The name of the writer Gogol. Interesting facts from the life and biography of Gogol

The unusual and completely incomprehensible personality of this amazing Great Russian writer has always interested numerous researchers, historians, cultural figures and simply lovers and admirers of his work. However, the attitude towards him was never unambiguous. Neither during his life nor after his death did he receive absolute recognition. Numerous contemporaries, even among his close friends, considered the writer crazy or on the verge of mental illness. So who is Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich, how did his life unfold and what surprises did fate present that was not favorable to this truly great man?

All about Gogol: a brief description of the heritage and biography of the writer

Interest in Gogol’s person did not subside from the very beginning. creative path to this day, and the role of creative activity in literature in general and Russian literature in particular is invaluable. In one of his letters to his close friend Alexander Tolstoy, he wrote that it was worth being grateful to fate and God that they were destined to be born Russians. This shows how patriotic he was, how he loved his homeland. In view of this, he tried to expose the most dark sides her life, trying to present them in a humorous and sarcastic light, which he succeeded very well. All life's questions and problems had a religious-moral or, if you like, moral meaning for him.

At the end of his short life, and he managed to live only forty-three years, Gogol suddenly became imbued with Orthodoxy and the meaning of spirituality. That’s why I began to write about a responsible and conscious attitude towards life. In 1850, shortly before his death, he wrote to his friend Archpriest Matthew Konstantinovsky that modern man lost its meaning, lost its understanding of purpose and higher purpose. He wanted to show his “dark brethren living in the world” that one cannot play with fate, because it is not a toy at all.

Gogol's life and work were always filled not only with deep thoughts about the meaning of life, but he also turned out to be a brilliant lyricist, with subtle soul poet. His folklore stories and the images were often drawn from folk legends and tales. They are fully compatible with the life-like realism of his works, creating an unsurpassed symbiosis of seemingly two perfect opposites. At the end of his life, Nikolai Vasilyevich decided that the highest purpose of any creativity is to lead a person to Christianity and understand God.

However, during his lifetime, Gogol was in most cases perceived as a skilled humorist and satirist, and much of his creative heritage was rethought after his death. Any literary movement, which arose later, could rightfully attribute it as its own forerunner. Therefore, the significance of his creations as a contribution to Russian and world literature, simply colossal. This man went down in history as consciously responsible for the work he did.

Childhood and youth of the Little Russian writer

Everyone who has at least once delved into biographies famous writers, they know for sure that Gogol’s real name is Yanovsky. On March 20, 1809, in the parish register of the village of Sorochintsy (now Velikie Sorochintsy), near the river strange name Psel, on the very border of Mirgorod and Poltava districts, a record was made that in the family of the landowner Vasily Afanasyevich Yanovsky, a boy was born, who was named Nikolai, in honor of the famous saint. His father came from an ancient noble Polish family, which was recognized at his own request in 1820.

Related to Nikolai Vasilyevich’s mother, Maria Ivanovna, nee Kosyarovskaya interesting legend. As his father said, he saw his future wife in a dream, and then found her at the age of one year. Thirteen years after that he waited until the bride grew up and at fourteen she was given to him as his wife. Eleven children were born into the family, but many of them died in infancy. Many believe that the writer spent his childhood in traditional Little Russian life, but this is not entirely true.

Nikoshi's father Vasily Afanasyevich was a man of special culture. He simply adored creativity and art, he himself wrote plays, stories, poems and poems, and then read them with pleasure in his own improvised theater from the stage. Perhaps it was his father’s stage efforts that made Gogol exactly the person he was. He died in 1825, when the boy was barely sixteen years old. At that time, he had only three sisters, Elizabeth, Anna and Maria.

Education and work: Gogol’s life outside his native walls

When the boy Nikosha turned ten, his parents had to think about education. Therefore, he was taken to Poltava and given into the hands of Gabriel Sorochinsky, so that he could prepare him for the gymnasium. At the age of sixteen, on a dark May day on the 21st of 1821, Nikolai Vasilyevich entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn, which he later regretted more than once, since such a science did not serve him well. He was never a good student, so he was often beaten with rods, but his natural abilities allowed him to prepare for testing overnight and move from one class to the next.

However, Gogol was definitely lucky with his fellow students; he managed to get along with the boys who would become his friends for life. Among them were Nestor Kukolnik, Alexander Danilevsky, Nikolai Prokopovich and others. They jointly subscribed to magazines and literary newsletters, together they organized performances, for which Nikolai himself often wrote poems and plays. Already at that time, he began to think about his own destiny, and even in letters to his beloved mother, he writes that his interests extend far beyond the understanding of ordinary people and even his fellow high school students.

The city where little people disappear without a trace: St. Petersburg G

After completing the gymnasium and his father’s funeral, in 1828 Nikolai Vasilyevich decided to move to St. Petersburg, which his mother warmly supported and even provided him with a monthly allowance. However, among the narrow streets and bridges hanging in the air, a monstrous, cruel disappointment awaited the writer - no one was waiting for him here, and no one needed him here. He tried to enter the service and the stage, but to no avail. The daily routine made him despondent, and he left the service; he never became an actor. All that remained was to devote himself completely to literature, which is what he did.

During this period, Gogol discovered that the details of Ukrainian petty-bourgeois and common people’s life were interesting to the public, so he began to think about writing such stories and even sketched out a plan for the future collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” But before that, he published a book under the pseudonym Alov and with the title “ Hanz Kuchelgarten"in the twenty-ninth year of the nineteenth century. However, critics crushed it, leaving no stone unturned. Then he went to Lubeck, Germany, hoping to find new inspiration, but returned that same year in the fall.

In 1831, Gogol met his main friends, who helped him break through. For example, it is Zhukovsky who brings him together with such a person as famous critic and the poet of the Pushkin era Pyotr Pletnev. He was also introduced to the master Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who treated the works young talent with understanding.

Pletnev got Nikolai a job at the Patriotic Institute, where he himself served as an inspector, but they paid little. Therefore, the critic taught Gogol how to earn extra money by giving private lessons to noble aristocratic families. The appointment of Nikolai Vasilyevich as an adjunct (deputy or head) at the Department of History of St. Petersburg University can be considered the peak period of St. Petersburg life. The powerful figure of Pushkin made a huge impression on the young writer; it was practically everything he could have dreamed of.

Major works of Gogol

The St. Petersburg period can be considered the most active in the life of the writer Gogol. It is here that the vast majority of his works appear. “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was published in two parts in thirty-one and thirty-two. The first included “The Missing Letter”, “May Night”, “Sorochinskaya Fair”, as well as “Evenings...” themselves, and the second “ Terrible revenge", "The Night Before Christmas", "Enchanted Place" and "Ivan Fedorovich Shponka". By 1835, two more collections saw the light, already more mature and serious, with less of a touch of mysticism and fabulousness. These were “Arabesques”, as well as “Mirgorod”.

• In 1832, Nikolai Gogol, for the first time after completing his studies at the Nizhyn gymnasium, decided to visit father's house, visit my sisters and mother. He set off through Moscow, where he managed to make acquaintances in literary circles with such people as Sergei Aksakov, Mikhail Pogodin, Mikhail Shchepkin and others. But the comfort of home did not bring him peace; moreover, it drove the poet’s vulnerable soul into depression. Surrounded by lush nature, he suddenly felt the worthlessness of his “Evenings” and “Mirgorod”, unable to immerse the reader in this majestic atmosphere.
• In 1833, Gogol, against all odds, returned to St. Petersburg and decided to open himself in the scientific field. At first he is overcome by the idea of ​​heading the department of history in Kyiv, at the newly opened Kiev University, but he is not accepted there. Therefore, he moves back to St. Petersburg and sits on the pulpit there.
• By 1834, many researchers and historians date the writing of a crushing blow to embezzlement, hanger-on and corruption, in the form of the play “The Inspector General,” which had the effect of a bomb.
• In 1835, new stories were published, “ Old world landowners", the rather scary and truly scandalous "Viy", which still frightens its readers, the famous "Taras Bulba" and the funny, instructive "The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich."
• Not much time later, just two years later in 1836, Pushkin’s Sovremennik also published “Portrait,” “Carriage,” and the heartbreaking “Overcoat.” At the same time, “Marriage” was published, as well as a somewhat strange story “The Players,” which, like most of Gogol’s works, remains relevant to this day.
• In 1836, Nikolai went abroad, where he began to write his imperishable " Dead Souls”, so half-understood by contemporaries. However, the West, which first calmed him down, again leads him into a riot of thoughts and feelings. In the summer of 1941, he went to print the first volume in his homeland.

By 1844, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was overtaken by unexpected joy; for his colossal services in terms of Russian literature, he was recognized as an honorary lifelong member of Moscow University. However, nothing pleases him anymore, his work is not going well, thoughts about the higher purpose of his divinely gifted talent leave the imprint of an underestimation of his deeds. In mental crisis and torment, Gogol writes a will and burns the second volume of “dead souls,” which he will never restore.

The influence of travel abroad on the writer’s worldview

In 1847, Nikolai Vasilyevich, already in a complete breakdown of feelings and thoughts, compiled another book, which his friend the critic Pletnev helped publish. These were “Selected passages from correspondence with friends.” It is in this book that one can trace the peak religious mood of the Little Russian writer, who is increasingly plunging into spiritual fever. At that time, Slavophiles and Westerners appeared in the arena of Russian literature and history, but Gogol did not join any of the movements, considering it undivine.

The last book was a failure... by and large, because of the mentoring and didactic tone. Gogol himself understood this very well, and wrote about this to Pletnev more than once. After a while, he calms down, and then decides to visit Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher, which he does in 1847-1849. However, this did not bring him the expected calm. He returned home to the village to his mother, then spent some time in Moscow, Kaluga and Odessa.

Personal life and death of Nikolai Vasilyevich: memory of people for centuries

Gogol, who never sought wealth or luxury, and did not even have his own home, was never married. He was devoted only to the only woman in his life - literature, and she was able to answer him in kind and make him a classic during his lifetime. However, two women in the life of this handsome and even very interesting man, yet there were.

Favorite women

You can’t call Gogol handsome, but he was still a dandy. Contrary to popular belief, he did not wear his dark caped cloak at all times. He could wear purple pants and a yellow vest, and complete the look with a turquoise camisole. In general, he was a real eccentric. His first love was the royal maid of honor Alexandra Rosset, married to Smirnov, with the face of a real angel and the same manners.

He loved her tenderly and devotedly, like a dog loving a good mistress, but he was never able to admit his feelings, especially since she was insanely far from him in the table of ranks. The second time Nikolai Vasilyevich fell in love much later, almost before his death, with his own cousin Maria Sinelnikova. Visiting her with his mother during her illness, he ended up on her estate in Vlasovka, but this relationship never developed, since Gogol was occupied with more spiritual issues than carnal and worldly ones.

The death of a brilliant writer and his memory

Beginning in the winter of the 52nd year of the nineteenth century, Nikolai Vasilyevich settled in his house close friend Alexander Tolstoy, who received many guests, including Matthew Konstantinovsky, Rzhev archpriest. It was this person who was the only one who read the second volume. Dead souls" He demanded that several chapters from there be destroyed, as well as “Selected Places...”, due to the particular “harmfulness” of the book.

All this influenced Gogol so much that he decided to stop writing completely and began to fast from February 5, a week before Lent began. On the night of February 12, he woke up the servants, ordered them to light the stove and bring his briefcase. He burned all the sketches and notebooks, and in the morning he lamented to Tolstoy that he was going to burn only the unnecessary things he had prepared in advance, but the demon pushed him to burn everything together. On February 18, he was no longer able to move and walked, just lay in bed, and on February 21, 1852, the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol passed away.

The funeral service for the brilliant creator was held on February 24 in the university church, and he was buried in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, where a tombstone of two parts was installed: a black marble slab and a massive bronze cross. On three sides of the slab there are passages from the gospel, and on the fourth there is an indication of the name, date of birth and death. In the early thirties, this monastery was closed and the necropolises were dismantled. A year later, on May 31, Gogol’s grave was opened, and the remains were reburied at Novodevichy Cemetery, where they are to this day.

Numerous streets, squares, avenues and others are named after Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol geographical features cities and villages of our vast Motherland, as well as far beyond its borders. Several stamps and commemorative coins were dedicated to him, and there are at least fifteen monuments to him around the world. There are several feature and documentary films that also tell about the fate of the writer, covering it from different angles.

Interesting facts about the writer's life

With this amazing person, the secrets of whose personality no one has been able to unravel, despite the passage of more than two hundred years since his death, there are many strange, sometimes mystical and frightening stories associated with him. Many look like outright nonsense, but some are thought-provoking.

• It seems to many that the figure in the cloak, as Gogol is most often depicted, must necessarily be thin and tall. He was thin, it was true, but his height reached one meter and sixty-two centimeters. He had narrow shoulders, crooked legs and thin dark hair.
• Contemporaries describe Gogol's character with such “zealous diversity” that it immediately becomes clear that he was a secretive person, hardly revealing his soul to anyone he met. However, he had a good heart, so he always helped those who were more in need, even when it was to his own detriment.
• Like his late father, Nikolai Vasilyevich often heard voices and saw incomprehensible phenomena, which he spoke about very rarely to others, he was afraid of being recognized as crazy. He suffered from nervous attacks, after which he experienced prolonged depression, which may indicate manic psychosis, if not early schizophrenia.

I've been chasing the creator all my life panic fear to be buried alive. It was rumored that this was precisely why he slept half-sitting, so that he would not be accidentally considered dead. After the funeral, during the exhumation of the body, it was discovered that there was no skull in the grave, at least that’s what he claimed Soviet poet and writer Vladimir Ledin. This gave rise to many legends that he was buried in lethargic sleep. However, most likely this was evidence of ordinary looting. A boot, a rib, and a piece of a frock coat were missing, which were probably simply stolen into some kind of creepy souvenirs.

April 1 (March 20, old style) 1809 in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province (now a village in the Poltava region of Ukraine) and came from an old Little Russian family.
Gogol spent his childhood years on his parents' estate Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina; now the village of Gogolevo).

In 1818-1819 he studied at the Poltava district school, in 1820-1821 he took lessons from the Poltava teacher Gabriel Sorochinsky, living in his apartment. In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn, graduating in 1828. At the gymnasium, Nikolai Gogol studied painting, participated in performances (as a set designer and as an actor), tried himself in various literary genres - then the poem “Housewarming Party”, the lost tragedy “Robbers”, the story “The Tverdislavich Brothers”, and satire were written. Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools,” etc.

From his youth, Nikolai Gogol dreamed of a legal career. In December 1828 he moved to St. Petersburg. Experiencing financial difficulties, worrying about a place, he made his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829 the poem “Italy” appeared, and in the spring of the same year, under the pseudonym “V. Alov”, Gogol published the “idyll in pictures” “Ganz Küchelgarten”. The poem received harsh and mocking reviews from critics. In July 1829, Gogol burned unsold copies of the book and left to travel to Germany.

At the end of 1829 he joined the department state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of the Interior. From April 1830 to March 1831, the aspiring writer served in the department of appanages as a scribe and assistant to the chief clerk under the leadership of the famous idyllic poet Vladimir Panaev. By this time Gogol spent more time literary work. Following the first story “Bisavryuk, or the Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (1830), he published a series works of art and articles: "Chapter from historical novel" (1831), "Chapter from a Little Russian story: "The Scary Boar" (1831). The story "Woman" (1831) was the first work signed with the author's real name.

In 1830, the writer met the poets Vasily Zhukovsky and Pyotr Pletnev, who introduced Gogol to Alexander Pushkin at his home in May 1831. By the summer of 1831, his relations with Pushkin’s circle had become quite close: while living in Pavlovsk, Gogol often visited Pushkin and Zhukovsky in Tsarskoe Selo; carried out instructions for the publication of Belkin's Tales. Pushkin valued Gogol as a writer and “gave” the plots of “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls.”

“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka,” published in 1831-1832, brought literary fame to the young writer.

In the early 1830s, Gogol studied teaching activities, gave private lessons, and later taught history at the St. Petersburg Patriotic Institute. In 1834 he was appointed associate professor in the department general history at St. Petersburg University.

In 1835, the collections “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod” were published. "Arabesques" contained several articles of popular scientific content on history and art and the stories "Portrait", "Nevsky Prospect" and "Notes of a Madman". In the first part of "Mirgorod" "Old World Landowners" and "Taras Bulba" appeared, in the second - "Viy" and "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich."

The pinnacle of Gogol's work as a playwright was The Inspector General, published and simultaneously staged in 1836. In January of this year, the comedy was read for the first time by the author at an evening at Zhukovsky’s in the presence of Alexander Pushkin and Pyotr Vyazemsky. The play premiered in April on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, and in May on the stage of the Maly Theater in Moscow.

In 1836-1848, Gogol lived abroad and came to Russia only twice.

In 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published with a significant circulation for that time of 2.5 thousand copies. Work on the book began back in 1835, the first volume of the poem was completed in August 1841 in Rome.

In 1842, the first collected works of Gogol, where the story “The Overcoat” was published, was published under the editorship of the writer.

In 1842-1845, Gogol worked on the second volume of Dead Souls, but in July 1845 the writer burned the manuscript.

At the beginning of 1847, Gogol’s book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” was published, which was perceived extremely negatively by many, including the writer’s close friends.

Gogol spent the winter of 1847-1848 in Naples, intensively reading Russian periodicals, new fiction, historical and folklore books. In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where most of spent time in Moscow, visited St. Petersburg, as well as in his native places - Little Russia.

By the beginning of 1852, the edition of the second volume of Dead Souls was re-created, chapters from which Gogol read to close friends. However, the feeling of creative dissatisfaction did not leave the writer; on the night of February 24 (February 12, old style), 1852, he burned the manuscript of the second volume of the novel. Only five chapters have survived in incomplete form, relating to various draft editions that were published in 1855.

On March 4 (February 21, old style), 1852, Nikolai Gogol died in Moscow. He was buried in the Danilov Monastery. In 1931, Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

In April 1909, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth, a monument to Nikolai Gogol by Nikolai Andreev was unveiled on Arbat Square in Moscow. In 1951, the monument was moved to the Donskoy Monastery, to the Museum of Memorial Sculpture. In 1959, on the 150th anniversary of Gogol’s birth, it was installed in the courtyard of the house on Nikitsky Boulevard where the writer died. In 1974, a memorial museum to N.V. was opened in this building. Gogol.

In 1952, on the 100th anniversary of Gogol’s death, a new one was erected in place of the old monument, the work of Nikolai Tomsky, with the inscription on the pedestal: “To the great Russian artist, words to Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol from the government of the Soviet Union.”

In St. Petersburg there are two monuments to the writer. In 1896, a bronze bust of Gogol by sculptor Vasily Kreitan was installed in the Admiralty Garden.

In December 1997, a monument to the writer by sculptor Mikhail Belov was unveiled on Malaya Konyushennaya Street, next to Nevsky Prospekt.

One of the oldest monuments to Gogol in Russia is located in Volgograd. A bronze bust of the writer by sculptor Ivan Tavbiy was installed on Alexander Square in 1910.

In the writer’s homeland, in the village of Velikie Sorochintsy, a monument to the writer was unveiled in 1911. In 1929, in honor of the 120th anniversary of the writer’s birth, the Velikosorochynsky Literary and Cultural Center was founded. memorial museum N.V. Gogol.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (birth name Yanovsky, from 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20, 1809, Sorochintsy, Poltava province - February 21, 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics Russian literature. Came from ancient noble family Gogol-Yanovskikh.

Great Russian writer.
Born in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol spent his childhood years on his parents' estate Vasilyevka (another name is Yanovshchina). Cultural center The region was Kibintsy, the estate of D.P. Troshchinsky, a distant relative of theirs, Gogol’s father acted as his secretary. Was in Kibintsi large library, there was a home theater for which Gogol’s father wrote comedies, being also its actor and conductor.
In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he paints and takes part in performances. Tries himself in various literary genres(writes elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems, stories). At the same time he writes the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he dreams of a legal career.
Having graduated from the gymnasium in 1828, Gogol in December, together with another graduate A.S. Danilevsky travels to St. Petersburg, where he makes his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appears, published by “Hanz Küchelgarten” (under the pseudonym “V. Alov”).
At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “The Nose”, “Taras Bulba” were published.
In the fall of 1835, he began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which was suggested by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that the play premiered in the spring of 1836 on the stage of the Alexandria Theater.
In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany (in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years). He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he begins to work on the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin.
In November 1836, Gogol met A. Mitskevich in Paris. In Rome he receives shocking news about the death of Pushkin. In May 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published. The three years (1842-1845) that followed the writer’s departure abroad was a period of intense and difficult work on the second volume of Dead Souls.
At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a mental crisis, and in a state of sharp exacerbation of his illness, he burned the manuscript of the second volume, on which he would continue to work after some time.
In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where he spent most of his time in Moscow, visiting St. Petersburg, and also in his native places - in Little Russia. In the spring of 1850, Gogol undertook his first and last try arrange your family life- proposes to A.M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.
On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the second volume is “completely finished.” But in last days month, signs of a new crisis were revealed, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol.
On February 7, Gogol confesses and receives communion, and on the night of February 11-12, he burns the white manuscript of the second volume (only five chapters have survived in incomplete form). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in the Talyzin house in Moscow. The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Role and place in literature

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - an outstanding classic of Russian literature of the 19th century centuries. He made great contributions to drama and journalism. According to many literary critics, Gogol founded special direction, called " natural school" The writer with his creativity influenced the development of the Russian language, focusing on its nationality.

Origin and early years

N.V. Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the Poltava province (Ukraine) in the village of Velikiye Sorochintsy. Nikolai was born the third child in the family of a landowner (there were 12 children in total).

The future writer belonged to an old Cossack family. It is possible that the ancestor was Hetman Ostap Gogol himself.

Father - Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky. He was involved in stage activities and instilled in his son a love of theater. When Nikolai was only 16 years old, he passed away.

Mother - Maria Ivanovna Gogol-Yanovskaya (nee Kosyarovskaya). She got married at a young age (14 years old). Her beautiful appearance admired by many contemporaries. Nikolai became her first child to be born alive. And that’s why he was named after St. Nicholas.

Nikolai spent his childhood in a village in Ukraine. Traditions and life Ukrainian people greatly influenced the future creative activity writer. And the mother’s religiosity was passed on to her son and was also reflected in many of his works.

Education and work

When Gogol was ten years old, he was sent to Poltava to prepare for his studies at the gymnasium. He was taught by a local teacher, thanks to whom Nikolai entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn in 1821. Gogol's academic performance left much to be desired. He was only strong in drawing and Russian literature. Although the Gymnasium itself is to blame for the fact that Gogol’s academic success was not great. Teaching methods were outdated and not useful: rote learning and rods. Therefore, Gogol took up self-education: he subscribed to magazines with his comrades and became interested in theater.

After finishing his studies at the gymnasium, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, hoping for a bright future here. But reality disappointed him somewhat. His attempts to become an actor failed. In 1829, he became a minor official, a scribe in a department of the ministry, but did not work there for long, becoming disillusioned with this matter.

Creation

Working as an official did not bring joy to Nikolai Gogol, so he tries his hand at literary activity. The first published work was “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (at first it had a different name). Gogol's fame began with this story.

The popularity of Gogol’s works was explained by the interest of the St. Petersburg public in the Little Russian (as some regions of Ukraine were previously called) existence.

In his work, Gogol often turned to folk legends, according to legend, he used simple folk speech.

The early works of Nikolai Gogol belong to the movement of romanticism. Later he writes in his original style, many associate it with realism.

Major works

The first work that brought him fame was the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. These stories are considered to be Gogol's main works. In them, the author stunningly accurately depicted the traditions of the Ukrainian people. And the magic that lurks on the pages of this book still surprises readers.

TO important works include historical story"Taras Bulba". It is included in the cycle of stories “Mirogorod”. Dramatic fate produces heroes against the backdrop of real events strong impression. Films have been made based on the story.

One of the great achievements in the field of Gogol’s dramaturgy was the play “The Inspector General”. The comedy boldly exposed the vices of Russian officials.

Recent years

The year 1836 became the time for Gogol to travel around Europe. He is working on the first part of Dead Souls. Returning to his homeland, the author publishes it.

In 1843, Gogol published the story “The Overcoat”.

There is a version that Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls on February 11, 1852. And in the same year he passed away.

Chronological table (by dates)

Interesting facts from the life of the writer

• Passion for mysticism led to the writing of the mysterious work Gogol - "Viy".
• There is a version that the author burned the second volume of Dead Souls.
• Nikolai Gogol had a passion for miniature publications.

Writer's Museum

In 1984, the museum was opened in the village of Gogolevo in a solemn ceremony.

April 1 is the birthday of the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. However, the issue of Gogol’s year of birth is very controversial. Thus, Gogol always answered a simple question about his date of birth evasively. What is the reason for such secrecy? The mystery of the writer's birth may have its origins in youth mother of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.

When asked about his date of birth, Gogol answered evasively...

Of course: according to the lists of the Poltava povet school, where he studied with his younger brother Ivan, it was stated that Ivan was born in 1810, and Nikolai was born in 1811. Biographers explained this by a little trick of Vasily Yanovsky, who did not want his eldest son to be overgrown among his classmates. But the birth certificate issued to the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences stated that Gogol was born in 1810. And a hundred years later he became another year older.

In 1888, the magazine “Russian Antiquity” first published an extract from the metric book of the Transfiguration Church of the Savior in the town of Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province: “1809. No. 25 - On the 20th of March, the landowner Vasily Yanovsky had a son, Nikolai, and was baptized. Priest Ioan Belobolsky prayed and baptized. Colonel Mikhail Trakhimovsky was the recipient.”

The godfather of the poet - after twenty years military service retired and settled in Sorochintsy. The Trakhimovsky and Gogol-Yanovsky families have been friendly for a long time and were distantly related. Everything is logical, but questions remained. Because from Vasilyevka it was closer to Mirgorod (where there was a church), to Kibintsy (where Gogol’s mother and father served).

It was possible to drive further in the other direction, for in the legendary Dikanka, steeped in ancient legends, there were two churches: the Trinity and the ancestral church of the Kochubeys, St. Nicholas, which the Gogols visited as distant relatives. They said that it was in front of him young Maria made her vow: if the long-awaited son was born, he would be named Nikolai, and a church would be built in Vasilyevka.

In 1908, on the eve centenary anniversary Since the birth of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences has officially confirmed the fact of the birth of N.V. Gogol - March 20 (April 1 to the present) 1809.

Theatrical novel

The genealogy of Gogol's mother is described in detail by historians. Grandfather Kosyarevsky, after military service, became the Oryol postmaster with a salary of 600 rubles a year. His son was “assigned” to the postal department... In 1794, the Kosyarovsky couple had a daughter, Masha, who was given to be raised by her aunt Anna, in the family of Major General A.P. Troshchinsky, since the parents themselves lived too modestly. Masha “started” early. Played in home theater Troshchinsky has many roles, including the repentant Magdalene. And - I finished the game...

At the age of 14 (I write in words - at the age of fourteen), despite Russian laws which prohibited marriages in early age, married Vasily Gogol-Yanovsky (1777-1825), owner of the small farmstead Kupchin, which was called Yanovshchina, and then Vasilyevka. And Maria inherited the Yareski estate: a total of 83 acres of land (about 83 hectares), the number of “population” owned by the Kosyarovskys was 19 people. Why did the Yanovskys and Kosyarevskys quickly become related? Because the “schoolgirl” Masha was pregnant. From whom?

In 1806, being in disgrace, General Dmitry Troshchinsky appeared in Kibintsy. He, an old bachelor, had illegitimate daughter and the “pupil” Skobeeva, who became his favorite. In those days, a strict law of Peter I was in effect: all illegitimate children should be deprived of the title of nobility and registered as soldiers, peasants or artists. That is why so many artists, poets and writers have appeared in Russia over two generations.

By the way, is this why Taras Shevchenko became an artist? It's easy to figure out whose illegitimate son he is. But unlike Engelhardt, Dmitry Troshchinsky knew the laws thoroughly Russian state and loopholes in these laws. It is no coincidence that he was appointed Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General. Therefore, for "legal" confirmation noble origin his illegitimate son, he gave him “for adoption” to his poor relatives.

When young Masha “got heavier” at the age of 14, he, as they would say now, faced an article “for child molestation.” And an illegitimate child had to be given up as a soldier or artist. The general hedged his bets twice. I instructed my manager Vasya Yanovsky to urgently marry Masha. And he gave a huge amount as a dowry. (Gogol’s sister points to 40 thousand, but apparently she made an adjustment for inflation, which was in Russia after the War of 1812).

And when Nikolai Gogol was born, they made him two years older. So, according to Poltava school documents, he was born in 1811. Because Masha (born in 1794) was already 17 years old by that time. Everything is legal. (Troshchinsky turned 59 years old. He reached the age about which people say: “Grey hair in a beard - a devil in a rib”).

No matter how much the competitors later dug under the Minister of Justice, they could not prove anything. There was no DNA paternity testing back then. Nevertheless, “well-wishers” regularly reported on Troshchinsky’s intimate affairs. Everyone in the area knew everything: who walked with whom... Both now, and two hundred years ago, if you sneezed on one side of the village, then on the other they would say: “Be healthy”!

So we had to send Masha to give birth to an old friend - military doctor Mikhail Trakhimovsky in Bolshiye Sorochintsy. The place there is lively. There are five roads leading out of the town at once: there is where to come from and where, if something happens, to leave...

There was even a “cover” legend that Gogol was born on the road, almost right next to the bridge over the Psel River, which he so colorfully described in the story “Sorochinskaya Fair”. I checked “on the ground”: there is no bridge on the road from Vasilyevka (now Gogolevo) to Sorochintsy. Here, the “security service” of the Minister of Justice, spreading these rumors, did something wrong.

The reader has the right to ask: where did the general’s money go? They became "investments". The Yareski came to life and fairs were regularly held there. A large distillery was built there, which used a steam engine. Distilling (production of vodka) was a good business. V. A. Gogol subsequently managed the Troshchinsky household, being the secretary of Dmitry Prokofievich, who in 1812 was elected leader of the nobility of the Poltava province. And in the home theater of D. P. Troshchinsky in Kibintsy, comedies by Vasily Afanasyevich were staged. Everyone is fine.

By the way, part of the money was spent on the construction of a church in Vasilyevka, on Gogol’s training in Nizhyn: 1,200 rubles a year (then Troshchinsky saved: he transferred Kolya to a “state contract”). When Gogol in St. Petersburg "grabbed Venus by the intimate place", then 1,450 silver rubles were spent on the treatment of the “bad illness” in Germany (travel, food, medicine, consultations). (For comparison: one goose then cost one ruble. A few years later, Gogol received 2,500 rubles for the production of “The Inspector General”). It was expensive for the poet to visit a public institution. From then on, he treated women with restraint, but began well: “We are maturing and improving; but when? When we comprehend a woman more deeply and more perfectly. (Nikolai Gogol, "Woman", "LG", 1831)