Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov

Russian people recognize Leskov as the most Russian of Russian writers and who knew the Russian people more deeply and broadly as they are.

D. P. Svyatopolk-Mirsky (1926)

In his spiritual formation, a significant role was played by Ukrainian culture, which became close to him during the eight years of his life in Kiev in his youth, and English, which he mastered thanks to many years of close contact with his senior in-law A. Scott.

Biography

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Leskov was born February 4, 1831 years in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district. Father - a native of the spiritual environment, later entered the service in the Oryol Criminal Chamber, where he rose to the ranks that gave the right to hereditary nobility. Mother - the daughter of an impoverished Moscow nobleman.

Early childhood N.S. Leskov passed in Orel. After 1839, the family moved to the village of Panino near the city of Kromy. Here, as the future writer recalled, his knowledge of the people began.

In August 1841, at the age of ten, Nikolai entered the first grade of the Oryol provincial gymnasium, where he studied poorly: five years later he received a certificate of completion of only two classes. Apparently, the reason for this was the lack of proper supervision and aversion to memorization. Leskov had a thirst for knowledge and had a bright temperament.

In 1847, he took up the post of clerical adviser to the chamber of the criminal court, where his father worked.

In 1949, his father died of cholera, after which Leskov was transferred to a ward in Kyiv with his uncle Alferyev. Until 1857 he attended lectures in a free order at the university, studied languages, religions, sects.

Leskov married in 1853 to the daughter of a merchant, Olga Smirnova.

Career

Since 1857, Leskov worked in the company of a relative in the field of agriculture and industry. He often had business trips to Russia, so he delved into the character and life of the inhabitants

In 1860, due to the termination of the company in which he worked, Nikolai returned to Kyiv. There he began to engage in literature and journalism. After 6 months, Nikolai moved to St. Petersburg, staying with Vernadsky.

Creation

Only at the age of 28 did he begin to publish. But the first pancake was lumpy: after his indications of corruption, he himself lost his job (he was accused of bribery).

Leskov's career as a writer began in 1863. In addition to writing stories, he was also involved in dramaturgy.

In 1865, Leskov, being married (his wife suffered from a mental disorder), began to cohabit with Ekaterina Bubnova, who bore him a son.

The early work of the writer can be attributed more to the nihilistic style, and towards the end of his life, Leskov switched to a sharply satirical genre, which the public did not like with cynicism and directness.

Nikolai Leskov died on March 5, 1895 from an asthma attack, which he suffered for the last five years of his life.

Author's books:

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

Leskov Nikolai Semenovich

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895) Biography

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

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

Leskov's mother, Marya Petrovna, nee Alferyeva, was a noblewoman.

The childhood years of Nikolai Leskov were spent in Orel and on the estates of the Oryol province owned by the parents. Leskov spends several years in the house of the Strakhovs, wealthy relatives from his mother's side, where he was given due to the lack of funds from his parents for homeschooling his son. The Strakhovs hired a Russian, a German teacher, and a Frenchwoman to raise their children. Leskov studies with his cousins ​​and sisters, and far surpasses them in abilities. This caused him to be sent back to his parents.

1841 - 1846 - Leskov studies at the gymnasium in Orel, but due to the death of his father, he does not complete the full course of study.

1847 - Nikolai Leskov gets a job as a minor employee in the Oryol Chamber of the Criminal Court. Impressions from the work here will later form the basis of many of the writer's works, in particular, the story "Extinguished Case".

1849 - Leskov leaves the service and leaves for Kyiv at the invitation of his maternal uncle, professor and practicing therapist S.P. Alferyev. In Kyiv, he gets a job as an assistant clerk of the recruiting desk of the revision department of the Kyiv Treasury Chamber.

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

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

The career of Nikolai Leskov in the "Kyiv" years is as follows: in 1853, he was promoted from assistant clerk to collegiate registrars, then to clerk. In 1856 Leskov became provincial secretary.

1857 - 1860 - Leskov works in the private firm "Shkott and Wilkins", which is engaged in the resettlement of peasants to new lands. All these years he spends on business trips around Russia.

The same period - the first-born Leskov, named Mitya, dies in infancy. This breaks the relationship and so not very close to each other spouses.

1860 - the beginning of the journalistic activity of Nikolai Leskov. He collaborates with the St. Petersburg and Kyiv press, writes short notes and essays. In the same year, he gets a job in the police, but because of an article denouncing the arbitrariness of police doctors, he is forced to quit.

1861 - the Leskov family moved from Kyiv to St. Petersburg. Nikolai Semenovich continues to cooperate with newspapers, begins to write for Fatherland Notes, Russian Speech, and Northern Bee. The first major publication by Leskov, Essays on the Distillery Industry, dates back to the same year.

1862 - a trip abroad as a correspondent for the newspaper "Northern Bee". Leskov visits Western Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, France.

1863 - the official beginning of the writing career of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. He publishes his stories "The Life of a Woman", "Musk Ox", is working on the novel "Nowhere". Because of this ambiguous novel, which denies the revolutionary nihilistic ideas that were fashionable at that time, many writers turn away from Leskov, in particular the publishers of Otechestvennye Zapiski. The writer is published in the Russian Bulletin, signing under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky.

1865 - "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" was written.

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

1867 - Leskov turns to drama, this year his play "The Spender" is staged on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.

1870 - 1871 - work on the second, just as "anti-nihilistic" as "Nowhere", the novel "On the Knives". The work entails political accusations of the author.

1873 - Nikolai Leskov's novels "The Enchanted Wanderer" and "The Sealed Angel" are published. Gradually, the writer’s relations with the Russky Vestnik deteriorate as well. There is a gap, and the Leskov family is threatened by lack of money.

1874 - 1883 - Leskov worked in a special department of the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Public Education for "review of books published for the people." It brings a small, but still income.

1875 - the second trip abroad. Leskov is finally disappointed in his religious hobbies. Upon his return, he writes a number of anecdotal, and sometimes satirical essays about clergy ("Trifles of Bishop's Life", "Diocesan Court", "Synodal Persons", etc.).

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

1881 - one of Leskov's most famous works "Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Left-hander and the Steel Flea)" was written.

1883 - final dismissal from public service. Leskov accepts his resignation with joy.

1887 - Nikolai Semenovich Leskov meets L.N. Tolstoy, who had a great influence on the later work of the writer. In his own words, Leskov "having sensed his (Tolstoy's) tremendous strength, threw his bowl and went after his lantern."

In his latest works, Leskov criticizes the entire political system of the Russian Empire. All the time, starting with the break with the Russky Vestnik magazine, Leskov was forced to publish in specialized and small-circulation, sometimes provincial leaflets, newspapers and magazines. Of the major publications, his works are taken only by Historical Bulletin, Russian Thought, Week, in the 1890s - Vestnik Evropy. Not every work he signs with his own name, but the writer does not have a permanent pseudonym either. The most famous are his pseudonyms V. Peresvetov, Nikolai Ponukalov, priest. Peter Kastorsky, Psalm Reader, Man from the Crowd, Watch Lover.

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

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov is a unique, original Russian writer, an enchanted wanderer of Russian literature.

Family and childhood

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was born on February 16 (February 4 - according to the old style) 1831 in the Oryol province - in the village of the Oryol district.

Father - Semyon Dmitrievich Leskov (1789-1848), came from a family of clergymen. And the father of Semyon Dmitrievich, and grandfather, and great-grandfather ruled the holy service in the village, hence the family name - Leskovs. After graduating from the Sevsk Seminary, Semyon Dmitrievich returned home. However, despite the will of the parent, he irrevocably abandoned the spiritual career. For which he was expelled from the house by his father, who had a very sharp disposition. Well educated, smart, active person. Initially, Leskov labored in the field of tutoring. He very successfully taught in the homes of local nobles, which won him a decent reputation, and also received many flattering reviews. As a result, one of the patrons recommended him to the "crown service". Starting his career from the bottom, Semyon Dmitrievich rose to the high position of a noble assessor in the chamber of the criminal court of the Oryol province. The position he held gave him the right to a hereditary title of nobility. Leskov the father was known as a man of insight. He was a talented investigator, able to unravel the most tricky case. However, after serving for almost 30 years, he was forced to retire without a pension. The reason for this was a skirmish with the governor and the unwillingness of Semyon Dmitrievich himself to make a possible compromise. Upon his retirement, Semyon Dmitrievich bought a small estate - the Panin farm in the Kromsky district and took up agriculture. Having been quite a “peasant”, he became disillusioned in every possible way with a quiet rural life, which he subsequently repeatedly stated to his son, Nikolai Leskov. In 1848 he died suddenly during a cholera epidemic.

The mother of Nikolai Semyonovich, Maria Petrovna Leskova (nee Alferyeva, 1813-1886), was a dowry, a representative of an impoverished noble family.

The first years of his life, little Nikolai lived in Gorokhov, on the estate of the Strakhov family, rich relatives on the maternal side. He was far from the only child in the family. Leskov lived surrounded by six cousins ​​and sisters. Russian and German teachers, as well as a French governess, were invited to teach the children to the family. Being very gifted by nature, the boy stood out sharply against the background of other children. For this he was disliked by his cousins. Under these circumstances, the maternal grandmother, who lives there, wrote a letter to Nikolai's father and asked him to take the boy to her, which was done.

In Orel, the Leskovs lived on Third Noble Street. In 1839, Leskov Sr. retired and bought the estate - Panin Khutor. Staying at "Panin Khutor" made an indelible impression on the future writer Leskov. Direct communication with simple, peasant people most directly affected the formation of their worldview. Subsequently, Leskov will say: “I did not study the people from conversations with St.

Writer's youth

At the age of 10, Nikolai was sent to study at the Oryol gymnasium. Thanks to his innate abilities, the young man studied easily, but after 5 years of study, Leskov did not receive a certificate. Unfortunately, we do not know the exact reasons for this event. As a result, the young man received only a certificate stating that he was studying at the gymnasium. Using old connections, the father arranged the young man as a scribe in the office of the Oryol Criminal Chamber. And in 1848, at the age of seventeen, Nikolai became assistant clerk in the same institution. Work in the criminal chamber gives Leskov initial life experience, which in the future greatly helped in his literary work. In the same year, as a result of severe fires, the Leskovs lost their already modest fortune. Leskov's father died of cholera.

After the death of his father, Alferyev S.P. Leskov moved to Kyiv. There, thanks to the efforts of his uncle, he went to work in the Kyiv Treasury Chamber as an assistant clerk of the recruiting audit department. Moving to Kyiv allowed Leskov to fill in the gaps in education. He had the opportunity to privately listen to university lectures, which the young man did not fail to take advantage of. He absorbed all new knowledge like a sponge: medicine, agriculture, statistics, painting, architecture and much more. Kyiv impressed the young man with its amazing ancient architecture and painting, aroused a lively interest in ancient Russian art. In the future, Leskov became a prominent expert on these subjects. The range of his interests was unspeakably wide. He read a lot. In those years, his favorite authors were Shevchenko. Leskov knew Taras Shevchenko personally. During his life in Kyiv, Nikolai mastered the Ukrainian and Polish languages.

The progressive student environment of that time was carried away by advanced, revolutionary ideas. The writings were especially popular. This hobby did not pass and our hero. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the young Leskov was distinguished by his temper and despotism, he was not comfortable in disputes. He often acted as a stern moralist, although he himself was not a puritan. Nikolai was a member of a student religious and philosophical circle, studied the traditions of Russian pilgrimage, communicated with the Old Believers, comprehended the secrets of icon painting. Subsequently, Leskov admitted that in those years he did not have a clear idea of ​​​​who he ultimately wants to become.

In 1853, despite the protests of his relatives, Leskov married Olga Smirnova, the daughter of a wealthy Kyiv landlord. During this period, Leskov significantly advanced in the service, was promoted to collegiate registrars, and a little later was appointed head of the Treasury Kyiv Chamber. In 1854, Nikolai Semenovich gave birth to the first-born - son Dmitry, and in 1856 - daughter Vera.

In 1855 the Emperor dies. His death served as a solid impetus for the further spread of free-thinking ideas in various strata of Russian society. Many bans have been lifted. The new king, essentially a conservative, in order to cool the hotheads, was forced to implement liberal reforms. In 1861 - the abolition of serfdom, followed by judicial, urban, military, zemstvo reforms.

Having agreed to a job offer received from a relative, the husband of a maternal aunt, an Englishman A. Ya. Shkot, Leskov retired in 1857. He left Kyiv, which he loved, and together with his family moved to permanent residence in the Penza province - in the village of Gorodishchensky district. Leskov's new field of activity is work at the Schcott and Wilkens company. The company was engaged in trade in agricultural products, distillery production, as well as the production of parquet boards. It was occupied by settlers - peasants from the Oryol province. On the business of the company, Leskov traveled a lot around, during his trips he saw the most diverse aspects of real Russian life. The result is a huge number of observations made during business trips, as well as a lot of practical experience gained during this most active period for Leskov. Memories of these wanderings in the future will serve as a bright beacon for the creation of unique Leskovsky works. Later, Nikolai Leskov recalled these years as the best years in his life, when he saw a lot and "lived easily." It is very likely that it was at that time that Leskov formed a clear, definite desire to convey his thoughts to Russian society.

First attempts at pen

In 1860, the Schcott and Wilkens company went bankrupt. Leskov returned to Kyiv. His goal is to study journalism and literature. After a short period of time, Leskov moved to, where he settled in the apartment of his Kyiv friend, the famous political economist and publisher Ivan Vasilyevich Vernadsky. Together with him, the official A.I. Nichiporenko, a Russian revolutionary, one of the most active emissaries of Herzen in Russia, lived in the apartment. In St. Petersburg, Leskov launched an active journalistic activity. The first attempts at writing followed in Vernadsky's journal Economic Index. Leskov wrote several sharp articles on various topics: agriculture, industry, the problem of drunkenness, and many others. He was published in many well-known publications: in the "Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti", in the journals "Domestic Notes", "Modern Medicine". In literary circles, Leskov was noted as a bright and talented author. He was invited to the position of a permanent employee in the newspaper "Northern Bee".

Nikolai Semenovich actively wrote topical essays, feuilletons, biting articles. One of the articles he wrote had a rather serious impact on the fate of the writer. The material was devoted to fires in Shchukin and Apraksin yards. At that time, there were rumors in the city about revolutionary students allegedly involved in arson. In his article, the writer turned to the authorities with a request to refute such offensive statements, but the democratic camp perceived such an appeal as a denunciation. In the same article, Leskov writes about the inaction of the fire brigade during the disaster, which was perceived as a criticism of the existing government. The article turned out to be objectionable to both revolutionaries and reactionaries. It came down to the king himself. After reading the article, Alexander II issued a verdict: "It should not have been missed, especially since it is a lie."

In 1862, after a scandal broke out, the editors of the Northern Bee sent Leskov on a long trip abroad. The writer went abroad for the first time, he visits the Baltic states, Poland, and then France. There, abroad, Leskov begins work on his first novel, Nowhere. A visit to Europe further strengthened Leskov's thoughts about the unpreparedness of Russian society for radical, revolutionary changes. The course of the peasant reform in 1861 forced Leskov, like many other progressive people of that time, to rethink Russian reality. Leskov, hitherto considered a liberal, a follower of the most advanced ideas, found himself on the other side of the barricades.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was a man who deeply knew, understood, and felt his native Russian people. At some point, he saw the scale of a possible catastrophe that could completely destroy the very foundations of Russian traditional life. A true understanding of Russian reality set Leskov on his own path. The ideas of social utopias, requiring a radical reorganization of society, no longer attracted him. Leskov preaches the ideas of spiritual self-improvement, the development of the culture of Russian society. In his amazing works, he will talk about the great power of "small deeds."

However, despite the fact that Leskov became a champion of completely different ideas, the authorities still continued to consider him a nihilist, although in reality he never was. The police report "On writers and journalists" in 1866 noted that "Leskov is an extreme socialist and, sympathizing with everything anti-government, shows nihilism in all forms."

The beginning of his writing career dates back to 1863, the first stories of the writer "The Musk Ox" and "The Life of a Woman" are published. Leskov creates under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. An interesting feature, Leskov had a huge number of literary pseudonyms: Stebnitsky, Leskov-Stebnitsky, Nikolai Ponukalov, Freishitz, Nikolai Gorokhov, V. Peresvetov", "Dm.m-ev", "N.", "Someone", "Member of Society", "Lover of Antiquity", "Psalm Reader" and many others. In 1864, the Library for Reading magazine published Leskov's first novel, Nowhere, a work of anti-nihilist orientation. Progressive, democratic public "stood on its hind legs". A wave of deafening criticism fell upon the work. The notorious D. I. Pisarev wrote: “Apart from the Russkiy Vestnik, is there now in Russia at least one magazine that would dare to print on its pages something coming from the pen of Stebnitsky and signed by his name? Is there at least one honest writer in Russia who will be so careless and indifferent to his reputation that he will agree to work in a magazine that adorns itself with stories and novels by Stebnitsky?

In 1865, Nikolai Semenovich entered into a civil marriage with his widow Ekaterina Bubnova. A year later, they had a son, Andrei, who later wrote a book about his famous father. It should be noted that Leskov's first wife suffered from a mental disorder. In 1878, the woman was placed in a St. Petersburg hospital on the Pryazhka River, the famous S.P. Botkin oversaw the treatment.

In the same year, 1865, Leskov's second novel, The Bypassed, was published.

On the way to the Enchanted Wanderer

In 1866, the novel The Islanders was published. An interesting detail: the genius was one of the first to pay attention to Leskov. Dostoevsky considered Leskov a great writer, and by his own admission, he borrowed a lot from him, especially in terms of artistic images. Agree that the words of a human writer of this level were worth a lot, a lot.

In 1870, the novel “On the Knives” was published in the Russky Vestnik magazine (published by M.N. Katkov). The release of this work finally secured the glory of a conservative for Leskov. The author himself considered the novel extremely unsuccessful.

The year 1872 was marked by the appearance of the novel-chronicle "Cathedrals". A landmark work that touched upon the deepest questions of the spirituality of Russian society. On its pages, Leskov spoke about the dangers that lay in wait for Russia as a result of the inevitable spiritual decay. Nihilists - people without ideals and principles, according to the writer, were worse than any, the most fanatical revolutionary. Now we, people of another time, have the opportunity to appreciate the prophetic meaning of this work. The novel-chronicle "Cathedrals" is rightfully considered one of the best creations of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.

In the summer of 1872, Leskov went to and further to Valaam. A visit to Valaam served as an impetus for writing a stunning, unique work - "The Enchanted Wanderer". Initially, it was called "Chernozemny Telemak", under this name it was proposed for publication in the "Russian Bulletin". However, M. N. Katkov refused to publish the story, considering it "raw". As a result, Leskov terminated the contract with the Russky Vestnik magazine. Even before that, Leskov had repeatedly stated the difficulties of working with Katkov, the reason for this was the most severe censorship introduced by this publisher. But in 1873 the story was published in the Russkiy Mir newspaper. The full title is "The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures".

From 1874 to 1883 Leskov served in the special department "On the Review of Books Published for the People" under the Ministry of Public Education. In 1877, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, impressed by Leskov's novel "The Soboryane", gave him protection for a position - a member of the educational department in the Ministry of State Property. These positions gave the writer a modest income. In the same year, Leskov officially divorced his first wife.

In 1881, Leskov wrote and published "The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea", a work that has become a cult.

The then worldview of Leskov was vividly expressed by the cycle of essays "Trifles of Bishop's Life". The work was published from 1878 to 1883, it described the life of the highest church hierarchs. Needless to say, what extremely negative reviews the Essays caused from the side of the church leadership. Chief Prosecutor of the Synod - lobbied for Leskov's resignation from his position in the ministry. Now, finding himself without a position, Leskov completely, without a trace, devoted himself to writing.

In the late 1880s Leskov approached. He recognized the teachings of Tolstoy as "true Christianity". Tolstoy called Leskov "the most Russian of our writers." Also, like Lev Nikolaevich, Leskov was a vegetarian. Leskov's vegetarianism was reflected even in his work. For the first time in Russian literature, he created vegetarian characters. Nikolai Semenovich was one of the first authors who drew public attention to the issue of animal protection.

A special place in the writer's work is occupied by a collection of stories and legends compiled by the author himself called "The Righteous". Leskov told us the background to the creation of the collection: the writer experienced "fierce anxiety." The reason was caused by the ominous statement of the “great Russian writer” (it was A.F. Pisemsky), who accused Leskov of seeing only “nasty things” and “abominations” in all his compatriots. According to Leskov, this was deeply unfair, extreme and overwhelming pessimism. “How,” I thought, “can it really be that neither in my, nor in his, nor in anyone else’s Russian soul can you see anything but rubbish? Is it possible that everything good and good that the artistic eye of other writers has ever noticed is one fiction and nonsense? It's not only sad, it's scary." The search for the true Russian soul, faith in real kind people prompted the writer to create this unique collection. The collection was compiled gradually, it was based on the cycle of works "Three righteous and one Sheramur". Later, such stories were added as: "The Enchanted Wanderer", "The Non-Deadly Golovan", "Lefty", "The Silverless Engineers" and others.

... I blamed myself

In 1889, a ten-volume collection of Leskov's works began to be published (the 11th and 12th volumes were added later). The publication enjoyed considerable success with the public. Thanks to the royalties from the publication, Leskov even managed to somewhat improve his greatly shaken financial situation. However, this event, in addition to joy, brought with it grief - a heart attack, apparently, that struck Leskov right on the stairs of the printing house. The attack occurred after Leskov found out that the sixth volume of the collection (dedicated to religious issues) was detained by censorship.

Leskov's work has become a unique page in Russian literature. Like all brilliant authors, he is unique in his highest spiritual work. An inimitable master of the artistic word. Bright, original, sarcastic, searching. He occupies his own special place in the golden sky of great Russian literature.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on March 5 (February 21 according to the old style), 1895 in St. Petersburg. Information about the cause of the writer's death is contradictory: according to one version, it was an asthma attack, which he suffered in the last years of his life, according to another, as we have already noted, an angina attack. However, it is known for certain that a couple of years before his death, the writer bequeathed: “At my funeral, I ask you not to speak about me. I know that there is a lot of evil in me and that I do not deserve any praise or regret. Anyone who wants to blame me must know that I blamed myself."

Nikolai Leskov was buried at the Literary bridges of the Volkov cemetery with the silence bequeathed to him.

Dmitry Sytov

The amazing ability to describe the life of the peasants, their manner of speaking, aspirations and thoughts was a distinguishing characteristic, a special feature in the biography of a man with noble roots and the Russian irrepressible soul of Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov.

Leskov's biography for children briefly, the most important

The life path of Nikolai Leskov begins on February 16, 1831 in the village of Gorohovo. His father is a successful official, investigator. Grandfather and great-grandfather served at the church in the village of Liski, from where the surname of the Leskov family got its name. Mother was of noble origin. When Nikolai was 16 years old, he was left an orphan and was forced to earn a living by his own labor. At first he got a job as a clerk. Soon, his uncle, the Englishman Schcott, took his nephew to his job. On the business of the new service, Nikolai had to travel a lot across the expanses of Russia. His tenacious gaze and sharp mind, attentive to details, memorized the smallest trifles, which later made it possible to describe the life and order of the serfs very plausibly and without condescending notes. In the spring of March 5, 1895, the writer did not suffer an asthmatic attack and died. Leskov's grave can be found at the Volkhonsky cemetery of the city on the Neva.

early years

Leskov spent his childhood in Orel. The whole family of the writer in 1839 changes his place of residence to the village of Panino. In 1846, who refused to take the re-examination, the gymnasium student Leskov was given only a certificate, not a certificate. After the death of his father, at the age of 18, the writer moved to Kyiv to work in the state chamber. The most important are 7 years of the Kyiv biography of the Oryol nugget. Nikolai Semyonovich studied as a listener at lectures at the university, learned the basics of icon painting and learned the Polish language, and communicated with believers.

Creativity and personal life

The young man's writing talent was first discovered by his uncle, reading reports on work trips, surprisingly lively and truthful. Nikolai Leskov wrote articles for the press. He gave up bureaucratic work, changed his city of residence to St. Petersburg and began to earn money as a journalist.

The most important recognizable character in the biography of Leskov's creative victories was from an 1881 work about a Tula master. The wordplay and recognizable language of the author earned positive reviews from critics.

Personal life in the biography of the writer is unsuccessful. He married twice. First time on Smirnova Olga Vasilievna. The writer entrusted the care of his wife to the doctors of a medical institution in St. Petersburg, since she was mentally ill. On the threshold of his 35th birthday, Leskov married the widow Bubnova. A year later, Nikolai and Catherine had a son, who emigrated to France during the revolution in Russia.

Nikolai Leskov began his career as a government employee, and wrote his first works - journalistic articles for magazines - only at the age of 28. He created stories and plays, novels and tales - works in a special artistic style, the founders of which today are considered Nikolai Leskov and Nikolai Gogol.

Scribe, clerk, provincial secretary

Nikolai Leskov was born in 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district. His mother, Marya Alferyeva, belonged to a noble family, paternal relatives were priests. The father of the future writer, Semyon Leskov, entered the service of the Orel Criminal Chamber, where he received the right to hereditary nobility.

Until the age of eight, Nikolai Leskov lived with relatives in Gorokhovo. Later, the parents took the boy to their place. At the age of ten, Leskov entered the first class of the Oryol provincial gymnasium. He did not like studying at the gymnasium, and the boy became one of the lagging students. After five years of study, he received a certificate of completion of only two classes. It was impossible to continue education. Semyon Leskov attached his son as a scribe to the Oryol Criminal Chamber. In 1848, Nikolai Leskov became assistant clerk.

A year later, he moved to Kyiv to live with his uncle Sergei Alferyev, a well-known professor at Kyiv University and a practicing therapist. In Kyiv, Leskov became interested in icon painting, studied the Polish language, attended lectures at the university as a volunteer. He was assigned to work in the Kyiv Treasury Chamber as an assistant clerk at the recruiting desk. Later, Leskov was promoted to collegiate registrars, then received the post of head of the clerk, and then became provincial secretary.

Nikolai Leskov retired from service in 1857 - he “he became infected with the then fashionable heresy, for which he later condemned himself more than once ... he quit the rather successfully started public service and went to serve in one of the newly formed trading companies at that time”. Leskov began working at the Schcott and Wilkens company, the company of his second uncle, the Englishman Schcott. Nikolai Leskov often went on business to "travel around Russia", on trips he studied the dialects and life of the country's inhabitants.

Anti-Nihilist Writer

Nikolai Leskov in the 1860s. Photo: russianresources.lt

In the 1860s, Leskov took up a pen for the first time. He wrote articles and notes for the Saint Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper, Modern Medicine and Economic Index magazines. Leskov himself called his first literary work "Essays on the distillery industry", published in "Notes of the Fatherland".

At the beginning of his career, Leskov worked under the pseudonyms M. Stebnitsky, Nikolai Gorokhov, Nikolai Ponukalov, V. Peresvetov, Psalmist, Man from the Crowd, Watch Lover and others. In May 1862, Nikolai Leskov, under the pseudonym Stebnitsky, published an article in the Severnaya Pchela newspaper about a fire in Apraksin and Shchukin yards. The author criticized both the arsonists, who were considered nihilist rebels, and the government, which cannot catch the violators and put out the fire. The accusation of the authorities and the wish, “so that the teams sent to come to the fires for real help, and not for standing”, angered Alexander II. To protect the writer from the royal wrath, the editors of the "Northern Bee" sent him on a long business trip.

Nikolai Leskov visited Prague, Krakow, Grodno, Dinaburg, Vilna, Lvov, and then left for Paris. Returning to Russia, he published a series of journalistic letters and essays, among them - "Russian society in Paris", "From a travel diary" and others.

The novel "On knives". 1885 edition

In 1863, Nikolai Leskov wrote his first stories - "The Life of a Woman" and "Musk Ox". At the same time, his novel Nowhere was published in the Library for Reading magazine. In it, Leskov, in his characteristic satirical manner, talked about the new nihilistic communes, whose life seemed strange and alien to the writer. The work caused a sharp reaction from critics, and the novel for many years predetermined the writer's place in the creative community - he was credited with anti-democratic, "reactionary" views.

Later, the stories “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” and “The Warrior” were published with vivid images of the main characters. Then a special style of the writer began to take shape - a kind of tale. Leskov used the traditions of folk tales and oral tradition in his works, used jokes and colloquial words, stylized the speech of his characters in different dialects and tried to convey the special intonations of the peasants.

In 1870, Nikolai Leskov wrote the novel On the Knives. The author considered the new work against the nihilists to be his “worst” book: in order to publish it, the writer had to edit the text several times. He wrote: “In this edition, purely literary interests were diminished, destroyed and adapted to serve interests that have nothing to do with any literature”. However, the novel "On the Knives" became an important work in Leskov's work: after him, representatives of the Russian clergy and local nobility became the main characters of the writer's works.

“After the evil novel “On the Knives”, Leskov’s literary work immediately becomes a bright painting or, rather, icon painting, he begins to create an iconostasis of her saints and righteous for Russia.”

Maksim Gorky

"Cruel works" about Russian society

Valentin Serov Portrait of Nikolai Leskov. 1894

Nikolay Leskov. Photo: russkiymir.ru

Nikolai Leskov Drawing by Ilya Repin. 1888-89

One of Leskov's most famous works was "The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea" in 1881. Critics and writers of those years noted that the "narrator" in the work has two intonations at once - both laudatory and caustic. Leskov wrote: “Several more people supported that in my stories it is really difficult to distinguish between good and evil, and that even sometimes you don’t even make out who harms the cause and who helps him. This was attributed to some innate deceit of my nature ".

In the autumn of 1890, Leskov completed the story "Midnight Occupants" - by that time, the writer's attitude towards the church and priests had radically changed. The preacher John of Kronstadt fell under his critical pen. Nikolai Leskov wrote to Leo Tolstoy: “I will keep my story on the table. By today's standards, it's true that no one will print it". However, in 1891 the work was published in the journal Vestnik Evropy. Leskov was scolded by critics for his "incredibly bizarre, mangled language" that "sickens the reader".

In the 1890s, the censorship almost did not release Leskov's sharply satirical works. The writer said: “My latest works about Russian society are very cruel. "Zagon", "Winter Day", "Lady and Fefela" ... The public does not like these things for their cynicism and correctness. And I don’t want to please the public.” The novels "Falcon Flight" and "Imperceptible Trail" were published only in separate chapters.

In the last years of his life, Nikolai Leskov prepared a collection of his own works for publication. In 1893, they were released by the publisher Alexei Suvorin. Nikolai Leskov died two years later - in St. Petersburg from an asthma attack. He was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.