Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. Brief biography: Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich Mikhail Saltykov Shchedrin short biography
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin- Russian writer, journalist, editor of the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”, Ryazan and Tver vice-governor. Saltykov-Shchedrin was a master of the island of words and was the author of many.
He managed to create wonderful works in the genres of satire and realism, as well as help the reader analyze his mistakes.
Perhaps its most famous graduate was.
While studying at the Lyceum, Saltykov-Shchedrin stopped taking care of his appearance, began swearing, smoking, and often ended up in a punishment cell for inappropriate behavior.
As a result, the student graduated from the lyceum with the rank of collegiate secretary. It is interesting that it was during this period of his biography that he tried to write his first works.
After this, Mikhail began working in the office of the military department. He continued to write and became seriously interested in the works of French socialists.
Link to Vyatka
The first stories in the biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin were “An Entangled Case” and “Contradictions.” In them, he raised important issues that ran counter to the policies of the current government.
When he was on the throne in 1855 (see), he was allowed to return home. The following year he was appointed an official of special assignments at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Creativity of Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most prominent representatives of satire in. He had a subtle sense of humor and knew how to brilliantly convey it on paper.
An interesting fact is that it was he who coined such expressions as “bungling”, “soft-bodied” and “stupidity”.
One of the most popular portraits of the writer M.E. Saltykova-ShchedrinAfter Saltykov-Shchedrin returned from exile in Russia, he published a collection of stories “ Provincial essays"Under the name of Nikolai Shchedrin.
It is worth noting that even after he gained all-Russian popularity, many of his admirers will remember this particular work.
In his stories, Saltykov-Shchedrin depicted many different heroes, who, in his opinion, were prominent representatives.
In 1870, Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote one of the most famous stories in his biography - “The History of a City.”
It is worth noting that this work was not initially appreciated, since it contained a lot of allegories and unusual comparisons.
Some critics even accused Mikhail Evgrafovich of deliberate distortion. The story featured simple people of different minds and who unquestioningly obeyed the authorities.
Soon, from the pen of Saltykov-Shchedrin, a very interesting and deep in content fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” came out. It told about a minnow who was afraid of everything, who lived in fear and loneliness until his death.
Then he began working as an editor in the publication Otechestvennye zapiski, which he owned. In this magazine, in addition to his direct responsibilities, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin also published his own works.
In 1880, Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote the brilliant novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs.” It told about a family who, throughout their entire adult life, thought only about increasing their capital. Ultimately, this led the entire family to spiritual and moral decay.
Personal life
In the writer’s biography there was only one wife - Elizaveta Boltina. Saltykov-Shchedrin met her during his exile. The girl was the daughter of the vice-governor and was 14 years younger than the groom.
Initially, the father did not want to give Elizabeth in marriage to the disgraced writer, however, after talking with him, he changed his mind.
An interesting fact is that Mikhail’s mother was categorically against his marrying Boltina. The reason for this was the young age of the bride, as well as a small dowry. In the end, in 1856 Saltykov-Shchedrin finally got married.
Saltykov-Shchedrin with his wife
Soon, frequent quarrels began to occur between the newlyweds. By nature, Saltykov-Shchedrin was a straightforward and courageous person. Elizabeth, on the contrary, was a calm and patient girl. In addition, she did not have a sharp mind.
According to the recollections of Mikhail Evgrafovich’s friends, Boltina liked to butt into the conversation, saying a lot of unnecessary things, which, moreover, were often irrelevant to the point.
At such moments, the writer simply lost his temper. In addition, Saltykov-Shchedrin’s wife loved luxury, which further increased the distance between the spouses.
Despite this, they lived together all their lives. In this marriage they had a girl, Elizaveta, and a boy, Konstantin.
Biographers of Saltykov-Shchedrin claim that he had a good understanding of wines, played the wine and was an expert in matters relating to profanity.
Death
IN last years the writer suffered seriously from rheumatism. In addition, his health deteriorated after Otechestvennye zapiski was closed in 1884. The censorship considered the publication a disseminator of harmful ideas.
Shortly before his death, Saltykov-Shchedrin was bedridden, in need of outside help and care. However, he did not lose his optimism and sense of humor.
Often, when he could not, due to weakness, receive guests, he asked them to tell them: “I’m very busy - I’m dying.”
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin died on April 28, 1889 at the age of 63. According to his request, he was buried next to his grave at the Volkovskoye cemetery.
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Russian famous writer Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born on January 15, 1826. Later, Mikhail took a pseudonym - Nikolai Shchedrin, which is why the double surname of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin appeared in the history of Russian poetry.
Mikhail was born and raised in a noble family, in a district of the Tver province. The Saltykov-Shchedrin family was large - the Russian writer himself was the sixth child. His father, Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, was a hereditary nobleman, as well as a collegiate adviser. The mother of the future writer, Olga Mikhailovna Zabelina, also came from a noble family - she was the daughter of the famous Moscow nobleman Mikhail Petrovich Zabelin.
Saltykov-Shchedrin received his first education at home. His first teacher was a serf from their province, namely a painter named Pavel Sokolov, and after successful and fruitful lessons, Saltykov-Shchedrin began studying with his older sister, the governess of the Moscow Academy.
Already at the age of ten he was lucky enough to enter the Moscow Noble Institute, and two years later he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. This change led to the start of young Mikhail’s writing career. Mikhail's first poems were published in the lyceum newspaper, however, they were not very popular, and were also not marked by a large influx of talent, which is why Saltykov-Shchedrin retrained as a writer and prose, and did not want to completely remember his early attempts at writing.
In 1844 he entered service in the military chancellery. It was in this place that I was finally able to seriously begin writing prose. He published his first stories under the titles “Contradiction” and “Entangled Affair”. He was very interested in the views of the French Revolution and socialist movements.
On April 28, 1848, he was sent into exile in Vyatka on charges of freethinking, but received the rank of Vyatka governor in the same year and was not left on the sidelines of life and society, because you simply cannot do this to such a person - good education and origin made their affairs.
In 1855 he left Vyatka and delved into his writing. It was this period that became his lightning breakthrough creative success. Several of his works were published in Russky Vestnik. With his works, Saltykov-Shchedrin was often compared to Gogol, for example, thanks to “Provincial Sketches” and “Boredom”.
In 1858 he became vice-governor of the Ryazan region, but did not give up writing. However, in 1862 he left the service, having published several cycles of his stories: “Innocent Stories”, “Time”, “Satires in Prose”. During this period, he worked as an editor at Sovremennik in St. Petersburg, so he kept up with the writing business, so to speak. From 1884 until his death, he worked on many of his stories, which undoubtedly replenished the memory of Russian literature. Such works as “The History of a City”, “Signs of the Times”, “Letters from the Province” and others were born. Unfortunately, since the 70s, Saltykov-Shchedrin’s health has been deteriorating, under the impression of many difficulties in life, as well as the refusal to publish “Notes of the Fatherland.” We can only imagine how painfully the subtle soul of a writer endures rejection. The writer spent the last odes of his life in a semi-reclusive state, recalling the old days when he found a response with his creativity. He still continued to write and even published “Poshekhon Antiquity,” but he did not feel and did not receive the former delight. Before his death, Forgotten Words had been started, but he never completed them. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin died on April 28, 1889. He was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery, honorably next to the grave of I. Turgenev.
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SALTYKOV (pseudonym - N. Shchedrin) Mikhail Evgrafovich (1826 - 1889), prose writer. Born on January 15 (27 NS) in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, into an old noble family. His childhood years were spent on his father’s family estate in “... the years... at the very height of serfdom,” in one of the remote corners of “Poshekhonye.” Observations of this life will subsequently be reflected in the writer’s books. Having received a good education at home, Saltykov at the age of 10 was accepted as a boarder at the Moscow Noble Institute, where he spent two years, then in 1838 he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here he begins to write poetry and is greatly influenced by the articles of V. Belinsky and A. Herzen, and the works of N. Gogol.
In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, he served as an official in the office of the War Ministry. “... Debt is everywhere, coercion is everywhere, boredom and lies are everywhere...”, he gave such a description of bureaucratic Petersburg. Another life was more attractive to Saltykov: communication with writers, visiting Petrashevsky’s “Fridays,” where philosophers, scientists, writers, and military men gathered, united by anti-serfdom sentiments and the search for the ideals of a just society.
Saltykov’s first stories “Contradictions” (1847), “A Confused Affair” (1848) with their acute social issues attracted the attention of the authorities, frightened by the French Revolution of 1848. The writer was exiled to Vyatka for “... a harmful way of thinking and a destructive desire to spread ideas that had already shaken the whole of Western Europe...”. For eight years he lived in Vyatka, where in 1850 he was appointed to the position of adviser to the provincial government. This made it possible to often go on business trips and observe the bureaucratic world and peasant life. The impressions of these years will influence the satirical direction of the writer’s work. At the end of 1855, after the death of Nicholas 1, having received the right to “live wherever he wishes,” he returned to St. Petersburg and resumed literary work. In 1856 - 57, “Provincial Sketches” were written, published on behalf of the “court adviser N. Shchedrin,” who became known throughout reading Russia, which named him Gogol’s heir.
At this time, he married the 17-year-old daughter of the Vyatka vice-governor, E. Boltina. Saltykov sought to combine the work of a writer with public service. In 1856 - 58 he was an official of special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where work on preparing the peasant reform was concentrated.
In 1858 - 62 he served as vice-governor in Ryazan, then in Tver. I always tried to surround myself at my place of work with honest, young and educated people, firing bribe-takers and thieves.
During these years, he wrote stories and essays (“Innocent Stories”, 1857 - 63; “Satires in Prose”, 1859 - 62), as well as articles on the peasant issue.
In 1862 he retired, moved to St. Petersburg and, at the invitation of Nekrasov, joined the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine, which at that time was experiencing enormous difficulties (Dobrolyubov died, Chernyshevsky was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress). Saltykov takes on a huge amount of writing and editing work. But the main attention is given to the monthly review “Nasha” public life", which became a monument to Russian journalism of the 1860s.
In 1864, Saltykov left the editorial office of Sovremennik; the reason was internal disagreements on the tactics of social struggle in the new conditions. Returns to public service.
In 1865 - 68 he headed the State Chambers in Penza, Tula, Ryazan; observations of the life of these cities formed the basis of “Letters about the Province” (1869). The frequent change of duty stations is explained by conflicts with the heads of the provinces, at whom the writer “laughed” in grotesque pamphlets. After a complaint from the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was dismissed in 1868 with the rank of full state councilor. Moves to St. Petersburg, accepts N. Nekrasov’s invitation to become co-editor of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, where he works from 1868 to 84. Saltykov now devotes himself entirely to literary activity. In 1869 - 70 he wrote “The History of a City,” the pinnacle of his satirical art.
In 1875 - 76 he was treated abroad, visited countries Western Europe at different years of life. In Paris he met with Turgenev, Flaubert, Zola.
In the 1880s, Saltykov's satire reaches a climax in its anger and grotesquery: “Modern Idylls” (1877 - 83); “Gentlemen Golovlevs” (1880); “Poshekhonsky stories” (1883 - 84).
In 1884, the journal Otechestvennye zapiski was closed, after which Saltykov was forced to publish in the journal Vestnik Evropy.
In the last years of his life he created his masterpieces: “Fairy Tales” (1882 - 86); “Little things in life” (1886 - 87); “Poshekhon antiquity” (1887 - 89). A few days before his death, he wrote the first pages of a new work, “Forgotten Words,” where he wanted to remind the “motley people” of the 1880s about the words they had lost: “conscience, fatherland, humanity... others are still there...”.
Materials used from the book: Russian writers and poets. Brief biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.
Literature:
1. Sokolova K.I. Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin. M., 1993.
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin ( real name Saltykov, pseudonym "N. Shchedrin") was born on January 27 (January 15, old style) 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province (now Taldomsky district, Moscow region). He was the sixth child of a hereditary nobleman, a collegiate adviser, his mother came from a family of Moscow merchants. Until the age of 10, the boy lived on his father's estate.
In 1836, Mikhail Saltykov was enrolled in the Moscow Noble Institute, where the poet Mikhail Lermontov had previously studied, and in 1838, as the best student of the institute, he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Saltykov was known as the first poet on the course; his poems were published in periodicals.
In 1844, after graduating from the lyceum, he was assigned to serve in the office of the War Ministry in St. Petersburg.
In 1845-1847, Saltykov attended meetings of the circle of Russian utopian socialists - “Fridays” of Mikhail Butashevich-Petrashevsky, whom he met at the Lyceum.
In 1847-1848, the first reviews of Saltykov were published in the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski.
In 1847, Saltykov’s first story, “Contradictions,” dedicated to the economist Vladimir Milyutin, was published in Otechestvennye zapiski.
The publication of this work coincided with the tightening of censorship restrictions after the Great French Revolution and the organization of a secret committee chaired by Prince Menshikov. As a result, the story was banned, and its author was exiled to Vyatka (now Kirov) and appointed to the post of scribe in the Provincial Board.
In 1855, Saltykov received permission to return to St. Petersburg.
In 1856-1858, he was an official of special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and participated in the preparation of the peasant reform of 1861.
From 1856 to 1857, Saltykov's "Provincial Sketches" were published in the "Russian Bulletin" under the pseudonym "N. Shchedrin". The “essays” received the attention of Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Nikolai Dobrolyubov, who dedicated articles to them.
In March 1858, Saltykov was appointed vice-governor of the city of Ryazan.
In April 1860, due to a conflict with the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was appointed vice-governor of Tver; in January 1862 he resigned.
In 1858-1862, the collections “Innocent Stories” and “Satires in Prose” were published, in which the city of Foolov, a collective image of modern Russian reality, first appeared.
In 1862-1864, Saltykov was a member of the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine.
In 1864-1868 he held the positions of chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber, manager of the Tula Treasury Chamber and manager of the Ryazan Treasury Chamber.
Since 1868 he collaborated with the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, and since 1878 he was the executive editor of the magazine.
During the period of work at Otechestvennye zapiski, the writer created his significant works - the novels “The History of a City” (1869-1970) and “The Golovlevs” (1875-1880).
At the same time, the writer worked on journalistic articles; in the 1870s he published collections of stories “Signs of the Times”, “Letters from the Province”, “Pompadours and Pompadours”, “Gentlemen of Tashkent”, “Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg”, “Well-Intentioned Speeches”, which have become a noticeable phenomenon not only in literature, but also in socio-political life.
In the 1880s, the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin were published, the first of which were published in 1869.
In 1886, the novel "Poshekhon Antiquity" was written.
In February 1889, the writer began preparing the author's edition of his collected works in nine volumes, but only one volume was published during his lifetime.
On May 10 (April 28, old style), 1889, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin died in St. Petersburg. He was buried on the Literatorskie bridge of the Volkovsky cemetery.
In 1890, the complete collected works of the writer were published in nine volumes. From 1891 to 1892, a complete collection of works was published in 12 volumes, prepared by the author’s heirs, which was reprinted several times.
Saltykov-Shchedrin was married to Elizaveta Boltina, whom he met during the Vyatka exile, and the family had a son, Konstantin, and a daughter, Elizaveta.
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is a famous Russian writer, journalist, editor, and government official. His works are included in the required school curriculum. It’s not for nothing that the writer’s fairy tales are called that - they contain not only caricature ridicule and grotesquery, thereby the author emphasizes that man is the arbiter of his own destiny.
Childhood and youth
The genius of Russian literature comes from a noble family. Father Evgraf Vasilyevich was a quarter of a century older than his wife Olga Mikhailovna. The daughter of a Moscow merchant got married at the age of 15 and followed her husband to the village of Spas-Ugol, which was then located in the Tver province. There, on January 15, 1826, according to the new style, the youngest of six children, Mikhail, was born. In total, three sons and three daughters grew up in the Saltykov family (Shchedrin is part of the pseudonym that followed over time).
According to the descriptions of researchers of the writer's biography, the mother, who over time turned from a cheerful girl into an imperious mistress of the estate, divided the children into favorites and hateful ones. Little Misha was surrounded by love, but sometimes he also got whipped. There was constant screaming and crying at home. As Vladimir Obolensky wrote in his memoirs about the Saltykov-Shchedrin family, in conversations the writer described his childhood in gloomy colors, once saying that he hated “this terrible woman,” talking about his mother.
Saltykov knew French and German and received an excellent primary education at home, which allowed him to enter the Moscow Noble Institute. From there, the boy, who showed remarkable diligence, ended up on full state support at the privileged Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where education was equal to that of a university, and graduates were awarded ranks according to the Table of Ranks.
Both educational institutions were famous for producing the elite of Russian society. Among the graduates are Prince Mikhail Obolensky, Anton Delvig, Ivan Pushchin. However, unlike them, Saltykov turned from a wonderful, smart boy into an unkempt, foul-mouthed boy who often sat in a punishment cell and never made any close friends. It’s not for nothing that Mikhail’s classmates nicknamed him “The Gloomy Lyceum Student.”
The atmosphere within the walls of the lyceum promoted creativity, and Mikhail, in imitation of his predecessors, began to write freethinking poetry. This behavior did not go unnoticed: a graduate of the lyceum, Mikhail Saltykov, received the rank of collegiate secretary, although for his academic success he was given a higher rank - titular adviser.
After graduating from the lyceum, Mikhail got a job in the office of the military department and continued composing. In addition, I became interested in the works of French socialists. The themes raised by the revolutionaries were reflected in the first stories, “Entangled Affair” and “Contradictions.”
It’s just that the novice writer didn’t guess right with the source of publication. The magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” at that time was under unspoken political censorship and was considered ideologically harmful.
By decision of the supervisory commission, Saltykov was sent into exile to Vyatka, to the office of the governor. In exile, in addition to official affairs, Mikhail studied the history of the country, translated the works of European classics, traveled a lot and communicated with the people. Saltykov almost remained to vegetate in the provinces forever, even though he had risen to the rank of adviser to the provincial government: in 1855 he was crowned on the imperial throne, and they simply forgot about the ordinary exile.
Pyotr Lanskoy, a representative of a noble noble family and second husband, came to the rescue. With the assistance of his brother, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail was returned to St. Petersburg and given a position as an official of special assignments in this department.
Literature
Mikhail Evgrafovich is considered one of the brightest satirists of Russian literature, masterfully speaking the Aesopian language, whose novels and stories have not lost their relevance. For historians, the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin are a source of knowledge of morals and customs common in Russian Empire 19th century. The writer is the author of such terms as “bungling”, “soft-bodied” and “stupidity”.
Upon returning from exile, Saltykov reworked his experience of communicating with officials of the Russian hinterland and, under the pseudonym Nikolai Shchedrin, published a series of stories “Provincial Sketches,” recreating the characteristic types of Russian residents. The work was a great success; the name of the author, who subsequently wrote many books, will be primarily associated with the “Essays”; researchers of the writer’s work will call them a landmark stage in the development of Russian literature.
The stories describe ordinary hard-working people with particular warmth. Creating images of nobles and officials, Mikhail Evgrafovich spoke not only about the foundations of serfdom, but also focused on the moral side of representatives of the upper class and moral principles statehood.
The pinnacle of the Russian prose writer’s work is considered to be “The History of a City.” The satirical story, full of allegory and grotesquery, was not immediately appreciated by his contemporaries. Moreover, the author was initially accused of mocking society and trying to denigrate historical facts.
The main characters, the mayors, show a rich palette of human characters and social principles - bribe takers, careerists, indifferent, obsessed with absurd goals, outright fools. The common people appear as a blindly submissive gray mass, ready to endure everything, which acts decisively only when it finds itself on the brink of death.
Saltykov-Shchedrin ridiculed such cowardice and cowardice in “The Wise Piskar.” The work, despite the fact that it is called a fairy tale, is not addressed to children at all. The philosophical meaning of the story about a fish endowed with human qualities lies in the fact that a lonely existence, focused only on one’s own well-being, is insignificant.
Another fairy tale for adults - “ Wild landowner", a lively and cheerful work with a slight touch of cynicism, in which the simple working people are openly opposed to the tyrant landowner.
Literary creativity Saltykov-Shchedrin received additional support when the prose writer began working in the editorial office of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. The general management of the publication since 1868 belonged to the poet and publicist.
At the personal invitation of the latter, Mikhail Evgrafovich headed the first department dealing with the publication of fiction and translated works. The bulk of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s own works were also published on the pages of “Notes”.
Among them is “The Monrepos Shelter”, according to literary scholars - a tracing paper family life writer who became vice-governor, “Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg” - a book about adventurers that are not translated into Rus', “Pompadours and Pompadours,” “Letters from the Province.”
In 1880, the epoch-making highly social novel “The Golovlevs” was published as a separate book - a story about a family in which the main goal is enrichment and an idle lifestyle, children have long turned into a burden for the mother, in general the family does not live according to God’s law and, without noticing moreover, moving towards self-destruction.
Personal life
Mikhail Saltykov met his wife Elizaveta in exile in Vyatka. The girl turned out to be the daughter of the writer’s immediate superior, Vice-Governor Apollo Petrovich Boltin. The official made a career in education, economic, military and police departments. At first, the experienced campaigner was wary of the freethinker Saltykov, but over time the men became friends.
Lisa's family name was Betsy; the girl called the writer, who was 14 years older than her, Michel. However, Boltin was soon transferred for service to Vladimir, and his family left for him. Saltykov was forbidden to leave the Vyatka province. But, according to legend, he twice violated the ban in order to see his beloved.
The writer’s mother, Olga Mikhailovna, categorically opposed the marriage to Elizaveta Apollonovna: not only is the bride too young, but the dowry given for the girl is not substantial. The difference in years also raised doubts among the Vladimir vice-governor. Mikhail agreed to wait one year.
The young people got married in June 1856, but the groom’s mother did not come to the wedding. Relationships in new family Things were complicated, the spouses often quarreled, the difference in character was evident: Mikhail was straightforward, quick-tempered, and people in the house were afraid of him. Elizabeth, on the contrary, is soft and patient, not burdened with knowledge of science. Saltykov did not like his wife’s affectation and coquetry; he called his wife’s ideals “not very demanding.”
According to the memoirs of Prince Vladimir Obolensky, Elizaveta Apollonovna entered the conversation at random and made comments that were not relevant to the matter. The nonsense uttered by the woman baffled the interlocutor and angered Mikhail Evgrafovich.
Elizabeth loved beautiful life and required appropriate financial support. The husband, who had risen to the rank of vice-governor, could still contribute to this, but he constantly got into debt and called the acquisition of property a careless act. From the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin and studies of the writer’s life, it is known that he played the piano, knew about wines and was known as an expert in profanity.
However, Elizabeth and Mikhail lived together all their lives. The wife copied her husband’s works, turned out to be a good housewife, and after the writer’s death she wisely managed the inheritance, thanks to which the family did not experience need. The marriage produced a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Konstantin. The children did not show themselves in any way, which upset the famous father, who loved them boundlessly. Saltykov wrote:
“My children will be unhappy, no poetry in their hearts, no bright memories.”
Death
The health of the middle-aged writer, who suffered from rheumatism, was greatly undermined by the closure of Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1884. In a joint decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Justice and Public Education, the publication was recognized as a disseminator of harmful ideas, and the editorial staff were recognized as members secret society.
Saltykov-Shchedrin spent the last months of his life in bed, asking his guests to tell them: “I’m very busy - I’m dying.” Mikhail Evgrafovich died in May 1889 from complications caused by a cold. According to his will, the writer was buried next to his grave at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.
- According to one source, Mikhail Evgrafovich does not belong to the aristocratic boyar family of the Saltykovs. According to others, his family are descendants of an untitled branch of the family.
- Mikhail Saltykov - Shchedrin coined the word “softness”.
- Children appeared in the writer’s family after 17 years of marriage.
- There are several versions of the origin of the pseudonym Shchedrin. First: many peasants with that last name lived on the Saltykov estate. Second: Shchedrin is the name of a merchant, a participant in the schismatic movement, whose case the writer investigated due to his official duties. “French” version: one of the translations of the word “generous” into French– liberal. It was precisely the excessive liberal chatter that the writer exposed in his works.
Bibliography
- 1857 – “Provincial Sketches”
- 1869 – “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”
- 1870 – “The History of a City”
- 1872 – “Diary of a provincial in St. Petersburg”
- 1879 – “Asylum of Monrepos”
- 1880 – “Gentlemen Golovlevs”
- 1883 – “The Wise Minnow”
- 1884 – “Crucian idealist”
- 1885 – “Horse”
- 1886 – “The Raven Petitioner”
- 1889 – “Poshekhon antiquity”