The iconic figure in Russian literature is Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky.
"What to do?" - a novel with which most people associate his name. However, the activities of the great philosopher, critic and publicist were not limited to a single work.
life and creation
As noted above, the link "Chernyshevsky /" What to do? "" Firmly stuck in the head of schoolchildren and students. Thanks to this work, the writer can rightfully be considered the first Russian utopian philosopher. By conviction, Chernyshevsky himself called himself a revolutionary democrat. He was born in Saratov, in the family of a poor priest. He received primary education at home under the guidance of his father. Then he entered the theological seminary, but soon realized that he did not feel the call for such an activity and transferred to Petersburg University, where he began to study history, philosophy and philology. In 1850, a young scientist received a Ph.D.
His further activities were aimed at promoting revolutionary ideas. "St. Petersburg Vedomosti", "Domestic Notes", "Sovremennik" - young Chernyshevsky actively collaborated with all these progressive publications. "What to do?" - a novel that will bring him fame - then existed only in the form of vague designs and sketches.
Arrest
Today it is known for certain that since 1861 Nikolai Gavrilovich was under the vigilant supervision of the secret police. None of his contemporaries doubted that he actively participated in the preparation of anti-government appeals and was even involved in the famous fires of 1862 in St. Petersburg. On June 12, the writer was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in the Peter and Paul Fortress. As an official charge, he was presented with the writing of proclamations to “Barsky peasants. The reason for the arrest was Herzen's letter sent from abroad, in which Chernyshevsky was mentioned. "What to do?" - a novel that was completely written in the fortress.
Civil Execution, Link, Death
On February 7, 1864, the writer was sentenced: seven years of hard labor, then a life-long settlement in Siberia. On May 19, Chernyshevsky was executed on Konnaya Square . Family members and numerous followers at various times filed petitions for clemency, but the revolutionary did not return to Saratov until June 1889. He died in the fall.
Chernyshevsky, “What to do”: a summary of the work
The novel was written in part as a controversy with Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. According to the statement of Chernyshevsky himself, he set himself the goal of describing "ordinary decent people of a new generation." There are three central characters in the book: Vera Rozalskaya, Dmitry Lopukhov and Alexander Kirsanov. Verochka is the manager’s daughter. A greedy and vulgar mother intends to profitably marry the girl, but the noble and proud beauty decides to take fate into her own hands and enters into a fictitious marriage with a medical student Lopukhov. Their family life is based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and freedom. Vera even opens a communal sewing workshop. However, their happiness does not last long - a young woman falls in love with her husband’s best friend, Kirsanov. The noble Dmitry does not want to get in their way and pretends to commit suicide (so that Vera can remarry), and then leaves for America, where she studies industrial production. A few years later he returns to Russia under a different name and marries Ekaterina Polozova, daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Naturally, both families communicate closely, intending to build a “new” social life. So the novel “What to do?” Ends. N. Chernyshevsky until the end of his life remained faithful to those ideals that he declared in his main work.