Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Russian novelist (1821–1881) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881) was a Russian novelist.[1][2][3] His most popular novels are Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. He is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.[4]
Fyodor Dostoyevsky | |
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Born | Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (1821-11-11)November 11, 1821 Moscow, Russian Empire |
Died | February 9, 1881(1881-02-09) (aged 59) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire Emphysema |
Occupation | Novelist, short story writer, essayist |
Language | Russian |
Nationality | Russian |
Period | 1846–1881 |
Notable works | Notes from Underground Crime and Punishment The Idiot The Brothers Karamazov |
Spouse | Mariya Dmitriyevna Isayeva (1857–64) [her death] Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina (1867–1881) [his death] |
Children | Sofiya (1868), Lyubov (1869–1926), Fyodor (1871–1922), Alexei (1875–1878) |
Signature |
In his 20s he joined a group of radicals in St Petersburg. They were into French socialist ideas. A police agent reported the group to the authorities. On 22 April 1849, Dostoyevsky was arrested and imprisoned with the other members. After months of questioning and investigation they were tried. They were found guilty of planning to distribute subversive propaganda and condemned to death by firing squad.[5]
The punishment was changed to a sentence of exile and hard labour, but not before they were forced to go through a mock execution.[5] In 1859 a new tsar allowed Dostoyevsky to end his Siberian exile. A year later he was back in St Petersburg. The experience had cost him ten years of his life. It is the root of all his writing.[5]
- Dostoyevsky's experience had altered him profoundly... He was particularly scornful of the ideas he found in St Petersburg when he returned from his decade of Siberian exile. The new generation of Russian intellectuals was gripped by European theories and philosophies [which] were melded together into a peculiarly Russian combination that came to be called 'nihilism'.[5]