Place of birth and years of life of Gogol. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: biography. Briefly about the family, life and death of the writer. Interesting facts

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852) – classic of Russian literature, writer, playwright, publicist, critic. Gogol’s most important works are considered to be: the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, dedicated to the customs and traditions of the Ukrainian people, as well as the greatest poem “Dead Souls”.

Among the biographies of great writers, the biography of Gogol stands in a separate row. After reading this article you will understand why this is so.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a generally recognized literary classic. He worked masterfully in a variety of genres. Both his contemporaries and writers of subsequent generations spoke positively about his works.

Conversations about his biography still do not subside, since he is one of the most mystical and mysterious figures among the intelligentsia of the 19th century.

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the town of Sorochintsy (Poltava province, Mirgorod district) into a family of local poor Little Russian nobles who owned the village of Vasilyevka, Vasily Afanasyevich and Maria Ivanovna Gogol-Yanovsky.

Since childhood, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s belonging to the Little Russian nationality had a significant influence on his worldview and writing activity. The psychological characteristics of the Little Russian people were reflected in the content of his early works and on the artistic style of his speech.

My childhood years were spent on my parents' estate Vasilyevka, Mirgorod district, not far from the village of Dikanki. An hour's drive from Vasilyevka along the Oposhnyansky tract was the Poltava Field - the site of the famous battle. From his grandmother Tatyana Semyonovna, who taught the boy to draw and even embroider with garus, Gogol listened to Ukrainian music on winter evenings. folk songs. The grandmother told her grandson historical legends and traditions about the heroic pages of history, about the Zaporozhye Cossack freemen.

The Gogol family stood out for its stable cultural needs. Gogol's father, Vasily Afanasyevich, was a talented storyteller and theater lover. He became close friends with a distant relative, former Minister of Justice D.P. Troshchinsky, who lived in retirement in the village of Kibintsy, not far from Vasilyevka. A rich nobleman set up a home theater in his estate, where Vasily Afanasyevich became a director and actor. He composed his own comedies for this theater in Ukrainian, the plots of which he borrowed from folk tales. V.V. Kapnist, a venerable playwright, author of the famous “The Yabeda,” took part in the preparation of the performances. His plays were performed on the stage in Kibintsy, as well as “The Minor” by Fonvizin and “Podshchipa” by Krylov. Vasily Afanasyevich was friendly with Kapnist, sometimes his whole family visited him in Obukhovka. In July 1813, little Gogol saw G. R. Derzhavin here, visiting a friend of his youth. Gogol inherited his writing and acting talent from his father.

Mother, Maria Ivanovna, was a religious, nervous and impressionable woman. Having lost two children who died in infancy, she waited with fear for the third. The couple prayed in the Dikan Church in front of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas. Having given the newborn the name of a saint revered by the people, the parents surrounded the boy with special affection and attention. From childhood, Gogol remembered his mother’s stories about the last times, about the death of the world and the Last Judgment, about the hellish torments of sinners. They were accompanied by instructions on the need to maintain spiritual purity for the sake of future salvation. The boy was especially impressed by the story about the ladder that angels lower from heaven, giving their hand to the soul of the deceased. There are seven measures on this ladder; the last, seventh, raises the immortal soul of man to the seventh heaven, to the heavenly abodes that are accessible to a few. The souls of the righteous go there - people who spent their earthly life “in all piety and purity.” The image of the staircase will then pass through all of Gogol’s thoughts about the fate and calling of man to spiritual improvement.

From his mother, Gogol inherited a subtle mental organization, a penchant for contemplation and God-fearing religiosity. Kapnist’s daughter recalled: “I knew Gogol as a boy who was always serious and so thoughtful that it worried his mother extremely.” The boy's imagination was also influenced by the pagan beliefs of the people in brownies, witches, merman and mermaids. The many-voiced and motley, sometimes comically cheerful, and sometimes fear-inducing, mysterious world of folk demonology was absorbed by Gogol’s impressionable soul from childhood.

In 1821, after two years of study at the Poltava district school, the boy’s parents enrolled the boy in the newly opened gymnasium of higher sciences of Prince Bezborodko in Nizhyn, Chernigov province. It was often called a lyceum: like the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, the gymnasium course was combined with university subjects, and classes were taught by professors. Gogol studied in Nizhyn for seven years, visiting his parents only on vacation.

At first, studying was difficult: insufficient preparation at home had an effect. Children of wealthy parents, classmates of Gogol, entered the gymnasium with knowledge of Latin, French and German languages. Gogol envied them, felt slighted, shunned his classmates, and in his letters home begged them to take him away from the gymnasium. The sons of rich parents, among whom was N.V. Kukolnik, did not spare his pride and ridiculed his weaknesses. On own experience Gogol experienced the drama of the “little” man, learned the bitter price of the words of the poor official Bashmachkin, the hero of his “The Overcoat,” addressed to the scoffers: “Leave me alone! Why are you offending me? Sick, frail, suspicious, the boy was humiliated not only by his peers, but also by insensitive teachers. Rare patience and the ability to silently endure insults gave Gogol the first nickname he received from schoolchildren - “Dead Thought.”

But soon Gogol discovered an extraordinary talent in drawing, far outstripping his offenders in success, and then enviable literary abilities. Like-minded people appeared, with whom he began to publish a handwritten magazine, publishing his articles, stories, and poems in it. Among them is the historical story “The Tverdislavich Brothers”, the satirical essay “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools”, in which he ridiculed the morals of local inhabitants.

The beginning of a literary journey

Gogol early became interested in literature, especially poetry. His favorite poet was Pushkin, and he copied his "Gypsy", "Poltava", and chapters of "Eugene Onegin" into his notebooks. Gogol's first literary experiments date back to this time.

Already in 1825, he contributed to a handwritten gymnasium magazine and composed poetry. Another hobby of Gogol, a high school student, was the theater. He took an active part in staging school plays, playing comic roles, painted the scenery.

Gogol early awakened dissatisfaction with the musty and dull life of Nizhyn “existents”, dreams of serving noble and high goals. The thought of the future, of “serving humanity,” already captured Gogol. These youthfully enthusiastic aspirations, this thirst for socially useful activity, a sharp rejection of philistine complacency found their expression in the first poetic work of his that has come down to us, the poem “Hanz Küchelgarten.”

Dreams and plans for future activities drew Gogol to the capital, to distant and tempting St. Petersburg. Here he thought to find an application for his abilities, to devote his strength to the good of society. After graduating from the gymnasium, in December 1828, Gogol left for St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg did not kindly greet the enthusiastic young man who had come from distant Ukraine, from a quiet provincial wilderness. Gogol faces setbacks from all sides. The official-bureaucratic world treated the young provincial with indifferent indifference: there was no service, life in the capital for a young man who had very modest means turned out to be very difficult. Gogol also experienced bitter disappointment in the literary field. His hopes for the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten", brought from Nizhyn, were not justified. Published in 1829 (under the pseudonym V. Alov), the poem was not successful.

An attempt to enter the stage also ended in failure: Gogol’s true Riolist talent as an actor turned out to be alien to the then theater management.

Only at the end of 1829 Gogol managed to get a job as a minor official in the department of state economy and public buildings. However, Gogol did not stay in this position for long and already in April 1830 he became a scribe in the department of appanages.

During these years, Gogol became aware of the deprivation and need experienced in St. Petersburg by the majority of the service and poor people. Gogol served as an official in the department for a whole year. However, bureaucratic service attracted him little. At the same time, he attended the Academy of Arts, studying painting there. His literary studies resumed. But now Gogol no longer writes dreamy-romantic poems like “Hanz Küchelgarten,” but turns to Ukrainian life and folklore, which he knows well, starting work on a book of stories, which he entitled “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”

In 1831, the long-awaited acquaintance with Pushkin took place, which soon turned into a close friendship between both writers. Gogol found in Pushkin an older comrade, a literary leader.

Gogol and theater

In 1837, he appeared in Sovremennik with the article “St. Petersburg Notes of 1836,” much of which was devoted to drama and theater. Gogol's judgments broke the established canons and asserted the need for a new one for the Russian stage. artistic method- realism. Gogol criticized two popular genres that took over “theaters all over the world” in those years: melodrama and vaudeville.

Gogol sharply condemns the main vice of this genre:

Our melodrama lies in the most shameless way

Melodrama does not reflect the life of society and does not produce the proper impact on it, arousing in the viewer not participation, but some kind of “anxious state.” Vaudeville, “this light, colorless toy,” in which laughter “is generated by light impressions, fluent witticisms, puns,” also does not correspond to the tasks of the theater.

Theater, according to Gogol, should teach and educate audiences:

We made a toy out of the theater, like those trinkets that are used to lure children, forgetting that this is a pulpit from which a live lesson is read to a whole crowd at once.

In the draft version of the article, Gogol calls the theater “ great school" But the condition for this is the fidelity of the reflection of life. “Really, it’s time to know already,” Gogol writes, that only a true depiction of characters, not in general, established features, but in their nationally expressed form, strikes us with liveliness, so that we say: “Yes, this seems to be a familiar person,” - only such an image brings significant benefits.” Here and in other places, Gogol defends the principles of realistic theater and only attaches great social and educational importance to such theater.

For God's sake, give us Russian characters, give us ourselves, our rogues, our eccentrics! on stage, to everyone's laughter!

Gogol reveals the importance of laughter as a powerful weapon in the fight against social vices. “Laughter,” Gogol continues, is a great thing: it does not take away either life or property, but before it the guilty person is like a tied hare...” In the theater “with the solemn brilliance of lighting, with the thunder of music, with unanimous laughter, a familiar person appears, hiding vice". A person is afraid of laughter, Gogol repeatedly repeats, and refrains from doing things “from which no force would keep him.” But not every laughter has such power, but only “that electric, life-giving laughter” that has a deep ideological basis.

In December 1828, Gogol said goodbye to his native Ukrainian lands and headed north: to alien and tempting, distant and desired Petersburg. Even before his departure, Gogol wrote: “From the very times of the past, from the very years of almost misunderstanding, I burned with unquenchable zeal to make my life necessary for the good of the state. I went over in my mind all the states, all the positions in the state and settled on one. On Justice. “I saw that here only I can be a blessing, here only I will be useful to humanity.”

So. Gogol arrived in St. Petersburg. The very first weeks of his stay in the capital brought Gogol bitter disappointment. He failed to fulfill his dream. Unlike Piskarev, the hero of the story “Nevsky Prospekt,” Gogol does not perceive the collapse of his dreams so tragically. Having changed many other activities, he still finds his calling in life. Gogol's calling is to be a writer. “... I wanted,” Gogol wrote, “in my essay to highlight primarily those higher properties of Russian nature that are not yet fairly valued by everyone, and mainly those low ones that have not yet been sufficiently ridiculed and amazed by everyone. I wanted to collect here some striking psychological phenomena, to place those observations that I have made for a long time in secret about a person.” Soon the poem was completed, which Gogol decided to make public. It was published in May 1829 under the title Hanz Küchelgarten. Soon critical reviews appeared in the press. They were sharply negative. Gogol took his failure very painfully. He leaves St. Petersburg, but soon returns again.

Gogol was seized by a new dream: theater. But he didn't pass the exam. His realistic style of acting clearly conflicted with the tastes of the examiners. And here again failure. Gogol almost fell into despair.

After a little time, Gogol receives a new position in one of the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After 3 months, he couldn’t stand it here and wrote a letter of resignation. He moved to another department, where he then worked as a scribe. Gogol continued to look closely at the life and everyday life of his fellow officials. These observations later formed the basis of the stories “The Nose” and “The Overcoat”. After serving for another year, Gogol left the departmental service forever.

Meanwhile, his interest in art not only did not fade away, but every day it overpowered him more and more. The bitterness with Hanz Küchelgarten was forgotten, and Gogol continued to write.

His new collections and works will be published soon. 1831 - 1832 Gogol writes the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, 1835 - the collection “Mirgorod”, in the same year he begins to create “Dead Souls” and “The Government Inspector”, in 1836 - the story “The Nose” is published and the premiere of the comedy “ The Inspector" in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Later, after his death, some stories depicting St. Petersburg “in all its glory,” with officials and bribe-takers, were combined into “Petersburg Stories.” These are stories such as: “The Overcoat”, “The Nose”, “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Notes of a Madman”. St. Petersburg stories reflected both the highest and by no means the best qualities of the Russian character, the life and customs of different strata of St. Petersburg society - officials, military men, artisans. Literary critic A.V. Lunacharsky wrote: “The vile faces of everyday life teased and called for a slap.” The story “Nevsky Prospect” with its Pirogov, Hoffmann and Schiller, with ladies, generals and department officials wandering along Nevsky Prospect “from two to three o’clock in the afternoon...” became such a bummer.

In St. Petersburg, Gogol had difficult life full of disappointments. He couldn't find his calling. And finally I found it. N.V. Gogol’s calling is to be a writer depicting the vices of the human soul and the nature of Little Russia.

Gogol died at the age of 43. The doctors who treated him in recent years were completely perplexed about his illness. A version of depression was put forward.

It began with the fact that at the beginning of 1852, the sister of one of Gogol’s close friends, Ekaterina Khomyakova, died, whom the writer respected to the depths of his soul. Her death provoked severe depression, resulting in religious ecstasy. Gogol began to fast. His daily diet consisted of 1-2 tablespoons of cabbage brine and oatmeal broth, and occasionally prunes. Considering that Nikolai Vasilyevich’s body was weakened after illness - in 1839 he suffered from malarial encephalitis, and in 1842 he suffered from cholera and miraculously survived - fasting was mortally dangerous for him.

On the night of February 24, he burned the second volume of Dead Souls. After 4 days, Gogol was visited by a young doctor, Alexei Terentyev. He described the writer’s condition as follows:

He watched as a man for whom all tasks were resolved, every feeling was silent, every word was in vain... His whole body became extremely thin, his eyes became dull and sunken, his face became completely drawn, his cheeks sunken, his voice weakened...

Doctors invited to see the dying Gogol found he had severe gastrointestinal disorders. They talked about “intestinal catarrh,” which turned into “typhoid fever,” and about unfavorable gastroenteritis. And finally, about “indigestion,” complicated by “inflammation.”

As a result, the doctors diagnosed him with meningitis and prescribed bloodletting, hot baths and douses, which were deadly in such a condition.

The writer's pitiful withered body was immersed in a bath, and cold water was poured over his head. They put leeches on him, and with a weak hand he frantically tried to brush away the clusters of black worms that had attached themselves to his nostrils. Was it possible to imagine a worse torture for a person who had spent his whole life disgusted with everything creeping and slimy? “Remove the leeches, lift the leeches from your mouth,” Gogol moaned and begged. In vain. He was not allowed to do this.

A few days later the writer passed away.

Gogol's ashes were buried at noon on February 24, 1852 by parish priest Alexei Sokolov and deacon Ioann Pushkin. And after 79 years, he was secretly, thieves removed from the grave: the Danilov Monastery was transformed into a colony for juvenile delinquents, and therefore its necropolis was subject to liquidation. It was decided to move only a few of the graves dearest to the Russian heart to the old cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent. Among these lucky ones, along with Yazykov, Aksakovs and Khomyakovs, was Gogol...

On May 31, 1931, twenty to thirty people gathered at Gogol’s grave, among whom were: historian M. Baranovskaya, writers Vs. Ivanov, V. Lugovskoy, Y. Olesha, M. Svetlov, V. Lidin and others. It was Lidin who became perhaps the only source of information about the reburial of Gogol. With his light hand, terrible legends about Gogol began to walk around Moscow.

The coffin was not found right away, he told the students of the Literary Institute; for some reason it turned out not to be where they were digging, but somewhat further away, to the side. And when they pulled it out of the ground - covered in lime, seemingly strong, made of oak boards - and opened it, bewilderment was added to the heartfelt trembling of those present. In the coffin lay a skeleton with its skull turned to one side. No one found an explanation for this. Someone superstitious probably thought then: “The publican is like not alive during life, and not dead after death - this strange great man.”

Lidin's stories stirred up old rumors that Gogol was afraid of being buried alive in a state lethargic sleep and seven years before his death he bequeathed:

My body should not be buried until obvious signs of decomposition appear. I mention this because even during the illness itself, moments of vital numbness came over me, my heart and pulse stopped beating

What the exhumers saw in 1931 seemed to indicate that Gogol’s behest was not fulfilled, that he was buried in a lethargic state, he woke up in a coffin and experienced nightmarish minutes of dying again...

To be fair, it must be said that Lida’s version did not inspire confidence. Sculptor N. Ramazanov, who filmed death mask Gogol, recalled: “I did not suddenly decide to take off the mask, but the prepared coffin... finally, the constantly arriving crowd of those who wanted to say goodbye to the dear deceased forced me and my old man, who pointed out the traces of destruction, to hurry...” There was also an explanation for the turn of the skull: the first to rot were the The side boards of the coffin, the lid lowers under the weight of the soil, puts pressure on the dead man’s head, and it turns to its side on the so-called “Atlas vertebra.”

Birth name:	Nikolai Vasilievich Yanovsky
Nicknames:	V. Alov; P. Glechik; N.G.; OOO; Pasichnik Rudy Panko; G. Yanov; N. N.; ***
Date of birth:
Place of birth:	The town of Bolshie Sorochintsy, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire
Date of death:
Place of death:	Moscow, Russian Empire
Citizenship:	Russian Empire
Type of activity:	Novelist, playwright
	Drama, prose
Language of works:

Childhood and youth

Saint Petersburg

Abroad

Funeral and grave of Gogol

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Creation

Gogol and painters

Hypotheses about Gogol's personality

Some works of Gogol

Monuments

Bibliography

First editions

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol(surname at birth Yanovsky, since 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20, 1809, Sorochintsy, Poltava province - February 21, 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics of Russian literature. He came from an old noble family of the Gogol-Yanovskys.

Biography

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1), 1809 in Sorochintsy near the Psel River, on the border of Poltava and Mirgorod districts (Poltava province). He was named Nicholas in honor of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas. According to family legend, he came from an old Ukrainian Cossack family and was a descendant of Ostap Gogol, hetman of the Right Bank Army of the Zaporozhye Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In troubled times Ukrainian history some of his ancestors also pestered the nobility, and Gogol’s grandfather, Afanasy Demyanovich Gogol-Yanovsky (1738-1805), wrote in an official paper that “his ancestors, with the surname Gogol, of the Polish nation,” although most biographers tend to believe that he after all, he was a “Little Russian.” A number of researchers, whose opinion was formulated by V.V. Veresaev, believe that the descent from Ostap Gogol could have been falsified by Afanasy Demyanovich to obtain the nobility, since the priestly pedigree was an insurmountable obstacle to acquiring a noble title.

Great-great-grandfather Yan (Ivan) Yakovlevich, a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy, “went to the Russian side”, settled in the Poltava region (currently the Poltava region of Ukraine), and from him the nickname “Yanovsky” came. (According to another version, they were Yanovskys, since they lived in the area of ​​Yanov). Having received a charter of nobility in 1792, Afanasy Demyanovich changed his surname “Yanovsky” to “Gogol-Yanovsky”. Gogol himself, being baptized “Yanovsky,” apparently did not know about the real origin of the surname and subsequently discarded it, saying that the Poles had invented it. Gogol's father, Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky (1777-1825), died when his son was 15 years old. It is believed that the stage activities of his father, who was a wonderful storyteller and wrote plays for home theater in Ukrainian, determined the interests of the future writer - Gogol showed an early interest in theater.

Gogol's mother Maria Ivanovna (1791-1868), born. Kosyarovskaya, was married at the age of fourteen in 1805. According to contemporaries, she was exceptionally pretty. The groom was twice her age. In addition to Nikolai, there were eleven more children in the family. There were six boys and six girls in total. The first two boys were stillborn. Gogol was the third child. The fourth son was Ivan (1810-1819), who died early. Then a daughter, Maria (1811-1844), was born. All middle children also died in infancy. The last born were daughters Anna (1821-1893), Elizaveta (1823-1864) and Olga (1825-1907).

Life in the village before school and after, during the holidays, went on in the fullest atmosphere of Ukrainian life, both lordly and peasant. Subsequently, these impressions formed the basis of Gogol’s Little Russian stories and served as the reason for his historical and ethnographic interests; Later, from St. Petersburg, Gogol constantly turned to his mother when he needed new everyday details for his stories. The influence of his mother is credited with the inclinations of religiosity and mysticism, which by the end of his life took possession of Gogol’s entire being.

At the age of ten, Gogol was taken to Poltava to one of the local teachers to prepare for the gymnasium; then he entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn (from May 1821 to June 1828). Gogol was not a diligent student, but had an excellent memory, prepared for exams in a few days and moved from class to class; he was very weak in languages ​​and made progress only in drawing and Russian literature.

Apparently, the gymnasium itself, which was not very well organized in the first years of its existence, was partly to blame for the poor teaching; for example, history was taught by rote learning; literature teacher Nikolsky extolled the importance of Russian literature XVIII century and did not approve of the contemporary poetry of Pushkin and Zhukovsky, which, however, only increased the interest of schoolchildren in romantic literature. Moral education lessons were supplemented with the rod. Gogol got it too.

The shortcomings of the school were made up for by self-education in a circle of comrades, where there were people who shared literary interests with Gogol (Gerasim Vysotsky, who apparently had considerable influence on him at that time; Alexander Danilevsky, who remained his friend for life, as did Nikolai Prokopovich; Nestor Kukolnik, with whom, however, Gogol never agreed).

Comrades contributed magazines; They started their own handwritten journal, where Gogol wrote a lot in poetry. At that time, he wrote elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems and stories, as well as the satire “Something about Nezhin, or There is no law for fools.” Along with literary interests, a love for the theater also developed, where Gogol, already distinguished by his unusual comedy, was the most zealous participant (from the second year of his stay in Nizhyn). Gogol's youthful experiences were formed in the style of romantic rhetoric - not in the taste of Pushkin, whom Gogol already admired then, but rather in the taste of Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.

The death of his father was a heavy blow for the whole family. Concerns about business also fall on Gogol; he gives advice, reassures his mother, and must think about the future arrangement of his own affairs. The mother idolizes her son Nikolai, considers him a genius, she gives him the last of her meager funds to provide for his life in Nezhin, and subsequently in St. Petersburg. Nikolai also paid her all his life with ardent filial love, but there was no complete understanding and trusting relationship between them. Later, he would renounce his share of the common family inheritance in favor of his sisters in order to devote himself entirely to literature.

By the end of his time at the gymnasium, he dreams of a wide social activities, which, however, he sees not at all in the literary field; no doubt under the influence of everything around him, he thinks to advance and benefit society in a service for which in reality he was not capable. Thus, plans for the future were unclear; but Gogol was sure that he had a wide career ahead of him; he is already talking about the instructions of providence and cannot be satisfied with what ordinary people are content with, as he put it, which were the majority of his Nizhyn comrades.

Saint Petersburg

In December 1828, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg. Here, for the first time, severe disappointment awaited him: his modest means turned out to be completely insignificant in the big city, and his brilliant hopes were not realized as quickly as he expected. His letters home at that time were a mixture of this disappointment and a vague hope for a better future. He had a lot of character and practical enterprise in reserve: he tried to enter the stage, become an official, and devote himself to literature.

He was not accepted as an actor; the service was so meaningless that he began to feel burdened by it; the more attracted he was to the literary field. In St. Petersburg, at first he kept to a society of fellow countrymen, which consisted partly of former comrades. He found that Little Russia aroused keen interest not only among Ukrainians, but also among Russians; experienced failures turned his poetic dreams to his native Ukraine, and from here the first plans for work arose, which was supposed to give rise to the need for artistic creativity, as well as bring practical benefits: these were plans for “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka.”

But before that he published under a pseudonym V. Alova the romantic idyll “Hanz Küchelgarten” (1829), which was written back in Nizhyn (he himself marked it with the year 1827) and whose hero was given the ideal dreams and aspirations that he was fulfilled in the last years of Nizhyn’s life. Soon after the book was published, he himself destroyed its circulation when the critics reacted unfavorably to his work.

In a restless search for life's work, Gogol at that time went abroad, by sea to Lubeck, but a month later he returned again to St. Petersburg (September 1829) - and then explained his action by the fact that God showed him the way to a foreign land, or referred to hopeless love . In reality, he was running from himself, from the discord between his lofty and arrogant dreams and practical life. “He was drawn to some fantastic land of happiness and reasonable productive work,” says his biographer; America seemed like such a country to him. In fact, instead of America, he ended up serving in the III Division thanks to the patronage of Thaddeus Bulgarin. However, his stay there was short-lived. Ahead of him was service in the department of appanages (April 1830), where he remained until 1832. In 1830, the first literary acquaintances were made: Orest Somov, Baron Delvig, Pyotr Pletnev. In 1831, there was a rapprochement with the circle of Zhukovsky and Pushkin, which had a decisive influence on his future fate and on his literary activities.

The failure of Hanz Küchelgarten was a tangible indication of the need for a different literary path; but even earlier, from the first months of 1829, Gogol besieged his mother with requests to send him information about Ukrainian customs, legends, costumes, as well as to send “notes kept by the ancestors of some old surname, ancient manuscripts,” etc. All this was material for future stories from Ukrainian life and legends, which became the beginning of his literary fame. He already took some part in the publications of that time: at the beginning of 1830, “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” was published in Svinin’s “Notes of the Fatherland” (with editorial corrections); at the same time (1829) “Sorochinskaya Fair” and “May Night” were started or written.

Gogol then published other works in the publications of Baron Delvig “ Literary newspaper" and "Northern Flowers", where a chapter from historical novel"Hetman". Perhaps Delvig recommended him to Zhukovsky, who received Gogol with great cordiality: apparently, from the first time the mutual sympathy of people related by love of art, by religiosity inclined to mysticism was felt between them - after that they became very close friends.

Zhukovsky handed over the young man to Pletnev with a request to place him, and indeed, in February 1831, Pletnev recommended Gogol for the position of teacher at the Patriotic Institute, where he himself was an inspector. Having gotten to know Gogol better, Pletnev waited for the opportunity to “bring him under Pushkin’s blessing”: this happened in May of the same year. Gogol's entry into this circle, which soon recognized his great emerging talent, had a huge impact on Gogol's fate. Finally, the prospect of the broad activity that he had dreamed of opened before him, but not in the official field, but in the literary field.

In material terms, Gogol could have been helped by the fact that, in addition to a place at the institute, Pletnev provided him with the opportunity to conduct private classes with the Longinovs, Balabins, and Vasilchikovs; but the main thing was the moral influence that this new environment had on Gogol. In 1834, he was appointed to the post of adjunct in the department of history at St. Petersburg University. He entered the circle of people who stood at the head of Russian fiction: his long-standing poetic aspirations could develop in all their breadth, his instinctive understanding of art could become a deep consciousness; Pushkin's personality made an extraordinary impression on him and forever remained an object of worship for him. Serving art became for him a high and strict moral duty, the requirements of which he tried to fulfill religiously.

Hence, by the way, his slow manner of work, the long definition and development of the plan and all the details. The society of people with a broad literary education was generally useful for a young man with meager knowledge learned from school: his powers of observation become deeper, and with each new work his creative level reaches new heights. At Zhukovsky, Gogol met a select circle, partly literary, partly aristocratic; in the latter, he soon began a relationship that would play a significant role in his life in the future, for example, with the Vielgorskys; At the Balabins he met the brilliant maid of honor Alexandra Rosetti (later Smirnova). The horizon of his life observations expanded, long-standing aspirations gained ground, and Gogol’s high concept of his destiny became the utmost conceit: on the one hand, his mood became sublimely idealistic, on the other, the prerequisites for religious quests arose, which marked the last years of his life.

This time was the most active era of his work. After small works, some of which were mentioned above, his first major literary work, which marked the beginning of his fame, was “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. Stories published by the pasichnik Rudy Panko”, published in St. Petersburg in 1831 and 1832, in two parts (the first contained “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “May Night, or the Drowned Woman”, “The Missing Letter”; in the second - “The Night Before Christmas”, “Terrible Revenge, Ancient True Story”, “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, “Enchanted Place”).

These stories, depicting scenes of Ukrainian life in an unprecedented way, shining with gaiety and subtle humor, made a great impression on Pushkin. The next collections were first “Arabesques”, then “Mirgorod”, both published in 1835 and composed partly from articles published in 1830-1834, and partly from new works published for the first time. That's when Gogol's literary fame became undeniable.

He grew up in the eyes of both his inner circle and the younger literary generation in general. Meanwhile, events took place in Gogol's personal life that in various ways influenced the internal structure of his thoughts and fantasies and his external affairs. In 1832, he was in his homeland for the first time after completing a course in Nizhyn. The path lay through Moscow, where he met people who later became his more or less close friends: Mikhail Pogodin, Mikhail Maksimovich, Mikhail Shchepkin, Sergei Aksakov.

Staying at home initially surrounded him with impressions of his native, beloved environment, memories of the past, but then also with severe disappointments. Household affairs were upset; Gogol himself was no longer the enthusiastic young man he had been when he left his homeland: life experience taught him to look deeper into reality and see its often sad, even tragic basis behind its outer shell. Soon his “Evenings” began to seem to him like a superficial youthful experience, the fruit of that “youth during which no questions come to mind.”

Ukrainian life and at that time she provided material for his imagination, but the mood was different: in the stories of “Mirgorod” this sad note constantly sounds, reaching high pathos. Returning to St. Petersburg, Gogol worked hard on his works: this was generally the most active time of his creative activity; At the same time, he continued to make life plans.

From the end of 1833, he was carried away by a thought as unrealizable as his previous plans for service were: it seemed to him that he could enter the scientific field. At that time, the opening of Kyiv University was being prepared, and he dreamed of occupying the department of history there, which he taught to girls at the Patriotic Institute. Maksimovich was invited to Kyiv; Gogol dreamed of starting classes in Kyiv with him, and wanted to invite Pogodin there too; in Kyiv, Russian Athens appeared to his imagination, where he himself thought of writing something unprecedented in universal history, and at the same time studying Ukrainian antiquity.

However, it turned out that the department of history was given to another person; but soon, thanks to the influence of his high literary friends, he was offered the same chair at St. Petersburg University. He actually occupied this pulpit; Several times he managed to give an effective lecture, but then the task turned out to be beyond his strength, and he himself refused the professorship in 1835. In 1834 he wrote several articles on the history of the Western and Eastern Middle Ages.

In 1832, his work was somewhat suspended due to domestic and personal troubles. But already in 1833 he worked hard again, and the result of these years were the two mentioned collections. First, Arabesques came out (two parts, St. Petersburg, 1835), which contained several articles of popular scientific content on history and art (“Sculpture, painting and music”; a few words about Pushkin; about architecture; about teaching general history; a look at the state of Ukraine; about Ukrainian songs, etc.), but at the same time also new stories “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospekt” and “Notes of a Madman”.

Then in the same year “Mirgorod” was released. Stories that serve as a continuation of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" (two parts, St. Petersburg, 1835). A whole series of works were placed here, in which new striking features of Gogol’s talent were revealed. In the first part of “Mirgorod” “Old World Landowners” and “Taras Bulba” appeared; in the second - “Viy” and “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.”

Subsequently (1842) “Taras Bulba” was completely reworked by Gogol. Being a professional historian, Gogol used factual materials to construct the plot and develop the characteristic characters of the novel. The events that formed the basis of the novel are the peasant-Cossack uprisings of 1637-1638, led by Gunya and Ostryanin. Apparently, the writer used the diaries of a Polish eyewitness to these events - military chaplain Simon Okolsky.

The plans for some other works of Gogol date back to the early thirties, such as the famous “The Overcoat”, “The Stroller”, perhaps “Portrait” in its revised version; these works appeared in the “Contemporary” of Pushkin (1836) and Pletnev (1842) and in the first collected works (1842); a later stay in Italy includes “Rome” in Pogodin’s “Moskvityanin” (1842).

The first idea of ​​“The Inspector General” dates back to 1834. The surviving manuscripts of Gogol indicate that he worked on his works extremely carefully: from what has survived from these manuscripts, it is clear how the work in its completed form known to us grew gradually from the initial outline, becoming more and more complicated with details and finally reaching that amazing artistic completeness and vitality with which we know them at the end of a process that sometimes lasted for years.

The main plot of The Inspector General, as well as the plot of Dead Souls later, was communicated to Gogol by Pushkin. The entire creation, from the plan to the last details, was the fruit of Gogol’s own creativity: an anecdote that could be told in a few lines turned into a rich work of art.

“The Inspector” caused endless work of determining the plan and details of execution; There are a number of sketches, in whole and in parts, and the first printed form of the comedy appeared in 1836. The old passion for the theater took possession of Gogol to an extreme degree: comedy did not leave his head; he was languidly fascinated by the idea of ​​coming face to face with society; he took the greatest care to ensure that the play was performed in accordance with his own idea about characters and action; The production encountered various obstacles, including censorship, and finally could only be carried out by the will of Emperor Nicholas.

“The Inspector General” had an extraordinary effect: the Russian stage had never seen anything like it; the reality of Russian life was conveyed with such force and truth that although, as Gogol himself said, it was only about six provincial officials who turned out to be rogues, the whole society rebelled against him, which felt that it was about a whole principle, a whole order life, in which it itself resides.

But, on the other hand, the comedy was greeted with the greatest enthusiasm by those elements of society who were aware of the existence of these shortcomings and the need to overcome them, and especially by the young literary generation, who saw here once again, as in the previous works of their favorite writer, a whole revelation, a new, the emerging period of Russian art and Russian public. Thus, “The Inspector General” split public opinion. If for the conservative-bureaucratic part of society the play seemed like a demarche, then for the seeking and free-thinking fans of Gogol it was a definite manifesto.

Gogol himself was interested, first of all, in the literary aspect; in social terms, he stood completely in line with the point of view of his friends in the Pushkin circle, he only wanted more honesty and truth in this order of things, and that is why he was especially struck by the discordant noise of misunderstanding that arose around his play. Subsequently, in “Theatrical Tour after the Presentation of a New Comedy,” he, on the one hand, conveyed the impression that “The Inspector General” made in various strata of society, and on the other, he expressed his own thoughts about the great importance of theater and artistic truth.

The first dramatic plans appeared to Gogol even before The Inspector General. In 1833, he was absorbed in the comedy “Vladimir of the 3rd Degree”; it was not completed by him, but its material served for several dramatic episodes, like “Morning of a Business Man,” “Litigation,” “Lackey” and “Excerpt.” The first of these plays appeared in Pushkin's Sovremennik (1836), the rest - in the first collection of his works (1842).

In the same meeting, “Marriage”, sketches of which date back to the same 1833, and “Players”, conceived in the mid-1830s, appeared for the first time. Tired of the creative tension of recent years and the moral anxieties that The Government Inspector cost him, Gogol decided to take a break from work by going on a trip abroad.

Abroad

In June 1836, Nikolai Vasilyevich went abroad, where he stayed, intermittently, for about ten years. At first, life abroad seemed to strengthen and calm him, giving him the opportunity to complete his greatest work, “Dead Souls” - but it also became the embryo of deeply fatal phenomena. The experience of working with this book, the contradictory reaction of his contemporaries to it, just as in the case of “The Inspector General,” convinced him of the enormous influence and ambiguous power of his talent over the minds of his contemporaries. This thought gradually began to take shape in the idea of ​​one’s prophetic destiny, and, accordingly, of using one’s prophetic gift by the power of one’s talent for the benefit of society, and not to its detriment.

He lived abroad in Germany and Switzerland, spent the winter with A. Danilevsky in Paris, where he met and became especially close to Smirnova and where he was caught by the news of Pushkin’s death, which shocked him terribly.

In March 1837, he was in Rome, which he fell in love with greatly and became like a second homeland for him. European political and social life always remained alien and completely unfamiliar to Gogol; he was attracted by nature and works of art, and Rome at that time represented precisely these interests. Gogol studied ancient monuments, art galleries, visited artists’ workshops, admired people’s life and loved to show Rome and “treat” it to visiting Russian acquaintances and friends.

But in Rome he worked hard: the main subject of this work was “Dead Souls,” conceived in St. Petersburg in 1835; here, in Rome, he finished “The Overcoat”, wrote the story “Anunziata”, later remade into “Rome”, wrote a tragedy from the life of the Cossacks, which, however, after several alterations he destroyed.

In the fall of 1839, he and Pogodin went to Russia, to Moscow, where he was met by the Aksakovs, who were enthusiastic about the writer’s talent. Then he went to St. Petersburg, where he had to take his sisters from the institute; then he returned to Moscow again; in St. Petersburg and Moscow, he read the completed chapters of “Dead Souls” to his closest friends.

Having arranged his affairs, Gogol again went abroad, to his beloved Rome; He promised his friends to return in a year and bring the finished first volume of Dead Souls. By the summer of 1841, the first volume was ready. In September of this year, Gogol went to Russia to print his book.

He again had to endure the severe anxieties that he had once experienced during the production of “The Inspector General” on stage. The book was first submitted to the Moscow censorship, which was going to completely ban it; then the book was submitted to the St. Petersburg censorship and, thanks to the participation of Gogol’s influential friends, was, with some exceptions, allowed. It was published in Moscow (“The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls, poem by N. Gogol,” M., 1842).

In June, Gogol went abroad again. This last stay abroad was the final turning point in Gogol’s state of mind. He lived now in Rome, now in Germany, in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, now in Nice, now in Paris, now in Ostend, often in the circle of his closest friends - Zhukovsky, Smirnova, Vielgorsky, Tolstoy, and his religious -the prophetic direction mentioned above.

A high idea of ​​his talent and the responsibility that lay upon him led him to the conviction that he was doing something providential: in order to expose human vices and take a broad look at life, one must strive for internal improvement, which is given only by thinking of God. Several times he had to endure serious illnesses, which further increased his religious mood; in his circle he found favorable soil for the development of religious exaltation - he adopted a prophetic tone, self-confidently gave instructions to his friends and eventually came to the conviction that what he had done so far was unworthy of the high goal to which he considered himself called. If before he said that the first volume of his poem was nothing more than a porch to the palace that was being built in it, then at that time he was ready to reject everything he wrote as sinful and unworthy of his high mission.

Nikolai Gogol was not in good health since childhood. The death of his younger brother Ivan in adolescence and the untimely death of his father left their mark on him. state of mind. Work on the continuation of “Dead Souls” was not going well, and the writer experienced painful doubts that he would be able to bring his planned work to the end. In the summer of 1845, he was overtaken by a painful mental crisis. He writes a will and burns the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. To commemorate his deliverance from death, Gogol decides to go to a monastery and become a monk, but monasticism did not take place. But his mind was presented with the new content of the book, enlightened and purified; It seemed to him that he understood how to write in order to “direct the whole society towards the beautiful.” He decides to serve God in the field of literature. New work began, and in the meantime he was occupied by another thought: he rather wanted to tell society what he considered useful for him, and he decides to collect in one book everything he wrote in recent years to friends in the spirit of his new mood and orders the publication of this Pletnev's book. These were “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” (St. Petersburg, 1847).

Most of the letters that make up this book date back to 1845 and 1846, the time when Gogol's religious mood reached its highest development. 1840s - the time of formation and demarcation of two different ideologies in contemporary Russian educated society. Gogol remained alien to this demarcation, despite the fact that each of the two warring parties - Westerners and Slavophiles - laid their legal rights on Gogol. The book made a grave impression on both of them, since Gogol thought in completely different categories. Even his Aksakov friends turned away from him. Gogol with his tone of prophecy and edification, preaching humility, because of which, however, one could see his own conceit; condemnations of previous works, complete approval of existing social orders clearly discorded with those ideologists who hoped only for the social reorganization of society. Gogol, without rejecting the expediency of social reorganization, saw the main goal in spiritual self-improvement. Therefore, for many years the subject of his study became the works of the Church Fathers. But, not joining either the Westerners or the Slavophiles, Gogol stopped halfway, not completely joining spiritual literature - Seraphim of Sarov, Ignatius (Brianchaninov), etc.

The book’s impression on Gogol’s literary fans, who wanted to see in him only the leader of the “natural school,” was depressing. The highest degree of indignation aroused by “Selected Places” was expressed in Belinsky’s famous letter from Salzbrunn.

Gogol was painfully worried about the failure of his book. Only A. O. Smirnova and P. A. Pletnev were able to support him at that moment, but these were only private epistolary opinions. He explained the attacks on her partly by his mistake, by exaggerating the edifying tone, and by the fact that the censor did not miss several important letters in the book; but he could explain the attacks of former literary adherents only by calculations of parties and pride. The social meaning of this polemic was alien to him.

In a similar sense, he then wrote the “Preface to the second edition of Dead Souls”; “The Inspector's Denouement,” where he wanted to give the free artistic creation the character of a moralizing allegory, and “Pre-Notification,” where it was announced that the fourth and fifth editions of “The Inspector General” would be sold for the benefit of the poor... The failure of the book had an overwhelming effect on Gogol. He had to admit that a mistake had been made; even friends, like S. T. Aksakov, told him that the mistake was gross and pathetic; he himself confessed to Zhukovsky: “I swung such Khlestakov in my book that I don’t have the courage to look into it.”

In his letters since 1847, there is no longer the former arrogant tone of preaching and edification; he saw that it is possible to describe Russian life only in the midst of it and by studying it. His refuge remained a religious feeling: he decided that he could not continue work without fulfilling his long-standing intention to venerate the Holy Sepulcher. At the end of 1847 he moved to Naples and at the beginning of 1848 he sailed to Palestine, from where he finally returned to Russia through Constantinople and Odessa.

His stay in Jerusalem did not have the effect he expected. “I have never been so little pleased with the state of my heart as in Jerusalem and after Jerusalem,” he says. “It was as if I was at the Holy Sepulcher so that I could feel there on the spot how much coldness of heart I had, how much selfishness and selfishness.”

Gogol calls his impressions of Palestine sleepy; Once caught in the rain in Nazareth, he thought he was just sitting at a station in Russia. He spent the end of spring and summer in the village with his mother, and on September 1 he moved to Moscow; spent the summer of 1849 with Smirnova in the village and in Kaluga, where Smirnova’s husband was the governor; the summer of 1850 lived again with his family; then he lived for some time in Odessa, was at home again, and in the fall of 1851 he settled again in Moscow, where he lived in the house of his friend Count Alexander Tolstoy (No. 7 on Nikitsky Boulevard).

He continued to work on the second volume of Dead Souls and read excerpts from it from the Aksakovs, but the same painful struggle between the artist and the Christian that had been going on in him since the early forties continued. As was his custom, he revised what he had written many times, probably succumbing to one mood or another. Meanwhile, his health became increasingly weaker; in January 1852 he was struck by the death of Khomyakov’s wife, who was the sister of his friend Yazykov; he was overcome by the fear of death; he gave up his literary studies and began to fast at Maslenitsa; One day, when he was spending the night in prayer, he heard voices saying that he would soon die.

Death

From the end of January 1852, Rzhev Archpriest Matthew Konstantinovsky, whom Gogol met in 1849, and before that was acquaintance by correspondence, stayed in the house of Count Alexander Tolstoy. Complex, sometimes harsh conversations took place between them, the main content of which was Gogol’s insufficient humility and piety, for example, the demand for Fr. Matthew: “Renounce Pushkin.” Gogol invited him to read the white version of the second part of “Dead Souls” for review, in order to listen to his opinion, but was refused by the priest. Gogol insisted on his own until he took the notebooks with the manuscript to read. Archpriest Matthew became the only lifetime reader of the manuscript of the 2nd part. Returning it to the author, he spoke out against the publication of a number of chapters, “even asked to destroy” them (previously, he also gave a negative review of “Selected Passages ...", calling the book “harmful”).

The death of Khomyakova, the conviction of Konstantinovsky and, perhaps, other reasons convinced Gogol to abandon his creativity and begin fasting a week before Lent. On February 5, he saw off Konstantinovsky and since that day he has eaten almost nothing. On February 10, he handed Count A. Tolstoy a briefcase with manuscripts to be handed over to Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, but the Count refused this order so as not to deepen Gogol’s dark thoughts.

Gogol stops leaving the house. At 3 a.m. from Monday to Tuesday 11-12 (23-24) February 1852, that is, on Great Compline on the Monday of the first week of Lent, Gogol woke up his servant Semyon, ordered him to open the stove valves and bring a briefcase from the closet. Taking a bunch of notebooks out of it, Gogol put them in the fireplace and burned them. The next morning he told Count Tolstoy that he wanted to burn only some things that had been prepared in advance, but he burned everything under the influence of an evil spirit. Gogol, despite the admonitions of his friends, continued to strictly observe fasting; On February 18, I went to bed and stopped eating completely. All this time, friends and doctors are trying to help the writer, but he refuses help, internally preparing for death.

On February 20, the medical council decided to compulsorily treat Gogol, the result of which was final exhaustion and loss of strength, in the evening he fell into unconsciousness, and on the morning of February 21, Thursday, he died.

An inventory of Gogol's property showed that he left behind personal belongings worth 43 rubles 88 kopecks. The items included in the inventory were complete cast-offs and spoke of the writer’s complete indifference to his appearance in the last months of his life. At the same time, S.P. Shevyrev still had more than two thousand rubles in his hands, donated by Gogol for charitable purposes to needy students at Moscow University. Gogol did not consider this money his own, and Shevyrev did not return it to the writer’s heirs.

Funeral and grave of Gogol

On the initiative of Moscow State University professor Timofey Granovsky, the funeral was held as a public one; Contrary to the initial wishes of Gogol's friends, at the insistence of his superiors, the writer was buried in the university church of the martyr Tatiana. The funeral took place on Sunday afternoon on February 24 (March 7), 1852 at the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. A bronze cross was installed on the grave, standing on a black tombstone (“Golgotha”), and on it was carved the inscription: “I will laugh at my bitter word” (quote from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, 20, 8).

In 1930, the Danilov Monastery was finally closed, and the necropolis was soon liquidated. On May 31, 1931, Gogol’s grave was opened and his remains were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery. Golgotha ​​was also moved there, but the official examination report drawn up by the NKVD officers, now stored in TsGALI (f. 139, No. 61), is disputed by the unreliable and mutually exclusive memories of a participant and witness to the exhumation of the writer Vladimir Lidin. According to one of his memoirs (“Transferring the Ashes of N.V. Gogol”), written fifteen years after the event, and published posthumously in 1991 in the Russian Archive, the writer’s skull was missing from Gogol’s grave.

According to his other memories, transmitted in the form of oral stories to students of the Literary Institute when Lidin was a professor at this institute in the 1970s, Gogol’s skull was turned on its side. This, in particular, is evidenced by former student V. G. Lidina, and later senior researcher at the State Literary Museum Yu. V. Alekhin. Both of these versions are apocryphal in nature, they gave rise to many legends, including the burial of Gogol in a state of lethargic sleep and the theft of Gogol’s skull for the collection of the famous Moscow collector of theatrical antiquities A. A. Bakhrushin. Numerous memories of the desecration of Gogol’s grave are of the same contradictory nature. Soviet writers(and Lidin himself) during the exhumation of Gogol’s burial, published by the media from the words of V. G. Lidin.

In 1952, instead of Golgotha, a new monument was installed on the grave in the form of a pedestal with a bust of Gogol by the sculptor Tomsky, on which is inscribed: “To the great Russian wordsmith Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol from the government of the Soviet Union.”

Golgotha ​​was in the workshops for some time as unnecessary Novodevichy Cemetery, where it was discovered by the widow of M.A. Bulgakov, E.S. Bulgakova, with the inscription already scraped off. She was looking for a suitable headstone for the grave of her late husband. According to legend, I. S. Aksakov himself chose the stone for Gogol’s grave somewhere in the Crimea (cutters called the stone “Black Sea granite”). Elena Sergeevna bought the tombstone, after which it was installed over the grave of Mikhail Afanasyevich. Thus, M. A. Bulgakov’s dream came true: “Teacher, cover me with your cast-iron overcoat.”

Currently - on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth - on the initiative of members of the anniversary organizing committee, the grave has been given almost its original appearance: a bronze cross on a black stone.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

• End of 1828 - Trut apartment building - embankment of the Catherine Canal, 72;
• beginning of 1829 - Galibin apartment building - Gorokhovaya Street, 46;
• April - July 1829 - house of I.-A. Jochima - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya Street, 39;
• end of 1829 - May 1831 - Zverkov apartment building - embankment of the Catherine Canal, 69;
• August 1831 - May 1832 - Brunst apartment building - Ofitserskaya Street (until 1918, now - Dekabristov Street), 4;
• summer 1833 - June 6, 1836 - courtyard wing of the Lepen house - Malaya Morskaya Street, 17, apt. 10. Historical monument of Federal significance; Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. No. 7810075000 // Site “Objects cultural heritage(historical and cultural monuments) of peoples Russian Federation" Verified
• October 30 - November 2, 1839 - P. A. Pletnev’s apartment in Stroganov’s house - Nevsky Prospekt, 38;
• May - July 1842 - P. A. Pletnev’s apartment in the rector’s wing of the St. Petersburg Imperial University - Universitetskaya embankment, 9.

Creation

Early Explorers literary activity It seemed to Gogol, wrote A. N. Pypin, that his work was divided into two periods: the first, when he served the “progressive aspirations” of society, and the second, when he became religiously conservative.

Another approach to the study of Gogol’s biography, which included, among other things, an analysis of his correspondence, which revealed his inner life, allowed researchers to come to the conclusion that, no matter how contradictory the motives of his stories, “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” may be, with on the one hand, and “Selected Passages” - on the other, in the writer’s personality itself there was not the turning point that was supposed to be in it, one direction was not abandoned and another, opposite one was adopted; on the contrary, it was one integral inner life, where already at an early time there were the makings of later phenomena, where the main feature of this life did not cease - service to art; but this personal life was complicated by the internal mutual contestation of the idealist poet, the citizen writer and the consistent Christian.

Gogol himself said about the properties of his talent: “The only thing that worked out well for me was what I took from reality, from the data known to me.” At the same time, the faces he depicted were not simply a repetition of reality: they were entire artistic types in which human nature was deeply understood. His heroes more often than any other Russian writer became household names.

Another personal feature of Gogol was that from his earliest years, from the first glimpses of his young consciousness, he was excited by sublime aspirations, the desire to serve society in something high and beneficial; from an early age he hated limited self-satisfaction, devoid of internal content, and this trait was later reflected, in the 1830s, by a conscious desire to expose social ills and depravity, and it also developed into a high idea of ​​​​the importance of art, standing above the crowd as the highest enlightenment of the ideal ...

All of Gogol's fundamental ideas about life and literature were ideas of the Pushkin circle. Artistic feeling he was strong and appreciated Gogol’s unique talent, the circle also took care of his personal affairs. As A. N. Pypin believed, Pushkin expected great artistic merit from Gogol’s works, but he hardly expected their social significance, as Pushkin’s friends later did not fully appreciate him and as Gogol himself was ready to distance himself from him.

Gogol distanced himself from the understanding of the social significance of his works, which was invested in them by the literary criticism of V. G. Belinsky and his circle, social-utopian criticism. But at the same time, Gogol himself was no stranger to utopianism in the sphere of social reconstruction, only his utopia was not socialist, but Orthodox.

The idea of ​​“Dead Souls” in its final form is nothing more than showing the path to goodness for absolutely any person. The three parts of the poem are a kind of repetition of “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. The fallen heroes of the first part rethink their existence in the second part and are spiritually reborn in the third. Thus, the literary work was loaded with the applied task of correcting human vices. The history of literature before Gogol did not know such a grandiose plan. And at the same time, the writer intended to write his poem not just conventionally schematic, but lively and convincing.

After the death of Pushkin, Gogol became close to the circle of Slavophiles, or actually with Pogodin and Shevyrev, S. T. Aksakov and Yazykov; but he remained alien to the theoretical content of Slavophilism, and it had no influence on the composition of his work. In addition to personal affection, he found here warm sympathy for his works, as well as for his religious and dreamily conservative ideas. Gogol did not see Russia without monarchy and Orthodoxy; he was convinced that the church should not exist separately from the state. However, later in the elder Aksakov he encountered resistance to his views expressed in “Selected Places.”

The most acute moment of the clash between Gogol’s worldview and the aspirations of the revolutionary part of society was Belinsky’s letter from Salzbrunn, the very tone of which painfully wounded the writer (Belinsky, with his authority, established Gogol as the head of Russian literature during Pushkin’s lifetime), but Belinsky’s criticism could no longer change anything in the spiritual makeup Gogol, and the last years of his life passed, as they say, in a painful struggle between the artist and the Orthodox thinker.

For Gogol himself, this struggle remained unresolved; he was broken by this internal discord, but, nevertheless, the significance of Gogol’s main works for literature was extremely deep. Not to mention the purely artistic merits of performance, which, after Pushkin himself, increased the level of possible artistic perfection among writers, its deep psychological analysis had no equal in previous literature and expanded the range of topics and possibilities of literary writing.

However, artistic merit alone cannot explain either the enthusiasm with which his works were received by younger generations, or the hatred with which they were met among the conservative masses of society. By the will of fate, Gogol became the banner of a new social movement, which was formed outside the sphere of the writer’s creative activity, but in a strange way intersected with his biography, since this social movement did not have any other figures of similar scale at that moment for this role. In turn, Gogol misinterpreted the hopes of readers placed on the ending of Dead Souls. The hastily published summary equivalent of the poem in the form of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” resulted in a feeling of annoyance and irritation among the deceived readers, since Gogol the humorist had developed a strong reputation among readers. The public was not yet ready for a different perception of the writer.

The spirit of humanity, which distinguishes the works of Dostoevsky and other writers after Gogol, is already clearly revealed in Gogol’s prose, for example, in “The Overcoat,” “Notes of a Madman,” and “Dead Souls.” The first work of Dostoevsky is adjacent to Gogol to the point of obviousness. In the same way, the depiction of the negative aspects of landowner life, adopted by the writers of the “natural school,” is usually traced back to Gogol. In their subsequent work, new writers made independent contributions to the content of literature, as life posed and developed new questions, but the first thoughts were given by Gogol.

Gogol's works coincided with the emergence of social interest, which they greatly served and from which literature did not emerge until the end of the 19th century. But the evolution of the writer himself was much more complex than the formation of a “natural school.” Gogol himself had little overlap with the “Gogolian trend” in literature. It is curious that in 1852, for a short article in memory of Gogol, Turgenev was arrested in his unit and subjected to a month-long exile to the village. For a long time, the explanation for this was found in the dislike of the Nikolaev government towards Gogol the satirist. It was later established that the true motive for the ban was the government’s desire to punish the author of “Notes of a Hunter,” and the ban on the obituary due to the author’s violation of censorship regulations (printing in Moscow an article banned by censorship in St. Petersburg) was only a reason to stop the activities of a socially dangerous person from the point of view of Nikolaev censorship of the writer. There was no single assessment of Gogol’s personality as a pro-government or anti-government writer among the officials of Nicholas I. One way or another, the second edition of the Works, begun in 1851 by Gogol himself and not completed due to his premature death, could only be published in 1855-1856. But Gogol’s connection with subsequent literature is beyond doubt.

This connection was not limited to the 19th century. In the next century, the development of Gogol's work took place at a new stage. Symbolist writers found a lot for themselves in Gogol: imagery, sense of words, “new religious consciousness” - F. K. Sologub, Andrei Bely, D. S. Merezhkovsky, etc. Later, M. A. Bulgakov established their continuity with Gogol , V.V. Nabokov.

Gogol and Orthodoxy

Gogol's personality has always been particularly mysterious. On the one hand, he was a classic type of satirical writer, an exposer of vices, social and human, a brilliant humorist, on the other, a pioneer in Russian literature of the patristic tradition, a religious thinker and publicist, and even an author of prayers. Its last quality has not yet been sufficiently studied and is reflected in the works of Doctor of Philology, Professor of Moscow State University. Lomonosov V.A. Voropaev, who is convinced that

Gogol was an Orthodox Christian, and his Orthodoxy was not nominal, but effective, believing that without this it is impossible to understand anything from his life and work.

Gogol received the beginnings of faith in his family. In a letter to his mother dated October 2, 1833 from St. Petersburg, Nikolai Gogol recalled the following: “I asked you to tell me about the Last Judgment, and you told me as a child so well, so clearly, so touchingly about the benefits that await people for a virtuous life, and they described the eternal torment of sinners so strikingly, so horribly, that it shocked and awakened all sensitivity in me. This sown and subsequently produced in me the highest thoughts.”

From a spiritual point of view, early work Gogol contains not just a collection humorous stories, but an extensive religious teaching in which there is a struggle between good and evil and good invariably wins, and sinners are punished. Gogol’s main work, the poem “Dead Souls,” also contains deep subtext. spiritual meaning the plan of which is revealed in the writer’s suicide note: “Be not dead, but living souls. There is no other door except that indicated by Jesus Christ..."

According to V. A. Voropaev, satire in such works as “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” is only their upper and shallow layer. Gogol conveyed the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200b“The Inspector General” in a play called “The Denouement of “The Inspector General””, where there are the following words: “... the auditor who is waiting for us at the door of the coffin is terrible.” In this, according to Voropaev, lies main idea works: we need to fear not Khlestakov or the auditor from St. Petersburg, but “He who is waiting for us at the door of the tomb”; This is the idea of ​​spiritual retribution, and the real auditor is our conscience.

Literary critic and writer I. P. Zolotussky believes that the now fashionable debate about whether Gogol was a mystic or not is unfounded. A person who believes in God cannot be a mystic: for him, God knows everything in the world; God is not a mystic, but a source of grace, and the divine is incompatible with the mystical. According to I.P. Zolotussky, Gogol was “a Christian believer in the bosom of the Church, and the concept of the mystical is not applicable either to himself or to his writings.” Although among his characters there are sorcerers and the devil, they are just heroes of a fairy tale, and the devil is often a parodic, comic figure (as, for example, in “Evenings on the Farm”). And in the second volume of “Dead Souls” a modern devil is introduced - a legal adviser, a rather civilized person in appearance, but in essence more terrible than any evil spirits. With the help of circulating anonymous papers, he created great confusion in the province and turned the existing relative order into complete chaos.

Gogol repeatedly visited Optina Pustyn, having the closest spiritual communication with Elder Macarius.

Gogol completed his writing journey with “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” - a Christian book. However, it has not yet been truly read, according to Zolotussky. Since the 19th century. It is generally accepted that the book is a mistake, a departure of the writer from his path. But perhaps it is his path, and even more so than other books. According to Zolotussky, these are two different things: the concept of the road (“Dead Souls” at first glance is a road novel) and the concept of the path, that is, the exit of the soul to the pinnacle of the ideal.

In July 2009, Patriarch Kirill blessed the release of the complete works of Nikolai Gogol in the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate during 2009. The new edition has been prepared at an academic level. IN working group The preparation of the complete works of N.V. Gogol included scientists and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Gogol and Russian-Ukrainian connections

The complex interweaving of two cultures in one person has always made the figure of Gogol the center of interethnic disputes, but Gogol himself did not need to find out whether he was Ukrainian or Russian - his friends dragged him into disputes about this. Until now, not a single work of the writer written in Ukrainian is known, and few writers of Russian origin have made a contribution to the development of the Russian language commensurate with Gogol’s.

Attempts were made to understand Gogol from the point of view of his Ukrainian origin: the latter explained, to a certain extent, his attitude towards Russian life. Gogol’s attachment to his homeland was very strong, especially in the first years of his literary activity and right up to the completion of the second edition of Taras Bulba, but his satirical attitude towards Russian life, no doubt, is explained not by his national properties, but by the entire nature of his internal development.

There is no doubt, however, that Ukrainian features were also reflected in the writer’s work. These are considered the features of his humor, which remains the only example of its kind in Russian literature. Ukrainian and Russian beginnings happily merged in this talent into one, extremely remarkable phenomenon.

A long stay abroad balanced the Ukrainian and Russian components of Gogol’s worldview; he now called Italy the homeland of his soul. The late Gogol’s understanding of the peculiarities of Russian-Ukrainian relations was reflected in the writer’s dispute with O. M. Bodyansky, conveyed by G. P. Danilevsky, about the Russian language and the work of Taras Shevchenko. " We, Osip Maksimovich, need to write in Russian, we need to strive to support and strengthen one, master language for all our native tribes. The dominant for Russians, Czechs, Ukrainians and Serbs should be a single sacred thing - the language of Pushkin, which is the Gospel for all Christians, Catholics, Lutherans and Herrnhuters... We, Little Russians and Russians, need one poetry, calm and strong, imperishable poetry of truth, goodness and beauty. Russian and Little Russian are the souls of twins, replenishing each other, relatives and equally strong. It is impossible to give preference to one over the other" From this dispute it becomes clear that by the end of his life the writer was worried not so much about national antagonism as about the antagonism of faith and unbelief.

At the end of XX - beginning of XXI centuries, when relations between two states - Ukraine and Russia - experienced better times, the attitude towards Gogol in Ukraine was ambiguous. For some politicians, he was inconvenient precisely because he was born in Ukraine and wrote in Russian, although in Gogol’s time there was no Ukrainian statehood, the Ukrainian people were considered part of the Russian people, and Ukrainian- Little Russian dialect.

Gogol and painters

Along with writing and an interest in theater, Gogol was passionate about painting from a young age. His high school letters to his parents speak about this. At the gymnasium, Gogol tried himself as a painter, book graphic artist (handwritten magazines “Meteor of Literature”, “Parnassian Manure”) and theater decorator. After leaving the gymnasium in St. Petersburg, Gogol continued his painting classes in evening classes at the Academy of Arts. Communication with Pushkin's circle, with K. P. Bryullov, makes him a passionate admirer of art. The latter’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” is the subject of an article in the collection “Arabesques”. In this article, as well as in other articles in the collection, Gogol defends a romantic view of the nature of art. The image of the artist, as well as the conflict between aesthetic and moral principles, will become central in his St. Petersburg stories “Nevsky Prospekt” and “Portrait”, written in the same 1833-1834 as his journalistic articles. Gogol’s article “On the Architecture of the Present Time” was an expression of the writer’s architectural predilections.

In Europe, Gogol enthusiastically indulges in the study of architectural monuments, sculpture, and paintings by old masters. A. O. Smirnova recalls how in the Strasbourg Cathedral “he drew with a pencil on a piece of paper the ornaments above the Gothic columns, marveling at the selectivity of the ancient masters, who made decorations above each column that were excellent from others. I looked at his work and was surprised at how clearly and beautifully he drew. “You draw so well!” I said. “But you didn’t know that?” answered Gogol.” Gogol’s romantic elation is replaced by a well-known sobriety (A. O. Smirnova) in his assessment of art: “Slimness in everything, that’s what’s beautiful.” Raphael becomes the most valued artist for Gogol. P.V. Annenkov: “Under these masses of greenery of Italian oak, plane tree, pina, etc. Gogol happened to be inspired as a painter (he, as you know, was a decent painter himself). Once he said to me: “If I were an artist, I would invent a special kind of landscape.” What kind of trees and landscapes they paint now!.. I would link tree to tree, mix up the branches, throw out light where no one expects it, that’s the kind of landscapes that should be painted!” In this sense, in the poetic depiction of Plyushkin’s garden in “Dead Souls,” the view, method and composition of Gogol the painter are clearly felt.

In 1837 in Rome, Gogol met Russian artists, boarders of the Imperial Academy of Arts: the engraver Fyodor Jordan, the author of a large engraving from Raphael’s painting “Transfiguration”, Alexander Ivanov, who was then working on the painting “The Appearance of the Messiah to the People”, F. A. Moller and others sent to Italy to improve their art. Especially close in a foreign land were A. A. Ivanov and F. I. Jordan, who together with Gogol represented a kind of triumvirate. The writer has a long-term friendship with Alexander Ivanov. The artist becomes the prototype of the hero of the updated version of the story “Portrait”. At the height of his relationship with A. O. Smirnova, Gogol gave her Ivanov’s watercolor “Groom Choosing a Ring for the Bride.” He jokingly called Jordan “Raphael of the first manner” and recommended his work to all his friends. Fyodor Moller painted a portrait of Gogol in Rome in 1840. In addition, seven more portraits of Gogol painted by Moller are known.

But most of all, Gogol valued Ivanov and his painting “The Appearance of the Messiah to the People.” He participated in the creation of the concept of the painting, took part as a sitter (the figure closest to Christ), and lobbied with whomever he could to extend the artist’s opportunity to work calmly and slowly above the painting, dedicated a large article to Ivanov in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” “The Historical Painter Ivanov”. Gogol contributed to Ivanov’s turn to writing genre watercolors and to the study of iconography. The painter reconsidered the relationship between the sublime and the comical in his paintings; in his new works, features of humor appeared that were previously completely alien to the artist. Ivanovo’s watercolors, in turn, are close in genre to the story “Rome”. On the other hand, Gogol was several years ahead of the initiatives of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in the field of studying the Old Russian Orthodox icon. Along with A. A. Agin and P. M. Boklevsky, Alexander Ivanov was one of the first illustrators of Gogol’s works.

The fate of Ivanov had much in common with the fate of Gogol himself: on the second part of “Dead Souls” Gogol worked as slowly as Ivanov did on his painting, both were equally hurried from all sides to finish their work, both were equally in need, unable to tear themselves away from what you love for extra income. And Gogol had both himself and Ivanov in mind equally when he wrote in his article: “Now everyone feels the absurdity of reproaching such an artist for slowness and laziness, who, like a worker, sat all his life at work and forgot even whether there was any kind of art in the world.” any pleasure other than work. The artist’s own spiritual work was connected with the production of this painting, a phenomenon that is too rare in the world.” On the other hand, A. A. Ivanov’s brother, architect Sergei Ivanov, testifies that A. A. Ivanov “never had the same thoughts as Gogol, he internally never agreed with him, but at the same time he never argued with him.” . Gogol’s article weighed heavily on the artist; the advance praise and premature fame fettered him and placed him in an ambiguous position. Despite personal sympathy and a common religious attitude towards art, the once inseparable friends, Gogol and Ivanov, towards the end of their lives become somewhat internally distant, despite the fact that correspondence between them does not stop until their last days.

Gogol in a group of Russian artists in Rome

In 1845, Sergei Levitsky came to Rome and met with Russian artists and Gogol. Taking advantage of the visit to Rome of the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts, Count Fyodor Tolstoy, Levitsky persuaded Gogol to appear in a daguerreotype together with a colony of Russian artists. The idea was connected with the arrival of Nicholas I to Rome from St. Petersburg. The Emperor personally visited the boarders of the Academy of Arts. More than twenty boarders were summoned to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, where, after Russian-Italian negotiations, Nicholas I arrived, accompanied by the vice-president of the Academy, Count F. P. Tolstoy. “Walking from the altar, Nicholas I turned around, greeted with a slight bow of his head and instantly looked around those gathered with his quick, brilliant gaze. “Your Majesty’s artists,” Count Tolstoy pointed out. “They say they are partying a lot,” the sovereign remarked. “But they also work,” answered the count.”

Among those depicted are architects Fyodor Eppinger, Karl Beine, Pavel Notbeck, Ippolit Monighetti, sculptors Peter Stawasser, Nikolai Ramazanov, Mikhail Shurupov, painters Pimen Orlov, Apollo Mokritsky, Mikhail Mikhailov, Vasily Sternberg. The daguerreotype was first published by critic V.V. Stasov in the magazine “Ancient and New Russia” for 1879, No. 12, who described those depicted as follows: “Look at these hats of the theatrical “brigants”, at the cloaks, as if unusually picturesque and majestic - what an unwitty and untalented masquerade! And yet, this is still a truly historical picture, because it sincerely and faithfully conveys a whole corner of the era, a whole chapter from Russian life, a whole strip of people, lives, and delusions.” From this article we know the names of those photographed and who is where. Thus, through the efforts of S. L. Levitsky, the only photographic portrait of the great writer was created. Later, in 1902, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Gogol’s death, in the studio of another outstanding portraitist, Karl Fischer, his image was cropped from this group photograph, retaken and enlarged.

Sergei Levitsky himself is present in the group of those photographed - second from left in the second row - without a frock coat.

Hypotheses about Gogol's personality

Gogol's personality attracted the attention of many cultural figures and scientists. Even during the writer’s lifetime, there were conflicting rumors about him, aggravated by his isolation, tendency to mythologize his own biography and mysterious death, which gave rise to many legends and hypotheses.

Some works of Gogol

• Dead souls
• see also: Which Russian doesn’t like driving fast?
• Auditor
• Marriage
• Theater crossing
• Evenings on a farm near Dikanka
• Mirgorod
• The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
• Old world landowners
• Taras Bulba
• Petersburg stories
• Nevsky Prospekt
• Overcoat
• Notes of a Madman
• Portrait
• Stroller
• Selected places from correspondence with friends

Influence on modern culture

Gogol's works have been filmed many times. Composers composed operas and ballets for his works. In addition, Gogol himself became the hero of films and other works of art.

Based on the novel “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” Step Creative Group released two quests: “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (2005) and “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (2006). The first game based on Gogol's story was Viy: A Story Told Again (2004).

An annual multidisciplinary festival is held in Ukraine contemporary art Gogolfest, named after the writer.

The writer's surname is reflected in the title music group Gogol Bordello, whose leader, Evgeny Gudz, is a native of Ukraine.

Images of Gogol can be found on postage stamps and coins.

Memory

• Streets in a number of cities in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other republics of the post-Soviet space, as well as in Harbin (China), are named after Gogol.
• A crater on Mercury and a steamship are named after Gogol.
• In Ukraine, the birthday of N.V. Gogol is celebrated by many citizens as a holiday of the Russian language and an occasion to remember the unity of the Slavic peoples

Monuments

• The first monument to Gogol in the empire by Parmen Zabila was erected in Nizhyn in 1881. Today there are two monuments to the writer in the city.
• In 1909, a monument to Gogol by sculptor N. A. Andreev was erected in Moscow, on Prechistensky Boulevard (now Gogolevsky). In 1951, the monument was moved to the Donskoy Monastery (currently located on Nikitsky Boulevard), and in its place a new one, created by N.V. Tomsky, was erected.
• In 1910, a bronze bust of Gogol by I. F. Tavbiy was installed on Elizavetinskaya Street in Tsaritsyn. Today it is the oldest monument in the city. The street was also renamed and became Gogolevskaya.
• In Dnepropetrovsk, on the corner of Gogol Street and Karl Marx Avenue, a monument to Nikolai Gogol was erected on May 17, 1959. Sculptors A. V. Sytnik, E. P. Kalishenko, A. A. Shrubshtok, architect V. A. Zuev.
• In Kyiv, at house No. 34 of Andreevsky Spusk, a monument to “The Nose” was erected, the prototype of which was the writer’s nose. Sculptor: Oleg Dergachev.
• There is a monument to Gogol in Poltava, a bust of the writer is installed in Zaporozhye, Mirgorod, Kharkov, Brest
• March 4, 1952, on the centenary of Gogol’s death, in the park on Manezhnaya Square Petersburg, a foundation stone was installed, the inscription on which read: “A monument to the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol will be built here.” The foundation stone existed in this form until 1999, when a fountain was installed in its place. As a result, another location was chosen for this monument, on the street. Malaya Konyushennaya.
• In Veliky Novgorod, on the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia”, among the 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history (as of 1862), there is the figure of N.V. Gogol.
• On August 13, 1982, a monument to the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was unveiled in Kyiv. In honor of the 1500th anniversary of the capital, a monument to the writer was erected on Rusanovskaya embankment in Kyiv.

Bibliography

Anthologies

• N.V. Gogol in Russian criticism: Sat. Art. / Prepare text by A.K. Kotov and M.Ya. Polyakov; Entry Art. and note. M. Ya. Polyakova.. - M.: State. published artist lit., 1953. - LXIV, 651 p.
• Gogol in Russian criticism: Anthology / Comp. S. G. Bocharov. - M.: Fortuna EL, 2008. - 720 p. - ISBN 978-5-9582-0042-9

First editions

• The first collected works were prepared by himself in 1842. He began preparing the second in 1851; it was already completed by his heirs: here the second part of “Dead Souls” appeared for the first time.
• In Kulish's publication in six volumes (1857), an extensive collection of Gogol's letters (the last two volumes) appeared for the first time.
• In the edition prepared by Chizhov (1867), “Selected passages from correspondence with friends” were printed in in full, with the inclusion of what was not passed by the censor in 1847.
• The tenth edition, published in 1889 under the editorship of N. S. Tikhonravov, is the best of all published in the 19th century: it is a scientific publication with text corrected from manuscripts and Gogol’s own editions, and with extensive comments, which detail the history of each of Gogol's works based on surviving manuscripts, his correspondence and other historical data.
• The material of letters collected by Kulish and the text of Gogol’s works began to be replenished, especially since the 1860s: “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” based on a manuscript found in Rome (“Russian Archives”, 1865); unpublished from “Selected Places”, first in the “Russian Archive” (1866), then in Chizhov’s edition; about Gogol’s comedy “Vladimir of the 3rd degree” - Rodislavsky, in “Conversations in the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature” (M., 1871).
• Research of Gogol’s texts and his letters: articles by V. I. Shenrok in “Bulletin of Europe”, “Artist”, “Russian Antiquity”; Mrs. E. S. Nekrasova in “Russian Antiquity” and especially the comments of Mr. Tikhonravov in the 10th edition and in the special edition of “The Inspector General” (M., 1886).
• There is information about the letters in the book “Index to Gogol’s Letters” by Mr. Shenrok (2nd ed. - M., 1888), which is necessary when reading them in Kulish’s edition, where they are interspersed with blank, arbitrarily taken letters instead of names and other censorship omissions .
• “Letters from Gogol to Prince V.F. Odoevsky” (in the “Russian Archive”, 1864); “to Malinovsky” (ibid., 1865); "to the book P. A. Vyazemsky" (ibid., 1865, 1866, 1872); “to I. I. Dmitriev and P. A. Pletnev” (ibid., 1866); “to Zhukovsky” (ibid., 1871); “to M.P. Pogodin” from 1833 (not 1834; ibid., 1872; more complete than Kulish, V, 174); “Note to S. T. Aksakov” (“Russian Antiquity”, 1871, IV); letter to actor Sosnitsky about “The Inspector General” of 1846 (ibid., 1872, VI); Letters from Gogol to Maksimovich, published by S. I. Ponomarev, etc.

In this publication we will consider the most important things from the biography of N.V. Gogol: his childhood and youth, literary path, theater, last years of life.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852) – writer, playwright, classic of Russian literature, critic, publicist. He is primarily known for his works: the mystical story “Viy”, the poem “Dead Souls”, the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, the story “Taras Bulba”.

Nikolai was born into the family of a landowner in the village of Sorochintsy on March 20 (April 1), 1809. The family was large - Nikolai eventually had 11 brothers and sisters, but he himself was the third child. Training began at the Poltava School, after which it continued at the Nizhyn Gymnasium, where the future great Russian writer devoted his time to justice. It is worth noting that Nikolai was only strong in drawing and Russian literature, but did not work out with other subjects. He also tried himself in prose - the works turned out unsuccessful. Now it is perhaps difficult to imagine.

At the age of 19, Nikolai Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to find himself. He worked as an official, but Nikolai was drawn to creativity - he tried to become an actor in the local theater, and continued to try himself in literature. Gogol's theater was not doing very well, and the government service did not satisfy all of Nikolai's needs. Then he made up his mind - he decided to continue to engage exclusively in literature, to develop his skills and talent.

The first work of Nikolai Vasilyevich that was published was “Basavryuk”. Later this story was revised and received the title “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”. It was she who became the starting point for Nikolai Gogol as a writer. This was Nikolai's first success in literature.

Gogol very often described Ukraine in his works: in “May Night”, “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Taras Bulba”, etc. And this is not surprising, because Nikolai was born on the territory of modern Ukraine.

In 1831, Nikolai Gogol began to communicate with representatives of the literary circles of Pushkin and Zhukovsky. And this had a positive impact on his writing career.

Nikolai Vasilyevich’s interest in theater never faded, because his father was a famous playwright and storyteller. Gogol decided to return to the theater, but as a playwright, not an actor. His famous work “The Inspector General” was written specifically for the theater in 1835, and a year later it was staged for the first time. However, the audience did not appreciate the production and responded negatively to it, which is why Gogol decided to leave Russia.

Nikolai Vasilyevich visited Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy. It was in Rome that he decided to work on the poem “Dead Souls,” the basis of which he came up with back in St. Petersburg. After completing work on the poem, Gogol returned to his homeland and published his first volume.

While working on the second volume, Gogol was overcome by a spiritual crisis, which the writer never coped with. On February 11, 1852, Nikolai Vasilyevich burned all his work on the second volume of “Dead Souls,” thereby burying the poem as a continuation, and 10 days later he himself died.

The future writer was born on March 20, 1809 in the Poltava province, in a small place called Velikiye Sorochintsy. His family was not rich. His father’s name was Vasily Afanasyevich, and his mother’s name was Maria Ivanovna.

He received his education at the Nizhensky Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. This gymnasium was founded in 1821. It was there that young Gogol began to show interest in the literary craft, and his outstanding acting abilities were also revealed. Gogol wanted to devote himself to the cause of justice and for this reason he decided to move to St. Petersburg in 1828.

He published his first poems under the pseudonym V. Alov, but they were not very successful. In 1831, Gogol met Pushkin, this acquaintance had a significant influence on him. The first work that brought him fame is called “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, was written in 1831-32.

In 1835, Gogol wrote his well-known comedy, called "The Inspector General." Already in 1836, this play was staged and performed at the Alexandrinsky Theater. The work made such a strong impression on people that some reactionary forces began to treat Gogol poorly. In June of the same year, Gogol decided to leave Russia for a while. Thus, he lived in Rome, where he worked on one of his main creations in life called “Dead Souls”. It was originally intended that the work would consist of three volumes. The first volume of “dead souls” was published in 1846 under the title “The Adventures of Chichikov and Dead Souls.” In the same year, a collection of Gogol’s works was published in St. Petersburg, which included previously unpublished works. These include works called “Marriage” and “Players”.

Gogol's subsequent creative activity proceeded rather unevenly. Between 1842 and 1845 he traveled abroad and still could not find himself, meanwhile working on his second romance of the dead shower.

The final stage of Gogol’s life can be called his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he prays before the Holy Sepulcher and asks for his help in writing “Dead Souls.” On the night of February 11–12, Gogol burned the entire second volume, after which he dies 10 days later.

Option 2

N.V. Gogol is a recognized classic of Russian literature and one of the founders of realism. He has written prose, poetic, dramatic works, critical and journalistic articles.

He was born in 1809. in Ukraine (in the village of Bolshie Sorochintsy) in the family of a poor landowner. His childhood years were spent in the village of Vasilyevka.

Gogol received his primary education at home. Since 1818 to 1819 studied at the Poltava district school, and from 1821. to 1828 – at the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Even in his school years, he enjoys playing on stage and tries his hand as a stage director. In addition, he is interested in Ukrainian history, folk customs and folklore, writes the first literary works and publishes them in handwritten magazines and almanacs.

After graduating from high school, Nikolai goes to St. Petersburg. He dreams of fame as a writer, wants to prove himself in the acting field, but is forced to get a job as an official for a small salary.

In 1829 publishes the poem “Hans Küchelgarten” at his own expense. Critics responded unfavorably to this work. Gogol bought all his unsold copies and burned them.

Nikolai Vasilyevich understands that it is necessary to look for a new direction that will interest readers. Several of his stories and a chapter from the novel “Hetman” appear in printed publications. However, real success came to him after the publication of the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”

Since 1834 to 1835 Gogol is engaged in teaching activities - he lectures on history at the St. Petersburg Imperial University. In 1835 His collections “Mirgorod” and “Arabesques” were published, and the play “The Inspector General” was written, the first production of which took place in 1836.

The public did not like the play. The disappointed writer goes abroad for a long time (however, he periodically visits Russia). He lives for some time in Germany, Switzerland, France, and then in Italy. He especially loved Rome. Everything there promotes creativity, so N.V. Gogol is working hard on the novel “Dead Souls”, finishing the story “The Overcoat”, etc.

Having published the first volume of Dead Souls, the writer is working on the second, but in 1845. he has a mental crisis. He makes a will, wants to go to a monastery, burns the handwritten version of the second volume, and makes a trip to Jerusalem.

In 1848 returns to Russia. He resumes work on Dead Souls, but shortly before his death he again burns the manuscripts. He plunges into dark thoughts, stops leaving the house, observes strict fasting and brings himself to physical and nervous exhaustion.

In 1852 Gogol died.

Gogol. Biography 3

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born in 1809 and died in 1852.

During his lifetime, Gogol wrote many works that are still studied by schoolchildren today. The moral that Gogol laid down in the lines of his creations in the fourteenth century is still relevant today.

Gogol received a decent education in his youth. And after finishing school he moved from his village to St. Petersburg. There he wrote tirelessly, trying to break through from unknown authors to more recognizable ones.

Interesting fact: it is known that the second volume was written by Gogol, but in 1852 he burned the manuscript.

Nikolai Vasilyevich also loved to travel to foreign cities. It gave him a sip fresh air and inspiration for writing many of his plays.

Gogol's dramaturgy became a new word in the history of Russian theater. The beginning of creative activity in this field is usually dated to 1832; it was at this time that the writer’s first plans were formed.

Nikolai Vasilyevich very clearly expressed his sympathy for the “little man”; this is reflected in many of his stories.

Gogol loved the Ukrainian people very much - for the writer he was the personification of everything bright and beautiful and the people are depicted mainly in their romantic ideal appearance.

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From school we know the work of N.V. Gogol, his main works. But here we will focus on only one aspect: how life circumstances influenced the writer’s personality. Researchers note that the classic of Russian literature successively experienced different periods: naturalistic, passion for Ukrainian folklore and mysticism, religious and journalistic, and so on. What influenced the formation and formation of such a complex genius?

N.V. Gogol. Biography: short pedigree

Everyone knows that this mysterious Russian of origin was born in 1809 in the village of Velikie Sorochintsy (Poltava province, Mirgorod district). It is also no secret that his parents were landowners. But few researchers delved into the writer’s genealogy. But she is very interesting. Gogol's biography indicates that the child's worldview was formed under the influence of his father and mother. Their stories also left a lasting impression on him. Maria Ivanovna Kosyarovskaya was from a noble family. But my father was from a hereditary line of priests. True, the writer’s grandfather, whose name was Afanasy Demyanovich, left the spiritual field and signed up for service in the hetman’s office. He, in fact, added the prefix Gogol to his surname - Yanovsky, which “related” him to the glorious 17th century colonel Eustachius.

Childhood

His father's stories about his Cossack ancestors instilled in young Nikolai a love of Ukrainian history. But even more than the memories of Vasily Afanasyevich, the very area where he lived influenced the writer. Gogol's biography tells that he spent his childhood years on the family estate Vasilievka, which is located in close proximity to Dikanka. There are villages in Ukraine where local residents say that sorcerers and witches live there. In the Carpathian region they are called malfars, in the Poltava region they were simply passed on from mouth to mouth. scary stories, in which the inhabitants of Dikanka appeared. All this left an indelible imprint on the boy’s soul.

Parallel reality

Having completed his studies at the gymnasium in 1828, Nikolai left for the capital, St. Petersburg, in the hope that a bright future would now open before him. But severe disappointment awaited him there. He failed to get a job; his first attempts at writing caused derogatory criticism. Gogol's biography defines this period in the writer's life as realistic. He works as a minor official in the allotments department. Gray, routine life proceeds, as it were, in parallel with the creative search of the writer. He attends classes at the Academy of Arts, and after the success of the story “Basavryuk” he meets Pushkin, Zhukovsky, and Delvig.

Biography of Gogol and emigration

The theme of the “little man,” criticism of the Russian bureaucracy, grotesque and satire - all this was embodied in the cycle of St. Petersburg stories, the comedy “The Inspector General,” as well as the world-famous poem “Dead Souls.” However, Ukraine did not leave the writer’s heart. In addition to “Evenings on the Farm,” he writes the historical story “Taras Bulba” and the horror film “Viy.” After the reactionary persecution of “The Inspector General,” the writer leaves Russia and goes first to Switzerland, then to France and Italy. Gogol's biography makes us understand that somewhere in the second half of the 1840s, the writer's work took an unexpected turn towards fanaticism, mysticism and praise of autocracy. The writer returns to Russia and writes a series of publications that alienate his former friends. In 1852, on the verge of a mental breakdown, the writer burned the second volume of Dead Souls. A few days later, on February 21, Gogol died.