With a death sentence and penal servitude, stormy romances and roulette games, burnt manuscripts and The Gambler, written in 26 days... We recall interesting facts from the life of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The Dostoevsky clan of the coat of arms Radvan
On the side of his father, the writer came from the gentry family of the Dostoevskys of the Radvan coat of arms, dating back to 1506. The ancestor of the family was considered the boyar Daniil Irtishch. He acquired the village of Dostoevo in the Belarusian Polesie, from its name the writer's surname originated. Fyodor Dostoevsky did not know such details about his ancestors: the writer's wife, Anna Dostoevsky, began to study the family tree only after his death.
Lost Manuscripts
The first works of Fyodor Dostoevsky - theatrical plays- not saved. In the early 1840s, while studying at the Engineering School of St. Petersburg, the aspiring writer worked on three dramas - "Mary Stuart", "Boris Godunov" and "Jew Yankel". He read excerpts from his works to his brother Mikhail. Today, the manuscripts are considered lost.
New Gogol
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote his first novel, Poor People, in 1845. The writer Dmitry Grigorovich, who lived with Dostoevsky in the same apartment, gave the manuscript to Nikolai Nekrasov. He read the work in one night and the next day took the manuscript to Vissarion Belinsky, saying about the author: « New Gogol appeared!" Later, Nekrasov published the novel in his new almanac Petersburg Collection.
"Death penalty by firing squad"
This was the verdict that the Military Judicial Commission pronounced on Dostoevsky in the "case of the Petrashevists." The writer got into Petrashevsky's circle in the late 1840s. Many topical issues were discussed here - the abolition of serfdom, freedom of the press, and reforms. Fyodor Dostoyevsky was arrested for publicly reading Belinsky's forbidden letter. The fact that the execution would be a staging, and the prisoners would go to hard labor, was announced to the convicts at the very last moment. The feelings of a man sentenced to death, Fyodor Dostoevsky later described in the novel The Idiot.
Secret Gospel
Dostoevsky was heading to the Omsk jail through Tobolsk. Here he met with the wives of the exiled Decembrists Josefina Muravieva, Praskovya Annenkova and Natalya Fonvizina. They gave the Petrashevites the Gospel - the only book that was allowed in prison. Dostoevsky did not part with her all his life. Today the book is stored in the museum-apartment of the writer in Moscow.
“I will only say that participation, lively sympathy, almost a whole lot of happiness rewarded us. The exiles of the old time (that is, not them, but their wives) took care of us as if they were family. What wonderful souls, experienced by 25 years of grief and selflessness. We caught a glimpse of them, for we were kept strictly. But they sent us food, clothes, consoled and encouraged us.”
Fedor Dostoevsky
"A new era is before us..."
In exile, Dostoevsky learned about the death of Emperor Nicholas I and wrote a poem dedicated to his widow, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - "On European events in 1854", as well as poems for the coronation of Alexander II - "On the first of July 1855", "On the coronation and the conclusion of peace. On the day of the coronation of Alexander II in 1856, a pardon was announced to the Petrashevites, but Dostoevsky's "loyal" poems were not published during his lifetime.
A new era is before us.
Sweet dawn hopes
Rises bright before the eyes ...
God bless the king!Fyodor Dostoevsky, excerpt from the poem "To the coronation and the conclusion of peace"
"Time" and "Epoch"
Fyodor Dostoevsky and his older brother Mikhail (also a writer) published the literary and political magazine Vremya, and after its closure, they published the magazine Epoch. On the pages of publications for the first time appeared the works "Humiliated and Insulted", "Notes from dead house”, “Bad Anecdote”, “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions” and “Notes from the Underground”.
Passion according to Dostoevsky
In 1862, the writer went abroad for the first time. He traveled to Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. In Europe, the writer first became interested in playing roulette, and later he met Apollinaria Suslova, the wife of Vasily Rozanov. Between Dostoevsky and Suslova, a short but stormy romance broke out. Their love experiences Fyodor Dostoevsky described in the novel The Gambler, and Apollinaria Suslova became the prototype of Nastasya Filippovna in The Idiot.
Romance in 26 days
Fyodor Dostoevsky signed a contract for the publication of the novel because of debts. Under the terms of this agreement, he had to submit new novel by November 1, 1866. In case of violation of the contract, the publisher received the right to publish all the works of the writer free of charge for 9 years.
Dostoevsky was writing Crime and Punishment with enthusiasm when he remembered his obligations. The writer hired a professional stenographer, Anna Snitkina. Using his experience from a trip abroad, from October 4 to October 29, he dictated to her the text of a new novel - "The Gambler". The work was handed over on time, and a week after that, Dostoevsky proposed to Anna Snitkina, who was 25 years younger than the writer.
put on fire
Fyodor Dostoevsky was related to Nikolai Gogol not only literary devices and social stories. Like his predecessor, Dostoevsky sometimes burned his manuscripts. In 1871, returning to Russia from abroad, the writer burned draft versions"Idiot", "Eternal Husband" and "Demons". However, his wife insisted that the writer keep some of the drafts and excerpts from the works.
Zheg Dostoevsky and "Crime and Punishment": the writer added and redrawn it more than once. Dostoevsky wrote to his friend Baron Wrangel: “At the end of November, a lot was written and ready; I burned everything; Now I can admit it... New form, new plan carried me away, and I started again".
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born on November 11, 1821. 150 years after his death, he is the main literary brand of Russia in the world. On this occasion, MOIARUSSIA has chosen a number of interesting facts about the life and work of the writer.
Text: Igor Kuzmichev
Received three times less
Dostoevsky, although he was a superstar whose books were scattered like pies, in huge editions, received three times less than his colleagues in the shop. For a sheet he was paid 150 rubles, and Turgenev, for example, 500. And nothing could be done about it. Dostoevsky was constantly in need of money due to terrible debts and took up work without much bargaining. And the publishers, knowing his position, knocked down the fee - they say, he will sign anyway. At the same time, the writer himself assessed himself sensibly, as a best-selling author: “My name is worth a million,” he said. We know that the genius of Dostoevsky is worth more. Or rather, it simply has no price.
First wife and first betrayal
Dostoevsky's first wife was a certain Maria Isaeva. She suffered from tuberculosis and was the wife of a petty official who never parted with a bottle. At first, Dostoevsky and Isaeva were lovers, and when the official played the box, they got married. Happiness turned out to be short-lived: Maria, despite consumption, showed agility and started an affair with some loser named Vergunov. And openly twisted. And so they lived. Then Isaeva died, and Fedor Mikhailovich contacted the girl Appolinaria Suslova. She was twenty, he was forty. He became her first man, quite quickly Suslova took the writer into circulation, pushed him around and again openly cheated with a certain Salvador.
Constantly fighting for existence
Being in a constant deadline, Dostoevsky, as they say, drove the line, not having time to finalize the texts, to polish them. Therefore, his novels are full of length, confusion and banal phrases. The writer's widow later said that, unlike the "wealthy" Tolstoy, her husband was forced to think around the clock about how to get more money. “How many times has it happened over the last fourteen years of his life that two or three chapters have already been printed in the journal, the fourth was typed in the printing house, the fifth went by mail to the Russky Vestnik, and the rest were not yet written, but only conceived ...” - recalled by Anna Dostoevskaya.
Russian Marquis de Sade
Sex in Dostoevsky's life, to put it mildly, did not last place. “I am a debauchee,” he wrote, making full use of the services of prostitutes. Turgenev called his colleague "the Russian de Sade." Professionals are one thing, they put up with the desires of a strange client, but among ordinary women it was difficult for Dostoevsky to find a young lady who would not be afraid of his habits. The problem was solved by accident: being in the next deadline, the writer found himself in a situation where he had to write and submit a novel in 26 days. Otherwise - according to the idiotic contract signed by Fyodor Mikhailovich in an eclipse of the mind - he had to write all subsequent books for nine years in a row for free.
Stenographer Anna Snitkina
In short, Fyodor Mikhailovich was on the brink of an abyss. Friends advised him to take an assistant stenographer, so as not to waste time on paperwork, but simply to dictate. So 20-year-old Anna Snitkina appeared in his life. Dostoevsky frightened the modest girl at the first meeting. There was a reason - old, 45 years old, terrible (he called himself Quasimodo), sickly and impoverished. But in a month of joint work, Anna was imbued with this uncle, and he, in turn, decided: why not get married. Here they got married. Kind, quiet and submissive, the girl Snitkina turned out to be a godsend for Dostoevsky in every sense. She took her husband's needs for granted, was, so to speak, responsive.
Entering the taste and meeting no resistance, Dostoevsky extended his inclinations not only to intimate sphere, but also on ordinary life. He made strict rules that Anna had to strictly observe. A terrible jealous man, he demanded from his wife to forget about dresses emphasizing the figure, not to wear makeup, not to laugh at men's jokes at all. The wife complied.
This sexism had one plus: the writer never cheated on his wife.
Anna Dostoevskaya became a real fighting friend for her husband. After the death of the writer, despite the quite standard age - 35 years - she decided that she would not marry again and would not look at men. And dedicate herself to her husband's legacy.
For all her meekness, Anna was not a helpless mouse. Born into a wealthy family, having the skills to handle money, she quickly realized that her husband was shamelessly robbed, and he, as they say, only clapped his ears. Then the devoted wife took management into her own hands. She hit publishers in the head, knocked out normal fees, established work with printing houses and began to conclude more or less worthy deals.
Wife's business acumen
The money went, however, they eventually went to cover all the same debts. But life got easier. Surprisingly, business acumen and rigidity did not affect the attitude towards a careless husband in any way - Anna gave everything she earned to him and never hinted that, they say, it would be nice to take up your mind and stop behaving irresponsibly. Briefly speaking, ideal ideal wife- and knock out the money, and obey in bed.
Death due to a dropped pen.
Suffering from lung disease, the writer, whom doctors categorically forbade any physical exercise while working, he dropped his pen, leaned over it, and he immediately bled in his throat. Two days later Fyodor Mikhailovich was gone.
The writer was addicted to card games. Losing, he pawned everything that was in the house, from cups to his wife's earrings. Hell ended overnight when Dostoevsky realized that a little more, and his pregnant wife would die from the cold, as she had nothing to wear. Since then, Fedor Mikhailovich has not touched roulette and cards.
Dostoevsky was weak not only in card games but also to the attention of the public. Thank God, during his lifetime he managed to know the taste real glory. The readings that Fyodor Mikhailovich arranged attracted crowds - he was a real pop star of his time.
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Someone calls him a prophet, a gloomy philosopher, someone - evil genius. He himself called himself "a child of the century, a child of disbelief, doubt." Much has been said about Dostoevsky as a writer, but his personality is surrounded by an aura of mystery. The multifaceted nature of the classic allowed him to leave a mark on the pages of history, to inspire millions of people around the world. His ability to expose vices, without turning away from them, made the characters so alive, and the works - full of mental suffering. Immersion in the world of Dostoevsky can be painful, difficult, but it gives birth to something new in people, this is exactly the kind of literature that educates. Dostoevsky is a phenomenon that needs to be studied for a long time and thoughtfully. short biography Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, some interesting facts from his life, creativity will be presented to your attention in the article.
Brief biography in dates
the main task life, as Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky wrote, is to “not lose heart, not fall”, despite all the trials sent from above. And he had a lot of them.
November 11, 1821 - birth. Where was Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky born? He was born in our glorious capital - Moscow. Father - head doctor Mikhail Andreevich, a believing, pious family. Named after my grandfather.
The boy began to study at a young age under the guidance of his parents, by the age of 10 he knew the history of Russia quite well, his mother taught him to read. Religious education was also given attention: daily prayer before going to bed was a family tradition.
In 1837, the mother of Fyodor Mikhailovich Maria died, in 1839 - father Mikhail.
1838 - Dostoevsky enters the Main Engineering School of St. Petersburg.
1841 - becomes an officer.
1843 - enlisted in the engineering corps. The study did not please, there was a strong craving for literature, the writer made his first creative experiments even then.
1847 - visiting Fridays Petrashevsky.
April 23, 1849 - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
From January 1850 to February 1854 - Omsk fortress, hard labor. This period had a strong influence on the work, the attitude of the writer.
1854-1859 - period military service, the city of Semipalatinsk.
1857 - wedding with Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva.
June 7, 1862 - the first trip abroad, where Dostoevsky stays until October. For a long time carried away gambling.
1863 - falling in love, relationship with A. Suslova.
1864 - the writer's wife Maria, older brother Mikhail die.
1867 - marries stenographer A. Snitkina.
Until 1871, they traveled a lot outside of Russia.
1877 - spends a lot of time with Nekrasov, then delivers a speech at his funeral.
1881 - Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich dies, he was 59 years old.
Biography in detail
The childhood of the writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky can be called prosperous: born in noble family in 1821, he received an excellent home education, upbringing. Parents managed to instill a love for languages (Latin, French, German), history. After reaching the age of 16, Fedor was sent to a private boarding school. Then the training continued at the military engineering school of St. Petersburg. Dostoevsky showed interest in literature even then, visited with his brother literary salons I tried to write myself.
As evidenced by the biography of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, 1839 takes the life of his father. Internal protest is looking for a way out, Dostoevsky begins to get acquainted with the socialists, visits Petrashevsky's circle. The novel "Poor People" was written under the influence of the ideas of that period. This work allowed the writer to finally finish the hated engineering service and take up literature. From an unknown student, Dostoevsky became a successful writer until censorship intervened.
In 1849, the ideas of the Petrashevites were recognized as harmful, the members of the circle were arrested and sent to hard labor. It is noteworthy that the sentence was originally death, but the last 10 minutes changed it. The Petrashevites, who were already on the scaffold, were pardoned, limiting the punishment to four years of hard labor. Mikhail Petrashevsky was sentenced to life imprisonment. Dostoevsky was sent to Omsk.
The biography of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky tells that serving the term was difficult for the writer. He compares that time to being buried alive. Hard monotonous work like burning bricks, disgusting conditions, cold undermined the health of Fyodor Mikhailovich, but also gave him food for thought, new ideas, topics for creativity.
After serving his sentence, Dostoevsky serves in Semipalatinsk, where the only consolation was the first love - Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva. These relationships were tender, somewhat reminiscent of the relationship of a mother with her son. The only thing that stopped the writer from proposing to a woman was the fact that she had a husband. A little later he died. In 1857, Dostoevsky finally achieves Maria Isaeva, they get married. After the marriage, the relationship changed somewhat, the writer himself speaks of them as "unfortunate".
1859 - return to St. Petersburg. Dostoevsky writes again, opens the Vremya magazine with his brother. Brother Mikhail does business ineptly, gets into debt, dies. Fyodor Mikhailovich has to deal with debts. He has to write quickly in order to be able to pay all the accumulated debts. But even in such a hurry were created the most complex works Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
In 1860, Dostoevsky falls in love with the young Apollinaria Suslova, who does not at all resemble his wife Maria. The relationship was also different - passionate, bright, lasted three years. Then Fedor Mikhailovich is fond of playing roulette, he loses a lot. This period of life is reflected in the novel "The Gambler".
1864 claimed the lives of his brother and wife. Something seems to have broken in the writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Relations with Suslova come to naught, the writer feels lost, alone in the world. He tries to escape from himself abroad, to get distracted, but the longing does not leave. Epileptic seizures become more frequent. This is how Anna Snitkina, a young stenographer, came to know and love Dostoevsky. The man shared with the girl the story of his life, he needed to speak out. Gradually, they became closer, although the age difference was 24 years. Anna accepted Dostoevsky's offer to marry him sincerely, because Fyodor Mikhailovich evoked the brightest, enthusiastic feelings in her. The marriage was perceived negatively by the society, Dostoyevsky's adopted son Pavel. The newlyweds leave for Germany.
Relations with Snitkina had a beneficial effect on the writer: he got rid of his addiction to roulette, became calmer. Sophia is born in 1868, but dies three months later. After difficult period shared experiences Anna and Fedor Mikhailovich continue to try to conceive a child. They succeed: Lyubov (1869), Fedor (1871) and Alexei (1875) are born. Alexei inherited the illness from his father and died at the age of three. The wife became for Fedor Mikhailovich support and support, a spiritual outlet. In addition, it helped improve financial position. The family moves to Staraya Russa to escape the stressful life in St. Petersburg. Thanks to Anna, a wise girl beyond her years, Fyodor Mikhailovich becomes happy, at least for a while. Here they spend their time happily and serenely, until Dostoevsky's health forces them to return to the capital.
In 1881 the writer dies.
A stick or a carrot: how Fedor Mikhailovich raised children
The indisputability of the father's authority was the basis of Dostoevsky's upbringing, which passed into his own family. Decency, responsibility - the writer managed to invest these qualities in his children. Even if they did not grow up to be the same geniuses as their father, some craving for literature existed in each of them.
The writer considered the main mistakes of education:
- ignoring inner peace child;
- intrusive attention;
- bias.
He called the suppression of individuality, cruelty, and the relief of life a crime against a child. Dostoevsky considered the main instrument of education not corporal punishment, but parental love. He himself incredibly loved his children, greatly experienced their illnesses and losses.
An important place in the life of a child, as Fyodor Mikhailovich believed, should be given to spiritual light, religion. The writer rightly believed that a child always takes an example from the family where he was born. Dostoevsky's educational measures were based on intuition.
Literary evenings were good tradition in the family of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. These evening readings of masterpieces of literature were traditional in the childhood of the author himself. Often the children of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky fell asleep, did not understand anything they read, but he continued to cultivate literary taste. Often the writer read with such feeling that in the process he began to cry. He liked to hear what impression this or that novel made on children.
Another educational element is a visit to the theater. Opera was preferred.
Lyubov Dostoevskaya
Attempts to become a writer were unsuccessful with Lyubov Fedorovna. Maybe the reason was that her work was always inevitably compared with the brilliant novels of her father, maybe she did not write about that. Eventually main work her life was a description of her father's biography.
The girl who lost him at the age of 11 was very afraid that in the next world the sins of Fyodor Mikhailovich would not be forgiven. She believed that life continues after death, but here, on earth, one must seek happiness. For Dostoevsky's daughter, it consisted primarily in a clear conscience.
Lyubov Fedorovna lived to be 56 years old, spent the last few years in sunny Italy. She must have been happier there than at home.
Fedor Dostoevsky
Fedor Fedorovich became a horse breeder. The boy began to show interest in horses in childhood. Tried to create literary works, but it didn't work out. He was vain, sought to achieve success in life, these qualities were inherited from his grandfather. Fedor Fedorovich, if he was not sure that he could be the first in something, preferred not to do it, his pride was so pronounced. He was nervous and withdrawn, wasteful, prone to excitement, like a father.
Fedor lost his father at the age of 9, but he managed to invest in him best qualities. The upbringing of his father greatly helped him in life, he received a good education. In his work, he has achieved great success perhaps because he loved what he did.
Creative path in dates
Start creative way Dostoevsky was bright, he wrote in many genres.
Genres early period creativity of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky:
- humorous story;
- physiological essay;
- tragicomic story;
- Christmas story;
- story;
- novel.
In 1840-1841 - the creation of historical dramas "Mary Stuart", "Boris Godunov".
1844 - Balzac's translation of "Eugenie Grande" is published.
1845 - finished the story "Poor people", met Belinsky, Nekrasov.
1846 - the "Petersburg Collection" was published, "Poor People" were printed.
In February, "Double" was published, in October - "Mr. Prokharchin".
In 1847, Dostoevsky wrote The Mistress, published in the St. Petersburg Vedomosti.
In December 1848, "White Nights" was written, in 1849 - "Netochka Nezvanova".
1854-1859 - service in Semipalatinsk, " Uncle's dream"," The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants.
In 1860, the fragment " Notes of the Dead Houses". The first collected works were published.
1861 - the beginning of the publication of the magazine "Time", the printing of part of the novel "Humiliated and Insulted", "Notes from the Dead House".
In 1863, "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions" was created.
May of the same year - the Vremya magazine was closed.
1864 - the beginning of the publication of the magazine "Epoch". "Notes from the Underground".
1865th - " Extraordinary event, or Passage within Passage" is printed in Crocodile.
1866 - written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", "Player". Departure abroad with family. "Idiot".
In 1870, Dostoevsky wrote the story "The Eternal Husband".
1871-1872 - "Demons".
1875 - printing of "Teenager" in "Notes of the Fatherland".
1876 - the resumption of the activities of the Writer's Diary.
The Brothers Karamazov were written from 1879 to 1880.
Places in Petersburg
The city keeps the spirit of the writer, many books by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky were written here.
- Dostoevsky studied at the Engineering Mikhailovsky Castle.
- The Serapinskaya hotel on Moskovsky Prospekt became the residence of the writer in 1837, he lived here, seeing St. Petersburg for the first time in his life.
- "Poor people" were written in the house of the post director Pryanichnikov.
- "Mr. Prokharchin" was created in Kohenderfer's house on Kazanskaya street.
- Fedor Mikhailovich lived in Soloshich's tenement house on Vasilievsky Island in the 1840s.
- Profitable house Kotomina introduced Dostoevsky to Petrashevsky.
- The writer lived on Voznesensky Prospekt during his arrest, wrote "White Nights", "Honest Thief" and other stories.
- "Notes from the House of the Dead", "Humiliated and Insulted" were written on 3rd Krasnoarmeyskaya Street.
- The writer lived in the house of A. Astafieva in 1861-1863.
- In Strubinsky's house on Grechesky Prospekt - from 1875 to 1878.
Symbolism of Dostoevsky
You can analyze the books of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky endlessly, finding new and new symbols. Dostoevsky mastered the art of penetrating into the essence of things, their soul. It is thanks to the ability to unravel these symbols one by one that the journey through the pages of novels becomes so exciting.
- Axe.
This symbol carries a deadly meaning, being a kind of emblem of Dostoevsky's work. The ax symbolizes murder, crime, a decisive desperate step, crucial moment. If a person pronounces the word "ax", most likely, the first thing that comes to his mind is "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
- Clean linen.
His appearance in the novels occurs at certain similar moments, which allows us to speak of symbolism. For example, Raskolnikov was prevented from committing a murder by a maid hanging out clean linen. A similar situation was with Ivan Karamazov. It is not so much the linen itself that is symbolic, but its color - white, denoting purity, correctness, purity.
- Smells.
It is enough to skim through any of Dostoevsky's novels to understand how important smells are to him. One of them, which is more common than others, is the smell of a putrid spirit.
- Silver pledge.
One of the most important characters. The silver cigarette case was not made of silver at all. There is a motive of falsity, forgery, suspicion. Raskolnikov, having made a cigarette box out of wood, similar to silver, as if he had already committed a deceit, a crime.
- The ringing of a copper bell.
The symbol plays a warning role. A small detail makes the reader feel the mood of the hero, imagine the events brighter. Small objects are endowed with strange, unusual features, emphasizing the exclusivity of the circumstances.
- Wood and iron.
In the novels there are many things from these materials, each of them carries certain meaning. If a tree symbolizes a person, a victim, bodily torment, then iron is a crime, murder, evil.
Finally, I would like to note some interesting facts from the life of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
- Dostoevsky wrote most of all in the last 10 years of his life.
- Dostoevsky loved sex, used the services of prostitutes, even when he was married.
- Nietzsche called Dostoevsky the best psychologist.
- He smoked a lot and liked strong tea.
- He was jealous of his women for every pillar, forbade even smiling in public.
- Mostly worked at night.
- The hero of the novel "The Idiot" is a self-portrait of the writer.
- There are many film adaptations of Dostoevsky's works, as well as those dedicated to him.
- The first child appeared with Fedor Mikhailovich at the age of 46.
- Leonardo DiCaprio also celebrates his birthday on November 11th.
- More than 30,000 people attended the writer's funeral.
- Sigmund Freud considered Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov the greatest novel ever written.
We also present to your attention famous quotes Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky:
- One must love life more than the meaning of life.
- Freedom is not in not holding back, but in being in control of yourself.
- In everything there is a line beyond which it is dangerous to cross; for once crossed, it is impossible to turn back.
- Happiness is not in happiness, but only in achieving it.
- No one makes the first move because everyone thinks it's not mutual.
- The Russian people, as it were, enjoy their suffering.
- Life goes breathless without an aim.
- To stop reading books means to stop thinking.
- There is no happiness in comfort, happiness is bought by suffering.
- In true loving heart either jealousy kills love, or love kills jealousy.
Conclusion
The result of a person's life is his deeds. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (years of life - 1821-1881) left behind brilliant novels, having lived a relatively short life. Who knows if these novels would have been born if the life of the author were easy, without obstacles and hardships? Dostoevsky, who is known and loved, is impossible without suffering, mental turmoil, inner overcoming. They are what make the work so real.
Dostoevsky is one of the most famous writers not only in Russia, but all over the world. His works are popular, they are republished and translated, performances and films are staged on them, but at the same time his biography remains full of unknown, but interesting facts. 
Influence on world figures
Thinkers greatly appreciated Dostoevsky's work. Nietzsche considered Fyodor Mikhailovich a psychologist from whom he could learn. Einstein admitted that our thinker told him more than any scientist. Freud also appreciated his work, who put him on a par with Shakespeare himself. Lenin constantly criticized the work of the great writer for obvious reasons. In the sensational novel, it is the revolutionaries who are presented by the writer as "demons" who lead the people astray. Many laureates, for example, Nobel Prize in literature, they still call Dostoevsky one of their teachers.
The second wife is twenty-five years younger!
Dostoevsky himself was influenced by his nineteen year old wife. Initially, she, as a stenographer, helped the writer create a novel. After the wedding, the young wife Anna was with the writer until his last moments. By the way, the first wife died of tuberculosis, like Fyodor Mikhailovich's mother.
Romance in twenty-one days...
Why such a rush to write novels? Such volume, such philosophical themes many are able to “master” it only in a few years ... Dostoevsky wrote on credit! After his first novel, which was enthusiastically received by the public, the publishers paid the writer for his texts in advance, but only the deadlines were short. So I had to create "drunkenly", seek help from the stenographer Anna and not always check my works.
The hero "player" is written off from himself?
So it is, Fedor Mikhailovich was fond of gambling, especially roulette. He practically could not live without this passion. Naturally, he did not always win. That is why the feelings of the protagonist of his novel "The Gambler" are familiar to him firsthand. How this novel was created in record time.
Desperate tea drinker
Dostoevsky treated many things with passion, even bigotry. Even the usual tea drink here is no exception. The writer claimed that he would prefer a glass of tea to the whole world. When the novelist was writing, he always had a mug of tea on his table, and a hot samovar was waiting in another room.
peter singer
With the same fanaticism, Fyodor Mikhailovich treated northern capital, again and again singing it in his work. This attitude was most like an obsession, because the writer also testified that this city “presses” a person, and a bad climate, and social discord, poverty, dirt. However, Dostoevsky saw the brilliance of the city, and the beauty of its nature, and the monumentality of architecture ... Saint Petersburg, according to many critics, acts in the novels not just as a background, but as another hero. Moscow did not influence the writer in the same way, although he was born there and studied at a boarding house. Young Dostoevsky arrived in St. Petersburg, enrolling in an engineering school.
creative brothers
Interestingly, Fedor studied there along with his older brother Mikhail. Both of them felt in themselves a humanitarian talent and writing talent, but their father did not believe in seriousness " creative career". He insisted that his sons get a "normal" engineering profession. But according to the recollections of both, they dreamed of writing, and also devoted their time to reading classical works- Russian and foreign literature. 
Fedor even took up the translation and publication of works French writer Balzac. The Dostoevsky brothers are organizing a literary circle at the school!
In the future, Mikhail Fyodorovich Dostoevsky, like younger brother, devoted himself to literature, but in a slightly different way. He published his own magazine. The first works of Fedor were even printed there.
The image of the head of the family
It was Dostoevsky's father, Fyodor Andreevich, who greatly influenced the character and worldview of the future writer. Their family was quite large - eight children, although not poor. Father - a doctor by profession - came from an ancient family of gentry who transferred to Russian citizenship. Dostoevsky's grandfather was the archpriest of the whole city. It is interesting that Dostoevsky never found out about the beginning of his kind since the time of the Commonwealth. Their family tree his wife took over after his death. Returning to the image of the father, we need to add a sad fact - he was killed by serfs.
Father king?
Many who have read the novel "The Idiot" should know that the image of the hero Dostoevskaya also drew from himself. The moment before the execution is known, when Fyodor Mikhailovich's whole short life flashed before his eyes. But few people know that at the last moment Tsar Nicholas I replaced the execution with a long exile, thanks to the monarch's positive assessment of the work of the young freethinker. 
The Divine Role of the Gospel
In exile, namely, the wife of Fonvizin, presented young man this holy book. Due to censorship, Dostoevsky was not allowed to read or write anything else. They didn't even give me a pencil! And for two years he re-read only this book, making thousands of notes in the margins with his fingernail.
Moreover, he did not part with this Book until the very end.
Interestingly, after this "second chance" Dostoevsky reconsidered his life. As if he had not one, but two ... Perhaps this explains the combination of love and hate, energy and apathy, visits to gambling and even brothels and knowledge of the sacred Gospel by heart.
The very image of Dostoevsky is a complete contradiction, and his books also do not have an unambiguous interpretation.
In connection with the release this Sunday on the Rossiya TV channel of a serial film about Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, I wanted to make for you a selection of interesting and little known facts about this genius of Russian literature. These facts are different, they relate to both personal life and Dostoevsky's work, but I think all of them will be of interest to you.
15 Facts about Dostoevsky!
1. In F. Dostoevsky's novel "Demons", the cynically haughty image of Stavrogin will become more understandable to you if you know one nuance. In the handwritten original of the novel, there is Stavrogin's confession about the rape of a nine-year-old girl, who then hanged herself. This fact has been removed from the printed edition.
2. Dostoevsky, who in the past was a member of Petrashevsky's revolutionary organization of lawless people, describes the members of this organization in the novel "Demons". Meaning revolutionaries by demons, Fyodor Mikhailovich directly writes about his former accomplices - it was "... an unnatural and anti-state society of thirteen people", speaks of them as "... bestial voluptuous society" and that they are "... not socialists, but swindlers ... ". For his truthful frankness about the revolutionaries, V.I. Lenin called F.M. Dostoevsky "the archaic Dostoevsky."
3. In 1859, Dostoevsky retired from the army "due to illness" and received permission to live in Tver. At the end of the year, he moved to St. Petersburg and, together with his brother Mikhail, began to publish the magazines Vremya, then Epoch, combining a huge amount of editorial work with authorial work: he wrote journalistic and literary-critical articles, polemical notes, works of art. After the death of his brother, a huge amount of debts remained from the magazines, which Fedor Mikhailovich had to pay almost until the end of his life.
4. Fans of F. M. Dostoevsky's creativity know that the sin of parricide in The Brothers Karamazov lies with Ivan, but the reason for the crime is not clear. In the handwritten original of The Brothers Karamazov, true reason crimes. It turns out that Ivan's son killed F.P. Karamazov's father because his father raped the young Ivan with sodomy, in general, for pedophilia. This fact was not included in the printed editions.
5. Dostoevsky made extensive use of the real topography of St. Petersburg in describing the places in his novel Crime and Punishment. As the writer admitted, the description of the courtyard in which Raskolnikov hides things stolen by him from the pawnbroker's apartment, he composed from personal experience- when one day, walking around the city, Dostoevsky turned into a deserted courtyard in order to relieve himself.
6. His impressionability clearly went beyond the limits of the norm. When some street beauty said “no” to him, he fainted. And if she said yes, the result was often exactly the same.
7. To say that Fyodor Mikhailovich had increased sexuality means to say almost nothing. This physiological property was so developed in him that, despite all efforts to hide it, it involuntarily broke out - in words, looks, actions. This, of course, was noticed by those around him and ridiculed him. Turgenev called him "the Russian Marquis de Sade". Unable to control the sensual fire, he resorted to the services of prostitutes. But many of them, having once tasted Dostoevsky's love, then refused his proposals: his love was too unusual, and, most importantly, painful.
8. Only one remedy could save from the abyss of debauchery: a beloved woman. And when such a thing appeared in his life, Dostoevsky was transformed. It was she, Anna, who was for him both an angel-savior, and an assistant, and that very sexual toy with which one could do everything without guilt and remorse. She was 20, he was 45. Anna was young and inexperienced, and did not see anything strange in those intimate relationships offered to her by her husband. She took violence and pain for granted. Even if she didn't approve, or didn't like what he wanted, she didn't say no to him, and didn't show her displeasure in any way. She once wrote: "I am ready to spend the rest of my life kneeling before him." She put his pleasure above all else. He was God to her...
9. Acquaintance with the future wife Anna Snitkina fell on a very difficult period in the life of the writer. He pawned literally everything he could to usurers for a penny, even his wadded coat, and, nevertheless, urgent debts of several thousand rubles remained behind him. At that moment, Dostoevsky signed a fantastically enslaving contract with the publisher Strelovsky, according to which he had, firstly, to sell him all his already written works, and secondly, to write a new one by a certain date. The main clause in the contract was an article according to which, in the event of a new novel not being submitted by the deadline, Strelovsky would publish as he pleased for nine years whatever Dostoevsky wrote, and without remuneration.
Despite the bondage, the contract made it possible for Dostoevsky to pay off the most aggressive creditors and escape from the rest abroad. But after returning, it turned out that there was a month left before the delivery of a new novel of one and a half hundred pages, and Fyodor Mikhailovich had not written a single line. Friends suggested that he use the services of "literary blacks", but he refused. Then they advised him to invite at least a stenographer, who was the young Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina. The novel "The Gambler" was written (or rather, dictated by Snitkina) in 26 days and submitted on time! Moreover, under circumstances, again extraordinary - Strelovsky specially left the city, and Dostoevsky had to leave the manuscript against receipt to the bailiff of the part where the publisher lived.
Dostoevsky, on the other hand, made a proposal to a young girl (she was then 20 years old, he was 45) and received consent.
10. The mother of Anna Grigorievna Snitkina (second wife) was a respectable house owner and gave her daughter a dowry of many thousands in the form of money, utensils and tenement house.
11. Anna Snitkina, already at a young age, led the life of a capitalist homeowner, and after her marriage to Fyodor Mikhailovich, she immediately took up his financial affairs.
First of all, she pacified the numerous creditors of the late brother Mikhail, explaining to them that it is better to receive for a long time and little by little than not to receive at all.
Then she turned her business eye to the publication of her husband's books and found, again, things completely wild. So, for the right to publish the most popular novel "Demons", Dostoevsky was offered 500 "copyright" rubles, moreover, with payment in installments over two years. At the same time, as it turned out, printing houses, subject to the well-known writer's name, willingly printed books with a deferred payment for six months. Printing paper could also be purchased in the same way.
It would seem that under such conditions it is very profitable to publish your books yourself. However, the daredevils soon burned out, as monopoly publishers, of course, quickly cut off their oxygen. But the 26-year-old young lady was too tough for them.
As a result, the "Demons" published by Anna Grigoryevna, instead of the "author's" 500 rubles offered by the publishers, brought the Dostoevsky family 4,000 rubles of net income. In the future, she not only independently published and sold her husband's books, but also engaged in, as they would now say, wholesale trade books by other authors, aimed at the regions.
To say that Fedor Mikhailovich got one of the best managers of his time for free is to say half the truth. After all, this manager also selflessly loved him, gave birth to children and patiently led him for a penny (giving away thousands of rubles hard earned to creditors) household. In addition, for all 14 years, married Anna Grigorievna also worked for her husband as a stenographer for free.
12. In letters to Anna, Fyodor Mikhailovich was often not restrained and filled them with many erotic allusions: “I kiss you every minute in my dreams, all the time, passionately. I especially love what is said about: And this lovely object - he is delighted and intoxicated. This subject kisses every minute in all forms and intends to kiss all his life. Ah, how I kiss, how I kiss! Anka, don’t say that it’s rude, but what should I do, that’s me, I can’t be judged ... I kiss your toes, then your lips, then what “I am delighted and intoxicated with.” These words were written by him at the age of 57.
13. Anna Grigorievna remained faithful to her husband until her end. In the year of his death, she was only 35 years old, but she considered her women's life finished and devoted herself to the service of his name. She published complete collection of his writings, collected his letters and notes, forced friends to write his biography, founded the Dostoevsky school in Staraya Russa, and wrote memoirs herself. In 1918, in the last year of her life, the then-novice composer Sergei Prokofiev came to Anna Grigorievna and asked him to make some kind of recording in his album, “dedicated to the sun”. She wrote: “The sun of my life is Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Anna Dostoevskaya ... "
14. Dostoevsky was incredibly jealous. Attacks of jealousy seized him suddenly, sometimes arising out of the blue. He could suddenly come home for an hour - and start rummaging through cupboards and looking under all the beds! Or, for no reason at all, he will become jealous of his neighbor - a weak old man.
Any trifle could serve as a reason for an outbreak of jealousy. For example: if the wife looked at such and such for too long, or - she smiled too broadly at such and such!
Dostoevsky will work out a set of rules for his second wife, Anna Snitkina, which, at his request, she will continue to adhere to in the future: do not walk in tight dresses, do not smile at men, do not laugh in conversation with them, do not paint lips, do not line your eyes ... Indeed From now on, Anna Grigorievna will behave with men with extreme restraint and dryness.
15. In 1873, Dostoevsky began editing the newspaper-magazine Grazhdanin, where he did not limit himself to editorial work, deciding to publish his own journalistic, memoir, literary-critical essays, feuilletons, and stories. This variegation was “bathed” by the unity of the intonation and views of the author, who maintains a constant dialogue with the reader. This is how the “Diary of a Writer” began to be created, to which Dostoevsky dedicated in last years many forces, turning it into a report on the impressions of the most important phenomena of social and political life and outlining his political, religious, aesthetic convictions on its pages.
The Writer's Diary was a huge success and prompted many people to enter into correspondence with its author. In fact, it was the first live magazine.
