This article will discuss the life of Gogol. This writer created many immortal works that rightfully occupy a worthy place in the annals of world literature. Many rumors and legends are associated with his name, some of which Nikolai Vasilievich spread about himself. He was a great inventor and hoaxer, which, of course, was reflected in his work.
Parents
Gogol Nikolai Vasilievich, whose biography is discussed in this article, was born in 1809, on March 20, in the settlement of Velikie Sorochintsy in the Poltava province. On the paternal side, the family of the future writer included church ministers, but the boy's grandfather, Afanasy Demyanovich, left his spiritual career and began working in the hetman's office. It was he who subsequently added to the surname Yanovsky received at birth another, more famous - Gogol. So the ancestor of Nikolai Vasilyevich sought to emphasize his kinship with Colonel Ostap Gogol, well-known in Ukrainian history, who lived in the 17th century.
The father of the future writer - Gogol-Yanovsky Vasily Afanasyevich - was an exalted and dreamy man. This can be judged from the history of his marriage to the daughter of a local landowner, Kosyarovskaya Maria Ivanovna. As a thirteen-year-old teenager, Vasily Afanasyevich saw in a dream the Mother of God, pointing out to him a little unfamiliar girl as a future wife. After some time, the boy recognized the heroine of his dream in the seven-month-old daughter of the Kosyarovsky neighbors. From an early age, he anxiously looked after his chosen one and married Maria Ivanovna, as soon as she was 14 years old. Gogol's family lived in great love and harmony. The biography of the writer began in 1809, when the couple finally had their first child, Nikolai. Parents were kind to the baby, tried their best to protect him from any troubles and upheavals.
Childhood
Gogol's biography, a summary of which will be useful for everyone to know, began in truly greenhouse conditions. Dad and mom adored the baby and did not refuse him anything. In addition to him, the family had eleven more children, but most of them died in middle age. However, Nikolai, of course, enjoyed the greatest love.
The writer spent his childhood years in Vasilievka, the parental estate. The town of Kibintsy was considered the cultural center of this region. It was the fiefdom of D.T. Troshchinsky, a former minister and a distant relative of the Yanovsky-Gogols. He held the post of district marshal (that is, he was the district marshal of the nobility), and Vasily Afanasyevich was listed as his secretary. Theatrical performances were often held in Kibitsy, in which the father of the future writer took an active part. Nikolai often attended rehearsals, was very proud of it, and at home, inspired by the work of the pope, he wrote good poetry. However, Gogol's first literary experiments have not been preserved. And as a child, he drew well and even organized an exhibition of his paintings in his parental estate.
Education
Together with his younger brother Ivan in 1818 he was sent to the Poltava district school and Nikolai Gogol. The biography of a home boy, accustomed to greenhouse conditions, went according to a completely different scenario. His cozy childhood was rapidly coming to an end. At the school, he was taught a very strict discipline, but Nikolai did not show much zeal for the sciences. The very first holidays ended in a terrible tragedy - brother Ivan died of an unknown illness. After his death, all the hopes of the parents were placed on Nikolai. He needed to get a better education, for which he was sent to study at the Nizhyn Classical Gymnasium. The conditions here were very harsh: children were raised daily at 5.30 am, and classes lasted from 9.00 to 17.00. In the remaining time, the students were supposed to study their lessons and pray diligently.
However, the future writer managed to get used to the local order. Soon he made friends, well-known and respected people in the future: Nestor Kukolnik, Nikolai Prokopovich, Konstantin Bazili, Alexander Danilevsky. All of them, having matured, became famous writers. And this is not surprising! While still high school students, they founded several handwritten magazines: "Meteor of Literature", "Dawn of the North", "Star" and others. In addition, teenagers were passionately fond of the theater. Moreover, Gogol's creative biography could well have been different - many predicted for him the fate of a famous actor. However, the young man dreamed of public service and, after graduating from high school, resolutely went to St. Petersburg to make a career.
Official
Together with his friend from the gymnasium Danilevsky in 1828, Gogol went to the capital. Petersburg met young people unfriendly, they were constantly in need of money and unsuccessfully tried to find a decent job. At this time, Nikolai Vasilyevich was trying to earn a living through literary experiments. However, his first poem "Hanz Kühelgarten" was not successful. In 1829, the writer began to serve in the department of state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of the Interior, then worked for almost a year in the department of appanages under the supervision of the famous poet V.I. Panaev. Staying in the offices of various departments helped Nikolai Vasilyevich to collect the richest material for future works. However, the public service forever disappointed the writer. Fortunately, he was soon in for a truly dizzying success in the literary field.
Fame
In 1831 Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka were published. "Here is real gaiety, sincere, unconstrained ..." - Pushkin said about this work. Now the personality and biography of Gogol have become interesting to the most famous people in Russia. His talent was readily recognized by all. Nikolai Vasilyevich was beside himself with joy and constantly wrote letters to his mother and sisters asking them to send him more material about Little Russian folk customs.
In 1836, the famous "Petersburg story" of the writer - "The Nose" - was published. In this extremely daring work for its time, worship of rank is ridiculed in its smallest and sometimes disgusting manifestations. At the same time, Gogol created the work "Taras Bulba". The biography and work of the writer are inextricably linked with his dear homeland - Ukraine. In "Taras Bulba" Nikolai Vasilyevich tells about the heroic past of his country, about how the representatives of the people (Cossacks) fearlessly defended their independence from the Polish invaders.
"Inspector"
How much trouble this play gave the author! Being a brilliant writer and playwright who far anticipated his time, Nikolai Vasilievich was never able to convey to his contemporaries the meaning of his immortal work. The plot of The Inspector General was presented to Gogol by Pushkin. Inspired by the great poet, the author wrote it in just a few months. In the autumn of 1835, the first drafts appeared, and in 1836, on January 18, the first hearing of the play took place at the evening at Zhukovsky's. On April 19, the premiere of The Government Inspector took place on the stage of the Alexandria Theatre. Nicholas the First himself came to it together with the heir. They say that after watching the emperor said: “Well, a play! Everyone got it, but I - more than anyone! However, Nikolai Vasilievich was not laughing. He, a convinced monarchist, was accused of revolutionary sentiments, undermining the foundations of society, and God knows what else. But he was simply trying to ridicule the abuse of local officials, his goal was morality, and not politics at all. The upset writer left the country and went on a long trip abroad.
Abroad
An interesting biography of Gogol abroad deserves special attention. In total, the writer spent twelve years on "saving" journeys. In 1936, Nikolai Vasilievich did not limit himself to anything: at the beginning of the summer he settled in Germany, spent the autumn in Switzerland, and came to Paris for the winter. During this time, he made great progress in writing the novel Dead Souls. The plot of the work was suggested to the author by the same Pushkin. He highly appreciated the first chapters of the novel, recognizing that Russia, in essence, is a very sad country.
In February 1837, Gogol, whose biography is interesting and instructive, moved to Rome. Here he learned about the death of Alexander Sergeevich. In desperation, Nikolai Vasilyevich decided that "Dead Souls" was the poet's "sacred testament", which must necessarily see the light of day. Zhukovsky arrived in Rome in 1838. Gogol enjoyed walking along the streets of the city with the poet, painting local landscapes with him.
Return to Russia
In 1839, in September, the writer returned to Moscow. Now Gogol's creative biography is devoted to the publication of "Dead Souls". The summary of the work is already known to many friends of Nikolai Vasilyevich. He read individual chapters of the novel at the Aksakovs' house, at Prokopovich's and Zhukovsky's. His closest circle of friends became his listeners. All of them were delighted with the creation of Gogol. In 1842, in May, the first publication of "Dead Souls" was published. At first, the reviews about the work were mostly positive, then the ill-wishers of Nikolai Vasilyevich seized the initiative. They accused the writer of slander, caricature, farce. A truly devastating article was written by N. A. Polevoy. However, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol did not take part in all this controversy. The biography of the writer continued abroad again.
Affairs of the Heart
Gogol never married. Very little is known about his serious relationships with women. His longtime and devoted friend was Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova. When she came to Rome, Nikolai Vasilyevich became her guide in the ancient city. In addition, a very lively correspondence was conducted between friends. However, the woman was married, so the relationship between her and the writer was only platonic. Gogol's biography is adorned with another heartfelt passion. A brief history of his personal relationships with women says: one day the writer nevertheless decided to marry. He became interested in the young Countess Anna Villegorskaya and proposed to her in the late 1940s. The girl's parents were against this marriage, and the writer was refused. Nikolai Vasilievich was greatly depressed by this story, and since then he has not tried to arrange his personal life.
Work on the second volume
Before leaving, the author of "Dead Souls" decided to publish the first collection of his own works. He, as always, needed money. However, he himself did not want to deal with this troublesome business and entrusted this matter to his friend - Prokopovich. In the summer of 1842, the writer was in Germany, and in the fall he moved to Rome. Here he worked on the second volume of Dead Souls. Almost the entire creative biography of Gogol is devoted to writing this novel. The most important thing he wanted to do at that moment was to show the image of an ideal Russian citizen: smart, strong and principled. However, the work is progressing with great difficulty, and at the beginning of 1845 the writer had the first signs of a large-scale spiritual crisis.
Last years
The writer continued to write his novel, but was increasingly distracted by other things. For example, he composed The Examiner's Denouement, which radically changed the entire previous interpretation of the play. Then, in 1847, "Selected passages from correspondence with friends" were printed in St. Petersburg. In this book, Nikolai Vasilievich tried to explain why the second volume of "Dead Souls" had not yet been written, and expressed doubts about the educational role of fiction.
A whole storm of public indignation fell upon the writer. "Selected Places ..." is the most controversial moment that marked Gogol's creative biography. A brief history of the creation of this work suggests that it was written in a moment of spiritual confusion of the writer, his desire to move away from his former positions and start a new life.
Manuscript burning
In general, the writer burned his writings more than once. This, one might say, was his bad habit. In 1829, he did this with his poem Hans Küchelgarten, and in 1840 with the Little Russian tragedy Shaved Mustache, which Zhukovsky could not impress. At the beginning of 1845, the writer's health deteriorated sharply, he constantly consulted with various medical celebrities and went to water resorts for treatment. He visited Dresden, Berlin, Halle, but could not improve his health. The religious exaltation of the writer gradually increased. He often communicated with his confessor, Father Matthew. He believed that literary creativity distracts from inner life and demanded from the writer that he renounce his divine gift. As a result, on February 11, 1852, Gogol's biography was marked by a fateful event. The most important creation of his life - the second volume of "Dead Souls" - was ruthlessly burned by him.
Death
In April 1848 Gogol returned to Russia. He spent most of his time in Moscow, sometimes he came to St. Petersburg and to his homeland, to Ukraine. The writer read individual chapters from the second volume of "Dead Souls" to his friends, again bathed in the rays of universal love and worship. Nikolai Vasilyevich came to the production of "The Inspector General" at the Maly Theater and is satisfied with the performance. In January 1852, it became known that the novel was "completely finished." However, Gogol's biography was soon marked by a new spiritual crisis. The main business of his life - literary creativity - seemed to him useless. He burned the second volume of "Dead Souls" and a few days later (February 21, 1852) died in Moscow. He was buried in the cemetery of the St. Danilov Monastery, and in 1931 he was transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery.
Posthumous will
Such is the biography of Gogol. Interesting facts from his life are largely related to his posthumous will. It is well known that he asked not to erect a monument over his grave and not to bury him for several weeks, since sometimes the writer fell into a kind of lethargic sleep. Both wishes of the writer were violated. Gogol was buried a few days after his death, and in 1957 a marble bust of the work of Nikolai Tomsky was installed at the burial site of Nikolai Vasilyevich.
Childhood impressions are deposited in the subconscious of a person for life, and then they determine actions and relationships with people. To understand the origins of the writer's work, it is important to know what kind of people surrounded Gogol, where he spent his childhood, where he was born, who his parents were and what kind of relationship there were in the family. This will be discussed in this article.
Father Vasily Afanasyevich
In the genealogy of Gogol, among his ancestors there were several personalities who left their mark on history. From his father's side, the family of the great writer goes back to the colonel, and then the hetman of the Cossack squad, Ostap Gogol, who is mentioned in the annals of 1655 when describing the battle on Dryzhipol. From the mother's side - to the Kyiv colonel Anton Tansky, who comes from a well-known Polish surname.
The writer's father studied at the Poltava Seminary, but, like his ancestors, he did not take the clergy. At the time of the birth of his son Nicholas, he had the rank of collegiate assessor. After retiring, he was engaged only in economic activities and lived on his estate. Kupchinsky farm was presented to parents by the grandfather of the great writer and renamed after the name of the owner - into Yanovshchina, and then into Vasilievka, which is often indicated as the place where Gogol was born. Vasily Afanasyevich was an incomparable storyteller, he generously seasoned his stories with humor, composed poetry, and was fond of gardening. From him, his son Nikolai adopted a passion for gardening - he was very fond of spring, when work began to boil in the gardens and fields. The writer's father gave a name to each alley in the garden, built bridges and grottoes.
home theater
Father Gogol also wrote comedies that were staged in the home theater of a relative of Marya Ivanovna.
Kibintsy, the estate of Troshchinsky, occupy a special place in the childhood of the writer. Here was one of the cultural centers of the Poltava region. Former Minister of Justice Troshchinsky was one of the richest and noblest people in Ukraine. An extensive art gallery, collections of gold coins, weapons, and several thousand volumes were kept in his house. The Gogols were frequent guests at the ex-minister's estate. Troshchinsky liked to amuse himself, often arranging fun, not always harmless. He was very fond of Ukrainian plays written by Vasily Afanasyevich and songs. When they sang "The Seagull", he covered his face with his hands and wept bitterly. Three or four-year-old Nikolai saw all this: how philanthropy coexisted with inhumanity, cynicism with straightforwardness, culture with savagery. These contradictions can be expressed in words from Gogol's story "The Overcoat": "How much inhumanity is in a person."
Unfortunately, only two comedies by Gogol Sr. have survived to this day. Nikolai Vasilyevich, in one of his letters, turned to Marya Ivanovna with a request to send him "daddy's little Russian comedies" - "Dog-Vivtsya" and "Romance with Paraska". Under many epigraphs of Gogol's "May Night" and "Sorochinsky Fair" is signed "From the Little Russian Comedy." Obviously, these are excerpts from the works of Vasily Afanasyevich. It can be said that from an early age Gogol was surrounded by a creative atmosphere, and received his first lessons in stage techniques under the roof of his native home. Kibintsy were not far from the village where N.V. Gogol was born, but they occupy a special place in Gogol's childhood not only as a cultural center that influenced his worldview, but also the image of the owner of the estate, more precisely, Troshchinsky's model of fate and behavior will appear in two works writer.
Mother Maria Ivanovna
The story of the marriage of the writer's parents is also interesting. Quiet and dreamy, Vasily saw a one-year-old girl at the Kosyarovsky neighbors and realized that this was “she”. For thirteen years he "followed" his chosen one "at all ages" of her childhood. When she walked, she always heard music that accompanied her to the house. It is easy to guess that "it was him," the writer's mother recalled. Is it necessary to say that the future husband charmed Marya Ivanovna? But she was just a child, and at the age of 14 she decided to marry only after the intervention of her aunt. Every day she became more and more attached to her husband, and he did not look for his soul at all in his beautiful wife, calling her touchingly Belyanka for her unusually white skin color.
But not everything was rosy in the family. Suspicious, with an innate tendency to premonitions, Marya Ivanovna was extremely suspicious. Sometimes, her impressionability reached a painful state. Her thoughts about her husband and children were accompanied by fears, worries and bad forebodings. It always seemed to Marya Ivanovna that something terrible was waiting for them. Apparently, these fears were transmitted to his son Nikolai. A heightened interest in the mysterious and terrible awakened early in the boy. At the same time, the Gogol family was deeply religious, in one of the letters to his mother, the writer advised how sister Liza should be taught the rules of religion, say that God sees everything, talk about the future life, describing with all colors the joys that await the righteous. He clearly imagined that not a single deed of his, not a single word would hide from the Almighty, everything would be weighed and entail a reward or punishment. These impressions and convictions echoed resoundingly in Gogol's work.
Nikosha
Nikolai Gogol became a long-awaited child. Several children born in the family before his appearance did not even live up to a month. In anticipation of a new birth, Marya Ivanovna left for Sorochintsy, where Gogol was born in the house of the famous doctor M. Ya. Trakhimovsky. In Dikanka, the village closest to Vasilievka, in the St. Nicholas Church, the mother prayed for the preservation of the life of her child and made a vow: if she had a son, she would call him Nikolai, in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The boy was born on March 20, 1809.
There is little information about the first years of the writer's life. It is known that the boy was very weak, and for a long time they feared for his life. From the village of Sorochintsy, where Gogol was born, the child was transported to his native Vasilievka at the age of two months. Nikosha, as Nikolai Vasilievich was affectionately called in the family, grew up as an impressionable and quick-witted boy. By the age of five, he had learned the alphabet and could make out words. At the same age, under the influence of his father, he became addicted to poetry. Vasily Afanasyevich often asked his sons themes for poetic improvisations.
Evenings on the farm
Nikolai Gogol loved his native places, those where he grew up and where he was born. In the first works, the writer depicted much that surrounded him in childhood. Small Vasilievka was the center of the community of all nearby villages. The innate eloquence and rare comedy of Vasily Afanasyevich, his intelligence and hospitality, attracted neighbors here. The real evenings on the farm in Vasilievka were moved by the writer to a place "near Dikanka". Here Gogol saw these originals, inexhaustible village jokers, whom he later depicted in his prefaces to the stories of Panka Rudy. You read them, and you not only hear the Little Russian dialect and the intonation of the interlocutors, but you also see the faces of the narrators, and you feel the smell of pies with sour cream, and the aroma of honeycombs.
Little Russia
The life of the Little Russian landowners for the most part was quite simple. There was no question of beauty and comfort here: clay floors, a thatched roof, “singing” doors. With special love, Gogol described the places where he was born and his native nature. It was he who peered into the dark May night and watched how warm, gentle autumn cherishes the crops. Despite the fact that the early works are somewhat “losing” to the later works of the writer, interest in evenings on a farm, plays in Arabesques and Mirgorod does not fade, because the writer himself stands behind their paintings.
From the Cossack family
From childhood, Nikolai Vasilyevich peered into everything around him. He was born in a country famous for works and songs that touched the imagination with every word. In the land where the summer day is delightful and luxurious, and the night sky shines with the moon and stars. In a country where a Cossack woman asks the Almighty to collect sighs of love, like flowers, to the head of a darling, and bandura players sing wonderful songs about a different time, when the Cossacks were in glory. The poetry of the country where Gogol was born radically influenced the future writer and author of Taras Bulba.
In addition, the writer was born into a family separated by only one generation from the famous Cossack campaigns. From his grandfather, he heard still fresh, bright and lively legends about glorious times. In the story of The Lost Letter, the author says that “for joy it will “fall on the heart” when you hear about what “has been done in the world for a long time” -“ it’s as if you climbed into your great-grandfather’s soul. Throughout Gogol's stories and short stories, not to mention Taras Bulba, features of ancient Little Russia are scattered, as if the writer really saw his ancestor Ostap Gogol through his "great-grandfather's soul". As can be seen from this article, Gogol's first impressions, the circumstances of his childhood, the nature and people around him influenced the development of his talent, filling his soul with living, flowery materials.
The birthplace of the writer
In the Poltava region, they sacredly honor the memory of their famous countryman, who increased the glory of his native land and left a good mark on the hearts of many people. The first museum was opened in Sorochintsy, in the house where Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born. During the war, the building was destroyed, but in 1951 it was restored, however, without preserving the original layout. But in the village of Gogolevo, the former Vasilievka, the estate where N.V. Gogol spent his childhood and youth, was restored according to drawings, photographs, memoirs and letters of his contemporaries. The parental home, the writer's study, the interiors of the living room, bedrooms and dining room - everything tells about his life and work. The century-old garden with ponds and a romantic grotto on the shore has also been preserved.
Date of birth: April 1, 1809
Date of death: February 21, 1852
Place of birth: Sorochintsy, Poltava province
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol- Russian writer, playwright, Gogol N.V.- poet and essayist.
One of the classics of Russian and world literature.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - a famous Russian playwright, publicist and prose writer, was born in Sorochintsy (Poltava Province) on April 1, 1809. His father, Vasily Afanasyevich, was a very wealthy landowner who had about 400 serfs, his mother was a very young and active woman.
The writer spent his childhood in the conditions of colorful Ukrainian life, which he loved very much and remembered well. He knew the life of the lords and peasants very well, at the age of ten he began to study with a teacher in Poltava, and then entered the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Researchers say that Gogol could not be called a successful student, most of the subjects were given to him with great difficulty, but he stood out among his peers with an excellent memory, the ability to use the Russian language correctly, and also in drawing.
Gogol was actively engaged in self-education, wrote a lot, subscribed to metropolitan magazines with his friends. Even in his youth, he began to write a lot, tried himself in both prose and poetry. Gogol concentrated his attention on managing the estate after his father's death. In 1828 he graduated from the gymnasium and went to St. Petersburg.
Life in the capital was very expensive, wealth in the provinces was not enough to lead a frivolous life in St. Petersburg. At first he decided to become an actor, but the theaters refused to accept him. Work as an official did not attract him at all, and therefore he turned his attention to literature. In 1829, his idyll "Hanz Küchelgarten" was harshly received by critics and readers, and therefore Gogol personally destroyed the entire first edition.
In 1830, he nevertheless entered the civil service and began working in the department of appanages. In the same year, he made a large number of various useful contacts in literary circles. The story "Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" was immediately published, and one year later "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" saw the light of day.
In 1833, Gogol was attracted by the prospect of working in the scientific field, he began to cooperate with St. Petersburg University in the department of general history. Here he spent the next two years of his life. In the same period, he completed the collections "Arabesques" and "Mirgorod", which were published immediately after his departure from the university.
There were those who desperately criticized his work. Pressure from critics was one of the reasons why Gogol decided to take a break from literature and went to Europe. He lived in Switzerland, France and Italy. It was at this time that he completed the first volume of Dead Souls. In 1841, he decided that he needed to return to Russia, where he was warmly received by Belinsky and contributed to the publication of the first volume.
Immediately after the publication of this book, Gogol set to work on the second volume, at which point the writer was experiencing a creative crisis. Belinsky's devastating review of the book "Selected passages from correspondence with friends" was a big blow to his literary pride. This criticism was received very negatively. At the end of 1847, Gogol went to Naples, from where he left for Palestine.
Return to Russia in 1848 was characterized by inconstancy in the life of the writer, he still could not find a place for himself. He lived in Moscow, Kaluga, Odessa, then again in Moscow. He was still working on the second volume of Dead Souls, but he felt a significant deterioration in his state of mind. He became interested in mysticism, he was often haunted by strange thoughts.
On February 11, 1852, in the middle of the night, he unexpectedly decided to burn the manuscript of the second volume. He said that evil spirits made him do it. A week later, he felt weak all over his body, took to his bed and refused any treatment.
The doctors decided that it was necessary to start compulsory procedures, but no tricks of the doctors improved the patient's condition. On February 21, 1852, Gogol died. He rests in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.
Gogol was one of the strangest representatives of Russian classical literature. His work was received in different ways, critics praised and loved him. On the other hand, he was strongly constrained by the Nikolaev censorship.
Bulgakov and Nabokov looked back at Gogol in their work, many of his works were filmed in Soviet times.
The main milestones in the life of Nikolai Gogol:
Birth in Sorochintsy April 1, 1809
- Moving to Poltava in 1819
- Beginning of studies at the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn in 1821
- The beginning of the Petersburg period in 1828
- Publication of the idyll "Hanz Küchelgarten" in 1829
- Publication of "Evenings on the eve of Ivan Kupala" in 1830
- Print "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" in 1831
- Work at the Faculty of History at St. Petersburg University in 1834
- The publication of the collections "Arabesques" and "Mirgorod" in 1835
- Beginning of European travel in 1836
- Publication of the first volume of "Dead Souls" in 1841
- Destruction of the second volume for unknown reasons in 1852
- Death of N. V. Gogol on February 21, 1852
Interesting facts from the biography of Nikolai Gogol:
The writer was not married, was suspicious of women, and was a reserved person; researchers speak of his latent homosexuality and the presence of a secret love for several women
- There is a version that the writer did not die, but fell into a lethargic sleep, after which he was buried alive
- The skull of the writer was stolen from the grave in 1909 until the perestroika period, the public did not know about this incident
- Gogol could hardly endure a thunderstorm, he was very afraid of thunder and lightning
- The writer did a lot of needlework, was an excellent cook and had a sweet tooth
His person is surrounded by a halo of secrets and mysticism. He noted: “I am considered a riddle for everyone ...”. But no matter how unsolved the life and creative path of the writer may seem, only one thing is indisputable - an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian literature.
Childhood
The future writer, whose greatness is not subject to time, was born on April 1, 1809 in the Poltava region, in the family of the landowner Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky. His ancestors were hereditary priests, belonged to an old Cossack family. Grandfather Afanasy Yanovsky, who spoke five languages, himself achieved the gift of a family noble status. My father served at the post office, was engaged in dramaturgy, was familiar with the poets Kotlyarevsky, Gnedich, Kapnist, was the secretary and director of the home theater of ex-senator Dmitry Troshchinsky, his relative, descendant of Ivan Mazepa and Pavel Polubotko. 
Mother Maria Ivanovna (nee Kosyarovskaya) lived in the Troshchinskys' house until she was married at the age of 14 to 28-year-old Vasily Afanasyevich. Together with her husband, she participated in performances in the house of her uncle, a senator, and was known as a beauty and a talented person. The future writer became the third child of the couple's twelve children and the oldest of six survivors. He received his name in honor of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, which was in the church of the village of Dikanka, located fifty kilometers from their town.
A number of biographers have noted that:
Interest in art in the future classic was largely determined by the activities of the head of the family;
Religiosity, creative imagination, and mysticism were influenced by a deeply pious, impressionable, and superstitious mother;
Early acquaintance with samples of Ukrainian folklore, songs, legends, carols, customs affected the themes of the works.
In 1818, the parents sent their 9-year-old son to the Poltava district school. In 1821, with the assistance of Troshchinsky, who loved his mother like his own daughter, and him like a grandson, he became a student at the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences (now the Gogol State University), where he showed his creative talent, playing in performances and trying the pen. Among classmates, he was known as a tireless joker, he did not think about writing as a matter of his life, dreaming of doing something significant for the benefit of the whole country. In 1825 his father died. This was a big blow to the young man and his entire family.
In the city on the Neva
After graduating from high school at the age of 19, the young genius from Ukraine moved to the capital of the Russian Empire, making big plans for the future. However, in a foreign city, many problems awaited him - lack of funds, unsuccessful attempts in search of a worthy occupation. 
The literary debut - the publication in 1829 of the work "Hanz Kühelgarten" under the pseudonym V. Akulov - brought a lot of critical reviews and new disappointments. In a depressed mood, having weak nerves from birth, he bought up its circulation and burned it, after which he left for Germany for a month.
By the end of the year, he nevertheless managed to get a job in the civil service in one of the departments of the Ministry of the Interior, where he subsequently collected valuable material for his St. Petersburg stories.
In 1830, Gogol published a number of successful literary works (“Woman”, “Thoughts on Teaching Geography”, “Teacher”) and soon became one of the elite word artists (Delvig, Pushkin, Pletnev, Zhukovsky, began teaching at an educational institution for children - orphans of officers of the "Patriotic Institute" to give private lessons In the period 1831-1832 "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" appeared, which received recognition due to its humor and masterful retelling of the mystical Ukrainian epic.
In 1834, he moved to the department of history at St. Petersburg University. On the wave of success, he created and published the essay “Mirgorod”, which included the historical story “Taras Bulba” and the mystical “Viy”, the book “Arabesques”, where he outlined his views on art, wrote the comedy “The Government Inspector”, the idea of which was suggested to him by Pushkin.
Emperor Nicholas I attended the premiere of The Inspector General in 1836 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre, presenting the author with a diamond ring as a compliment. Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky were in complete admiration for the satirical work, but unlike most critics. In connection with their negative reviews, the writer became depressed and decided to change the situation by going on a trip to Western Europe.
Development of creative activity
The Great Russian writer spent more than ten years abroad - he lived in different countries and cities, in particular, in Vevey, Geneva (Switzerland), Berlin, Baden-Baden, Dresden, Frankfurt (Germany), Paris (France), Rome , Naples (Italy).The news of the death of Alexander Pushkin in 1837 left him in a state of deepest grief. He took his begun work on "Dead Souls" as a "sacred testament" (the idea of the poem was given to him by the poet).
In March, he arrived in Rome, where he met Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya. In her house, Gogol organized public readings of The Inspector General in support of Ukrainian painters who worked in Italy. In 1839, he suffered a serious illness - malarial encephalitis - and miraculously survived, a year later he went to his homeland for a short time, read excerpts from Dead Souls to his friends. Enthusiasm and approval were universal.In 1841, he again visited Russia, where he busied himself with the publication of the poem and his "Works" in 4 volumes. From the summer of 1842 abroad, he continued to work on the 2nd volume of the story, conceived as a three-volume essay.
By 1845, the writer's strength was undermined by intense literary activity. He had deep syncope with numbness of the body and slowing of the pulse rate. He consulted with doctors, followed their recommendations, but there was no improvement in his condition. High demands on himself, dissatisfaction with the level of creative achievements and a critical public reaction to "Selected passages from correspondence with friends" exacerbated the artistic crisis and the author's health problems.
Winter 1847-1848. he spent in Naples, studying historical works, Russian periodicals. In an effort for spiritual renewal, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, after which he finally returned home from abroad - he lived with relatives and friends in Little Russia, in Moscow, in Northern Palmyra.
Personal life of Nikolai Gogol
An outstanding writer did not create a family. He has been in love several times. In 1850, he proposed to Countess Anna Villegorskaya, but was refused due to inequality of social status. 
He loved sweets, cooking and treating friends to Ukrainian dumplings and dumplings, he was embarrassed by his big nose, he was very attached to the pug Josie, presented by Pushkin, he liked to knit and sew.
There were rumors about his homosexual inclinations, as well as that he was allegedly an agent of the tsarist secret police.
However, having finished work on the 2nd volume of the poem in January 1852, he felt overworked. He was tormented by doubts about success, health problems, a premonition of an imminent death. In February, he fell ill and burned all the last manuscripts on the night of the 11th to the 12th. On the morning of February 21, the outstanding master of the pen was gone.
Nikolay Gogol. Mystery of death
The exact cause of Gogol's death is still a matter of debate. The version of a lethargic dream and being buried alive was refuted after the dying cast of the writer's face. It is widely believed that Nikolai Vasilyevich suffered from a mental disorder (the psychiatrist V.F. Chizh became the founder of the theory) and, therefore, could not serve himself in everyday life and died of exhaustion. A version was also put forward that the writer was poisoned by a medicine for a gastric disorder with a high content of mercury.
Gogol Nikolay Vasilyevich (1809-1852)
Great Russian writer.
Born in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol spent his childhood on the estate of his parents Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina). The cultural center of the region was Kibintsy, the estate of D. P. Troshchinsky, their distant relative, Gogol's father acted as his secretary. In Kibintsy there was a large library, there was a home theater for which Gogol's father wrote comedies, being also his actor and conductor.
In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he is engaged in painting, participates in performances. He also tries himself in various literary genres (writes elegiac poems, tragedies, a historical poem, a story). At the same time, he wrote the satire “Something about Nizhyn, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he dreams of a legal career.
After graduating from the gymnasium in 1828, Gogol in December, together with another graduate A.S. Danilevsky travels to St. Petersburg, where he makes his first literary tests: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appears, prints “Hanz Kühelgarten” (under the pseudonym “V. Alov”).
At the end of 1829, he managed to find a job in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings of the Ministry of the Interior. During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “The Nose”, “Taras Bulba” are published.
In the autumn of 1835, he set about writing The Inspector General, the plot of which was prompted by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that the premiere of the play took place in the spring of 1836 on the stage of the Alexandria Theatre.
In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany (in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years). He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he takes up the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also prompted by Pushkin.
In November 1836, Gogol met A. Mickiewicz in Paris. In Rome, he receives shocking news of the death of Pushkin. In May 1842, "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls" was published. The three-year period (1842-1845) that followed after the writer's departure abroad was a period of intense and difficult work on the second volume of Dead Souls.
At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a mental crisis, and in a state of sharp exacerbation of his illness, he burned the manuscript of the second volume, on which he would continue to work after some time.
In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returns to Russia, where he spends most of his time in Moscow, visits St. Petersburg, and also in his native places - in Little Russia. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes the first and last attempt to arrange his family life - he proposes to A.M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.
On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the second volume is "completely finished." But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis appeared, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, the sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol.
On February 7, Gogol confesses and takes communion, and on the night of February 11-12, he burns the white manuscript of the second volume (only five chapters have been preserved in incomplete form). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in Talyzin's house in Moscow. The funeral of the writer took place with a huge gathering of people at the cemetery of the St. Danilov Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.
