she saw in a dream how she enters an Orthodox church, kneels before the shroud and prays ...
The answer was heard. And when a young couple arrived at the Simeonovskaya Church on Mokhovaya to perform the rite of chrismation, lo and behold! - in front of Anna Nikolaevna was the same shroud and the same situation that she saw in a dream!
Anna Nikolaevna gladly entered into life Orthodox Church, confessed, took communion and raised her daughter in the faith. “She never repented that she had changed religion, “otherwise,” she said, “I would feel far from my husband and children, and it would be hard for me.”*
Profession - stenographer
Anya - Netochka, as she was called in the family - spoke with unfailing warmth about life under the wing of her parents. “I remember my childhood and youth with the most gratifying feeling: my father and mother loved us all very much and never punished in vain. Life in the family was quiet, measured, calm, without quarrels, dramas or disasters.
Except for the sudden "escape" to the monastery, Anya did not make her parents worry about herself. She was among the first students at St. Anna's School, graduated from the Mariinsky with a silver medal women's gymnasium and entered the Pedagogical Course. The serious illness of the father made its own adjustments: pedagogy had to be abandoned.
“... I, regretting leaving my dear patient alone for whole days, decided to leave the courses for a while. Since dad suffered from insomnia, I read Dickens novels to him for hours and was very pleased if he had the opportunity to fall asleep a little under my monotonous reading.
But her father literally insisted that Anya still get a profession and complete at least shorthand courses. Already at sunset own life Anna Grigorievna wrote: “My good father foresaw exactly that, thanks to shorthand, I would find my happiness”*.
In 1866, Grigory Ivanovich reposed in the Lord. The orphaned Snitkin family had a hard time. For Anna, this was the first misfortune in her life. “My grief was expressed violently: I cried a lot, spent whole days on Bolshaya Okhta, at the grave of the deceased, and could not come to terms with the heavy loss”*. By that time, lectures on shorthand were interrupted for the summer holidays, but teacher P.M. Olkhin, knowing about the difficult state of mind girls, invited her to take up shorthand correspondence. “Twice a week I had to send him two or three pages of a certain book, written by me in shorthand. Olkhin returned the transcripts to me, correcting the mistakes he had noticed. Thanks to this correspondence, which lasted for three summer months, I was very successful in shorthand. When the lectures resumed, Anna already mastered the skill of shorthand so much that the teacher could recommend her for literary work.
Ask Dostoevsky
On a dank November evening in 1866, the whole future life fragile girl - and not only her.
Olkhin offered Anna shorthand work for the writer and handed her a four-fold piece of paper on which it was written: “Stolyarny lane, corner of M. Meshchanskaya, Alonkin’s house, apt. No. 13, ask Dostoevsky.
“Dostoevsky's name was familiar to me from childhood: he was my father's favorite writer. I myself admired his works and wept over Notes from the House of the Dead. The idea of not only getting to know a talented writer, but also helping him in his work excited and delighted me greatly.
On the eve of a significant meeting, the girl hardly managed to close her eyes.
“For joy and excitement, I did not sleep almost all night and kept imagining Dostoevsky. Considering him a contemporary of my father, I assumed that he was already a very old man. He was drawn to me now as a fat and bald old man, now tall and thin, but certainly stern and gloomy, as Olkhin found him. I was most worried about how I would talk to him. Dostoevsky seemed to me so learned, so clever, that I trembled in advance for every word I said. I was also embarrassed by the thought that I did not clearly remember the names and patronymics of the heroes of his novels, but I was sure that he would certainly talk about them. Never meeting in my circle with outstanding writers, I imagined them as some kind of special creatures, with whom it was necessary to speak in a special way. Remembering those times, I see what a small child I was then, despite my twenty years.
Many years later, Anna Grigoryevna will describe in detail all the circumstances of the first meeting and her feelings from it:
“At first glance, Dostoevsky seemed to me rather old. But as soon as he spoke, he immediately became younger, and I thought that he was hardly more than thirty-five to seven years old. He was of medium height and carried very straight. Light brown, even slightly reddish hair was heavily pomaded and carefully smoothed. But what struck me was his eyes; they were different: one was brown, in the other the pupil was dilated to the whole eye and the irises were imperceptible. This duality of the eyes gave the look some enigmatic expression. Dostoyevsky's face, pale and sickly, seemed extremely familiar to me, probably because I had seen his portraits before. He was dressed in a cloth jacket of blue color, rather second-hand, but in snow-white linen (collar and cuffs) (...) Almost from the first phrases he said that he had epilepsy and had a seizure the other day, and this frankness surprised me very much (...) Looking through the rewritten, Dostoevsky found, that I missed the point and put it unclear solid sign, and he pointed it out to me. He was visibly annoyed and could not collect his thoughts. Now he asked me my name and immediately forgot it, then he began to walk around the room and walked for a long time, as if forgetting about my presence. I sat without moving, afraid to disturb his thoughts ... "*.
From the writer Anna Grigorievna came out broken. “I didn’t like him and left a heavy impression. I thought that I would hardly get along with him in work, and my dreams of independence threatened to crumble into dust ... "*.
That day, Anna visited Dostoevsky twice: for the first time, he was “decidedly unable to dictate,” so he asked the girl “to come to him today, at eight o’clock.” The second meeting went more smoothly. “I answered all the questions simply, seriously, almost sternly (...) I don’t think I even smiled once when speaking with Fyodor Mikhailovich, and he really liked my seriousness. He admitted to me later that he was pleasantly surprised by my ability to behave. He was accustomed to meeting nihilists in society and seeing their treatment, which revolted him. All the more he was glad to meet in me the exact opposite of the then dominant type of young girls. The conversation imperceptibly touched the Petrashevites and death penalty. Fedor Mikhailovich plunged into memories.
“I remember,” he said, “how I stood on the Semyonovsky parade ground among the condemned comrades and, seeing the preparations, I knew that I had only five minutes left to live. But these minutes seemed to me years, tens of years, so it seemed that I had to live a long time! We were already put on death shirts and divided into threes, I was the eighth in the third row. The first three were tied to poles. In two or three minutes both rows would have been shot, and then our turn would have come. How I wanted to live, Lord my God! How dear life seemed, how much good, good things I could do! I remembered all my past, not quite a good use of it, and so I wanted to experience everything again and live for a long, long time ... Suddenly I heard the all-clear, and I cheered up. My comrades were untied from the poles, brought back and read new verdict: I was sentenced to four years of hard labor. I can't remember another such happy day! I walked around my casemate in Alekseevsky ravelin and sang all the time, sang loudly, I was so glad that life was given to me! Then they allowed my brother to say goodbye to me before parting, and on the eve of the Nativity of Christ they sent me on a long journey. I keep the letter that I wrote to my late brother on the day of the reading of the verdict, a letter was recently returned to me by my nephew.
"Execution" on the Semenovsky parade ground. Drawing from the book by Leonid Grossman "Dostoevsky"
Anna Grigorievna was amazed: this “seemingly secretive and stern person” poured out his soul before her, sharing his most intimate experiences. “This frankness on that first day of my acquaintance with him pleased me extremely and left a wonderful impression” *.
When this long day was coming to an end, Anna enthusiastically told her mother how frank and kind Dostoevsky had been with her ... and to herself she noted a heavy, depressing, never-before-experienced impression: “for the first time in my life I saw a smart, kind man, but unfortunate, as if abandoned by everyone, and a feeling of deep compassion and pity arose in my heart ... "*.
“It’s good that you are not a man”
By the time of the meeting with Anna, Fedor Mikhailovich was in an extremely difficult financial situation. He assumed the debts of his deceased elder brother. The debts were bills of exchange, and the creditors constantly threatened the writer to describe his property, and to put him in the debt department. In addition, Fyodor Mikhailovich maintained a 21-year-old stepson and the family of his deceased brother. Help was needed and younger brother- Nicholas.
There was no way to negotiate with creditors. The writer fell into despair. At this time, a cunning and enterprising person appeared in his life - the publisher F.T. Stellovsky. He offered three thousand for the publication of Dostoevsky's complete works in three volumes. At the same time, Fyodor Mikhailovich was obliged to write a new novel on account of the same amount on time - by November 1, 1866. In case of failure to fulfill this obligation, Dostoevsky had to pay a penalty to the publisher, and the rights to all works became the property of Stellovsky. “Of course, the predator was counting on this,” Anna Grigoryevna summarized in “Memoirs”.
In essence, Fyodor Mikhailovich had no choice. He agreed to the enslaving terms of the contract. The documents were drawn up, Stellovsky paid the money, but Dostoevsky did not receive a penny. The entire amount was transferred to creditors.
Fedor Mikhailovich was absorbed in work on the novel "Crime and Punishment", and when he finally remembered the contract, there was catastrophically little time to create a new full-fledged novel. The writer was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
When Anna Grigorievna first came to help Dostoevsky, twenty-six days remained before the deadline for submitting the novel The Gambler. The work existed only in rough notes and plans.
In such difficult circumstances, in the person of Anna Grigoryevna, Fedor Mikhailovich first met active help: “friends and relatives sighed and groaned, lamented and sympathized, gave advice, but no one entered his almost hopeless situation. Except for a girl, a recent graduate of shorthand courses, with virtually no work experience, who suddenly appeared at the door of his apartment.
“It’s good that you are not a man,” Dostoevsky said after their first brief acquaintance and “test of the pen.”
Because the man would probably drink. You won't drink, will you?"
Thus began the joint work of Fyodor Mikhailovich and Anna Grigoryevna. And from that moment on, the young girl belonged less and less to herself every day, taking on her fragile shoulders the burden of sacrificial service ...
"What would you answer me?"
In twenty-six days, The Gambler was created. The almost impossible happened. The writer's talent would hardly have played a decisive role if there had not been a modest girl nearby who selflessly rushed into battle for the prosperous future of the writer, and, as it turned out very soon, her own.
Anna Grigoryevna came to Dostoevsky every day, took shorthand of the novel, returning home, often at night, rewrote it in plain language and brought Fyodor Mikhailovich to the house. By October 30, 1866, the manuscript was ready.
The shock work was over, and Fyodor Mikhailovich returned to the last part and the epilogue of Crime and Punishment. Of course, with the help of a stenographer (“I want to ask for your help, kind Anna Grigorievna. It was so easy for me to work with you. I would like to continue to dictate and I hope that you will not refuse to be my collaborator…”*).
When Anna Snitkina came to the writer on November 8, 1866 to arrange a job, Dostoevsky started talking about a new novel. The protagonist - an elderly and sick artist, who has experienced a lot, who has lost relatives and friends - meets a girl. “Let's call her Anya, so as not to call her a heroine,” the writer said. - This is a good name ... "*. Half a century later, Anna Grigorievna recalled: “Put yourself in her place,” he said in a trembling voice. - Imagine that this artist is me, that I confessed my love to you and asked you to be my wife. Tell me, what would you answer me? Fyodor Mikhailovich's face expressed such embarrassment, such heartfelt anguish, that I finally realized that this was not just a literary conversation and that I would deal a terrible blow to his vanity and pride if I gave an evasive answer.
I glanced at Fyodor Mikhailovich's agitated face, so dear to me, and said:
- I would answer you that I love you and will love you all my life!
Anna Grigorievna modestly continues: “I will not convey those tender, full of love the words that Fyodor Mikhailovich spoke to me in those unforgettable moments: they are sacred to me ... "*.
The explanation took place. The proposal was made, consent received. And on February 15, 1867, Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina and Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky got married. She is 20, he is 45. “God gave her to me,” the writer will say more than once about his incomparable Anna.
“I loved Fyodor Mikhailovich infinitely, but it was not physical love, not a passion that could exist in people of equal age. My love was purely head, ideological. It was rather adoration, admiration for a person who was so talented and possessed of such high spiritual qualities. It was a soul-grabbing pity for a man who had suffered so much, who had never seen joy and happiness and was so abandoned by his loved ones.
Cheerful and serious, cheerful and keenly aware of someone else's pain, Anna entered the thorny path family life. Living with a genius
"Days of Undeserved Happiness"
The young woman was forced to be under the same roof with the stepson of Fyodor Mikhailovich Pavel, spoiled and dishonorable. Moreover, the “stepmother” was a year younger than the “undergrowth”. He constantly complained to his stepfather about Anna Grigoryevna, and when he was alone with her, he did not disdain any means to offend her more painfully. In front of his father, Pasha had foresight itself: he looked after Anna during dinners, picked up the napkins she had dropped.
“This is my stepson,” Fyodor Mikhailovich softly admitted, “a kind, honest boy; but, unfortunately, with a surprising character: he positively promised himself, from childhood, not to do anything, while not having the slightest fortune and at the same time having the most absurd ideas about life.
And with other relatives it was no easier. They behaved arrogantly with Dostoevskaya. As soon as Fyodor Mikhailovich received an advance for a book, out of nowhere, his brother's widow Emilia Fedorovna appeared, or his younger unemployed brother Nikolai, or Pavel had "urgent" needs - for example, the need to buy a new coat to replace an old one that had gone out of fashion. The writer could not refuse to help anyone ...
Another inevitability was Dostoyevsky's illness. Anna knew about her from the first day they met, but she hoped that Fyodor Mikhailovich, being under her close supervision and care, would be healed. Once, when the couple were visiting, there was another seizure:
“Fyodor Mikhailovich was extremely lively and told something interesting to my sister. Suddenly he interrupted his speech in mid-sentence, turned pale, got up from the sofa and began to lean towards me. I looked in amazement at his changed face. But suddenly there was a terrible, inhuman scream, or rather, a scream, and Fyodor Mikhailovich began to lean forward.<…>Subsequently, dozens of times I had to hear this "inhuman" cry, common in an epileptic at the beginning of an attack. And this cry always shocked and frightened me.<…>It was here that I saw for the first time what a terrible disease Fyodor Mikhailovich was suffering from. Hearing his cries and groans that did not stop for hours, seeing a face distorted from suffering, completely unlike him, madly stopping his eyes, not at all understanding his incoherent speech, I was almost convinced that my dear, beloved husband was going crazy, and what horror I inspired this thought on me!
Anna Grigoryevna confessed to the writer and critic A.A. Izmailov: “... I remember the days of our life together, as about the days of great, undeserved happiness. But sometimes I redeemed him with great suffering. Terrible disease Fyodor Mikhailovich threatened to destroy all our well-being any day ... As you know, this disease cannot be prevented or cured. All I could do was unbutton his collar, take his head in my hands. But to see a beloved face, turning blue, distorted, with full veins, to realize that he is tormented and you can’t help him in any way - this was such suffering, which, obviously, I had to atone for my happiness of being close to him ... "*.
Dostoevskaya could not help remembering - with quiet sadness - parental home, quiet family comfort, devoid of hardships and upheavals.
When it became completely unbearable, Anna asked herself: “Why doesn’t he, the “great heart specialist”, see how hard it is for me to live?” *.
Gradually exhausted, Anna comes to the conclusion that a change of scenery is the only way to escape. The husband didn't mind. And Dostoevskaya set about organizing the trip with all her energy. For lack of finances (her husband's relatives with their urgent needs miraculously appeared every time the writer received even the merest fee), Anna Grigoryevna had to pawn her dowry. But she did not regret anything - after all, a happy family life was at stake. And on April 14, 1867, the couple went abroad.
Roulette and wedding ring
“We went abroad for three months, and returned to Russia after more than four years,” recalled Anna Grigoryevna. - A lot has happened during this time. joyful events in our lives, and I will forever thank God that he strengthened me in my decision to go abroad. There a new, happy life began for Fyodor Mikhailovich and me, and our mutual friendship and love grew stronger, which continued until the very death of my husband.
Dostoevskaya started notebook in which she wrote down, day by day, the history of their journey. “This is how the diary of Dostoevsky's wife appeared - a unique phenomenon in memoir literature and an indispensable source for everyone involved in the biography of the writer”***. “At first I wrote down only my road impressions and described our everyday life- recalls Anna Grigorievna. “But little by little I wanted to write down everything that so interested and captivated me in my dear husband: his thoughts, his conversations, his opinions about music, about literature, etc.”*
In addition to joys, the trip brought many difficult moments. Here, Fyodor Mikhailovich's morbid passion for playing roulette was revealed, which he became interested in as early as 1862, during his first trip abroad. The already skinny purse of the spouses was emptied instantly. “A simple everyday motive - to win “capital” in order to pay off creditors, to live without needing for several years, and most importantly - to finally get the opportunity to calmly work on your works - at the gambling table lost its original meaning. Impetuous, passionate, impetuous, Dostoevsky surrenders to unbridled passion. The game of roulette becomes an end in itself.
The depth of humility with which Anna Grigoryevna endured this “illness” of her husband is amazing, and in fact he pledged literally everything in excitement, even ... wedding ring and her earrings.
“I realized,” Dostoevskaya recalled, “that this is not a simple “weakness of will”, but an all-consuming passion, something spontaneous, against which even a strong character cannot fight. We must come to terms with this, look at it as a disease against which there are no remedies.
Anna Grigorievna, with her humble love, created a miracle: her husband was cured of passion. IN last time he played in 1871, before returning to Russia, in Wiesbaden. On April 28, 1871, Dostoevsky wrote to his wife from Wiesbaden to Dresden: “A great deed has been done to me, the vile fantasy that has tormented me for almost 10 years has disappeared. For ten years (or, better, since my brother's death, when I was suddenly overwhelmed by debt), I kept dreaming of winning. I dreamed seriously, passionately. Now it's all over! It was quite the last time. Do you believe, Anya, that now my hands are untied; I was bound by the game, and now I will think about the matter and not dream for whole nights about the game, as it used to be. And so, things will get better and go faster, and God bless! Anya, save your heart for me, do not hate me and do not fall out of love. Now that I am so renewed - let's go together and I will make you happy!
The writer kept his oath.
Gradually, the spouses grew together with each other inextricably, becoming, according to the word of the Lord, "one flesh." In letters, Fyodor Mikhailovich often repeated that he felt "glued" to the family and could not bear even a short separation.
Flowers for a sweet daughter
During the trip, the happiness of waiting and the birth of the first child fell, which rallied the spouses. Anna Grigoryevna recalled: “Fyodor Mikhailovich turned out to be the most tender father: he was certainly present when the girl was bathing and helped me, he wrapped her in a pique blanket and pinned it with safety pins, carried and rocked her in his arms and, leaving his classes, hurried to her, a little just hear her voice (...) he sat for hours at her bedside, either singing songs to her, or talking to her, and when she was in her third month, he was sure that Sonechka would recognize him, and this is what he wrote to A.N. Maykov dated May 18, 1868: “This small, three-month-old creature, so poor, so tiny - for me there was already a face and character. She began to know me, love me and smiled when I approached. When I sang songs to her with my funny voice, she loved to listen to them. She didn't cry or wince when I kissed her; she would stop crying when I came up.”*
Is it possible to describe the grief of parents when, after a short illness, their three-month-old baby Sonya died. “I am unable to portray the despair that took possession of us when we saw our dear daughter dead,” Dostoevskaya recalled. “Deeply shocked and saddened by her death, I was terribly afraid for my unfortunate husband: his despair was stormy, he sobbed and cried like a woman.” Misfortune brought them even closer. “Every day my husband and I went to her grave, carried flowers and cried.”*
Their second child, the girl Lyuba, saw the light abroad. The happy father wrote a criticism of Strakhov: “Ah, why are you not married, and why do you not have a child, dear Nikolai Nikolayevich. I swear to you that this is ¾ of the happiness of life, and the rest is only one quarter.
Quiet family happiness seemed now to be firmly established under their roof in Dresden. The catastrophic lack of money was covered with love, complete mutual understanding and optimism.
Fyodor Mikhailovich jokingly complained:
For two years we live in poverty,
We have only one pure conscience.
And we are waiting for money from Katkov
For a failed story.
Anna Grigoryevna scolded him in response:
You took money from Katkov,
I promised the essay.
You are the last capital
He whistled on the roulette wheel.
But life outside the homeland gradually became more and more painful. Tickets were bought with the last money, and the family went to Russia.
Main way
On July 8, 1871, the Dostoevskys arrived in St. Petersburg. Soon the spouses had an heir - Fedor.
Creditors quickly found out about the return of the writer to St. Petersburg and had serious intentions to overshadow the life of the Dostoevskys. But Anna Grigoryevna decided to take matters into her own hands. Secretly from her husband, she managed to meet with the most impatient and agree with them on the waiting time.
This was no longer the modest Netochka who had set foot on the threshold of Dostoevsky's apartment four years earlier. “From a timid, shy girl, I developed into a woman with a decisive character, who could no longer be frightened by the struggle with everyday hardships, or rather, with debts that had reached twenty-five thousand by the time we returned to St. Petersburg” *.
In an effort to improve the financial situation of the family, Anna Grigorievna decided on her own edition of the novel "Demons". It should be noted that there were no precedents for an independent publication by a writer of his work and the proceeds from this real profit at that time.
The indefatigable Dostoevskaya delved into the matter to the smallest detail, and as a result, "Demons" were sold out instantly and extremely profitably. From that moment on, the main activity of Anna Grigorievna was the publication of her husband's books ... Finally, there was a little more freedom in the means, one could breathe easy.
In 1875, the second son, Alexei, appeared in the family. A bolt from the blue of a happy family life broke out three years later - beloved Alyoshenka died of a fit of epilepsy.
Fyodor Mikhailovich was heartbroken, because the cause of the boy's death was his father's illness, which was transmitted to the child. The very first attack of epilepsy turned out to be fatal for Alyosha. For the sake of other children, for the sake of her husband, Anna initially restrained her suffering and even insisted on Dostoevsky's trip - together with the philosopher Solovyov - to Optina Pustyn. But there was no strength to withstand the tension of grief.
“I was so lost, so sad and crying that no one recognized me,” she wrote many years later. - My usual cheerfulness disappeared, as well as the usual energy, in the place of which apathy appeared, I cooled off to everything: to the household, business, and even to my own children. Such was found by her returned husband. Now he, spiritually comforted, began to save his beloved.
In Optina Pustyna, Fyodor Mikhailovich twice met alone with Elder Ambrose, who conveyed his blessing and words of consolation to Anna Grigoryevna.
Upon his return from Optina, Dostoevsky set about writing The Brothers Karamazov. The work, coupled with the care of Anna Grigorievna, helped to return to life. In the mouth of his hero, Elder Zosima, Fyodor Mikhailovich put the very words that Father Ambrose conveyed to Anna: “Rachel weeps for her children and cannot be comforted, because they are not there, and such is the limit for you mothers on earth. And do not be comforted, and you do not need to be comforted, do not be comforted and cry, only every time you cry, remember steadily that your son is the only one from the angels of God - from there he looks at you and sees you, and rejoices at your tears, and points to them to the Lord God. And for a long time you will still have this great maternal crying, but in the end it will turn to you in quiet joy, and your bitter tears will be only tears of quiet tenderness and heartfelt cleansing, saving you from sins.
Dostoevsky went all his life to the creation of this novel. In it, the writer poses the fundamental problems human being: about the meaning of life of each person and the whole human history, about spiritual and moral foundations the existence of people, about faith and unbelief.
The novel was completed in November 1880 and was dedicated to Anna Grigorievna.
The Lord determined their life together for 14 years. All of his great novels and The Diary of a Writer, that is, much more than half of what was written in his entire life, Fyodor Mikhailovich created during these years. "The Gambler", "Crime and Punishment", "Idiot", "Demons", "Teenager", "The Brothers Karamazov", "A Writer's Diary" with the famous Pushkin's speech passed through the hands of Anna Grigorievna - a stenographer and scribe. Its importance in the life and posthumous fate of the writer cannot be overestimated.
**********************
At the beginning of her “Memoirs”, Anna Grigorievna wrote how many important moments of her life are connected with the Alexander Nevsky Lavra: the wedding of her parents, baptism, infancy spent in a house belonging to the Lavra ... Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. She also dreamed of being buried next to him.
“Walking behind the coffin of Fyodor Mikhailovich, I took an oath to live for our children, I made a vow to devote the rest of my life, as much as I could, to glorifying the memory of my unforgettable husband and spreading his noble ideas”*.
Anna Grigorievna was 35 years old.
She kept her promise. Seven times Dostoevskaya published the complete works of her husband, created his museum, opened a school named after him.
It's amazing how much humility, kindness, and most importantly - love - was in this woman. In one of her letters, she addressed her husband: “I am such an ordinary woman, golden mean, with petty whims and demands ... And suddenly the most generous, noble, pure, honest, holy person loves me!
After the death of Fyodor Mikhailovich, Anna Grigoryevna lived for another 37 years. She did not marry again.
Anna Dostoevskaya confessed to L.P. Grossman, the writer's biographer: “I do not live in the twentieth century, I stayed in the 70s of the nineteenth. My people are Fyodor Mikhailovich's friends, my society is a circle of departed people close to Dostoevsky. I live with them. Everyone who works on the study of the life or works of Dostoevsky seems to me to be a kindred person.
“I gave myself to Fedor Mikhailovich when I was 20 years old. Now I am over 70, and I still only belong to him with every thought, every deed.
In the memorial album of S.S. Prokofiev, the future author of the opera "The Player", where the owner asked to dedicate all records only to the sun, in January 1917, Anna Grigorievna wrote: "The sun of my life is Feodor Dostoevsky" ***.
They weren't perfect people. From the correspondence of the spouses it is clear that there were quarrels, bewilderment, and outbursts of jealousy between them. But their history once again proves: the Lord, who sanctified the sacrament of marriage with his first miracle in Cana of Galilee and sanctifies it every time when two stand before the altar with martyr crowns over their heads, the Lord, for the humble joint bearing of suffering and upheavals, will not fail to send down that precious gift, without which a person is only “ringing copper or a sounding cymbal”.
Anna Grigorievna wrote: “Feelings must be handled with care so that they do not break. There is nothing more precious in life than love. You should forgive more - look for guilt in yourself and smooth out the roughness in yourself.
Fyodor Mikhailovich echoes through the lips of his elder Zosima: “Brothers, love is a teacher, but you need to be able to acquire it, because it is difficult to acquire, expensive to buy, with long work and after a long time, because it is not necessary to love only the accidental moment, but for the whole time. And by chance, anyone can fall in love, and the villain will fall in love.
In the last year of her earthly life in the war-torn Crimea, Anna Grigoryevna was seriously ill and starving.
Anna Dostoevskaya died on June 22, 1918 in Yalta and was buried at the city's Polikurovsky cemetery.
Half a century later, in 1968, her ashes were transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and buried next to her husband's grave.
On the gravestone of Dostoevsky, with right side, a modest inscription appeared:
Anna Grigoryevna Dostoevskaya. 1846-1918".
