For more than 150 years, many doctors, historians, analysts and other experts have been trying to understand how Gogol died, what caused the writer’s so painful last days and what kind of ailments he suffered in the last years of his life? Some believe that the famous author was simply “crazy,” while others are convinced that he committed suicide by starving himself to death. However, the truth, as it turned out, in this whole story is only apparent, somewhat ephemeral. The facts that have survived to this day, and the research of contemporaries make it possible to draw certain conclusions about how Gogol died. Therefore, now we will take a detailed look at all these materials and his last years of life.
A few words about the life of a writer
The now famous playwright, writer, critic, writer and poet was born in Poltava province in 1809. In his native land, he graduated from high school, after which he entered the Academy of Higher Sciences for the children of the provincial nobility. There he learned the basics of literary criticism, painting and other forms of art. In his youth, Gogol moved to the capital - to St. Petersburg, where he met a number of famous poets and critics, among whom it was important to single out A. Pushkin. It was he who became the closest friend of the then young Nikolai Gogol, who opened new doors for him in literary criticism, influenced the formation of his social and cultural views. In St. Petersburg, the writer takes up the compilation of the first volume of Dead Souls, but in the homeland the work begins to be very harshly criticized. Nikolai Vasilievich goes to Europe and, having visited a number of cities, stops in Rome, where he finishes writing the first volume, after which he is taken for the second. It was after he returned from Italy that doctors (and all his close people) began to notice changes in the mental state of the writer, not in a good way. We can say that it is from this time that the very story of Gogol's death begins, which exhausted him mentally and physically and made the last days of his life extremely painful.
Was there schizophrenia?
There was a time when rumors circulated around Moscow that the writer, who had just returned from Rome, was a little out of himself, suffering from schizophrenia. His contemporaries believed that it was precisely due to such a mental disorder that he had brought himself to complete exhaustion. In fact, everything was a bit wrong, and several other circumstances caused the death of Gogol. The biography of this writer, if you read it in more detail, tells us that the author suffered from manic-depressive psychosis for the last 20 years of his life . That is, he had periods when his mood became especially cheerful, but they were quickly replaced by the opposite - a severe depression. Unaware of such a definition in those years, doctors made the most ridiculous diagnoses for Nikolai - “catarrh of the intestines”, “spastic colitis” and others. Today, it is believed that it was the treatment of these imaginary ailments that played a fatal role in his fate.
Did the author wake up in his own coffin?
Very often, in a conversation on the topic of how Gogol died, many claim that he was buried alive. Say, the writer plunged into a lethargic dream, which everyone took for death. Rumors are based on the fact that during the exhumation, Nikolai’s body in the coffin was unnaturally bent, and the upper part of the lid was scratched. In fact, if you think about it, you can understand that this is fiction. By the time the exhumation was carried out, only dust was found in the coffin. The tree and the upholstery were completely decayed (which, in principle, is natural), because they could not find any scratches or other marks there.
An interesting fact about ... the fear of being buried alive
In fact, there is one more circumstance that made people believe for many years that the famous writer was buried alive, in a state of lethargic sleep. The fact is that Gogol suffered from tafephobia - this is the very fear of being buried in the ground during life. This fear was based on the fact that after malaria transferred in Italy, he often fainted, which caused his pulse to slow down too much, and his breathing almost completely stopped. Then the author of "Wii" and "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" woke up and felt normal. For this reason, the last 10 years of his life, he almost did not go to bed. Nikolai Vasilyevich dozed off in his chair, fell asleep at the manuscripts in constant alarm and readiness for awakening. Moreover, in his will, he indicated that he wanted to be buried only after his body began to show signs of complete decay. His will was fulfilled. The official date of Gogol's death is February 21, 1852 (according to the old style), and the date of his burial is February 24.
Other ridiculous versions
Among the conclusions of the doctors who personally saw how Gogol died and how he spent his last days, or indirectly knew about it, guided by his analyzes and the results of examinations, there were many ridiculous notes. Among them there is such as if the writer took mercury poison in order to take his own life. Like, due to the fact that he practically didn’t eat anything, and his stomach was empty, the poison corroded him from the inside, and therefore he died for a long time and painfully. The second theory is typhoid fever, which caused the death of Gogol. The author’s biography testifies to the fact that in fact he did not suffer from this ailment, and moreover, not a single such symptom has manifested in his whole life. Therefore, at a consultation held among doctors after the nomination of this version, the latter was officially rejected.
Causes of a severe dying condition
It is believed that the story of the death of Gogol dates back to January 1852, when Ekaterina Khomyakova, the sister of his close friend, died. The poet experienced the requiem of this person with particular horror, and during the burial he said very scary words: “Everything is finished for me ...” Physically weak, prone to various ailments, with poor immunity, Nikolay Vasilievich gave in completely that day. It is also worth considering the fact that for 20 years he suffered from bipolar affective personality disorder , because such a significant and mournful event drove him into the phase of depression, rather than hypomania. Since then, he began to refuse food, despite the fact that previously he always preferred nutritious meat dishes. Eyewitnesses claimed that the writer seemed to have gone from reality. He stopped talking with friends, often locked himself in, could go to bed in a dressing gown and boots, while muttering something. The culmination of his depression was the fact that he burned the second volume of Dead Souls.
Attempts to Heal
For many years, analysts and researchers did not understand why Gogol died. The poet and playwright, struck at that time by an unknown ailment, was under careful medical supervision and guardianship. Although it is worth noting that the doctors treated him very harshly, trying, however, to do the best. The alleged "meningitis" was treated. They seated them in a hot bath by force, poured over their heads with ice water, and afterwards they did not allow them to get dressed. Under the nose of the writer, leeches were seated to increase bleeding, and if he resisted, his hands wringed, causing pain. It is likely that the next of these procedures is the answer to the question of why Gogol died so suddenly. At 8 a.m. on February 21, he fell into a state of unconsciousness when there was no one beside the nurse. By 10 am, when the doctors had already gathered at the writer's bed, they found only a corpse.
Continuous chain leading to demise
Thanks to the research of contemporaries, it is possible to build a logical and true connection of all events and circumstances during which the playwright died. Initially, the place where Gogol died (Moscow) had a negative effect. There were often rumors of his madness, many of his works were not recognized. On the basis of these factors, his mental illness began to worsen, and as a result, Nikolai Vasilyevich came to the conclusion that he should refuse food. Complete bodily exhaustion, distortion of the perception of reality indescribably weakened the person. It became fatal that he was subjected to sudden changes in temperature, shock and other harsh therapeutic methods. The date of Gogol's death was the last day of such bullying for him. After a long and painful night in the morning of February 21, he no longer woke up.
Could the writer have been saved?
Definitely, you can. For this it was necessary to apply force-feeding highly nutritious products, the introduction of salt solutions under the skin, as well as make a person drink a lot of water. Another factor is the use of antidepressants, but given the year Gogol died, we can say that this was impossible. By the way, one of the doctors, Tarasenkov, insisted precisely on such methods, in particular, that Nikolai Vasilyevich was forced to eat. However, most doctors rejected this prescription - they began to treat non-existent meningitis ...
Afterword
We briefly examined all the circumstances of the death of the famous writer and playwright - Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. It was he who won the hearts of ordinary readers and directors, children and adults with his works. You can read his works excitedly, without looking up from the book, because each of his creations is unusually interesting. Now you know when Gogol was born and died, how he lived his life, and in particular - what his last years were. And most importantly, we tried to understand at least a little how this genius died and why there are so many rumors around his death.