Favorite women of Dostoevsky. To be Dostoevsky

What should be the wife of a great man? 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.

Anna Grigoryevna Dostoevskaya lived a long and busy 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" 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 practically most life the writer lived with a feeling of "on last days»; 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 Grigorievna, one more catastrophe was added to these: under a bonded agreement with the publisher F.T. Stelovsky 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 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 the money that Glinka bought in total 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 4 to 29 October 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.

"Netochka Nezvanova"

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 thus my good husband and I - we both felt free at heart."

Anna wrote about her attitude to Dostoevsky as follows:

“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 a companion of his life, sharing his labors, facilitating his life, giving him happiness - took possession of my imagination, and

• Fyodor Mikhailovich became my god, my idol, and it seems that I was ready to kneel before him all my life.

Joint life with Dostoevsky

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 Grigorievna who managed to put their life in order, organize the work of the writer, free him, in the end, from those financial debts that had accumulated since the unsuccessful publication of magazines.

Despite the age difference and the difficult nature of her husband, Anna was able to establish their life together.

The wife struggled with addiction roulette games, and helped in the work: shorthand his novels, transcribed 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. (If only he would intervene - what a look Anna Grigorievna has)

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.

"I'd be happier without you"

The object of desire was the wife of his friend Maria Isaeva. This woman, all her life, felt deprived of both love and success. Born into a rather wealthy family of a colonel, she unsuccessfully married an official who turned out to be an alcoholic. The husband lost position after position - and now the family found themselves in Semipalatinsk, which is difficult to call a city. Lack of money, broken girlish dreams of balls and beautiful princes - everything made her dissatisfied with marriage. How nice it was to feel the look of Dostoevsky's burning eyes on me, to feel desired.

In August 1855, Maria's husband died. And Dostoevsky proposed to his beloved woman. Did Mary love him? More likely no than yes. Pity - yes, but not the love and understanding that the writer, who suffered from loneliness, so longed to receive. But vital pragmatism took its toll. Isaeva, who had a growing son in her arms and debts for her husband's funeral, had no choice but to accept the offer of her admirer. On February 6, 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Maria Isaeva got married. In 1860, thanks to the help of friends, Dostoevsky received permission to return to St. Petersburg.

How things have changed since the 1940s! Majority creative people publish newspapers and magazines. Dostoevsky was no exception. In January 1861, together with his brother, he began publishing the monthly review Vremya. Despite the joy that a literary creation gives, the body can hardly endure such an exhausting mode of life. Epilepsy attacks become more frequent. Family life does not bring peace at all. Constant quarrels with his wife, her reproaches: “I should not have married you. I would be happier without you."

"I love her, but I don't want to love her anymore"

The meeting with the young Appolinaria Suslova stirred up Dostoevsky's feelings, which seemed to have faded forever. Acquaintance happened quite banally. Suslova brought the story to the magazine. Dostoevsky liked it, and he 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 inappropriate for each other than Dostoevsky and Suslova. She is a feminist, he was of the opinion about the primacy of men. She was interested revolutionary ideas, he is a conservative and supporter of the monarchy. At first, Polina became interested in Dostoevsky as a well-known 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 which 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 deterioration in the well-being of his wife Maria Dmitrievna, whom the doctors strongly recommended to be taken away from St. Petersburg, did not allow her dreams to come true. Dostoevsky persuaded Suslova to go alone, without him. From 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 excited by the fact that his mistress suddenly fell silent - for the last three weeks he had not received a single line from her - the writer set off. True, the sudden silence of Apollinaria 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 prize, almost the only case in Dostoevsky's life when the roulette wheel favored him, was divided between the dying wife and the 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 arrived. “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 away in a week at the first call, without a struggle, without confidence, almost without hope that they would love me Farewell, dear!” Dostoevsky read the confession.

His girlfriend did not develop a new romance: her lover, a Spanish student Salvador, avoided meetings after a couple of weeks. Witness these love experiences Apollinaria involuntarily turned out to be Dostoevsky. She then ran away from him, then returned again. At seven in the morning she got out of bed after a sleepless night and shared her doubts and hopes, dragged him through the Parisian streets, counting on a chance meeting with Salvador.

“Apollinaria is a sick egoist,” the writer complained to his sister Suslova after their final break. – The selfishness and pride in her are colossal I still love her to this day, I love her very much, but I would no longer want to love her. She doesn't deserve this kind of love. I feel sorry for her, because I foresee that she will be unhappy forever.

last love

The year 1864 became one of the hardest years in Dostoevsky's life. In the spring, his wife Maria dies of consumption, and in the summer, his brother Michael. Trying to forget himself, Dostoevsky delves into the solution of pressing problems. After the death of Mikhail, there were debts of 25 thousand rubles. Saving his brother's family from complete ruin, Fyodor Mikhailovich issues bills against the required debts in his name, takes relatives to provide.

And then the well-known St. Petersburg publisher-dealer Stellovsky appeared, offering Dostoevsky three thousand rubles for the publication of his three-volume collection. An additional clause to the contract was the obligation of the writer to write a new novel on account of the money already paid, the manuscript of which had to be submitted no later than November 1, 1866. Dostoevsky agrees to these onerous 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 would 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 Grigoryevna Snitkina. At first, they didn’t like each other, in the process of working on the book they get closer, imbued with warm feelings.

Dostoevsky understands that he fell in love with Anna, but is afraid to confess his feelings, fearing rejection. Then he told her a fictitious story about an old artist who fell in love with a young girl. What would she do in this girl's place? Of course, the insightful Anna, by her nervous trembling, by the face of the writer, immediately understands 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 were married in February 1867.

For Anna family life starts with trouble. The young wife was immediately disliked by the writer's relatives, the stepson, Pyotr Isaev, was especially zealous. Not working anywhere, living at the expense of his stepfather, Isaev saw Anna as a rival, feared for his future. He decided to get the young stepmother out of the house with various petty meanness, insults and slander. Realizing that this cannot go on any longer and a little more, and she will simply run away from this house, Anna persuades Dostoevsky to go abroad.

A four-year wandering in a foreign land begins. In Germany, Dostoevsky again awakens a craving for roulette. Loses all brought family savings. Dostoevsky returns with confession to his wife. She does not scold him, realizing that her Fedor simply cannot resist this passion.

After returning to St. Petersburg in the life of Dostoevsky finally comes light streak. 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, understanding and loving.

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THIS IS AWESOME THANK YOU

wonderful article. Thank you!

- (nee Snitkina; August 30 (September 12), 1846, St. Petersburg, Russian empire- June 9, 1918, Yalta, Crimea) - Russian memoirist. Stenographer, assistant, and since 1867 the second wife of F. M. Dostoevsky, the mother of his children - Sophia (February 22, 1868 - May 12 (24), 1868), Lyubov (1869-1926), Fyodor (1871-1922) and Alexei ( 1875-1878) Dostoevsky; publisher creative heritage Fyodor Mikhailovich. Known as one of the first philatelists in Russia.

Biography

Born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a petty official Grigory Ivanovich Snitkin. Since childhood, I have been reading the works of Dostoevsky. Student of shorthand courses.
From October 4, 1866, as a stenographer and copyist, she participated in the preparation for publication of the novel "The Gambler" by F. M. Dostoevsky. On February 15, 1867, Anna Grigoryevna became the writer's wife, and two months later the Dostoevskys went abroad, where they remained for more than four years (until July 1871).

On the way to Germany, the couple stopped for a few days in Vilna. On the building, located at the place where the hotel where the Dostoevskys stayed, was located, a memorial plaque was opened in December 2006 (sculptor Romualdas Kvintas).

Heading south to Switzerland, the Dostoevskys stopped at Baden, where at first Fyodor Mikhailovich won 4,000 francs at roulette, but he could not stop and lost everything that happened to him, not excluding his dress and his wife's things. For almost a year they lived in Geneva, where the writer worked desperately, and sometimes needed the bare necessities. On March 6 (February 22), 1868, their first daughter, Sophia, was born; but on May 24 (12), 1868 at the age three months the child died, to the indescribable despair of the parents. In 1869, in Dresden, the Dostoevskys had a daughter, Lyubov (d. 1926).

Upon the return of the spouses to St. Petersburg, their sons Fedor (July 16, 1871 - 1922) and Alexei (August 10, 1875 - May 16, 1878) were born to them. The brightest period in the life of the novelist began, in a beloved family, with a kind and intelligent wife, who took into her own hands all the economic issues of his activities (money and publishing) and soon freed her husband from debts. Since 1871, Dostoevsky gave up roulette forever. Anna Grigorievna arranged the life of the writer and did business with publishers and printing houses, she herself published his works. dedicated to her last novel writer "The Brothers Karamazov" (1879-1880).

In the year of Dostoevsky's death (1881), Anna Grigorievna turned 35 years old. She did not remarry. After the writer's death, she collected his manuscripts, letters, documents, photographs. Organized in 1906 a room dedicated to Fyodor Mikhailovich in the Historical Museum in Moscow. Since 1929, her collection was transferred to the Museum-apartment of F. M. Dostoevsky in Moscow.

Anna Grigoryevna compiled and published in 1906 " Bibliographic index works and works of art related to the life and work of F. M. Dostoevsky" and the catalog "Museum in memory of F. M. Dostoevsky in the Imperial Russian historical museum name Alexander III in Moscow, 1846-1903". Her books The Diary of A. G. Dostoevskaya 1867 (published in 1923) and Memoirs of A. G. Dostoevskaya (published in 1925) are an important source for the biography of the writer.

Anna Grigorievna died in Yalta in the hungry military year of 1918. After 50 years, in 1968, her ashes were transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and buried next to her husband's grave.

Bibliography

"Diary of A.G. Dostoevskaya 1867" (1923)
"Memoirs of A.G. Dostoevskaya" (1925).

Memory

Movies

• 1980 - Soviet Feature Film"Twenty-six Days in the Life of Dostoevsky". Stage director - Alexander Zarkhi. In the role of A. G. Dostoevskaya - the famous Soviet and Russian actress Evgenia Simonova.
• 2010 - documentary film "Anna Dostoevskaya. Letter to husband. Stage director - Igor Nurislamov. In the role of A. G. Dostoevskaya - Olga Kirsanova-Miropolskaya. Produced by the producer center "ATK-Studio".

Literature

• Grossman L.P.A.G. Dostoevskaya and her “Memoirs” [Introduction. Art.] // Memoirs of A. G. Dostoevskaya. - M.-L., 1925.
• Dostoevsky A.F. Anna Dostoevskaya // Women of the world. - 1963. - No. 10.
• Brief literary encyclopedia in 9 volumes. - M .: " Soviet Encyclopedia", 1964. - T. 2.
• Kissin B. M. Country of Philately. - M.: Communication, 1980. - S. 182.
• Mazur P. Who was the first philatelist? // Philately of the USSR. - 1974. - No. 9. - S. 11.
• Strygin A. Women's theme in philately. Some thoughts about collecting stamps // NG - Collection. - 2001. - No. 3 (52). - 7 March.

Is one of the first famous women Russia, fond of philately. The beginning of her collection was laid in 1867, in Dresden. The reason for this was the dispute between Anna Grigoryevna and Fyodor Mikhailovich about the female character:
“I was very indignant in my husband that he rejected in the women of my generation any restraint of character, any persistent and prolonged striving to achieve the intended goal.<...>
For some reason, this argument provoked me, and I announced to my husband that I would prove to him by my personal example that a woman could pursue the idea that attracted her attention for years. And since at the present moment<...>I don’t see any big task ahead of me, then I’ll start at least with the lesson you just indicated, and from today I’ll start collecting stamps.
No sooner said than done. I dragged Fyodor Mikhailovich into the first stationery shop I came across and bought (“with my own money”) a cheap album for sticking stamps on. At home, I immediately made stamps from the received three or four letters from Russia and thus laid the foundation for the collection. Our hostess, learning of my intention, rummaged through the letters and gave me some old Thurn-Taxis and the Saxon Kingdom. Thus began my collection postage stamps, and it has been going on for forty-nine years ... From time to time, I boasted to my husband about the number of added marks, and he sometimes laughed at this weakness of mine. (From the book “Memoirs of A. G. Dostoevskaya.”)”

Fyodor Dostoevsky was unlucky in love. It is the descendants who exclaim: "He's a genius!" And for contemporary women, the writer was completely unattractive. The player, ugly, poor, epileptic 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 conclude a losing contract with the publisher. Fedor 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 for the successful execution of the plan was a skilled stenographer.

Anya Snitkina, 20, was the best student in shorthand courses. In addition, she admired the work of Dostoevsky, and friends advised the writer to take her. He doubted whether it was worth taking this thin and pale girl for such hard work, however, Ani'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, did not differ 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, a shrewd man appeared, accurately noticing and remembering the character traits of people unfamiliar to him. He corrected unfortunate moments in the text on the go, 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 bonded.

Dostoevsky immediately noticed the unusual selflessness of the stenographer, who did not spare herself at all. She forgot to eat, and even comb her hair - just to finish the work on time. And exactly one day before the deadline set by the publisher, tired Anya brought Dostoevsky a neatly tied pile of sheets. It was a rewrite of the novel "The Gambler" by her. Carefully accepting the result of their joint monthly work, Dostoevsky realized that he was not in a position 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 was a real torment for the writer. Together with the police, he had to chase after a dishonest publisher who had fled the city and forbade his employees to accept the manuscript of the novel. And yet, Dostoevsky was most worried about something else - how to keep Anya close to him and find out how she feels towards him. It was not easy for Fedor Mikhailovich to do this. He did not believe that someone 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 beggar artist prematurely aged from failures falls in love with a young beauty - is this possible? The smart girl immediately figured out the trick. When the writer asked her to imagine herself in the place of the heroine, she bluntly said: "... 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 match for Dostoevsky. She helped him rewrite novels, took care 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 get enough of his wife - she forgave him everything, tried not to argue, 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 playing for money, his health began to improve, and there were almost no attacks of the disease.

Dostoevsky understood perfectly well that all this became possible only thanks to his wife. She could break down and leave him a thousand times - especially when he lost all her things at roulette, even dresses. Quiet, faithful Anya withstood these tests, because she knew that everything can be fixed if the person really loves you. And she was not wrong.

Her sacrifices were not in vain. She was rewarded with strong love, which Fyodor Mikhailovich had not 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 future everything - and hope, and faith, and happiness, and bliss. She was, in fact, the most precious person to him. In the last minutes of his life, Dostoevsky held her hand and whispered: “Remember, Anya, I have always loved you dearly and have never cheated on you, even mentally!”.

When Anna lost her husband, she was only 35 years old. She never married again. Contemporaries wondered why the young widow puts an end to herself, rejecting her admirers. They didn't understand that real love maybe just one for life.

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 forever bogged down 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.