2025 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 17:46
The second half of the nineteenth century was a real golden period of Russian literature. At this time, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Turgenev, Nekrasov, Ostrovsky, S altykov-Shchedrin, Goncharov worked. Impressive list, isn't it?
There lived and wrote during this period another great Russian writer, familiar to all of us from childhood, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.
Biography of the writer. Family and childhood
The future classic of Russian literature was born in 1831 in the Orel district, in the village of Gorohovo. His grandfather was a priest, his father also graduated from a theological seminary, but went to work as an investigator in the Oryol Criminal Chamber. After being forced to retire, he moved with his family to Panino (village), in the Oryol province.
The writer's childhood passed in the countryside. It was here that he "absorbed" the language of the Russian people, which formed the basis of the unique "Leskovian language" - a special style of presentation, which later became the main feature of his literary works.
The biography of Nikolai Leskov contains a mention that inHe did poorly in high school. Later, the writer said about himself that he was "self-taught." Without passing the exam for transfer to the next class, the young man left the educational institution and began working as a scribe in the Oryol Criminal Chamber.
Biography of N. S. Leskov. Commercial Service
After the death of his father, the eldest son Nikolai takes on the responsibility of caring for the family (besides him, his parents had six more children). The young man moves to Kyiv, where he first gets a job at the Kyiv Treasury Chamber, and then goes to the commercial company of his maternal relative, English businessman A. Ya. Shkot (Scott). On duty, Nikolai Leskov often travels around the country. The knowledge and impressions gained during these trips will then form the basis of many of the writer's works.
Nikolai Leskov. Biography. The writer is against nihilism
As they say, there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. In 1860, the Shkot and Wilkens company closed, and Nikolai Semenovich moved to St. Petersburg, where he took up writing in earnest.
At first, Leskov acts as a publicist: he publishes articles and essays on topical issues. Collaborates with the journals Severnaya pchela, Otechestvennye zapiski, Russkaya Speech.
In 1863, "The Life of a Woman" and "The Musk Ox" were published - the first stories of the writer. The following year, he published the famous story "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", some short stories, as well as his first novel, "Nowhere". In it, nihilism, fashionable at that time, is opposed to fundamental values. Russian people - Christianity, nepotism, respect for daily work. The next major work, which also contained criticism of nihilism, was the novel Knives Out, published in 1870.
Attitude towards the church
Being a descendant of the clergy, Leskov attached great importance to Christianity and its role in Russian life. The chronicles "Soboryane" are dedicated to the priests, as the stabilizing force of their time. The writer has novels and stories, united in the collection "The Righteous". They tell about honest, conscientious people with whom the Russian land is rich. In the same period, the amazing story "The Sealed Angel" was published - one of the best works created by a writer named Nikolai Leskov. His biography, however, suggests that he subsequently succumbed to the influence of Leo Tolstov and became disillusioned with the Russian clergy. His later writings are filled with bitter sarcasm towards "clergy".
Nikolai Leskov died in 1895 in St. Petersburg, at the age of 64.
A large number of original and beloved works by us to this day left behind Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. His biography reflects the complex path of a thinking and searching person. But no matter how his creative development proceeded, we still know and love his "Lefty", "The Enchanted Wanderer", "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" and many other creations.
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