- Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born on January 27 (15), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazinsky district, Tver province (now Taldomsky district, Moscow region).
- Saltykov's father, Evgraf Vasilyevich, a pillar nobleman, served as a collegiate adviser. He came from an old noble family.
- Mother, Olga Mikhailovna, nee Zabelina, Muscovite, merchant daughter. Mikhail was the sixth of her nine children.
- For the first 10 years of his life, Saltykov lives on his father’s family estate, where he receives his primary education at home. The future writer's first teachers were his elder sister and the serf painter Pavel.
- 1836 – 1838 – studied at the Moscow Noble Institute.
- 1838 - for excellent academic achievements, Mikhail Saltykov was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum as a state-funded student, that is, trained at the expense of the state treasury.
- 1841 – Saltykov’s first poetic experiments. The poem “Lyra” was even published in the magazine “Library for Reading,” but Saltykov quickly understands that poetry is not for him, since he does not have the necessary abilities. He leaves poetry.
- 1844 – graduation from the lyceum in the second category, with the rank of X class. Saltykov enters service in the office of the Military Department, but serves all states. He manages to get his first full-time position only after two years, this is the position of assistant secretary.
- 1847 – Mikhail Saltykov’s first story “Contradictions” is published.
- Beginning of 1848 - the story “A Confused Affair” was published in Otechestvennye zapiski.
- April of the same year - the tsarist government was too shocked by the revolution that took place in France, and Saltykov was arrested for the story “A Confused Affair”, more precisely for “... a harmful way of thinking and a harmful desire to spread ideas that have already shaken up the whole Western Europe...". He was exiled to Vyatka.
- 1848 - 1855 - service in Vyatka, under the provincial government, first as a clerical official, then as a senior official for special assignments under the governor and ruler of the governor's office. Saltykov ends his exile in the position of adviser to the provincial government.
- 1855 - with the death of Emperor Nicholas I, Shchedrin gets the opportunity to “live wherever he wishes” and returns to St. Petersburg. Here he entered the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a year later he was appointed an official of special assignments under the minister. Sent on a business trip to the Tver and Vladimir provinces.
- June 1856 - Saltykov marries the daughter of the vice-governor of Vyatka, Elizaveta Apollonovna Boltina.
- 1856 - 1857 - the satirical cycle “Provincial Sketches” is published in the magazine “Russian Messenger” with the signature “Government Councilor N. Shchedrin”. The writer becomes famous, he is called the successor of N.V.’s work. Gogol.
- 1858 - appointment as vice-governor in Ryazan.
- 1860 - 1862 - Saltykov served as vice-governor in Tver for two years, after which he retired and returned to St. Petersburg.
- December 1862 - 1864 - collaboration of Mikhail Saltykov with the Sovremennik magazine at the invitation of N.A. Nekrasova. After leaving the editorial board of the magazine, the writer returns to public service. Appointed chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber.
- 1866 - moved to Tula to the position of manager of the Tula Treasury Chamber.
- 1867 - Saltykov is transferred to Ryazan to the same position. The fact that Saltykov-Shchedrin could not last long in one place of service is explained by the fact that he did not hesitate to ridicule his superiors in grotesque “fairy tales.” In addition, the writer behaved too atypically for an official: he fought against bribery, embezzlement and simply theft, and defended the interests of the lower strata of the population.
- 1868 - the complaint of the Ryazan governor becomes the last in the writer’s career. He was dismissed with the rank of active state councilor.
- September of the same year - Saltykov became a member of the editorial board of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, headed by N.A. Nekrasov.
- 1869 - 1870 - the fairy tales “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”, “ Wild landowner", novel "The History of a City".
- 1872 - the Saltykovs’ son Konstantin is born.
- 1873 – birth of daughter Elizabeth.
- 1876 - Nekrasov becomes seriously ill, and Saltykov-Shchedrin replaces him as editor-in-chief of Otechestvennye zapiski. He worked unofficially for two years and was approved for this position in 1878.
- 1880 – publication of the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs”.
- 1884 - “Domestic Notes” are banned.
- 1887 - 1889 - the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” is published in “Bulletin of Europe”.
- March 1889 – a sharp deterioration in the writer’s health.
- May 10 (April 28), 1889 - Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin dies. According to his own will, he was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg next to
On January 15, 1826, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was born in a small village in the Tver province. The biography of this man is thoroughly permeated with philanthropy and contempt for the reactionary state apparatus of his time. However, first things first.
Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich: biography of his early years
Future famous writer was born into the family of a wealthy nobleman. By the way, Saltykov is his real name. Shchedrin is a creative pseudonym. The boy spent the first years of his life on his father's family estate. This period saw the most difficult years serfdom. When in most states the scientific and technological revolution had already occurred or was taking place, and capitalist relations were developing, Russian empire became increasingly mired in its own medieval way of life. And in order to somehow keep up with the development of the great powers, the state machine worked more and more actively, extensively squeezing all the juices out of the peasant class. Actually, all further biography Saltykov-Shchedrin eloquently testifies to the fact that he had sufficient opportunity to observe the situation of the peasants in his youth.
This greatly impressed the young man and left an imprint on everything he further creativity. Elementary education Mikhail gets in home, and being ten years old, he entered the Moscow Institute of Nobility. Here he studied for only two years, showing extraordinary abilities. And already in 1838 he was transferred to receive a state scholarship for his studies. Six years later, he graduates from this educational institution and enters the ministerial military office to serve.
Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: the beginning of creative activity
Here the young man is seriously interested in the literature of his time, voraciously reading French educators and socialists. During this period, his first own stories were written: “Contradictions”, “A Confused Affair”, “Notes of the Fatherland”. However, the nature of these works, full of freethinking and satire on the tsarist autocracy, even then set state power against a young official.
Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: creative recognition and acceptance by state authorities
In 1848, Mikhail Evgrafovich went into exile in Vyatka. There he enters the service as a clerical official. This period ended in 1855, when the writer was finally allowed to leave this city. Returning from exile, he is appointed as an official for special assignments under the State Minister of Internal Affairs. In 1860 he became the Tver vice-governor. At the same time, the writer resumes his creative activity. Already in 1862, he retired from public office and focused on literature. At the invitation of Sergei Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin comes to St. Petersburg and gets a job in the editorial office of Sovremennik. Here, and later in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, where he ended up under the patronage of the same Nekrasov, they are held
the most fruitful years of his creative activity. Many stories, satirical articles and, of course, the famous grotesque novels: “The History of a City”, “A Modern Idyll” and others - were written in the second half of 1860-1870.
Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: last years life
In the 1880s, the writer's satirical works increasingly enjoyed fame among the intelligentsia, but at the same time they were increasingly persecuted by the tsarist regime. Thus, the closure of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, where he was published, forced Mikhail Evgrafovich to look for publishing houses abroad. This printing ban home country greatly undermined the health of an already middle-aged man. And although he also wrote the famous “Fairy Tales” and “Poshekhon Antiquity,” over the course of several years he grew very old, his strength was rapidly leaving him. On May 10, 1889, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin died. The writer, in accordance with his request in his will, was buried in St. Petersburg, next to the grave of I.S. Turgenev.
Prosecutor of Russian public life
I. Sechenov
M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was born on January 27 (January 15), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazin district, Tver province. His parents were wealthy landowners. Their possessions, although located on inconvenient lands, among forests and swamps, brought significant income.
Childhood
The writer’s mother, Olga Mikhailovna, ruled the estate; Father Evgraf Vasilyevich, a retired collegiate adviser, had a reputation as an impractical person. The mother directed all her worries towards increasing her wealth. For the sake of this, not only the courtyard people, but also their own children fed from hand to mouth. Any pleasures and entertainment in the family were not accepted. Continuous enmity reigned in the house: between parents, between children, whom the mother, without hiding, divided into “favorites and hateful ones,” between masters and servants.
A smart and impressionable boy grew up amid this home hell.
Lyceum
At ten years old, Saltykov entered the third grade of the Moscow Noble Institute, and two years later, together with other best students, he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, which in those years was far from what it was under Pushkin. The lyceum was dominated by a barracks regime, where “generals, equestrians... children who were fully aware high position, which their fathers occupy in society,” Saltykov recalled about his spiritual loneliness in “the years of early youth.” The Lyceum gave Saltykov the necessary amount of knowledge.
Since January 1844, the lyceum was transferred to St. Petersburg, and it began to be called Alexandrovsky. Saltykov was a graduate of the first St. Petersburg course. Each new generation of lyceum students pinned their hopes on one of the students as a successor to the traditions of their famous predecessor. One of these “candidates” was Saltykov. Even in his lyceum years, his poems were published in magazines.
Years of service
In the summer of 1844 M.E. Saltykov graduated from the Lyceum and entered service in the Chancellery of the War Ministry.
In 1847, the young author wrote his first story, “Contradictions,” and the following year, “A Tangled Affair.” Stories young writer responded to pressing socio-political issues; their heroes were looking for a way out of the contradictions between ideals and the life around them. For publishing the story “A Confused Affair,” which revealed, as War Minister Prince Chernyshev wrote, “a harmful way of thinking” and “a disastrous direction of ideas,” the writer was arrested and exiled by order of the Tsar to Vyatka.
“Vyatka captivity,” as Saltykov called his seven-year stay there in the service, became for him a difficult test and at the same time a great school.
After life in St. Petersburg, it was uncomfortable among friends and like-minded people young man in the alien world of provincial officials, nobility and merchants.
The writer's love for the daughter of Vice-Governor E.A. Boltina, whom he married in the summer of 1856, brightened up the last years of Saltykov’s stay in Vyatka. In November 1855, by the “highest command” of the new Tsar Alexander II, the writer received permission to “live and serve wherever he wishes.”
Literary work and the vicissitudes of public service
M.E. Saltykov moved to St. Petersburg, and from August 1856, “Provincial Sketches” (1856–1857) began to be published in the magazine “Russian Bulletin” on behalf of a certain “retired court councilor N. Shchedrin” (this surname became the writer’s pseudonym). They reliably and poisonously depicted the omnipotence, arbitrariness and bribery of “sturgeon officials”, “pike officials” and even “minnow officials”. The book was perceived by readers as one of the " historical facts Russian life" (in the words of N.G. Chernyshevsky), who called for the need for social change.
The name of Saltykov-Shchedrin is becoming widely known. They started talking about him as Gogol's heir, who boldly exposed the ulcers of society.
At this time, Saltykov combined literary work with public service. For some time in St. Petersburg, he held a position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then was vice-governor in Ryazan and Tver, and later - chairman of the state chambers (financial institutions) in Penza, Tula and Ryazan. Implacably fighting bribery and staunchly defending peasant interests, Saltykov looked like a black sheep everywhere. His words were passed from mouth to mouth: “I won’t hurt a man! It will be enough for him, gentlemen... It will be very, very much so!”
Denunciations rained down on Saltykov, he was threatened with trial “for abuse of power,” and provincial wits nicknamed him “Vice Robespierre.” In 1868, the chief of gendarmes reported to the Tsar about Saltykov as “an official imbued with ideas that do not agree with the types of state benefit and legal order,” which was followed by his resignation.
Collaboration with Sovremennik magazine
Returning to St. Petersburg, Mikhail Evgrafovich devotes all his enormous energy to literary activity. He planned to publish a magazine in Moscow, but, without receiving permission, in St. Petersburg he became close to Nekrasov and from December 1862 became a member of the editorial board of Sovremennik. Saltykov came to the magazine at the very hard times When Dobrolyubov died, Chernyshevsky was arrested, government repressions were accompanied by the persecution of “nihilistic boys” in the “well-intentioned” press. Shchedrin boldly spoke out in defense of democratic forces.
Next to journalistic and critical articles he placed and works of art- essays and stories, the acute social content of which was clothed in the form of Aesopian allegories. Shchedrin became a true virtuoso of “Aesopian language,” and only this can explain the fact that his works, rich in revolutionary content, could, albeit in a truncated form, pass through the fierce tsarist censorship.
In 1857–1863, he published “Innocent Stories” and “Satires in Prose,” in which he took major royal dignitaries under satirical fire. On the pages of Shchedrin's stories, the city of Foolov appears, personifying a poor, wild, oppressed Russia.
Work in Otechestvennye zapiski. "Pompadours and pompadours"
In 1868, the satirist joined the updated edition of Otechestvennye zapiski. For 16 years (1868–1884) he headed this magazine, first together with N.A. Nekrasov, and after the poet’s death he becomes the executive editor. In 1868–1869, he published programmatic articles “Vain Fears” and “Street Philosophy,” in which he developed the views of revolutionary democrats on the social significance of art.
Basic form literary works Shchedrin chose cycles of stories and essays, combined common theme. This allowed him to respond vividly to events in public life, giving their deep meaning in a vivid, figurative form. political characterization. One of Shchedrin’s first collective images was the image of a “pompadour” from the series “Pompadours and Pompadours,” published by the writer during 1863–1874.
Saltykov-Shchedrin called the tsarist administrators who operated in post-reform Russia “pompadours.” The name “pompadour” itself is derived from the name of the Marquise of Pompadour, the favorite of the French King Louis XV. She loved to interfere in the affairs of the state, distributed government positions to her entourage, and squandered the state treasury for the sake of personal pleasure.
The writer's work in the 1870s
In 1869–1870, “The History of a City” appeared in “Notes of the Fatherland.” This book was the most daring and evil satire on the administrative arbitrariness and tyranny that reigned in Russia.
The work takes the form of a historical chronicle. In individual characters it is easy to recognize specific historical figures, for example, Gloomy-Burcheev resembles Arakcheev, in Intercept-Zalikhvatsky contemporaries recognized Nicholas I.
In the 70s, Saltykov-Shchedrin created whole line literary cycles in which he widely covered all aspects of life in post-reform Russia. During this period, Well-Intentioned Speeches (1872–1876) and The Refuge of Mon Repos (1878–1880) were written.
In April 1875, doctors sent the seriously ill Saltykov-Shchedrin abroad for treatment. The result of the trips was a series of essays “Abroad”.
Fairy tales
80s XIX century- one of the most difficult pages in the history of Russia. In 1884, Otechestvennye zapiski was closed. Saltykov-Shchedrin was forced to handle his works in the editorial offices of magazines, whose position was alien to him. During these years (1880–1886), Shchedrin created most of his fairy tales - unique literary works in which, thanks to the highest perfection of Aesopian style, he was able to carry out the harshest criticism of the autocracy through censorship.
In total, Shchedrin wrote 32 fairy tales, reflecting all the essential aspects of life in post-reform Russia.
Last years. "Poshekhon antiquity"
The last years of the writer’s life were difficult. Government persecution made it difficult to publish his works; he felt like a stranger in the family; numerous illnesses forced Mikhail Evgrafovich to suffer painfully. But Shchedrin does not leave until the last days of his life literary work. Three months before his death, he finished one of his best works, the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity.”
In contrast to the idyllic pictures of noble nests, Shchedrin resurrected in his chronicle the true atmosphere of serfdom, drawing people into “a pool of humiliating lawlessness, all sorts of twists of slyness and fear of the prospect of being crushed every hour.” Pictures of the wild tyranny of the landowners are complemented by scenes of retribution befalling individual tyrants: the tormentor Anfisa Porfiryevna was strangled by her own servants, and another villain, the landowner Gribkov, was burned by the peasants along with the estate.
This novel is based on an autobiographical beginning. Shchedrin’s memory picks out individuals in whom “slave” protest and faith in justice matured (“the girl” Annushka, Mavrusha the Novotorka, Satyr the Wanderer).
The seriously ill writer dreamed of finishing his work as quickly as possible. last piece. He “felt such a need to get rid of “Old Things” that he even crumpled it up” (from a letter to M.M. Stasyulevich dated January 16, 1889). The “Conclusion” was published in the March 1889 issue of the journal “Bulletin of Europe”.
The writer lived out his last days. On the night of April 27-28, 1889, he suffered a blow from which he never recovered. Saltykov-Shchedrin died on May 10 (April 28), 1889.
Literature
Andrey Turkov. Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin // Encyclopedia for children “Avanta+”. Volume 9. Russian literature. Part one. M., 1999. pp. 594–603
K.I. Tyunkin. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in life and work. M.: Russian word, 2001
The biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin shows not just a talented writer, but also an organizer who wants to serve the country and be useful to it. He was valued in society not only as a creator, but also as an official who cared for the interests of the people. By the way, his real name is Saltykov, and his creative pseudonym is Shchedrin.
Education
The biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin begins from childhood spent on the Tver provincial estate of his father, an ancient nobleman located in the village of Spas-Ugol. The writer would later describe this period of his life in the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity,” published after his death.
The boy received his primary education at home - his father had his own plans for his son’s education. And at the age of ten he entered the Moscow Noble Institute. However, his talents and abilities were an order of magnitude higher than the average level of this institution, and two years later, as the best student, he was transferred “for government money” to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. At this educational institution, Mikhail Evgrafovich became interested in poetry, but soon realized that writing poetry was not his path.
War Department official
Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work biography began in 1844. The young man enters the service as an assistant secretary in the office of the War Ministry. It's captivating literary activity, to which he devotes much more mental strength than the bureaucratic one. The ideas of the French socialists and the influence of the views of George Sand are visible in his early works(stories “Entangled Affair” and “Contradictions”). The author sharply criticizes serfdom, which throws Russia back in relation to Europe a century ago. The young man expresses a deep thought that human life in society should not be a lottery, it should be life, and for this we need a different social structure of this very life.
Link to Vyatka
It is natural that the biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin during the reign of despot Emperor Nicholas I could not be free from repression: public freedom-loving thoughts were not welcomed.
Exiled to Vyatka, he served in the provincial government. He devoted a lot of time and effort to his service. The career of an official was successful. Two years later he was appointed advisor to the provincial government. Thanks to frequent business trips and active insight into people's affairs, extensive observations of Russian reality are accumulated.
In 1855, the term of exile ended, and the promising official was transferred to his native Tver province to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for militia affairs. In fact, a different Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to his small homeland. The (short) biography of the returning writer-official contains one more touch - upon his arrival home, he got married. His wife was Elizaveta Apollonovna Boltova (the Vyatka vice-governor blessed his daughter for this marriage).
A new stage of creativity. "Provincial Sketches"
However, the most important thing is to find his own literary style: his regular publications in the Moscow magazine “Russian Messenger” were expected by the literary community. This is how the general reader became acquainted with the author’s “Provincial Sketches.” Saltykov-Shchedrin's stories presented the addressees with the pernicious atmosphere of outdated serfdom. The writer calls anti-democratic state institutions an “empire of facades.” He denounces officials as “guzzlers” and “mischievous people”, local nobles as “tyrants”; shows readers the world of bribes and behind-the-scenes intrigues...
At the same time, the writer understands the very soul of the people - the reader feels this in the stories “Arinushka”, “Christ is Risen!” Starting with the story “Introduction,” Saltykov-Shchedrin immerses recipients in the world of truthful artistic images. A short biography concerning creativity, at the turn of writing “Provincial Sketches”, he himself assessed it extremely succinctly. “Everything I wrote before was nonsense!” The Russian reader finally saw a vivid and truthful picture of the generalized provincial city of Krutoyarsk, the material for the image of which was collected by the author in Vyatka exile.
Cooperation with the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”
The next stage of the writer’s work began in 1868. Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich left public service and completely focused on literary activity.
He began to work closely with the Nekrasov magazine Otechestvennye zapiski. The writer publishes in this printed edition his collections of stories “Letters from the Province”, “Signs of the Times”, “Diary of a Provincial...”, “The History of a City”, “Pompadours and Pompadours” ( full list much longer).
The author’s talent, in our opinion, was most clearly demonstrated in the story “The History of a City,” full of sarcasm and subtle humor. Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin masterfully illustrates to the reader the history of his own collective image of the “dark kingdom” of the city of Foolov.
Before the eyes of the addressees passes a host of rulers of this city who were in power in XVIII-XIX centuries. Each of them manages to leave social problems without attention, while on their part compromising the city government. In particular, mayor Brudasty Dementy Varlamovich ruled in such a way that he provoked the townspeople into unrest. Another of his colleagues, Pyotr Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, (former orderly of the all-powerful Potemkin) died of gluttony while touring the lands entrusted to him. The third, Vasilisk Semyonovich Wartkin, became famous for launching real military operations against his subjects and destroying several settlements.
Instead of a conclusion
The life of Saltykov-Shchedrin was not simple. A caring and active person, not only as a writer he diagnosed the diseases of society and demonstrated them in all their ugliness for viewing. Mikhail Evgrafovich, as a government official, fought to the best of his ability against the vices of government and society.
His health failed professional loss: The authorities closed the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”, with which the writer had great personal connections creative plans. He died in 1889 and, according to his will, was buried next to Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who had passed away six years earlier. Their creative interaction during life is well known. In particular, Mikhail Evgrafovich was inspired to write the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” by Turgenev.
The writer Saltykov-Shchedrin is deeply revered by his descendants. Streets and libraries are named in his honor. On small homeland, in Tver, memorial museums have been opened, numerous monuments and busts have also been installed.
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (who later added the pseudonym “Shchedrin”) was born on January 15 (27), 1826 in the Kalyazinsky district of the Tver province, in the village of Spas-Ugol. This village still exists today, but it belongs to the Taldomsky district of the Moscow region.
Study time
Mikhail's father was a collegiate adviser and hereditary nobleman Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, his mother was born Zabelina Olga Mikhailovna from a family of Moscow merchants who received nobility for large donations to the army during the War of 1812.
After retiring, Evgraf Vasilyevich tried not to leave the village anywhere. His main occupation was reading religious and semi-mystical literature. He considered it possible to interfere with church services and allowed himself to call the priest Vanka.
The wife was 25 years younger than her father and kept the entire farm in her hands. She was strict, zealous and even cruel in some cases.
Mikhail, the sixth child in the family, was born when she was not even twenty-five years old. For some reason, she loved him more than all the other children.
The boy grasped knowledge well and what other children learned with tears and beating with a ruler, he sometimes remembered simply by ear. From the age of four he was taught at home. At the age of 10, the future writer was sent to Moscow to enter the noble institute. In 1836, Saltykov was enrolled in the educational institution where Lermontov had studied 10 years before him. According to his knowledge, he was immediately enrolled in the third class of the noble institute, but due to the impossibility of early graduation from educational institution- I was forced to study there for two years. In 1838, Mikhail, as one of the best students, was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.
It was from this time that his first literary experiments. Saltykov became the first poet on the course, although both then and subsequently he understood that poetry was not his destiny. During his studies, he became close to M. Butashevich-Petrashevsky, who had a serious influence on Mikhail’s views. After the lyceum moved to St. Petersburg (after which it began to be called Aleksandrovsky), Saltykov began to attend a meeting of writers at Mikhail Yazykov, where he met V.G. Belinsky, whose views were closer to him than others.
In 1844, the Alexander Lyceum was completed. The future writer was awarded the rank of X class - collegiate secretary.
Office of the War Ministry. First stories
At the beginning of September of the same year, Saltykov signed an undertaking that he was not a member of any secret society and would under no circumstances join any of them.
After this, he was accepted into service in the office of the War Ministry, where he was obliged to serve for 6 years after the lyceum.
Saltykov was burdened by the bureaucratic service; he dreamed of studying only literature. The theater and especially Italian opera. He “splashes out” his literary and political impulses at the evenings organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky in his home. His soul is aligned with the Westerners, but those who preach the ideas of the French utopian socialists.
Dissatisfaction with his life, the ideas of the Petrashevites and dreams of universal equality lead to the fact that Mikhail Evgrafovich writes two stories that will radically change his life and, perhaps, they will turn the writer’s work in the direction in which he remains known to this day. In 1847 he would write “Contradictions,” and the following year “A Confused Affair.” And although friends did not advise the writer to publish them, they, one after another, appeared in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.
Saltykov could not have known that in the days of preparation for the publication of the second story, the chief of gendarmes, Count A.F. Orlov, presented the tsar with a report specifically about the magazines “Sovremennik” and “Otechestvennye zapiski”, where he said that they had a harmful direction, to which the monarch ordered the creation of a special committee for strict supervision of these magazines.
The usually slow bureaucratic machine of autocratic power worked very quickly this time. Less than three weeks had passed (April 28, 1848) when a young official of the War Ministry office, a thinker full of joyful hopes, Saltykov was sent first to the St. Petersburg guardhouse, and then into exile in the distant city of Vyatka.
Vyatka link
In 9 days, Saltykov traveled more than one and a half thousand kilometers on horseback. Almost the entire way the writer was in a kind of stupor, completely not understanding where and why he was going. On May 7, 1848, a trio of post horses entered Vyatka, and Saltykov realized that there was no accident or mistake and he would remain in this city as long as the sovereign wished.
He begins his service as a simple scribe. The writer categorically cannot come to terms with his situation. He asks his mother and brother to intercede for him, writes letters to influential friends in the capital. Nicholas I rejects all requests from relatives. But thanks to letters influential people from St. Petersburg, the governor of Vyatka looks more closely and kindly at the exiled writer. In November of the same year, he was given the position of senior official for special assignments under the governor.
Saltykov is doing a great job helping the governor. He puts many complicated matters in order and is demanding of officials.
In 1849, he compiled a report on the province, which was presented not only to the minister, but also to the tsar. He writes a request for leave to his native place. His parents again sent a petition to the king. But everything turns out to be unsuccessful. Maybe even for the better. Because it was at this time that the trials of the Petrashevites took place, some of which ended in execution. And at the end of May, Saltykov, on the proposal of the governor, becomes the ruler of his office.
By the beginning of 1850, the writer received an order from the Minister of the Interior himself to conduct an inventory real estate cities of the Vyatka province and prepare their thoughts for improving public and economic affairs. Saltykov did everything possible. Since August 1850, he was appointed advisor to the provincial government.
In subsequent years, Saltykov himself, his family and friends, Vyatka governors (A.I. Sereda and N.N. Semenov, who followed him), Orenburg Governor-General V.A. Perovsky and even Governor-General Eastern Siberia N.N. Muravyov turned to the tsar with petitions to mitigate Saltykov’s fate, but Nicholas I was adamant.
During his exile in Vyatka, Mikhail Evgrafovich prepared and held an agricultural exhibition, wrote several annual reports for governors, conducted a number of serious investigations into violations of laws. He tried to work as hard as possible in order to forget the reality around him and the gossip of provincial officials. Since 1852, life became somewhat easier; he fell in love with the 15-year-old daughter of the vice-governor, who would later become his wife. Life is no longer presented in solid black. Saltykov even began to translate from Vivien, Tocqueville and Cheruel. In April of the same year, he received the title of collegiate assessor.
In 1853, the writer managed to get a short vacation to his native place. Arriving home, he realizes that family and friendly ties have been largely broken, and almost no one expects him to return from exile.
Nicholas I died on February 18, 1855. But no one remembers Mikhail Evgrafovich. And only chance helps him get permission to leave Vyatka. The Lansky family, whose head was the brother of the new Minister of Internal Affairs, arrives in the city on state affairs. Having met Saltykov and, imbued with warm sympathy for his fate, Pyotr Petrovich writes a letter to his brother asking for intercession for the writer.
On November 12, Saltykov goes on another business trip around the province. On the same day, the Minister of Internal Affairs makes a report to the emperor about the fate of Saltykov.
Alexander II gives highest resolution- Saltykov to live and serve wherever he wishes.
Work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "Provincial Sketches"
In February of the following year, the writer was recruited to serve in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in June he was appointed as an official under the minister for special assignments, and a month later he was sent to the Tver and Vladimir provinces to check the work of the militia committees. The ministry at this time (1856-1858) also carried out big job on the preparation of peasant reform.
Impressions about the work of officials in the provinces, which is often not just ineffective, but also downright criminal, about the ineffectiveness of the laws regulating the village economy and the outright ignorance of the local “arbiters of destinies” are brilliantly reflected in “ Provincial essays" Saltykov, published by him in the magazine "Russian Bulletin" in 1856-1857 under the pseudonym Shchedrin. His name became widely known.
“Provincial Sketches” went through several editions and laid the foundation special type literature, called “accusatory”. But the main thing in them was not so much the demonstration of abuses in the service, but the “outlining” of the special psychology of officials, both in the service and in everyday life.
Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote essays during the era of Alexander II’s reforms, when the intelligentsia’s hope for the possibility of profound transformations in society and spiritual world person. The writer hoped that his accusatory work would serve to fight the backwardness and vices of society, and therefore help change life for the better.
Governor's appointments. Collaboration with magazines
In the spring of 1858, Saltykov-Shchedrin was appointed vice-governor in Ryazan, and in April 1860 he was transferred to the same position in Tver. Such a frequent change of place of service was due to the fact that the writer always began his work with the dismissal of thieves and bribe-takers. The local bureaucratic crook, deprived of his usual “feeding trough,” used all his connections to send slander to the Tsar against Saltykov. As a result, the undesirable vice-governor was appointed to a new duty station.
Working for the benefit of the state did not prevent the writer from working creative activity. During this period he wrote and published a lot. First in many magazines (“Russian Herald”, “Sovremennik”, “Moskovsky Vestnik”, “Library for Reading”, etc.), then only in “Sovremennik” (with a few exceptions).
From what Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote during this period, two collections were compiled - “Innocent Stories” and “Satires in Prose”, which were published in separate editions three times. In these works of the writer, the new “city” of Foolov appears for the first time, as collective image typical Russian provincial town. Mikhail Evgrafovich will write his story a little later.
In February 1862, Saltykov-Shchedrin retired. His main dream is to found a biweekly magazine in Moscow. When this fails, the writer moves to St. Petersburg and, at the invitation of Nekrasov, becomes one of the editors of Sovremennik, which at this time is experiencing great personnel and financial difficulties. Saltykov-Shchedrin takes on a huge amount of work and carries it out brilliantly. The magazine's circulation is rising sharply. At the same time, the writer organizes the publication of the monthly review “Our public life”, which becomes one of the best journalistic publications of that time.
In 1864, due to internal disagreements on political topics Saltykov-Shchedrin is forced to leave the editorial office of Sovremennik.
He re-enters the service, but in a department less “dependent” on politics.
At the head of the State Chambers
In November 1864, the writer was appointed manager of the Penza Treasury Chamber, two years later - to the same position in Tula, and in the fall of 1867 - in Ryazan. The frequent change of duty stations is due, as before, to Mikhail Evgrafovich’s passion for honesty. After he began to conflict with provincial leaders, the writer was transferred to another city.
During these years, he worked on “Foolish” images, but published practically nothing. In three years, only one of his articles, “Testament to My Children,” was published, published in 1866 in Sovremennik. After a complaint from the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was offered to resign, and in 1868 he ended his service with the rank of full state councilor.
Next year, the writer will write “Letters about the Province,” which will be based on his observations of life in the cities where he served in the State Chambers.
"Domestic Notes". The best creative masterpieces
After retiring, Saltykov-Shchedrin accepts Nekrasov’s invitation and comes to work for the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski. Until 1884 he wrote exclusively for them.
The best was written in 1869-70 satirical work Mikhail Evgrafovich - “The History of a City.” The following were also published in “Domestic Notes”: “Pompadours and Pompadours” (1873), “Gentlemen of Tashkent” (1873), “Cultural People” (1876), “Gentlemen Golovlevs” (1880), “Abroad” (1880-81 ) and many other famous works.
In 1875-76, the writer spent time in Europe for treatment.
After Nekrasov's death in 1878, Saltykov-Shchedrin became the editor-in-chief of the magazine and remained so until the publication was closed in 1884.
After the closure of Otechestvennye Zapiski, the writer began publishing in Vestnik Evropy. The last masterpieces of his work were published here: “Fairy Tales” (the last of those written, 1886), “Motley Letters” (1886), “Little Things in Life” (1887) and “Poshekhon Antiquity” - completed by him in 1889, but published after his death writer.
Last reminder
A few days before his death, Mikhail Evgrafovich began writing a new work, “Forgotten Words.” He told one of his friends that he wanted to remind people of the words “conscience”, “fatherland” and the like that they had forgotten.
Unfortunately, his plan was unsuccessful. In May 1889, a writer in Once again got sick with a cold. The weakened body did not resist for long. On April 28 (May 10), 1889, Mikhail Evgrafovich died.
The remains of the great writer still rest in the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Interesting Facts from the life of the writer:
The writer was an ardent fighter against bribe-takers. Wherever he served, they were expelled mercilessly.