The life and work of Dostoevsky

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In this article we will describe the life and work of Dostoevsky: we will briefly tell you about the most important events. Fedor Mikhailovich was born on October 30 (according to the old style - 11), 1821. An essay on Dostoevsky's work will introduce you to the main works, achievements of this person in the literary field. But we will start from the very beginning - from the origin of the future writer, from his biography.

The problems of Dostoevsky's work can be deeply understood only by getting acquainted with the life of this man. After all, fiction always somehow reflects the features of the biography of the creator of works. In the case of Dostoevsky, this is especially noticeable.

The Origin of Dostoevsky

Fyodor Mikhailovich's father was from a branch of the Rtishchevs, descendants of Daniil Ivanovich Rtishchev, a defender of the Orthodox faith in Southwestern Russia. He was given the village of Dostoevo, located in the Podolsk province, for special successes. The surname of Dostoevsky originates from there.

However, by the beginning of the 19th century, the Dostoevsky family had become impoverished. Andrei Mikhailovich, the writer's grandfather, served in the Podolsk province, in the town of Bratslav, as an archpriest. Mikhail Andreevich, the father of the author of interest to us, graduated from the Medico-Surgical Academy in his time. During the Patriotic War, in 1812, he fought with others against the French, after which, in 1819, he married Maria Fedorovna Nechaeva, the daughter of a merchant from Moscow. Mikhail Andreevich, having retired, received the position of a doctor at the Mariinsky hospital, open to poor people, which was nicknamed by the people Bozhedomka.

Where was Fyodor Mikhailovich born?

The apartment of the family of the future writer was in the right wing of this hospital. In it, allotted for the government apartment of the doctor, Fyodor Mikhailovich was born in 1821. His mother, as we have already mentioned, came from a family of merchants. Pictures of premature deaths, poverty, illness, disorder - the first impressions of the boy, under the influence of which the outlook on the world of the future writer took shape, is very unusual. Dostoyevsky's work reflects this.

The situation in the family of the future writer

The family, which grew over time to 9 people, was forced to huddle in just two rooms. Mikhail Andreevich was a suspicious and quick-tempered man.

Maria Fedorovna was of a completely different type: economic, cheerful, kind. Relations between the boy's parents were based on submission to the whims and will of the father. The nanny and mother of the future writer honoredsacred religious traditions of the country, educating the future generation in respect for the faith of the fathers. Maria Fedorovna died early - at the age of 36. She was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery.

First exposure to literature

Education and sciences were given a lot of time in the Dostoevsky family. Even at an early age, Fedor Mikhailovich discovered the joy of communicating with a book. The very first works that he met were the folk tales of Arina Arkhipovna, the nanny. After that there were Pushkin and Zhukovsky, Maria Feodorovna's favorite writers.

Fyodor Mikhailovich at an early age got acquainted with the main classics of foreign literature: Hugo, Cervantes and Homer. His father in the evenings arranged a family reading of the work of N. M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State." All this instilled in the future writer an early interest in literature. The life and work of F. Dostoevsky were largely formed under the influence of the environment where this writer came from.

Mikhail Andreevich seeks hereditary nobility

Mikhail Andreevich in 1827 for diligent and excellent service was awarded the Order of the 3rd degree of St. Anna, and a year later he was also awarded the rank of collegiate assessor, which at that time gave a person the right to hereditary nobility. The father of the future writer was well aware of the value of higher education and therefore sought to seriously prepare his children for admission to educational institutions.

A tragedy from Dostoevsky's childhood

The future writer in his youth experienced a tragedy that leftan indelible mark on his soul for the rest of his life. He fell in love with the childish sincere feeling of the cook's daughter, a nine-year-old girl. One summer day there was a cry in the garden. Fyodor ran out into the street and noticed her lying in a white tattered dress on the ground. Women leaned over the girl. From their conversation, Fedor realized that a drunken tramp was the culprit of the tragedy. After that, they went for their father, but his help was not needed, since the girl had already died.

A writer's education

Fyodor Mikhailovich received his primary education in a private boarding school in Moscow. In 1838 he entered the Main Engineering School located in St. Petersburg. He graduated in 1843 as a military engineer.

In those years, this school was considered one of the best educational institutions in the country. It is no coincidence that many famous people came out of there. Among Dostoevsky's comrades at the school there were many talents who later turned into famous personalities. These are Dmitry Grigorovich (writer), Konstantin Trutovsky (artist), Ilya Sechenov (physiologist), Eduard Totleben (organizer of the defense of Sevastopol), Fyodor Radetsky (Shipka hero). Both humanitarian and special disciplines were taught here. For example, world and national history, Russian literature, drawing and civil architecture.

Tragedy of the "little man"

Dostoevsky preferred solitude to a noisy society of students. Reading was his favorite pastime. The erudition of the future writer amazed his comrades. But the desire for solitude and solitude in his character was not innate.trait. In the school, Fyodor Mikhailovich had to endure the tragedy of the soul of the so-called "little man". Indeed, in this educational institution, the students were mainly children of the bureaucratic and military bureaucracy. Their parents gave gifts to teachers, sparing no expense. In this environment, Dostoevsky looked like a stranger, often subjected to insults and ridicule. During these years, a feeling of wounded pride flared up in his soul, which was reflected in the future work of Dostoevsky.

But, despite these difficulties, Fyodor Mikhailovich managed to achieve recognition from his comrades and teachers. Everyone was convinced over time that this is a man of extraordinary intelligence and outstanding abilities.

Father's death

In 1839, on July 8, Fyodor Mikhailovich's father suddenly died of apoplexy. There were rumors that it was not a natural death - he was killed for his tough temper by the men. This news shocked Dostoevsky, and for the first time he had a seizure, a harbinger of future epilepsy, from which Fyodor Mikhailovich suffered all his life.

Serving as an engineer, first works

Dostoevsky in 1843, having completed the course, was enlisted in the engineering corps to serve under the engineering team of St. Petersburg, but did not serve there for long. A year later, he decided to engage in literary work, a passion for which he had long felt. At first he began to translate the classics, such as Balzac. After some time, the idea of a novel in letters called "Poor people" arose. It was the firstan independent work from which Dostoevsky's work begins. Then followed stories and novels: "Mr. Prokharchin", "Double", "Netochka Nezvanova", "White Nights".

Rapprochement with the circle of Petrashevists, tragic consequences

1847 was marked by rapprochement with Butashevich-Petrashevsky, who spent the famous "Fridays". It was a propagandist and admirer of Fourier. At these evenings, the writer met the poets Apollon Maikov, Alexei Pleshcheev, Alexander Palm, Sergei Durov, as well as the prose writer S altykov and the scientists Vladimir Milyutin and Nikolai Mordvinov. At meetings of the Petrashevites, socialist doctrines and plans for revolutionary upheavals were discussed. Dostoevsky was a supporter of the immediate abolition of serfdom in Russia.

However, the government found out about the circle, and in 1849 37 participants, including Dostoevsky, were imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. They were sentenced to death, but the emperor commuted the sentence, and the writer was exiled to hard labor in Siberia.

In Tobolsk, in hard labor

He went to Tobolsk in the bitter cold on an open sleigh. Here the wives of the Decembrists, Annenkov and Fonvizin, visited the Petrashevites. The whole country admired the feat of these women. They gave each condemned person a gospel in which the money had been invested. The fact is that the prisoners were not allowed to have their own savings, so this softened the harsh living conditions for a while.

The writer is in hard laborI realized how far the rationalistic, speculative ideas of the "new Christianity" are from the feeling of Christ, the bearer of which is the people. Fyodor Mikhailovich brought out a new "creed" from here. Its basis is the folk type of Christianity. Subsequently, this reflected the further work of Dostoevsky, which we will tell you about a little later.

Military service in Omsk

For the writer, four years hard labor was replaced after some time by military service. He was escorted from Omsk under escort to the city of Semipalatinsk. Here the life and work of Dostoevsky continued. The writer served as a private, then received the rank of officer. He returned to St. Petersburg only at the end of 1859.

Publishing magazines

At this time, Fyodor Mikhailovich's spiritual search began, which in the 60s ended with the formation of the writer's soil convictions. The biography and work of Dostoevsky at this time are marked by the following events. Since 1861, the writer, together with Mikhail, his brother, began to publish a magazine called "Time", and after its prohibition - "Epoch". Working on new books and magazines, Fyodor Mikhailovich developed his own view on the tasks of a public figure and writer in our country - Russian, a kind of Christian socialism.

The first works of the writer after hard labor

The life and work of Dostoevsky changed a lot after Tobolsk. In 1861, the first novel of this writer appeared, which he created after hard labor. In this work("Humiliated and Insulted") reflected Fyodor Mikhailovich's sympathy for the "little people" who are subjected to incessant humiliation by the powerful of this world. The "Notes from the Dead House" (years of creation - 1861-1863), which were started by the writer while still in hard labor, also acquired great social significance. In the journal Vremya in 1863, Winter Notes on Summer Impressions appeared. In them, Fyodor Mikhailovich criticized the systems of Western European political beliefs. In 1864, Notes from the Underground were published. This is a kind of confession of Fyodor Mikhailovich. In the work, he renounced his former ideals.

Further creativity of Dostoevsky

Let's briefly describe other works of this writer. In 1866, a novel called "Crime and Punishment" appeared, which is considered one of the most significant in his work. In 1868, The Idiot was published, a novel where an attempt was made to create a good character who confronts a predatory, cruel world. In the 70s, the work of F. M. Dostoevsky continues. Such novels as "Demons" (published in 1871) and "Teenager", which appeared in 1879, gained wide popularity. "The Brothers Karamazov" is a novel that became the last work. He summed up the work of Dostoevsky. The years of publication of the novel are 1879-1880. In this work, the main character, Alyosha Karamazov, helping others in trouble and alleviating suffering, is convinced that the most important thing in our life is a feelingforgiveness and love. In 1881, on February 9, Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich died in St. Petersburg.

The life and work of Dostoevsky were briefly described in our article. It cannot be said that the writer has always been interested more than anyone else in the problem of man. Let's write briefly about this important feature that Dostoevsky's work had.

Man in the writer's work

Fyodor Mikhailovich throughout his career was thinking about the main problem of humanity - how to overcome pride, which is the main source of separation of people. Of course, there are other themes in Dostoevsky's work, but it is largely based on this one. The writer believed that any of us has the ability to create. And he must do this while he lives, it is necessary to express himself. The writer devoted his whole life to the theme of Man. The biography and works of Dostoevsky confirm this.