In this article we will describe the life and work of Dostoevsky: we will briefly tell you about the most important events. Fedor Mikhailovich was born on October 30 (according to the old style - 11) in 1821. A sketch of Dostoevsky’s work will introduce you to the main works and achievements of this person in the literary field. But we will start from the very beginning - with the origin of the future writer, with his biography.
The problems of Dostoevsky’s creativity can be deeply understood only by becoming acquainted with the life of this person. After all, fiction always somehow reflects the features of the biography of the creator of works. In the case of Dostoevsky, this is especially noticeable.
The origin of Dostoevsky
The father of Fyodor Mikhailovich came from the branch of the Rtishchevs, the descendants of Rtishchev Daniil Ivanovich, the defender of the Orthodox faith in South-West Russia. The village of Dostoevo, located in the Podolsk province, was granted him special success. The surname of the Dostoevsky originates precisely from there.
However, by the beginning of the 19th century the Dostoevsky family was impoverished. Andrei Mikhailovich, the grandfather of the writer, served in the town of Bratslava, archpriest. Mikhail Andreevich, the father of the author we are interested in, graduated from the Medical and Surgical Academy. During the Patriotic War, in 1812, he fought along with others against the French, after which, in 1819, he married Nechaeva Maria Fedorovna, the daughter of a merchant from Moscow. Mikhail Andreevich, having retired, received the post of doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital, open to poor people, which was nicknamed Bozhedomka by the people.
Where was Fyodor Mikhailovich born?
The family of the future writer’s apartment was in the right wing of this hospital. In it, reserved for the state apartment of the doctor, Fedor Mikhailovich was born in 1821. His mother, as we already mentioned, came from a family of merchants. Pictures of premature deaths, poverty, illness, disorder are the first impressions of the boy, under the influence of which a look at the world of the future writer took shape, very unusual. Dostoevsky’s creativity reflects this.
The situation in the family of the future writer
The family, which grew over time to 9 people, was forced to huddle in only two rooms. Mikhail Andreevich was a suspicious and hot-tempered man.
A completely different warehouse was Maria Fedorovna: economic, cheerful, kind. The relationship between the boy’s parents was based on submission to the whims and will of his father. The nanny and mother of the future writer honored the holy religious traditions of the country, educating the future generation in respect for the faith of the fathers. Maria Fedorovna died early - at the age of 36. She was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery.
First acquaintance with literature
Education and science were given a lot of time in the Dostoevsky family. At an early age, Fedor Mikhailovich discovered the joy of communicating with a book. The very first works with which he met were folk tales of Arina Arkhipovna, a nanny. After that there were Pushkin and Zhukovsky - the favorite writers of Maria Fedorovna.
Fyodor Mikhailovich at an early age met the main classics of foreign literature: Hugo, Cervantes and Homer. In the evenings, his father arranged a family reading of the work of N. M. Karamzin, "History of the Russian State." All this instilled in the future writer an early interest in literature. The life and work of F. Dostoevsky was largely shaped by the environment from which this writer came from.
Mikhail Andreyevich achieves hereditary nobility
In 1827, Mikhail Andreevich was awarded the 3rd degree Order of St. Anne for his diligent and excellent service , and a year later he was also awarded the rank of college assessor, who at that time gave the person the right to hereditary nobility. The father of the future writer well understood the value of higher education and therefore strove to seriously prepare his children for entering educational institutions.
Tragedy from Dostoevsky’s childhood
The future writer in his youth experienced a tragedy that left an indelible mark on his soul for the rest of his life. He loved the child’s sincere sense of the daughter of the cook, a nine-year-old girl. One day on a summer day there was a cry in the garden. Fedor ran out into the street and noticed her lying in a white tattered dress on the ground. Women bent over the girl. From a conversation, Fedor realized that the drunken tramp became the culprit of the tragedy. After that, they went for his father, but his help was not needed, since the girl had already passed away.
Writer Education
Fedor Mikhailovich received his initial education in a private boarding house in Moscow. In 1838 he entered the Main Engineering School located in St. Petersburg. He graduated in 1843, becoming a military engineer.
In those years, this school was considered one of the best educational institutions in the country. It was not by chance that many famous people came from there. Among the comrades of Dostoevsky at the school there were many talents, which later turned into famous personalities. This is Dmitry Grigorovich (writer), Konstantin Trutovsky (artist), Ilya Sechenov (physiologist), Eduard Totleben (organizer of the defense of Sevastopol), Fedor Radetsky (hero of Shipka). Both humanitarian and special subjects were taught here. For example, world and domestic history, Russian literature, drawing and civil architecture.
The tragedy of the "little man"
Dostoevsky preferred solitude to a noisy society of students. Reading was his favorite pastime. The readability of the future writer amazed comrades. But the desire for loneliness and solitude in his character was not an inborn feature. At school, Fyodor Mikhailovich had to endure the tragedy of the soul of the so-called "little man." Indeed, in this educational institution, the students were mainly children of bureaucracy and the bureaucracy. Parents gave them teachers, not sparing money. In this environment, Dostoevsky looked like a stranger, often subjected to insults and ridicule. During these years, a feeling of wounded pride flared up in his soul, which later reflected the work of Dostoevsky.
But, despite these difficulties, Fedor Mikhailovich managed to achieve recognition of both comrades and teachers. All became convinced over time that this is a man of extraordinary intelligence and outstanding abilities.
Father's death
In 1839, on July 8, Fyodor Mikhailovich's father suddenly died of an apoplexy stroke. It was rumored that this was not a natural death - he was killed for the tough temper of men. This news shocked Dostoevsky, and for the first time he had a seizure, a harbinger of future epilepsy, from which Fedor Mikhailovich suffered all his life.
Service as an engineer, first works
Dostoevsky in 1843, having completed the course, was enrolled in the engineering corps to serve under the engineering team of St. Petersburg, but did not serve there for long. A year later, he decided to engage in literary work, a passion for which he had experienced for a long time. At first he began to translate classics, for example Balzac. After some time, the idea of the novel arose in letters entitled "Poor People". This was the first independent work with which the work of Dostoevsky begins. Then the stories and tales followed: "Mr. Prokharchin", "Double", "Netochka Nezvanova", "White Nights".
Rapprochement with a circle of Petrashevists, tragic consequences
The year 1847 was marked by a rapprochement with Butashevich-Petrashevsky, who spent the famous "Fridays". It was a propagandist and fan of Fourier. At these evenings, the writer met with the poets Apollon Maikov, Alexei Plescheev, Alexander Palm, Sergey Durov, as well as the prose writer Saltykov and scientists Vladimir Milyutin and Nikolai Mordvinov. At the meetings of the Petrashevists, socialist teachings and plans for revolutionary coups were discussed. Dostoevsky was a supporter of the immediate abolition of serfdom in Russia.
However, the government learned about the circle, and in 1849 37 participants, including Dostoevsky, were imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. They were sentenced to death, but the emperor commuted the sentence, and the writer was sent to hard labor in Siberia.
In Tobolsk, in hard labor
He went to Tobolsk in a terrible frost on an open sleigh. Here the wives of the Decembrists, Annenkov and Fonvizin, were visited by Petrashevists. The feat of these women was admired by the whole country. They presented to everyone sentenced according to the Gospel in which money was invested. The fact is that prisoners were not allowed to have their own savings, so this softened the harsh living conditions for some time.
At penal servitude, the writer realized how far the rationalistic, speculative ideas of the "new Christianity" are from the feeling of Christ, whose bearer is the people. Fyodor Mikhailovich from here brought out a new "creed." Its basis is the folk type of Christianity. Subsequently, this reflected the further work of Dostoevsky, about which we will tell you a little later.
Military service in Omsk
For the writer, four-year hard labor was replaced after some time by military service. He was escorted from Omsk under guard to the city of Semipalatinsk. Here, the life and work of Dostoevsky continued. The writer served as a private, then receiving the rank of officer. He returned to Petersburg only at the end of 1859.
Magazine Edition
At this time, the spiritual search of Fyodor Mikhailovich began, which in the 60s ended with the formation of the writer’s soil beliefs. The biography and work of Dostoevsky at this time are marked by the following events. The writer since 1861, along with Michael, his brother, began to publish a magazine called "Time", and after its prohibition, "The Age". Working on new books and magazines, Fedor Mikhailovich developed his own view on the tasks of a public figure and writer in our country - a Russian, peculiar version of Christian socialism.
The first works of the writer after hard labor
The life and work of Dostoevsky after Tobolsk has changed a lot. In 1861, the first novel of this writer appeared, which he created after hard labor. This work (“Humiliated and Insulted”) reflected the sympathy of Fyodor Mikhailovich for the “little people” who are subjected to constant humiliation by the powers that be. The Notes from the Dead House (years of creation - 1861-1863), which were begun by the writer at hard labor, also gained great social significance. In the journal Vremya in 1863, Winter Notes on Summer Impressions appeared. In them, Fedor Mikhailovich criticized the system of Western European political convictions. In 1864, Notes from the Underground were published. This is a kind of confession of Fedor Mikhailovich. In the work, he renounced his former ideals.
Further work of Dostoevsky
Let us briefly describe other works of this writer. In 1866, a novel appeared called Crime and Punishment, which is considered one of the most significant in his work. In 1868, Idiot was released, a novel in which an attempt was made to create a good hero who confronts a predatory, cruel world. In the 70s, the work of F.M. Dostoevsky continues. Such novels as “Demons” (published in 1871) and “The Teenager”, which appeared in 1879, gained wide popularity. The Brothers Karamazov is a novel that became the last work. He summed up the work of Dostoevsky. Years of issue of the novel - 1879-1880. In this work, the main character, Alyosha Karamazov, helping others in troubles and alleviating suffering, is convinced that the most important thing in our life is a feeling of forgiveness and love. In February 1881, Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky died in St. Petersburg.
The life and work of Dostoevsky were briefly described in our article. It is impossible not to say that the writer was always more interested in the problem of man than anyone else. Let us write briefly about this important feature that Dostoevsky’s work had.
Man in the writer's work
Fedor Mikhailovich throughout his career reflected on the main problem of mankind - how to overcome pride, which is the main source of separation of people. Of course, there are other topics of Dostoevsky’s work, but it is largely based on this one. The writer believed that each of us has the ability to create. And he must do this while he lives, it is necessary to express himself. The writer devoted his life to the theme of Man. Biography and creativity of Dostoevsky confirm this.