What do you know about the childhood of Saltykov Shchedrin. The childhood of Saltykov-Shchedrin

Shchedrin, real name - Saltykov, was born in 1826, in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, now Moscow region, in a family estate.

The strictest economy, parental scandals and swearing, cruel treatment of serfs - such is the world of his childhood, captured in the novel Poshekhonskaya Starina.

Having received elementary education in the family, the writer studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where senior government officials were trained. There, his literary and poetic abilities manifested themselves.

At the end of his studies - the service, which continued with a short break until 1868.

In 1848 young official, already taking part in the literary - public life capital, almost suffered the fate of Dostoevsky: Saltykov was arrested for the novels "Contradictions" (1847) and "A Tangled Case" (1848). He continues to serve in Vyatka, from where he returns after the death of Nicholas I, in 1855.

In 1856 - 1857, the satirist, having based his impressions of the province and for the first time using his favorite form - a cycle of closely related stories and scenes, embodies his plan - " Provincial essays».

1858 Saltykov - vice - governor of Ryazan, later - Tver, and in 1865 - 1868 served in serious posts in Penza, Tula, the same Ryazan. According to contemporaries, he was a respectable, incorruptible, zealous official. But intransigence, rigidity and inflexibility, some cynicism and caustic temper, unwillingness to adapt to the leaders and the current situation, became the reason for leaving the civil service.

Shchedrin devotes himself entirely to the literary craft. The true experience of life in the outback and awareness of the structure of the state apparatus from the inside made the writer an expert on the national foundations of that time. “Innocent Stories”, “Satires in Prose”, “Pompadours and Pompadourses”, the brilliant “History of a City”, which in genre has become a satirical parody of historical work, appear.

In 1863 - 1864, having temporarily retired from service, Saltykov collaborated with Nekrasov in the Sovremennik magazine. In 1868 - becomes co-editor of Otechestvennye Zapiski, linking his further literary work with this journal - social activities. In 1880 finished the socio-psychological novel "Gentlemen Golovlevs".

In 1884 by decision of the government, the popular and democratic "Notes of the Fatherland" are being closed. The writer perceives this as a personal life catastrophe. The emotional wound inflicted by the prohibition of the publication, in which so much effort and heart had been invested, did not heal until his death in 1889.

Despite painful illness and oppressed state of mind Saltykov continues to compose. By this time include: "Poshekhonskaya antiquity", "Little things in life". Bright, expressive, sharp in their subject matter, fairy tales, the images of which have become common nouns. The author begins "Forgotten Words", in the genre of poetic prose, but death interrupts his work.

All the works of the classic are united not by genre, not by theme, and not even by a special, sarcastic method of describing what is happening, but by the fact that they are original parts and fragments of one great work which depicted Russian life late XIX century.

M. E. Saltykov, thanks to the strength and depth of his striking talent, is a rare, amazing phenomenon. It rightfully occupies a special niche in literature.

A very brief biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was born in the Tver province in 1826. At the age of 10, he began his studies at the Moscow Noble Institute. Showing himself as an excellent student, he soon received a transfer to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

At the age of 19, Mikhail entered military service, to the office. At this time, his works began to be published for the first time.

He was exiled to Vyatka in 1848, because his way of thinking was not accepted by many. There he worked as a senior official under the governor, and then became an adviser to the governor's board.

It was not until 1856 that his residence restriction was lifted. At this time, Mikhail returned to St. Petersburg. There he began to practice again. writing activities. In addition, the writer worked in the Ministry of the Interior and took part in the reform. In 1858, Saltykov-Shchedrin became vice-governor in Ryazan, and after that in Tver. At the age of 36, he retired, returned to St. Petersburg again and began working as the editor of the Sovremennik magazine.

For several years he tried to return to public service, but the attempts were unsuccessful.

Almost until his death, Mikhail worked in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, first as one of the editors, and then as the editor-in-chief of the journal. At this time, he creates his famous work- "History of a City"

Life contradictions from childhood entered into peace of mind satire. Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born on January 15 (27), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazinsky district, Tver province. The writer's father belonged to the ancient noble family Saltykov, to early XIX century ruined and impoverished. In an effort to fix the shattered financial situation, Evgraf Vasilyevich married the daughter of a wealthy Moscow merchant O. M. Zabelina, power-hungry and energetic, thrifty and prudent to the point of hoarding.
Mikhail Evgrafovich did not like to remember his childhood, and when this happened, willy-nilly, the memories were stained with unchanging bitterness. Under the roof of the parental home, he was not destined to experience either the poetry of childhood or family warmth and participation. family drama complicated by social drama. Saltykov's childhood and young years coincided with the rampant serfdom that was living out its days. “It penetrated not only into relations between local nobility and the forced mass - to them, in the narrow sense, this term was applied, - but also to all forms of community life in general, equally drawing all classes (privileged and unprivileged) into a whirlpool of humiliating lack of rights, all kinds of twists and turns of craftiness and fear of the prospect of being crushed every hour ” .
The young man Saltykov received a brilliant education for those times, first at the Noble Institute in Moscow, then at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where, by writing poetry, he gained fame as a “clever man” and “second Pushkin”. But the bright times of the lyceum brotherhood of students and teachers have long sunk into oblivion. Nicholas I's hatred of enlightenment, engendered by fear of the spread of freedom-loving ideas, turned primarily to the lyceum. “At that time, and especially in our “institution,” recalled Saltykov, “the taste for thinking was a very little encouraged thing. It could only be spoken in secret and under pain of more or less sensitive punishments. All lyceum education was then directed towards one and only goal - "to prepare an official."
Young Saltykov made up for the shortcomings of the lyceum education in his own way: he greedily absorbed Belinsky's articles in the journal Domestic Notes, and after graduating from the lyceum, having decided to serve as an official of the Military Department, he joined the socialist circle of M. V. Petrashevsky. This circle “instinctively clung to the France of Saint-Simon, Cabet, Fourier, Louis Blanc, and especially Georges Sand. Faith in humanity poured on us from there, from there the confidence dawned upon us that the “golden age” is not behind, but ahead of us ... In a word, everything good, everything desirable and loving - everything came from there.
But here, too, Saltykov discovered a grain of contradiction, from which the mighty tree of his satire subsequently grew. He noticed that the members of the socialist circle were too good-hearted in their dreams, that they only “actually” lived in Russia, or, as it was said at that time, “had a way of life”: they went to the office to work, ate at restaurants and kitchens ... But spiritually they live in France, Russia for them is "a region, as if shrouded in fog."
In the story “Contradictions” (1847), Saltykov forced his hero Nagibin to struggle painfully over the solution to the “inexplicable phoenix” - Russian reality, to look for ways out of the contradiction between ideals utopian socialism and real life, running counter to these ideals. The hero of the second story - "A Tangled Case" (1848) Michulin is also struck by the imperfection of all social relations, he also tries to find a way out of the contradictions between the ideal and reality, to find a living practical matter that allows you to rebuild the world. Decided here characteristics spiritual appearance Saltykov: unwillingness to become isolated in abstract dreams, an impatient thirst for an immediate practical result from those ideals in which he believed.

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Mikhail Evgrafovich is a great Russian prose writer and satirist. The life of Saltykov-Shchedrin began in 1826, on January 27 (15), in the Tver province in the village of Spas-Ugol. He hereditary nobleman and his family was wealthy.

Saltykov-Shchedrin: biography - a brief history of childhood

The future writer had a despotic mother. Zabelina was completely devoid of humanity, and her image would later be embodied in "Lords of the Golovlevs." There were six children in the family, and, despite the fact that Misha was known as a favorite, he had seen family squabbles in full. But on the contrary, it seemed to temper the boy. The author will later describe the period up to ten years almost autobiographically in Poshekhonskaya Antiquity. Saltykov always recalled his childhood with bitterness and, as a rule, did not like to talk about it. His childhood passed mostly in solitude, all the older children had already left to study. And little was really done to educate him.

Duality

Interesting Facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin begin with his last name. Of its two parts, the real one is Saltykov, and the second - Shchedrin - appeared later as a pseudonym. His life seems to be divided into two parts: Saltykov is an official, and Shchedrin is a writer,

Saltykov's career

Saltykov Mikhail Evgrafovich began his career in exile. In August 1844, he was enrolled in the St. Petersburg Chancellery, in 1846 the young man was already able to get a position there as assistant secretary to the Minister of War. And at the age of 22, in 1848, he was exiled to Vyatka for his first literary research. However, he continued to serve, and his career was brilliant. He twice served as vice-governor: in the Ryazan province and in Tver.

Literary debut

In 1847, Saltykov-Shchedrin made his debut as a writer. First, reviews, and then two stories published in the journal Domestic Notes. They came out under the pseudonyms M. Nepanov and M.S.

Real fame came to him in 1856, when he published his cycle “Provincial Essays”, from that moment the pseudonym Nikolai Shchedrin entered into practice, which later became part of his last name. And also there was a tradition to publish their works in cycles.

Essays

Shchedrin's essays are primarily about state orders, about those who should fulfill these orders, put them into practice. Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich specially dedicated his work to the image of Russian officials of the mid-60s.

Shchedrin the writer begins to prevail over Saltykov the official. This is especially evident at the moment when N. A. Nekrasov comes to the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski and invites Saltykov-Shchedrin as co-editor. In 1868, Saltykov, an official, forever gives way to the writer Shchedrin.

Since 1878, after the death of Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin became the sole editor of Otechestvennye Zapiski. It was whole era in his life.

Interesting facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin as criticism

Saltykov-Shchedrin himself perceives himself as a critic. Criticism of foundations, orders, officials. At the same time, in the 60s, he himself was under the “fire” of fellow writers.

The fact is that the writer offers readers satire, but not from the point of view of an external observer, but of a person who is his own for this environment. That's why Saltykov-Shchedrin was repeatedly reproached. And the most ardent critic was Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev. He said that it was no longer enough just to mock existing orders, and in general, it is reprehensible to mock the state bureaucracy, being oneself a part of it. This is a moral paradox. Pisarev was generally convinced that literature should not give pleasure, but recipes for how readers should live. He said, for example, that Pushkin was useless. After all, what does "Eugene Onegin" teach?

Pisarev throws a stronger reproach to Saltykov-Shchedrin. It is generally accepted that in the 60s two trends in Russian literature were opposed to each other: pure art, which serves eternal beauty, And civil literature. It seems that the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin belong to the second of the indicated directions. But Pisarev says a terrible thing: that Saltykov-Shchedrin represents in literature a useless fashion for laughter, sneer, mockery, which has nothing in common with a genuine change in reality.

Changes in creativity

At the turn of the 60s - 70s, Mikhail Evgrafovich offers his readers something completely new - this is no longer just a series of essays, but a whole work - "The History of a City". It is a parody of the good historical chronicles. The city acts as a model of the world. The city of Foolov is about Rus'. In this work great importance has a critique of bureaucracy.

In the mid-80s, the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin became completely new. He called them stories. There are about thirty of them. They were filled in and were published in the Russkiye Vedomosti newspaper, which is strange in itself. After all, fairy tales are usually not printed in newspapers. But this is exactly what the author said he wanted: everything is not limited to a fairy tale. As in the usual fairy tales, in his works there is no happy endings. They are full of irony and are more like stories and novels.

In satirical Russian literature big role it is Saltykov-Shchedrin who plays. A short biography is unable to convey the fullness of the mystery of such a phenomenon in Russian literature as Mikhail Evgrafovich. He was called the great diagnostician of evils and ailments.

Interesting facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin were told by people who worked with him. It was said that his character was very nervous and irritable. And it affects creativity. Therefore, it is difficult to read it. The works cannot be "swallowed".

"Golovlevs" is one of the darkest things in Russian literature. Unless Dostoevsky approached it by writing The Brothers Karamazov.

Interesting facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin include the fact that many of the words that we still use were invented and introduced into literature and life by him. For example, the word "softness". Mikhail Evgrafovich created and introduced his own system of ironic allegories into literature. The author also tried to write poetry, but after the first unsuccessful attempt at writing, he abandoned poetry forever. Saltykov-Shchedrin studied at the same lyceum as Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, and it was in it that they both began to write.

The writer lived for 63 years. He died in the spring of 1889.

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is a Russian writer, journalist, editor of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, Ryazan and Tver Vice-Governor. Saltykov-Shchedrin was a master of the island of the word and was the author of many.

He was able to create great work in the genre of satire and realism, as well as helping the reader to analyze their mistakes.

Perhaps his most famous graduate was.

While studying at the Lyceum, Saltykov-Shchedrin stopped monitoring his appearance, began to swear, smoke, and also often ended up in a punishment cell for misbehavior.

As a result, the student graduated from the lyceum with the rank of collegiate secretary. Interestingly, it was during this period of his biography that he tried to write his first works.

After that, Mikhail began working in the office of the military department. He continued to engage in writing and became seriously interested in the work of the French socialists.

Link to Vyatka

The first stories in the biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin were "A Tangled Case" and "Contradictions". In them he raised important questions which runs counter to the policy of the current government.

When Alexander 2 was on the throne in 1855, he was allowed to return home. The following year, he was appointed officer for special assignments at the Ministry of the Interior.

Creativity Saltykov-Shchedrin

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most prominent representatives of satire in. He had a subtle sense of humor and was able to brilliantly convey it on paper.

An interesting fact is that it was he who coined such expressions as "bungling", "soft-bodied" and "stupidity".

After Saltykov-Shchedrin returned from exile in , he published a collection of short 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 which, in his opinion, were prominent representatives.

In 1870 Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote one of the most famous stories in his biography - "History of one city".

It is worth noting that this work was not initially appreciated, because it contained a lot of allegories and unusual comparisons.

Some critics even accused Mikhail Evgrafovich of intentional distortion. The story featured simple people different mind and who unquestioningly obeyed the authorities.

Soon, from the pen of Saltykov-Shchedrin, a very interesting and deep tale came out. wise scribbler". It told about a piskar who was afraid of everything, who lived in fear and loneliness until his death.

Then he began working as an editor in the publication "Domestic Notes", which he owned. In this journal, in addition to his direct duties, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin also published his own works.

In 1880 Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote the brilliant novel The Golovlevs. It told about a family that all their adult life thought only about increasing their capital. Ultimately, this led the entire family to spiritual and moral decay.

Personal life

In the biography of the writer there was only one wife - Elizaveta Boltina. Saltykov-Shchedrin met her during her 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 opposed to him 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 did get married.

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 intervene in the conversation, saying a lot of unnecessary things, which, moreover, were often irrelevant.

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, Elizabeth, and a boy, Konstantin.

Biographers of Saltykov-Shchedrin claim that he was well versed in wines, played on and was an expert in matters relating to profanity.

Death

In recent years, the writer seriously suffered from rheumatism. In addition, his health deteriorated after Otechestvennye Zapiski was closed in 1884. Censorship considered the publication a distributor 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 receive guests due to weakness, he asked me to tell them: "I am very busy - I am dying."

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin died on April 28, 1889 at the age of 63. According to his request, he was buried next to the grave at the Volkovsky cemetery.

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Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin belongs to those rare Russian classics whose names are known to everyone and whose works are often quoted (not Reshetnikov or Pomyalovsky), but at the same time the works themselves are rarely read, and only rare connoisseurs can reveal the details of the biography .. What will a person even familiar with the course of 19th century literature say about Saltykov-Shchedrin? Born into a noble family; albeit not immediately, but he entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, from which he graduated with the rank of 10th grade. In his youth, he dabbled in poetry, free-thinking, was friends with Petrashevsky, was sent to Vyatka, into exile, but with the right to serve, and began a bureaucratic career there; eventually rose to the post of vice-governor in Ryazan, and then in Tver. I didn't leave my whole life literary experiments, published under the pseudonym Nikolai Shchedrin, was considered a satirist and wit, although he had a rather gloomy character. literary career he did the same successfully, won fame, accepted the lyre from the hands of the dying Nekrasov in the form of the journal Fatherland Notes, replacing the poet as editor ... He was married and had children in marriage. That, in fact, is all. No fatal duels, no burning romances, no barricades; I didn’t even pawn my wife’s last talma in the gambling house and didn’t go behind the plow ...
And the portraits of Saltykov are known, but not loved - a gloomy old man with an untidy beard looks at us from them. But Saltykov died at the age of 63, before he really reached old age ...

Portrait by Ivan Kramskoy

Meanwhile, upon closer examination, it turns out that Saltykov's life was full of various events - there was a place for love, various tragedies, and unexpected turns... A decent plot for big romance, it is even strange that Tolstoy and Dostoevsky indifferently passed by.

They say that a person takes out many of his problems from childhood, from the parental home. And often, voluntarily or involuntarily, repeats the mistakes of his parents, stepping on the same rake ...
Biographers, as a rule, dryly report that Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born into a noble family. Meanwhile, his father was not just a nobleman, but a representative of a noble and wealthy family. The Saltykovs often appeared on the stage of history, and these phenomena can not always be assessed positively. But the name was well known... Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, however, was an ordinary man, unambitious and did not leave a bright trace. But he had 3,000 souls of serfs! At that time, 1000 souls was considered great wealth, but here it is three times more than a lot ... And when the forty-year-old Evgraf decided to marry a young, even more than young - fifteen-year-old (!) - bride, he was not refused. On the contrary, the proposal was accepted and gladly.
The groom's relatives turned out to be dissatisfied - not only is Olga Zabelina only 15 years old, but her origin is rather dubious, she is only considered a noblewoman ...
Olga's father, Mikhail Petrovich Zabelin, received the nobility only in 1812 for donating his fortune to the needs of the Moscow militia. And before that he was a merchant, and the customs in the family were simple, merchant. However, even having been awarded the nobility, the Zabelins did not turn into aristocrats - there was nowhere to come from sophistication, especially since there were no longer any means of the former. In addition to youthful freshness, other virtues, according to general opinion, Olga did not have.
However, new relatives did not appreciate Olga Zabelina's grip - she quickly took her husband, family, serfs and all her fortune into her hands, put her husband's sisters in their place, who immediately lost the habit of interfering in the affairs of the newlyweds, and gave birth to eight children one after another. Misha was the sixth, but he walked in the favorites of his mother (unlike those children whom she transferred to the category of hateful). Growing older, Olga Mikhailovna lost the charm of youth, became coarse and became terribly mean. The endless debates of the mother with the serf cook about how it would be profitable to cook "blanmange" from yesterday's soup meat for dinner, and the counting of peaches from the manor greenhouse seemed painful to Mikhail already in early childhood.

Childhood impressions later form the basis of "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" - a book that is not only an interesting evidence of the life and life of the "nobles middle class"(as defined by Saltykov-Shchedrin), but says a lot about the eternal conflict of generations, "fathers and children", about the rejection and ridicule by the young of the traditions and values ​​​​of the older generation ... The writer himself asked not to identify him with own character Nikanor Shabby, on behalf of whom he narrated. But this did not deceive anyone - the autobiographical nature of the work and the true facts woven into it literary basis, were obvious.

Misha Saltykov in childhood

In the 1830s, as a child, Saltykov came with his mother to Moscow to visit his grandfather Zabelin, who lived near the Arbat in Bolshoy Afanasevsky Lane in own house. (Zabelin's house has not been preserved). In the same 1831, when A.S. Pushkin rented an apartment on the Arbat in order to bring his young wife there after the wedding, little Misha Saltykov came with his mother for the first time to visit his grandfather on the Arbat. True, Pushkin and Saltykov missed each other a little in time - Misha was visiting Moscow from August 23 to October 3, when Alexander Sergeevich had already moved to St. Petersburg, and the future writer Saltykov-Shchedrin did not have a chance to see the famous poet walking along the Arbat arm in arm with his beautiful wife ...
In order not to embarrass and disturb grandfather, the Saltykovs usually rented a mansion somewhere in the neighborhood of his house. Mikhail Saltykov subsequently embodied his childhood memories in the pages of Poshekhonskaya antiquity:
"While big houses, with several apartments, there were almost no in Moscow, and the lanes were completely built up with small wooden houses, belonging to the nobles of the middle hand (only about them in question in this story, because the so-called Griboedov's Moscow, in which the highest Moscow circle mainly figured, is completely unknown to me, although, undoubtedly, in the moral and intellectual sense, it differed very little from the Moscow described by me). For some reason, some of the owners stayed in the villages for the winter and gave their houses to those who wished, with all the furnishings. Alas! These are no longer grand mansions in the style of classicism - with high slender colonnades, amfilades of spacious halls, wide windows that let in a lot of light and double doors ... These were mansions, of which a rare one contained more than seven or eight rooms. Among the latter, only two or three "clean" rooms were quite spacious; the rest could be called cells in the full sense of the word. The front porch led out into a cramped courtyard cluttered with services, which was entered from the street through a wooden gate. There was nothing to think about luxurious or even simply comfortable surroundings, and we, too, middle-class nobles, did not pretend to be comfortable. Furniture for the most part was a team, old, covered with sagging skin or torn hair."

This is house number 12 on Bolshoy Afanasevsky Lane. In very similar house No. 30 in the same lane, and also with seven windows along the facade, the grandfather of Saltykov-Shchedrin M.P. lived. Zabelin. But house number 30 has not been preserved... Only a sketch of its facade is in the Historical and Architectural Archive of Moscow.

M.P. Zabelin appears on the pages of "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" under the name of his grandfather Pavel Borisych. "A fat, squat and completely bald old man, he is sitting at the window of his small wooden house in one of the alleys surrounding the Arbat. On the one hand, he has a table on which lies yesterday's issue of Moskovskie Vedomosti; on the other hand, on the windowsill, lies a round a snuffbox filled with Berezinsky tobacco, and a leather cracker with which he beats flies.At his feet sits his friend and interlocutor, the fat cat Vaska, and washes himself.(...) looks out the window... The lane is deaf, and rarely, rarely, when a light cab rattles along the pavement - caliber... Grandfather watches him and recalls that the other day Ipat, his confidant, from Okhotny Ryad to the Arbat gave a dime to such a cab.
- And the whole price is a penny, in it - a dime ... ehma! - he grumbles, - something, other people's money is not a pity!
But if passers-by are rare, then pedlars with trays and various dishes on their heads often look into the alley. Grandfather knows when one of them arrives, and he will either wave his hand to everyone (“no need!”), or open the window and call. (...) In a word, say what you want, that's what you ask. Grandfather will either buy a gooseberry, or a Pereslavl herring, and sometimes he will only talk and let him go without buying anything. In between, he will kill a fly with a cracker "...

Matushka Olga Mikhailovna, with all her brood, came to Moscow not just like that, but to the “bride fair” in the hope of profitably marrying the sister of the future writer. Traditionally, grooms and brides from noble families they came exactly to Moscow in search of a couple (let us remember Tatyana Larina and her mother). As the famous memoirist of that time P. Wistenhof wrote: “These benefits are: according to the daughters, so that the groom likes and is rich, or at least likes it; according to the mothers: so that only he is not disgusting and rich; according to the evil aunts , grandmothers and guardians: so that, although disgusting, he is only rich, but he would not ask for a dowry. But how can the groom not ask for a dowry? "... They all think that rich brides in Moscow do not care, that they sing here like berries in the beds, and that it is a trifle to take 400 souls of a clean estate for a Moscow bride."
In order to show the society a bride brought from a rural estate, it was necessary to take her to certain places, for example, to the Arbat Church of St. Nicholas the Apparition (in 1830 - 1840 St. Nicholas Church was one of the most "fashionable" in Moscow). M.E. also wrote about this. Saltykov-Shchedrin in "Poshekhonskaya antiquity": "Nikola the Appeared had an archpriest who became famous for his sermons. They said that he competed in this respect with Metropolitan Filaret, that the latter envied him ..."
Young ladies who arrived with their parents in Moscow for the "fair of brides" were brought here "for the bridegrooms" to the grooms. During church service potential grooms looked after a suitable beauty, then sent a matchmaker to her house to arrange a personal visit of the applicant. Having praised the groom, his income and fortune, the matchmaker asked the bride's parents for invitations for the groom ("They are very eager to take Nadezhda Vasilievna for themselves. In the church, at St. Nicholas the Manifest, they saw them. They liked them so much!"). If a candidate was considered suitable, he was invited to pay a visit and get to know each other better. The bride anxiously prepared for this meeting (“The sister thought about her dress in advance. She will be dressed simply, as if no one had warned her about anything, and she always at home like this. A pink tartalan dress with a high bodice, intercepted at the waist with a crimson ribbon - that's all. A string of pearls is woven into her hair, a brooch with diamonds on her chest; the ribbon is stabbed with a buckle, also with diamonds. The main thing is to keep it simple.") Parents, servants and all the household also fussed before the groom's visit ("By seven o'clock they cleaned the hall and living room, wiped dust off the furniture, lit sconces on the walls with wax candles; in the living room, a girandole was placed on a table in front of the sofa ... In conclusion, they opened a piano in the hall, put notes on the music stand and lit candles on both sides, as if they were playing now.") Mother had already managed to make inquiries about the groom from Moscow relatives.
The long-awaited guest is engaged in a conversation that revolves more and more near the Arbat church, so as not to look for common topics for a long time.
The guest is seated on the sofa next to the hostess.
“It seems that we are somewhat familiar from Nicholas the Appeared,” mother kindly begins the conversation.
- I live near this church, so, to be honest, I go there for Mass on holidays.
- And what kind of sermons does the archpriest say! Ah, what a sermon!
- How can I tell you, madam ... I do not like them ... "Watch" and "remember" - and without him everyone knows! And sometimes he talks freely!

Yarkarka brides, which seemed quite funny, for example, in "Eugene Onegin", Saltykov looks miserable and miserable ... He generally looked at his relatives with unkind eyes. In the end, the troubles were crowned with success, and a groom was found for his sister ... Misha was assigned to study in Moscow. Before that, on the estate, his education was rather random - he was taught to read and write by a serf artist, then by his sister, then by a governess, then by a student of the Theological Academy ...

In 1836, Mikhail entered the lyceum at the Moscow Noble Institute and continued to visit his grandfather's house until the future writer, as best student they were not transferred to the more prestigious Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (by that time it had already been taken out of Tsarskoye Selo to St. Petersburg). Mother was pleased most of all that the boy was accepted on the "state kosht", and therefore, the education of her son did not require large expenses.

Despite the poverty of life of his Moscow relatives, Saltykov fell under the charm of this city, fell in love with Moscow and kept this love in his heart until the end of his life. A person who was his own on the Arbat remains forever connected with him by invisible threads.
“My cult to Moscow was so stubborn that it resisted even when, for the sake of educational purposes (and later with the secret hope of easily obtaining the rank of titular adviser), I had, at the behest of my parents, to move to St. Petersburg. And then she continued to pursue me Moscow has always found in me an ardent and quick intercessor of its pillars ... This is not enough: when we Muscovites went on vacation in the summer, every time approaching Moscow, they demanded that the stagecoach stop on a hill, near Vsekhsvyatsky, then get out of crew and kissed the ground."
These are the sentimental deeds Moscow plunged even Mikhail Saltykov, the future sarcastically bitter, caustic satirist Shchedrin, into.
Life in the lyceum for Mikhail also turned out to be boring - he studied somehow (he graduated in 17th place in terms of success out of 22), was rude, smoked, annoyed teachers with his untidiness. He was not particularly friendly with anyone, except for Petrashevsky; started writing bad poetry, whom he was ashamed of all his life later ... However, while still a lyceum student, the young poet achieved his first publications and thanks to this, and his friend Petrashevsky made acquaintances in the literary circles of St. they appropriated it only a year later ... But he continued to write and publish - bibliographic reviews, essays, finally stories ... In " confusing business"Madam Kroshina appears," a "woman-fist", in whom they easily recognized Mother Saltykov. Being in the circle of writers, the eternally gloomy and melancholy Mikhail spoke little, listened more ...

And then, like a bolt from the blue - for the publication of free-thinking writings, Mikhail Saltykov was sent into exile in Vyatka ... This was not the exile that seems to our contemporaries, weighed down by sad knowledge. Saltykov simply had to move to the provinces, where he was decently placed, had the opportunity to serve and receive a salary, made a career, six months later becoming a senior official for special assignments under the Vyatka governor, rotated in localm society, maintained correspondence with relatives ...
But Mikhail, torn from the St. Petersburg-Moscow circle, took this as a complete collapse of everything...

Museum of Saltykov-Shchedrin in the house where he lived in Vyatka

To be continued...