On October 16 (4), 1866, the young stenographer Anna Snitkina came to Fyodor Dostoevsky to help him work on his new novel “The Gambler.” This meeting changed their lives forever.
In 1866, Anna was 20 years old. After the death of her father, a minor official Grigory Snitkin, the girl who graduated from the Mariinsky with a silver medal women's gymnasium and shorthand courses, I decided to put the acquired knowledge into practice. In October, she first met the 44-year-old writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, whose books she had been reading since childhood. She was supposed to help him work on a new novel, which had less than a month left before it was due. In St. Petersburg, in a house on the corner of Malaya Meshchanskaya and Stolyarny Lane, the writer began dictating a plot to his assistant, which she carefully wrote down in shorthand.
In 26 days, they together accomplished the impossible - they prepared the novel “The Player,” which previously existed only in drafts. If this had not happened, the writer would have transferred the copyrights and royalties for his publications for 9 years in favor of the enterprising publisher Fyodor Stellovsky, who, according to Dostoevsky, “had so much money that he could buy all Russian literature.”
“I’m ready to kneel before him all my life.”
Working under force majeure conditions brought the writer and Anna closer together. Soon something happened between them straight Talk, which Anna Grigorievna later cited in her memoirs. He invited her to imagine herself in the place of the heroine to whom the artist confessed his love, and asked what she would answer to this.
“Fyodor Mikhailovich’s face expressed such embarrassment, such heartache 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 looked at the excited face of Fyodor Mikhailovich, so dear to me, and said: “I would answer you that I love you and will love you all my life!” she wrote.
According to her recollections, the feeling that gripped her was like boundless adoration, resigned admiration for the great talent of another person.
“The dream of becoming his life’s companion, 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.”
And she made her dream come true, becoming a reliable support in the writer’s life.
On February 15, 1867, they got married in the Izmailovsky Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg. For Dostoevsky, this was his second marriage (his first wife, Maria, died of consumption), but only in it did he learn what family happiness was.
“I had to atone for my happiness of being close to him.”
After the wedding, which took place just 5 months after they met, Anna began to understand what difficulties they now had to fight together. The terrible attacks of epilepsy that the writer had frightened her and at the same time filled her heart with pity.
“To see your beloved face, turning blue, distorted, with engorged veins, to realize that he was suffering, and you could not help him in any way - this was such suffering with which, obviously, I had to atone for my happiness of being close to him...” - she recalled.
But not only the fight against the disease lay ahead of them. The young family's budget was fragile. Dostoevsky had accumulated financial debts since the time of the unsuccessful publication of magazines. According to one version, in order to hide from multiple creditors, Anna and Fyodor Mikhailovich decided to leave for Germany. According to another version, the young wife’s conflicting relationship with her husband’s relatives played a role in this.
Dostoevsky himself imagined that the trip would not be like a romantic journey between two lovers. According to him, he left “with death in his soul.”
“I didn’t believe in foreign countries, that is, I believed that the moral influence of foreign countries would be very bad. Alone... with a young creature who, with naive joy, sought to share my wandering life; but I saw that in this naive joy there was a lot of inexperience and the first fever, and this confused and tormented me very much... My character is sick, and I foresaw that she would be tormented by me,” he told the poet Apollo Maikov.
Traveling around Europe, married couple I visited the city of Baden in Switzerland. The thought of quick riches, a wild win that would get rid of many problems, took possession of Dostoevsky after he won 4 thousand francs at roulette. After that, the painful excitement did not let him go. In the end, he lost everything he could, even Jewelry young wife.
Anna tried to help her husband fight this destructive passion, and in 1871 he gave up gambling forever.
“A great thing has happened to me. The vile fantasy that tormented me for almost ten years disappeared. I kept dreaming of winning: I dreamed seriously, passionately... Now it’s all over! I will remember this all my life and bless you, my angel, every time,” wrote Dostoevsky.
According to historians, a bright period in their lives began upon their return to St. Petersburg. Dostoevsky was absorbed in work, Anna Grigorievna took upon herself all the worries about the house and children (and by that time there were already three of them - approx.). Thanks to her skillful management, financial difficulties gradually disappeared. She represented her husband’s affairs, communicating with publishers, and published his works herself. 
Anna Grigorievna with children.
In 1881, Dostoevsky died. At that time, Anna was 35 years old. After his death, she did not remarry. All the years she continued to take care of her husband’s affairs, collecting manuscripts, documents, and letters.
Anna Grigorievna died in 1918 at the age of 71. Currently, her ashes are buried next to her husband’s grave in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
What should a great man's wife be like? This question has been asked by biographers of many famous people.
How often do great women find themselves next to great men and become like-minded people, helpers, and friends? Be that as it may, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was lucky: his second wife, Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, was just such a person.
Anna Grigorievna Dostoevskaya lived a long and rich life, outliving the writer by almost 40 years.
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” his 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 regarded. For example, “Poor People” - they were enthusiastically received by Belinsky and Nekrasov. And some, for example, “The Double,” were a complete fiasco, receiving devastating reviews from the same writers.
If success in literature, albeit variable, was still there, then other areas of Dostoevsky’s life and career looked much more deplorable: participation in the Petrashevtsy case led him to four years of hard labor and exile; the magazines created together with his brother were closed and left behind huge debts; health was so bad that it was almost most life, the writer lived with a feeling of “on 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 meeting Anna Grigorievna, another one was added to these catastrophes: under an enslaving agreement with the publisher F.T. Stellovsky Dostoevsky had to provide new novel by November 1, 1866. There was about a month left, otherwise all rights to subsequent works by F.M. Dostoevsky was transferred to the publisher. By the way, Dostoevsky was not the only writer who found himself in such a situation: a little earlier, Stellovsky published the works of A.F. on unfavorable terms for the author. Pisemsky; V.V. fell into “bondage”. Krestovsky, author of “Petersburg Slums”. The works of M.I. were purchased for just 25 rubles. Glinka with 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. Isn’t that the kind of person who doesn’t 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 sort 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 would still arise.
Anna Grigorievna Snitkina became this stenographer. It is unlikely that another woman could understand and feel the current situation so much. During the day the novel was dictated by the writer, at night the chapters were transcribed and written. The novel “The Player” was ready by the appointed deadline. It was written in just 25 days, from October 4 to October 29, 1866.
Illustration for the novel “The Player” Stellovsky was not going to give up the opportunity to outplay Dostoevsky so quickly. On the day the manuscript was submitted, he simply left the city. The clerk refused to accept the manuscript. The discouraged and disappointed Dostoevsky was again rescued by Anna Grigorievna. After consulting with friends, 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 much of the credit belonged to Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, who soon became not only his wife, but also true friend, assistant and companion.
"Netochka Nezvanova"
To understand the relationship between them, it is necessary to turn to much earlier events. Anna Grigorievna was born into the family of a petty St. Petersburg official, Grigory Ivanovich Snitkin, who was an admirer of Dostoevsky. Her family even nicknamed her Netochka, after the heroine of the story “Netochka Nezvanova.” Her mother, Anna Nikolaevna Miltopeus, a Swede of Finnish origin, was the complete opposite of her enthusiastic and impractical husband. Energetic, domineering, she showed herself to be a complete mistress of the house.
Anna Grigorievna inherited both her father’s understanding character and her mother’s determination. And she projected the relationship between her parents onto her future husband: “...They always remained themselves, without repeating or imitating each other in the least. And with my soul I did not get entangled - I - in his psychology, he - in mine, and thus my good husband and I - we both felt free at heart."
Anna wrote about her attitude towards Dostoevsky:
“My love was purely cerebral, ideological. It was rather adoration, admiration for a man so talented and possessing 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 those close to him who would have been obliged to repay him with love and care for him for everything that (he) had done for them all his life. The dream of becoming his life partner, 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.”
Life together with Dostoevsky
The family life of Anna Grigorievna and Fyodor Mikhailovich also did not escape misfortunes and uncertainty in the future. They had to endure years of almost poverty-stricken existence abroad, the death of two children, and Dostoevsky’s manic passion for the game. And yet, it was Anna Grigorievna who managed to put their life in order, organize the writer’s work, and finally free him from those financial debts that had accumulated since the unsuccessful publication of magazines.
Despite the age difference and her husband’s difficult character, Anna was able to mend their relationship. life together.
The wife struggled with bad habit playing roulette, and helped with his work: she took shorthand notes for his novels, rewrote manuscripts, read proofs and organized the book trade.
Gradually, she took over all financial matters, and Fyodor Mikhailovich no longer interfered in them, which, by the way, had an extremely positive impact on the family budget. (If only he had interfered - what a look Anna Grigorievna has)
It was Anna Grigorievna who decided on such a desperate act as her own publication of the novel “Demons.” At that time, there were no precedents when a writer managed to independently publish his works and make a real profit from it. Even Pushkin’s attempts to earn income from publishing his literary works, were a complete fiasco.
There were several book firms: Bazunov, Wolf, Isakov and others, which 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 was for a “cult” writer, not a novice writer), while the income after self-publishing the book amounted to about 4,000 rubles.
Anna Grigorievna proved herself to be a true businesswoman. She delved into the matter down to the smallest detail, many of which she recognized literally in a “spy” way: when ordering Business Cards; asking printing houses about the conditions under which books are printed; Pretending that she was haggling in a bookstore, she found out what markups he made. From such inquiries she found out what percentage and at what number of copies should be given to booksellers.
And here is the result - “Demons” were sold out instantly and extremely profitably. From that moment on, Anna Grigorievna’s main activity became 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 writer’s collected works 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 entire country brought her to 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 erect a separate monument to her, but would only carve a few lines on the tombstone. Last will Anna Grigorievna was performed only in 1968.
Fyodor Dostoevsky was unlucky in love. It is the descendants who exclaim: “He’s a genius!” And for the women of his time, the writer was completely unattractive. The player, ugly, poor, suffering from epilepsy and no longer young - he was over forty. When his wife died of consumption, he did not even think about a new marriage. But fate decreed otherwise - he met Anna Snitkina.
Extreme need forced Dostoevsky to enter into a deliberately losing contract with the publisher. Fyodor Mikhailovich had to write a novel in 26 days, otherwise he would lose all income from the publication of his books. It may seem incredible to us, but the eccentric Dostoevsky agreed. The only thing he needed to successfully carry out his plan was a skilled stenographer.
20-year-old Anya Snitkina was the best student in the shorthand course. In addition, she admired Dostoevsky’s work, and friends advised the writer to take her. He doubted whether it was worth taking this thin and pale girl for such a difficult work, however, Anya’s energy convinced him. And a long joint work began...
At first, Anya, who expected to see a genius, a wise man who understands everything, was a little disappointed in Dostoevsky. The writer was absent-minded, always forgot everything, and was no different good manners and did not seem to have much respect for women. But when he began to dictate his novel, he changed before our eyes. Before the young stenographer appeared an insightful man, accurately noticing and remembering the character traits of people unfamiliar to him. He corrected unfortunate moments in the text on the fly, and his energy seemed inexhaustible. Fyodor Mikhailovich could do his favorite thing around the clock without stopping for food, and Anya worked with him. They spent so much time together that they slowly became close.
Dostoevsky immediately noticed the unusual dedication of the stenographer, who did not spare herself at all. She forgot to eat and even comb her hair, just to finish her work on time. And exactly one day before the end of the deadline set by the publisher, tired Anya brought Dostoevsky a neatly tied up pile of sheets. It was her novel “The Gambler” that she rewrote. Carefully accepting the result of their joint month-long work, Dostoevsky realized that he was unable to let Anya go. Incredibly, during these days he fell in love with a girl who was 25 years younger than him!
The next week became a real torment for the writer. He had to, together with the police, chase a dishonest publisher who fled the city and forbade his employees to accept the manuscript of the novel. And yet, most of all, Dostoevsky was worried about something else - how to keep Anya close to him and find out how she felt towards him. It was not easy for Fyodor Mikhailovich to do this. He didn't believe that anyone could truly fall in love with him. In the end, Dostoevsky decided on a cunning move. He pretended to ask Anya’s opinion about the plot of the new work - a poor artist, prematurely aged from failure, falls in love with a young beauty - is this possible? The smart girl immediately saw through the trick. When the writer asked her to imagine herself in the heroine’s place, she said directly: “...I would answer you that I love you and will love you all my life.”
A few months later they got married. Anya became a wonderful couple for Dostoevsky. She helped him rewrite his novels and took charge of their publication. Thanks to the fact that she skillfully managed her husband’s affairs, she managed to pay off all his debts. Fyodor Mikhailovich could not be happier with his wife - she forgave him everything, tried not to argue, and always followed him wherever he went. Little by little, changes for the better came in Dostoevsky’s life. Under the influence of his wife, he stopped gambling for money, his health began to improve, and attacks of illness almost never happened.
Dostoevsky understood perfectly well that all this became possible only thanks to his wife. She could have broken down a thousand times and left him - especially when he lost all her things, even her dresses, at roulette. Quiet, faithful Anya withstood these tests because she knew: everything can be fixed if a person really loves you. And she was not mistaken.
Her sacrifices were not in vain. She was rewarded with strong love, which Fyodor Mikhailovich had never experienced before. During the hours of separation, her husband wrote to her: “My dear angel, Anya: I kneel down, pray to you and kiss your feet. You are my everything in the future—hope, faith, happiness, and bliss.” She, in fact, was the most dear person to him. In the last minutes of her life, Dostoevsky held her hand and whispered: “Remember, Anya, I always loved you dearly and never betrayed you, even mentally!”
When Anna lost her husband, she was only 35 years old. She never married again. Contemporaries wondered why the young widow gave up on herself by rejecting her admirers. They didn't understand that real love maybe just one for life.
"I would be happier without you"
The object of desire was the wife of his friend Maria Isaeva. This woman has felt deprived of both love and success all her life. Born into a fairly wealthy family of a colonel, she unsuccessfully married an official who turned out to be an alcoholic. The husband lost position after position - and so the family ended up in Semipalatinsk, which can hardly be called a city. Lack of money, broken girlish dreams of balls and handsome princes - everything made her dissatisfied with her marriage. How pleasant it was to feel the gaze of Dostoevsky’s burning eyes on yourself, to feel desired.
In August 1855, Maria's husband died. And Dostoevsky proposed to the woman he loved. Did Maria love him? More likely no than yes. Pity - yes, but not the love and understanding that the writer, suffering from loneliness, so longed to receive. But life's pragmatism took its toll. Isaeva, who had a growing son and debts for her husband’s funeral, had no choice but to accept her admirer’s offer. On February 6, 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Maria Isaeva got married. In 1860, Dostoevsky, thanks to the help of friends, received permission to return to St. Petersburg.
How things have changed since the 40s! Majority creative people publish newspapers and magazines. Dostoevsky was no exception. In January 1861, together with his brother, he began publishing the monthly review “Time”. Despite the joy that a literary brainchild gives, the body can hardly tolerate such an exhausting lifestyle. Epilepsy seizures are becoming more frequent. Family life does not bring peace at all. Constant quarrels with my wife, her reproaches: “I shouldn’t have married you. I would be happier without you."
“I love her, but I wouldn’t want to love her anymore”
The meeting with the young Appolinaria Suslova stirred up what seemed to be forever extinguished feelings of Dostoevsky. The acquaintance happened quite banally. Suslova brought the story to the magazine. Dostoevsky liked it and wanted to communicate more with the author. These meetings gradually grew into an urgent need for the editor-in-chief; he could no longer do without them.
It is difficult to imagine people more incompatible with each other than Dostoevsky and Suslova. She is a feminist, but he was of the opinion of male supremacy. She was interested revolutionary ideas, he is a conservative and a supporter of the monarchy. At first, Polina became interested in Dostoevsky as a famous editor and writer. He is a former exile, which means he is a victim of the regime she hates! However, disappointment soon set in. Instead of strong personality whom she hoped to find, the young girl saw a shy, sick man, whose lonely soul dreamed of understanding.
The writer suggested that Apollinaria go to Europe, where nothing would distract them from their feelings. But the problems that arose with the Vremya magazine and the deteriorating health of his wife Maria Dmitrievna, whom doctors strongly recommended to take away from St. Petersburg, did not allow the dreams to come true. Dostoevsky persuaded Suslova to go alone, without him. Out of impatience to quickly change the situation, she left for Paris and persistently began to call him in letters.
However, he was in no hurry to meet. Only worried that his mistress suddenly fell silent - he had not received a single line from her for the last three weeks - the writer hit the road. True, Apollinaria’s sudden silence did not prevent Fyodor Mikhailovich from staying for three days in Wiesbaden and trying his luck at roulette. Three days passed, the passion was quenched, the winnings, almost the only time in Dostoevsky’s life when roulette treated him favorably, were divided between his dying wife and his mistress waiting on the banks of the Seine. During these three days there was no news from her, but a letter was waiting for him in Paris, which Apollinaria left a week before her friend’s arrival. “Very recently I dreamed of going to Italy with you, but everything changed in a few days. You once said that I could not give my heart away soon. I gave it up within a week at the first call, without a struggle, without confidence, almost without hope that they would love me Goodbye, darling!” - Dostoevsky read the confession.
His girlfriend’s new romance did not work out: her lover, Spanish student Salvador, avoided meeting each other after a couple of weeks. Witness these love experiences Apollinaria unwittingly turned out to be Dostoevsky. She then ran away from him, then returned again. At seven in the morning she got him out of bed after a sleepless night and shared her doubts, hopes, dragged him through the streets of Paris, counting on a chance meeting with Salvador.
“Apollinaria is a sick egoist,” the writer complained to Suslova’s sister after their final breakup. – The selfishness and pride in her are colossal I still love her, I love her very much, but I would no longer want to love her. She's not worth that kind of love. I feel sorry for her because I foresee that she will forever be unhappy.”
last love
1864 became one of the most difficult years in Dostoevsky’s life. In the spring, his wife Maria dies of consumption, and in the summer, his brother Mikhail dies. Trying to forget himself, Dostoevsky delves into solving pressing problems. After Mikhail's death, there were 25 thousand rubles in debt. Saving his brother's family from complete ruin, Fyodor Mikhailovich issues bills against the required debts in his name and takes relatives as security.
And then the famous St. Petersburg publisher-reseller Stellovsky appears, offering Dostoevsky three thousand rubles for the publication of his three-volume collection. An additional clause to the contract was the writer’s obligation to write a new novel, using the money already paid, the manuscript of which had to be submitted no later than November 1, 1866. Dostoevsky agrees to these enslaving conditions. By the beginning of October, the writer had not yet written a single line of the future novel. The situation was simply catastrophic. Realizing that he himself will not have time to write a novel, Dostoevsky decides to resort to the help of a stenographer who would write down what the writer dictated. So a young assistant appeared in Dostoevsky’s house - Anna Grigorievna Snitkina. Not liking each other at first, in the process of working on the book they become closer and are imbued with warm feelings.
Dostoevsky understands that he has fallen in love with Anna, but is afraid to admit his feelings for fear of rejection. Then he told her a fictitious story about an old artist who fell in love with a young girl. What would she have done in this girl's place? Of course, the insightful Anna immediately understands from her nervous trembling and from the writer’s face who the true characters of this story are. The girl’s answer is simple: “I would answer you that I love you and will love you all my life.” The lovers got married in February 1867.
For Anna family life starts with trouble. The writer’s relatives immediately disliked the young wife; his stepson, Pyotr Isaev, was especially zealous. Unemployed and living off his stepfather, Isaev saw Anna as a rival and feared for his future. He decided to drive his young stepmother out of the house with various petty meannesses, insults and slander. Realizing that this cannot go on any longer and that she will simply run away from this house a little longer, Anna persuades Dostoevsky to go abroad.
A four-year wandering in a foreign land begins. In Germany, Dostoevsky regained his passion for roulette. He loses all the family savings he brought. Dostoevsky returns to confess to his wife. She doesn’t scold him, realizing that her Fedor simply cannot resist this passion.
After returning to St. Petersburg, Dostoevsky's life finally begins to change. light stripe. He is working on the “Diary of a Writer”, writes the most famous novel"The Brothers Karamazov", children are born. And all the time next to him is his life support - his wife Anna, who understands and loves.
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THIS IS AWESOME THANK YOU
wonderful article. Thank you!
Biographers of many famous people asked this question. How often do great women find themselves next to great men and become like-minded people, helpers, and 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” his 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 regarded. For example, “Poor People” - they were enthusiastically received by Belinsky and Nekrasov. And some, for example, “The Double,” were a complete fiasco, receiving devastating reviews from the same writers. If success in literature, albeit variable, was still there, then other areas of Dostoevsky’s life and career looked much more deplorable: participation in the Petrashevtsy case led him to four years of hard labor and exile; the magazines created together with his brother were closed and left behind huge debts; his health was so bad that for almost most of his life the writer lived with the feeling of being “in his last days”; an unsuccessful marriage with Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva and her death - all this did not contribute to either creativity or mental balance.
On the eve of meeting Anna Grigorievna, another one was added to these catastrophes: under an enslaving agreement with the publisher F.T. Dostoevsky had to provide the Stellovskys with a new novel by November 1, 1866. There was about a month left, otherwise all rights to subsequent works by F.M. Dostoevsky was transferred to the publisher. By the way, Dostoevsky was not the only writer who found himself in such a situation: a little earlier, Stellovsky published the works of A.F. on unfavorable terms for the author. Pisemsky; V.V. fell into “bondage”. Krestovsky, author of “Petersburg Slums”. The works of M.I. were purchased for just 25 rubles. Glinka with 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. Doesn't that person have no money, who bought Glinka for 25 rubles?».
The situation was critical. Friends suggested that the writer create the main line of the novel, a sort 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 would still arise.
Anna Grigorievna Snitkina became this stenographer. It is unlikely that another woman could understand and feel the current situation so much. During the day the novel was dictated by the writer, at night the chapters were transcribed and written. The novel “The Player” was ready by the appointed deadline. 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 submitted, he simply left the city. The clerk refused to accept the manuscript. The discouraged and disappointed Dostoevsky was again rescued by Anna Grigorievna. After consulting with friends, 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 much of the credit belonged to Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, who soon became not only his wife, but also a faithful friend, assistant and companion.
To understand the relationship between them, it is necessary to turn to much earlier events. Anna Grigorievna was born into the family of a petty St. Petersburg official, Grigory Ivanovich Snitkin, who was an admirer of Dostoevsky. Her family even nicknamed her Netochka, after the heroine of the story “Netochka Nezvanova.” Her mother, Anna Nikolaevna Miltopeus, a Swede of Finnish origin, was the complete opposite of her enthusiastic and impractical husband. Energetic, domineering, she showed herself to be a complete mistress of the house.
Anna Grigorievna inherited both her father’s understanding character and her mother’s determination. And she projected the relationship between her parents onto her future husband: “...They always remained themselves, without repeating or imitating each other in the least. And with my soul I did not get entangled - I - in his psychology, he - in mine, and thus my good husband and I - we both felt free in soul.”
Anna wrote about her attitude towards Dostoevsky: “ My love was purely cerebral, ideological. It was rather adoration, admiration for a person so talented and possessing 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 those close to him who would have been obliged to repay him with love and care for him for everything that (he) had done for them all his life. The dream of becoming his life partner, 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 had to endure years of almost poverty-stricken existence abroad, the death of two children, and Dostoevsky’s manic passion for the game. And yet, it was Anna Grigorievna who managed to put their life in order, organize the writer’s work, and finally free him from those financial debts that had accumulated since the unsuccessful publication of magazines. Despite the age difference and the difficult character of her husband, Anna was able to improve their life together. His wife also struggled with the addiction of playing roulette and helped him with his work: she took shorthand notes for his novels, rewrote manuscripts, read proofs and organized the book trade. Gradually, she took over all financial matters, and Fyodor Mikhailovich no longer interfered in them, which, by the way, had an extremely positive impact on the family budget.
It was Anna Grigorievna who decided on such a desperate act as her own publication of the novel “Demons.” At that time, there were no precedents when a writer managed to independently publish his works and make a real profit from it. Even Pushkin’s attempts to earn income from publishing his literary works were a complete fiasco. There were several book firms: Bazunov, Wolf, Isakov and others, which 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 was for a “cult” writer, not a novice writer), while the income after self-publishing the book amounted to about 4,000 rubles.
Anna Grigorievna proved herself to be a true businesswoman. She delved into the matter down to the smallest detail, many of which she learned literally in a “spy” way: by ordering business cards; asking printing houses about the conditions under which books are printed; Pretending that she was haggling in a bookstore, she found out what markups he made. From such inquiries she found out what percentage and at what number of copies should be given to booksellers.
And here is the result - “Demons” was sold out instantly and extremely profitably. From that moment on, Anna Grigorievna’s main activity became 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 writer’s collected works 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 entire country brought her to 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 erect a separate monument to her, but would only carve a few lines on the tombstone. Anna Grigorievna’s last will was fulfilled only in 1968.
Victoria Zhuravleva
