In the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, in the family of a minor official.
His father was the son of a priest and received nobility only through his service as a noble assessor of the Oryol Chamber of Criminal Court. The mother belonged to the noble family of the Alferyevs. Nikolai grew up in the wealthy home of one of his maternal uncles, where he received his early education.
Then he studied at the Oryol gymnasium, but the death of his father and the terrible Oryol fires of the 1840s, during which all the Leskovs’ small property was destroyed, did not give him the opportunity to complete the course.
In 1847, Leskov left his studies at the gymnasium and entered the service as a clerk in the Oryol Chamber of the Criminal Court.
In 1849, he transferred to Kyiv as an assistant to the head of the recruit presence. In 1857, he entered private service in the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade, and then worked as an agent for managing the estates of Naryshkin and Perovsky. This service, associated with traveling around Russia, enriched Leskov with a stock of observations.
Having published several articles in Modern Medicine, Economic Index and St. Petersburg Gazette in 1860, Leskov moved to St. Petersburg in 1861 and devoted himself to literary activity.
In the 1860s, he created a number of realistic stories and novellas: “The Extinguished Affair” (1862), “Caustic” (1863), “The Life of a Woman” (1863), “Lady Macbeth” Mtsensk district"(1865), "Warrior" (1866), the play "The Spendthrift" (1867), etc.
His story "The Musk Ox" (1863), the novels "Nowhere" (1864; under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky) and "Outlooked" (1865) were directed against the "new people." Leskov tried to show the futility and groundlessness of the efforts of the revolutionary camp, created cartoonish types of nihilists in the story " Mystery man" (1870) and especially in the novel "On Knives" (1870-1871).
In the 1870s, Leskov began to create a gallery of types of righteous people - powerful in spirit, talented patriots of the Russian land. The novel “The Soborians” (1872), the novels and short stories “The Enchanted Wanderer”, “The Sealed Angel” (both 1873) are devoted to this topic.
In 1874, Leskov was appointed a member of the educational department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education, and in 1877 - a member of the educational department of the Ministry of State Property. In 1880, Leskov left the Ministry of State Property, and in 1883 he was dismissed without a request from the Ministry of Public Education and devoted himself entirely to writing.
This period dates back to Leskov’s rapprochement with right-wing social circles: Slavophiles and the government party of Katkov, in whose magazine “Russian Messenger” he was published in the 1870s. Essays on the everyday life of the higher clergy “Trifles of Bishop's Life” (1878-1883) aroused displeasure against Leskov in the highest spheres, which was the reason for the writer’s dismissal “without request” from the academic committee of the Ministry of Public Education.
Motives of the national identity of the Russian people, faith in them creative forces were reflected in Leskov's satirical story " Iron will" (1876), "The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the steel flea"(1881). The theme of the death of folk talents in Rus' is revealed by Leskov in the story "The Stupid Artist" (1883).
Towards the end of his life, strengthening social and national criticism, the writer turned to satire in the works “The Corral” (1893), “Administrative Grace” (1893), “The Lady and the Felela” (1894), which sometimes had a tragic sound.
On March 5 (February 21, old style), 1895 Nikolai Leskov died in St. Petersburg. He was buried on the Literary Bridge of the Volkov Cemetery.
Based on Leskov's story "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", composer Dmitry Shostakovich subsequently created an opera of the same name (1934), which was resumed in 1962 under the title "Katerina Izmailova".
In 1853, Nikolai Leskov married the daughter of a Kyiv merchant, Olga Smirnova. His wife got sick mental disorder and was treated in St. Petersburg. From this marriage the writer had a son, Dmitry, who died in infancy, and in 1856, a daughter, Vera, who died in 1918.
Biography
Russian writer-ethnographer. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was born on February 16 (old style - February 4), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, where his mother stayed with rich relatives, and his maternal grandmother also lived there. The Leskov family on the paternal side came from the clergy: Nikolai Leskov’s grandfather (Dmitry Leskov), his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were priests in the village of Leska, Oryol province. It was formed from the name of the village of Leski family name Leskov. Nikolai Leskov's father, Semyon Dmitrievich (1789-1848), served as a noble assessor of the Oryol chamber of the criminal court, where he received the nobility. Mother, Marya Petrovna Alfereva (1813-1886), belonged to a noble family of the Oryol province.
In Gorokhov - in the house of the Strakhovs, Nikolai Leskov's maternal relatives - he lived until he was 8 years old. Nicholas had six cousins. Russian and German teachers and a French woman were taken for the children. Nicholas, gifted with greater abilities than his cousins and more successful in his studies, was not liked and, at the request of the future writer, his grandmother wrote to his father asking him to take his son. Nikolai began to live with his parents in Orel - in a house on Third Noble Street. Soon the family moved to the Panino estate (Panin Khutor). Nikolai's father himself sowed, looked after the garden and the mill. At the age of ten, Nikolai was sent to study at the Oryol provincial gymnasium. After five years of study, the gifted and easy-to-learn Nikolai Leskov received a certificate instead of a certificate, since he refused to re-examine for the fourth grade. Further training became impossible. Nikolai's father managed to assign him to the Oryol Criminal Chamber as one of the scribes.
At seventeen and a half years old, Leskov was appointed assistant to the chief of the Oryol Criminal Chamber. In the same year, 1848, Leskov’s father died and his relative, the husband of his maternal aunt, a famous professor at Kyiv University and practicing therapist S.P., volunteered to help in arranging Nikolai’s future fate. Alferyev (1816–1884). In 1849, Nikolai Leskov moved to Kyiv with him and was assigned to the Kyiv Treasury Chamber as an assistant to the head of the recruitment desk of the audit department.
Unexpectedly for his family, and despite advice to wait, Nikolai Leskov decides to get married. The chosen one was the daughter of a wealthy Kyiv businessman. Over the years, the difference in tastes and interests between the spouses became more and more evident. The relationship became especially complicated after the death of the Leskovs’ first-born, Mitya. In the early 1860s, Leskov's marriage actually broke up.
In 1853, Leskov was promoted to collegiate registrar, in the same year he was appointed to the position of head of the department, and in 1856 Leskov was promoted to provincial secretaries. In 1857, he began serving as an agent in the private company Shcott and Wilkins, headed by A.Ya. Schcott is an Englishman who married Leskov's aunt and managed the estates of Naryshkin and Count Perovsky. On their affairs, Leskov constantly made trips, which gave him a huge stock of observations. (“Russian Biographical Dictionary”, article by S. Vengerov “Leskov Nikolai Semenovich”)“Soon after the Crimean War, I became infected with the then fashionable heresy, for which I condemned myself more than once later, that is, I left the government service that had started quite successfully and went to serve in one of the newly formed trading companies at that time. The owners of the business where I got a job were English. They were still inexperienced people and spent the capital they brought here with the stupidest self-confidence. I was the only Russian among them.” (from the memoirs of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov) The company conducted business throughout Russia and Leskov, as a representative of the company, had the opportunity to visit many cities at that time. Three years of wandering around Russia were the reason why Nikolai Leskov took up writing.
In 1860, his articles were published in Modern Medicine, Economic Index, and St. Petersburg Gazette. At the beginning of his literary activity (1860s), Nikolai Leskov published under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky; later he used such pseudonyms as Nikolai Gorokhov, Nikolai Ponukalov, V. Peresvetov, Protozanov, Freishits, priest. P. Kastorsky, Psalmist, Watch Lover, Man from the Crowd. In 1861 Nikolai Leskov moved to St. Petersburg. In April 1861, the first article “Essays on the distillery industry” was published in Otechestvennye zapiski. In May 1862, in the transformed newspaper “Northern Bee,” which considered Leskov one of the most significant employees, under the pseudonym Stebnitsky, he published a sharp article about the fire in the Apraksin and Shchukin courtyards. The article blamed both the arsonists, whom popular rumor referred to as nihilistic rebels, and the government, which was unable to either put out the fire or catch the criminals. Rumor spread that Leskov connected the St. Petersburg fires with the revolutionary aspirations of students and, despite the writer’s public explanations, Leskov’s name became the subject of offensive suspicion. Having gone abroad, he began writing the novel Nowhere, in which he reflected the movement of the 1860s in a negative light. The first chapters of the novel were published in January 1864 in the “Library for Reading” and created unflattering fame for the author, so D.I. Pisarev wrote: “Is there now in Russia, besides Russky Vestnik, at least one magazine that would dare to print on its pages anything coming from the pen of Stebnitsky and signed with his name? Is there at least one honest writer in Russia who would be so careless and indifferent to his reputation that he would agree to work in a magazine that adorns itself with Stebnitsky’s stories and novels?” In the early 80s, Leskov was published in the Historical Bulletin, from the mid-80s he became an employee of Russian Thought and Week, in the 90s he was published in the Bulletin of Europe.
In 1874, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was appointed a member of the educational department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education; The main function of the department was “the review of books published for the people.” In 1877, thanks to Empress Maria Alexandrovna's positive review of the novel “Soborians,” he was appointed a member of the educational department of the Ministry of State Property. In 1880, Leskov left the Ministry of State Property, and in 1883 he was dismissed without a request from the Ministry of Public Education. He accepted the resignation, which gave him independence, with joy.
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on March 5 (old style - February 21), 1895 in St. Petersburg, from another attack of asthma, which tormented him for the last five years of his life. Nikolai Leskov was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.
In the 1930s-1940s, Andrei Nikolaevich Leskov (1866–1953), the son of the writer, compiled a biography of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, published in 1954 in two volumes.
Bibliography
Works by Nikolai Semenovich Leskov
Among the works of Nikolai Leskov are stories, novellas, novels, essays, and journalistic articles.
- “Essays on the Distilling Industry” (1861; article; published in April 1861 in the journal “Domestic Notes”)
- "The Extinguished Cause" (1862; first story)
- “From a travel diary” (1862-1863; collection of journalistic essays)
- "Russian Society in Paris" (1863; essay)
- “The Life of a Woman” (1863; story)
- "Musk Ox" (1863; story)
- “Nowhere” (1863-1864; “anti-nihilistic” novel depicting the life of a commune organized by “nihilists”)
- “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (1865; story)
- “Bypassed” (1865; story; the plot was conceived in contrast to the story by N.G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?”)
- "Warrior" (1866, story)
- “The Islanders” (1866; a story about the Germans who lived in St. Pereburg)
- “The Spendthrift” (1867; drama; first production - in 1867 on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg)
- “Kotin Doilets and Platonida” (1867; story)
- “Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo” (1869; story)
- “On Knives” (1870-1871; “anti-nihilistic” novel; first published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1870-1871)
- “The Mysterious Man” (1870; biographical sketch about the Swiss A.I. Benny, who came to St. Petersburg on behalf of A.I. Herzen and lived for some time in Leskov’s apartment)
- “The Soborians” (1872; chronicle novel about the clergy)
- “The Sealed Angel” (1873; a story about a community of schismatics, later included in the collection “The Righteous”)
- “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873; original title - “Black Earth Telemachus”; a story later included in the collection “Righteous”; Leskov himself defined the genre of “The Enchanted Wanderer” as a story)
- "At the End of the World" (1875–1876; story)
- "Iron Will" (1876; story about Russian and German national characters, based on true events that occurred in the 1850-1860s, when Leskov served in the Shcott and Wilkins company)
- “At the End of the World” (1876; story later included in the collection “The Righteous”)
- “The Unbaptized Priest” (1877; story)
- “The Vladychny Court” (1877; essay about Metropolitan Philaret of Kiev)
- “Mirror of the life of a true disciple of Christ” (1877; journalism)
- “Prophecies about the Messiah” (1878; journalism)
- “Little things in the life of a bishop” (1878; a series of essays about the Russian clergy; first published in September-November 1878 in the newspaper “Novosti”)
- “Odnodum” (1879; story later included in the collection “Righteous”)
- “Pointer to the Book of the New Testament” (1879; journalism)
- “Sheramur” (1879; a story later included in the collection “The Righteous”)
- “Bishops' Detours” (1879; essay on the Orthodox Church)
- "Diocesan Court" (1880; essay on the Orthodox Church)
- “Cadet Monastery” (1880; a story about the director of a cadet corps, later included in the collection “The Righteous”)
- « Non-lethal Golovan"(1880; story, later included in the collection “The Righteous”; the hero of the story belongs to the bourgeois class)
- “The Holy Shadows” (1881; essay on the Orthodox Church)
- “A Collection of Fatherly Opinions on the Importance of Holy Scripture” (1881)
- “Christ Visiting a Man” (1881; story from the “Yuletide Stories” series)
- “Synodal Persons” (1882; essay on the Orthodox Church)
- “The Ghost in the Engineering Castle” (1882; story from the “Yuletide Stories” series)
- “Travels with a Nihilist” (1882; story from the “Yuletide Stories” series)
- “The Beast” (1883; story from the series “Yuletide Stories”)
- “Pechersk Antiquities” (1883; series of essays)
- “The Stupid Artist” (1883; a story about a serf “hairdresser artist”)
- “Lefty” (1883; tale, later included in the collection “Righteous”)
- “The Voice of Nature” (1883; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- “Alexandrite” (1885; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- “The Old Genius” (1884; story from the “Yuletide Stories” series)
- “The Scarecrow” (1885; a story from the series “Yuletide Stories”)
- “Interesting Men” (1885; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- "Old Psychopaths" (1885; story from the series "Stories by the Way")
- “The Tale of Theodore the Christian and his friend Abram the Jew” (1886)
- “Unmercenary Engineers” (1887; story later included in the collection “Righteous”)
- “The Buffoon Pamphalon” (1887; the original title “The God-loving Buffoon” was not passed by the censors)
- “The Man on the Clock” (1887; a story about a soldier, later included in the collection “The Righteous”)
- "The Lion of Elder Gerasim" (1888)
- “The Dead Estate” (1888; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- “The Mountain” (1890; the first version of “Zeno the Goldsmith” was not passed by the censors)
- "The Hour of God's Will" (1890; short story)
- "Devil's Dolls" 1890; novel-pamphlet)
- "Innocent Prudentius" (1891)
- "Midnight Owls" (1891; story)
- "Yudol" (1892; story)
- "The Improvisers" (1892; story)
- “The Corral” (1893; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- "Product of Nature" (1893; short story)
- "Administrative Grace" (1893; a story critical of the political system Russian Empire; published after the revolutionary coup of 1917)
- “Hare Remiz” (1894; a story that criticized the political system of the Russian Empire; published after the revolutionary coup of 1917)
- “The Lady and the Fefela” (1894; story from the series “Stories by the Way”)
- “Night Owls” (short story; first published in Vestnik Evropy)
Sources of information:
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov can safely be called a genius of that time. He is one of the few writers who was able to feel the people. This extraordinary personality had a passion not only for Russian literature, but also for Ukrainian and English culture.
1. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov graduated from only 2 classes of the gymnasium.
2. The writer began working in the court chamber as an ordinary clerical employee on the initiative of his father.
3. After the death of his father, Leskov was able to rise to the rank of deputy chief of the court in the judicial chamber.
4.Only thanks to the company “Schcott and Wilkens” did Nikolai Semenovich Leskov become a writer.
5. Leskov was constantly interested in the life of the Russian people.
6. Leskov had to study way of life Old Believers, and he was most fascinated by their mystery and mysticism.
- Gorky was delighted with Leskov's talent and even compared him to Turgenev and Gogol.
8. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov always remained on the side of vegetarianism, because compassion for animals was stronger than the desire to eat meat.
9.The most famous work of this writer is “Lefty”.
10. Nikolai Leskov received a good spiritual education because his grandfather was a priest.
11. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov never denied his belonging to the clergy.
12. Leskov’s first wife, whose name was Olga Vasilievna Smirnova, went crazy.
13. Until the death of his first wife, Leskov visited her in a psychiatric clinic.
14. Before he died, the writer was able to release a collection of works.
15. Leskov’s father died of cholera in 1848.
16. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov began publishing his works at the age of 26.
17. Leskov had several fictitious pseudonyms.
18.The political future of the writer was predetermined through the novel “Nowhere”.
19.Leskov’s only work in which the writer’s editing was not used is “The Sealed Angel.”
20. After studying, Leskov had to live in Kyiv, where he became a volunteer student at the Faculty of Humanities.
22. Leskov was a passionate collector. Unique paintings, books and watches are all his rich collections.
23. This writer was one of the first to propose creating a book of recipes for vegetarians.
24. Leskov’s writing activity began with journalism.
25. Since the 1860s, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov began writing about religion.
26. Leskov had a son from his common-law wife named Andrey.
27. The writer’s death occurred in 1895 from an asthma attack, which exhausted him for 5 whole years of his life.
28. Leo Tolstoy called Leskov “the most Russian of writers.”
29.Critics accused Nikolai Semenovich Leskov of distorting his native Russian language.
30. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov devoted a dozen years of his own life to serving the state.
31. Leskov never looked for highest values in people.
32.Many of this writer’s heroes had their own oddities.
33. Leskov found the problem with alcohol, which was observed among the Russian people, in many drinking establishments. He believed that this is how the state makes money from a person.
34.The journalistic activity of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov is connected primarily with the topic of fires.
36. At the end of Leskov’s life, not a single work of his was published in the author’s version.
37.In 1985, an asteroid was named after Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.
38.Leskov managed to get his first education in a wealthy family on his mother’s side.
39. Leskov’s uncle was a professor of medicine.
40. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was not the only child in the family. He had 4 brothers and sisters.
41.The writer was buried at the St. Petersburg cemetery.
42.Children's and early years Nikolai Semenovich took place on the family estate.
43. The child from Leskov’s first marriage died when he was not yet a year old.
44. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, while working at the newspaper, was able to visit European countries such as: France, Czech Republic and Poland.
45. Leo Tolstoy was a good friend of Leskov.
46. Leskov’s father served as an investigator in the Criminal Chamber, and his mother was from a poor family.
47. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was engaged in writing not only novels and stories, but also plays.
48. Leskov had a disease such as angina pectoris.
49. The most serious activity of this writer began in St. Petersburg in 1860.
50. In total, his women gave birth to 3 children from Leskov.
51. On Furshtadskaya Street there was a house where Leskov spent recent years own life.
52. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was quite temperamental and active.
53. During his studies, Leskov had strong conflicts with teachers and because of this, he subsequently abandoned his studies altogether.
54. For three years of his life, Leskov had to travel around Russia.
55.The last story of this writer is considered to be “The Hare Remise”.
56.Leskov was dissuaded by his relatives from entering into his first marriage.
57.In 1867 Alexandrinsky Theater A play by Leskov called “The Spendthrift” was staged. This drama is about merchant life once again gave criticism towards the writer.
58.Very often the writer was processing old memories and manuscripts.
59. The influence of Leo Tolstoy affected Leskov’s attitude towards the church.
60. The first Russian vegetarian character was created by Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.
61. Tolstoy called Leskov “the writer of the future.”
62. Maria Alexandrovna, who was considered the empress of that time, after reading Leskov’s “Soboryan”, began to promote him to state property officials.
63. Leskov and Veselitskaya had unrequited love.
64. At the beginning of 1862, Leskov became a permanent contributor to the Northern Bee newspaper. There he published his editorials.
65. Because of the criticism leveled at Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, he was not going to improve.
66.This writer considered the speech characteristics of the characters and the individualization of their language to be an important element of literary creativity.
67.Over the course of many years, Andrei Leskov created a biography of his father.
68. In the Oryol region there is a house-museum of Leskov.
69. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was a slanderous person.
70. Leskov’s novel “Devil’s Dolls” was written in the style of Voltaire.
Hypermarket of knowledge >>Literature >>Literature 10th grade >>Literature: N. S. Leskov. Essay on life and work
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov
1831.4 (16) February - born in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province.
1841-1846 - studied at the Oryol gymnasium.
1857-1860 - commercial service and trips around Russia.
1862 - the first work, “The Extinguished Cause,” was published.
1865-1866 - the stories “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District” and “Warrior” were published.
1864 - published novel"Nowhere."
1871 - the novel-pamphlet “On Knives” was published.
1872 - the chronicle “Soborians” was published.
1873 - the story “The Captured Angel” and the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” were written.
1883 - the stories “Lefty” and “The Stupid Artist” were created.
1889-1890 - publication of collected works.
1895, February 21 (March 5) - died in St. Petersburg.
Essay on life and work
Childhood and youth.
Nikolay Semenovich Leskov born February 4 (16), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province. His father, Semyon Dmitrievich Leskov, was a minor judicial official who came from a spiritual background and only before his death received documents on his personal nobility. The writer's mother, Marya Petrovna, was the daughter of an impoverished nobleman married to a merchant's daughter. Leskov's common origin largely determined the democratic nature of his future work. Among the childhood scenes that unfolded on the neighbor's steppe pasture were soldiers' drills and stick fighting, characteristic of the reign of Nicholas I. The boy encountered the despotism of serfdom in the house of wealthy relatives of the Strakhovs, where he received his initial education. When Nikolai was eight years old, his father bought Panin’s farmstead on the Gostomla River on credit and the family moved to the village. This black earth southern Russian region became his real homeland. For the future writer, life on Panin’s farm became the beginning of learning about the people. There he heard folk tales, saw folk rituals, got acquainted with folk life. There he felt himself part and parcel of the people; these places awakened the creative nature of an artist in him. “I grew up among the people on the Gostomel pasture, with a cauldron in my hand, I slept with him on the dewy grass of the night under a warm sheepskin coat, and on Panin’s busy crowd behind circles of dusty habits... I was one of my people with the people, and I have there are many godfathers and friends in him... I stood between the man and the rods tied to him,” N. S. Leskov would later write.
From 1841 to 1846 Nikolai studied at the Oryol gymnasium. The gifted boy was a passionate lover of reading, and this passion accompanied him all his life, but his studies in the government educational institution did not arouse his interest. At the age of 16, having completed his education, he began serving as a scribe of the lowest level in the Oryol Criminal Chamber, then in 1849 he transferred to the Kiev State Chamber. Living with his uncle, professor of medicine in Kyiv university S.P. Alferyev, Leskov found himself among students and young scientists. He read a lot, attended lectures at the university, became acquainted with the works of Herzen, Feuerbach, Kant, Hegel, Owen, and Ukrainian and Polish literature. In Kyiv, a meeting took place with the founder of Russian statistics, Dmitry Zhuravsky, who ransomed serfs to the detriment of his own material benefits. This acquaintance influenced the formation of the writer’s civic views.
Leaving in 1857 public service and got a job in a private commercial company A. Ya. Shcott, Leskov traveled a lot. The impressions received during these trips gave him rich material for creativity. In old age, answering a journalist’s question: “Where do you get the material for your works? “- Leskov said, pointing to his forehead: “From this chest. The impressions of six or seven years of my life are stored here. commercial service“When I had to travel around Russia on business, this was the best time of my life, when I saw a lot and lived easily.”
The writer’s journalistic debut was a series of articles of an economic, social and everyday nature with rather harsh and accusatory content. Defining the meaning literary word, Leskov wrote: “It’s time for us to wean ourselves from the idea that the subject literature there must be something special, and not something that is always before our eyes and from which we all suffer directly or indirectly. Having thrown off the centuries-old rubbish of warnings, we will feel close to the lives of our smaller brothers and will be able to help them in a timely and opportune manner, revealing aspects of social life that are opposed to hygiene.” These articles cost the writer dearly, accused of libel and perjury of bribery. The case was dropped, but Kyiv had to be left.
In 1861, Leskov moved to “the smartest city in the country” - St. Petersburg, in order to devote himself entirely to the business to which he would devote his entire life. later life. The future writer is published in Otechestvennye zapiski, works for the Northern Bee newspaper, and writes for the Moscow weekly Russkaya Speech.
Leskov perceives the Tsar's manifesto of 1861 as the beginning reforms. The split of social thought into liberal and revolutionary-democratic currents leads him to the “gradualists,” whose moderation seemed to him more reliable. Although he was an unconditional supporter of broad reforms and the eradication of the remnants of the serfdom system, the idea that a people overwhelmed by prejudices could actually change society was not close to the writer, which he argued about with Sovremennik.
The beginning of the writing journey. 60s.
In 1862, the writer’s first work was published in the magazine “Vek” - the story “The Extinguished Cause.” Following him, the following appeared in other magazines: “Robber” (1862), “In a tarantass” (1862), “Musk Ox” (1862), “Caustic” (1863). Many of Leskov's early works are written in artistic sketches.
In 1864, the magazine “Library for Reading” published the novel “Nowhere,” in which he tried to shame the nihilists, showed the difficulties of the revolutionary struggle and expressed the idea of the futility of the revolutionary movement in Russia in the 60s. The “anti-nihilistic” novel caused outrage in leading literary circles; a rumor was even spread that it was written by order of the III Department. One of the reviewers admitted: “...Mr. Leskov has such a literary reputation that it is a kind of courage to praise him.” IN artistically the work was quite immature. “This novel bears all the signs of my haste and stupidity,” the writer himself later remarked.
In the center of the row early works The writer turns out to have a female character, the tragic fate of a woman: “The Life of a Woman” (1863), “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District” (1865), “Warrior” (1866). Subject female destiny- one of the most relevant in the progressive literature of the 60s, and Leskov solves it with deep sympathy for the Russian woman. IN stories Dramatic images of women of different classes are drawn: a peasant woman, a provincial merchant's wife, a provincial intellectual.
In the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” - one of the pinnacles in the writer’s work - Leskov showed the history of the rebellion with amazing artistic power female soul against the deadening environment of the merchant environment. Tragic love, which pushed the heroine of the story Katerina Izmailova to commit crimes, showed that a world in which everything is bought and sold, where a person becomes a thing, is doomed to self-destruction. Katerina Izmailova, a girl from a poor family, lively, lively, temperamental, was married to a merchant, a boring man, thirty years older than her. She finds herself a prisoner of a merchant's house, where "there is neither the sound of living things nor the voice of man." She has neither children nor work, and the boredom of life is replaced by an all-consuming, unbridled passion for an unworthy man - a handsome, arrogant clerk Sergei, who uses the young woman for his own purposes and skillfully plays with her feelings. Sublime and bright in nature, love turns into a destructive and destroying force: “... For her there was neither light nor darkness, neither bad nor good, nor boredom, nor joys; She didn’t understand anything, didn’t love anyone and didn’t love herself.” The hard labor becomes happiness for Katerina to be with her loved one. And when the most precious thing in life is taken away from her - her love, she, taking revenge on her offender - her former lover - and defending her human dignity, dies, causing everyone to freeze in horror.
The theme of the remnants of serfdom becomes one of the main ones in Leskov’s work. Observations of the life of the country after the reform of 1861 showed how little change for the better occurred. Unlike Dostoevsky, Saltykova-Shchedrin Leskov saw the main danger not in the development of bourgeois relations, but in the centuries-old inertia of Russian life, in the stability of its old, outdated forms.
Leskov's creativity of the 60s is distinguished by great genre diversity. The writer creates artistic essays, short stories, novellas, even tries his hand at drama - he writes the only play in his work, “The Spendthrift” (1867), staged at the Moscow Maly Theater.
Creativity of the 70s.
"Enchanted Wanderer" In 1871, Leskov created the pamphlet novel “On Knives,” which depicted the degeneration of former nihilists. In this novel, as in other stories and essays, the writer talks about Russia’s unpreparedness for revolutionary changes and tragic fate those people who connected their lives and activities with the hope of their speedy implementation.
Important milestones in Leskov’s work were works that were unusual in their genre and style: the chronicle novel “The Soborians” (1872), the story “The Captured Angel” (1873), imitating a folk legend, and the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873). At the center of these works are bright and strong national characters. Leskov's positive heroes are people who are always incorruptibly honest and straightforward, independent and internally free, who do not compromise with their convictions and conscience, and therefore constantly come into conflict with hypocrites, conservatives, tyrants and sycophants. One of the researchers noted that among the images of the writer in the first place are “three main leading types that, according to Leskov, embody the main features of the Russian national spirit”: “the type of hero,” “the type of talented self-taught person” and “the type of righteous man.”
In Soboryany, in search of a positive hero, Leskov turns to the provincial clergy. Archpriest Savely Tuberozov and deacon Achilla Desnitsyn embody national aspirations that have awakened in the most conservative environment. The heroes are forced to do something that is not at all consistent with their nature. Archpriest Savely, who belongs to the “righteous type,” cannot find himself in the church field, because the church has lost its role and cannot be a morally cleansing force for society. Strong in faith, firmly convinced of the height and dignity of his pastoral ministry, he rejects all compromises and thereby spoils relations with spiritual and secular authorities. His accusatory sermon led to a dramatic ending - removal from office and humiliation. As a result, a person dies without having accomplished what he could. Deacon Achilles, who, despite his position, represents the “type of hero,” a dashing man, tormented by his heroic strength, also sums up a disappointing conclusion to his life.
“The Captured Angel” is one of Leskov’s most striking works both in language and in the strength of feeling. Leskov shows the desire of the peasant soul for beauty, the height of the people's aesthetic ideal. The people's worldview is shown through the Old Believer environment. The heroes of the story are mason workers, Old Believers, living as a single artel and building a bridge across the Dnieper. These are honest, pure and brave people, talented in their work and innocently devoted to their faith. They value icons most of all, but they are taken away and destroyed by those in power, whose violence, dishonesty and arbitrariness are condemned by the author. In the story of mason Mark Alexandrov about how a picturesque shrine with the image of the Archangel Michael created the miracle of reuniting schismatics with the church, one can hear the author’s thoughts about the need to overcome ideological and other divisions in the name of national unity. Leskov’s story subtly and harmoniously depicts the personality of a “pious” commoner artist, a man of utmost spiritual purity, a keeper of folk traditions in art. The writer paints portraits and landscapes with iconography, filling the text with Old Slavonicisms, weaving vernacular into their fabric. “Ancient temples, holy monasteries with many holy relics; the gardens are dense and the trees are as they are written in old books, i.e., pointed poplars.”
The atmosphere of “fascination” with life, permeating many of Leskov’s works, largely determined the character central character in his work. The hero, a man of integrity, also corresponds to the bright, half-fairy-tale world, generous soul, richly gifted, a real hero. Such a hero appears before the reader in the story “The Enchanted Wanderer.” A talented Russian man, runaway serf Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, who went through difficult life trials, symbolizes physical and moral fortitude of the Russian people, the gradual but steady growth of their spiritual powers, the development of self-awareness.
In the process of studying life, various incidents, anecdotes, oddities, and incongruities come into the writer’s field of view. Leskov’s anecdote from a small comic story with an unexpected ending turns into the structure-forming principle of his works, often becoming the central event: “Travel with a Nihilist” (1882), “The Spirit of Madame Zhanlis” (1881), “A Little Mistake” (1883), “robbery” "(1887), etc.
This passion for the curious characterizes Leskov’s worldview - his interest in the bright, colorful,
unusual. Life in the writer’s perception is unusual and fabulously interesting. Any most ordinary phenomena
life, getting into art world author, become fascinating story or “a cheerful old fairy tale, under which, through some warm slumber, the heart smiles freshly and tenderly...”. " old tale“For Leskov, this is a connection with the past, with the national foundations of life, this is the poetic thing that exists in the life of every person and every nation. This is a manifestation of the writer’s characteristic fascination with life, the Russian land, the poetic world and the breadth of the soul of the Russian person.
Creativity of the 80s.
Cycle "The Righteous". The search for a positive hero leads Leskov to bright, unusual folk characters, captured by the writer in the works of the “Righteous” series. His righteous people, as Gorky put it, are “little great people”; they bring good to the world. Their common features straightforwardness, fearlessness, heightened conscientiousness, inability to come to terms with injustice. Leskov finds righteous people in the most diverse strata of Russian society: among nobles and commoners, peasants and clergy. All of them enter into the fight against evil, guided in their actions by the voice of conscience. These are the heroes of the stories “Odnodum” (1879), “Man on the Clock” (1887), “Non-Lethal Golovan” (1880), etc. The hero of the non-lethal Golovan takes care of the sick during a plague epidemic, and ends his life saving people in a fire. “In such sad moments of general disaster, the people’s environment puts forward heroes of generosity, fearless and selfless people. In ordinary times they are not visible and often do not stand out from the crowd; but he jumps on people with “pimples”, and the people single out their chosen one, and he works miracles that make him a mythical, fabulous, “non-lethal” person. Leskov gave his understanding of righteousness in the article “On Heroes and the Righteous” (1881).
Financial difficulties forced the writer to enter the public service. In 1874, he was appointed a member of the special department of the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Public Education for the review of books published for the people, but in 1883 he was dismissed for his “incompatibility” literary studies with the service. The Minister of Public Education, who knew the writer personally, asked him to submit his resignation, supposedly of his own free will. Leskov refused and demanded that he be fired without a request. It was awkward to fire a famous writer without a request, and the embarrassed minister asked: “But why do you need this, Nikolai Semenovich, certainly without a request?” "Need to! At least for obituaries: mine... and yours,” answered Leskov.
By this time, the writer began to collaborate in a number of magazines and newspapers without a specific political content. And since the second half of the 80s, it has been published by liberal magazines “Russian Thought”, “Week”, “Picturesque Review”, “Bulletin of Europe”.
Leskov's critical gaze penetrated into the most diverse areas of Russian life. He wrote about the tragic fate of talented people from the people (“Lefty” 1883; “The Stupid Artist”, 1883). The image of a Russian craftsman, a master artist, was most successful for Leskov in “Lefty.” Helped create the story folklore sources, oral histories about the ingenuity and amazing skill of Tula gunsmiths. Drawing the image of the hero, the writer contrasts the skill of the left-hander with his ignorance, and his patriotism with the callousness of the country's rulers and their indifference to the matter. The tragic end of the left-handed man speaks about what the position of a simple Russian person was, even if he was noted for the royal attention.
Last years of creativity.
In the 80-90s, the satirical line in Leskov’s work intensified. The image of landowners, merchants, officers, and officials is becoming more and more caustic. The power of satire is further increased by the fact that we're talking about about real people. The writer exposes the vile methods of the tsarist secret police and the moral decay of society.
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov is a unique, original Russian writer, a fascinated wanderer of Russian literature.
Family and childhood
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was born on February 16 (February 4 - old style) 1831 in the Oryol province - in the village of the Oryol district.
Father - Semyon Dmitrievich Leskov (1789-1848), came from a family of clergy. Both Semyon Dmitrievich’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather conducted holy services in the village, hence the family surname - Leskovs. After graduating from Sevsk Seminary, Semyon Dmitrievich returned home. However, despite the will of his parent, he irrevocably abandoned his spiritual career. For which he was expelled from home by his father, who had a very tough disposition. A well-educated, intelligent, active person. Initially, Leskov worked in the field of tutoring. He taught very successfully in the houses of local nobles, which earned him considerable fame and also received many flattering reviews. As a result, one of his patrons recommended him for “crown service.” Having started his career from the very bottom, Semyon Dmitrievich rose to the high position of a noble assessor in the chamber of the criminal court of the Oryol province. The position he held gave him the right to a hereditary title of nobility. Leskov the father was known as an insightful man. He was a talented investigator, capable of unraveling the most cunning case. However, after serving for almost 30 years, he was forced to retire without a pension. The reason for this was a clash with the governor and the reluctance of Semyon Dmitrievich himself to agree to a possible compromise. Upon retirement, Semyon Dmitrievich bought a small estate - the Panin farm in Kromsky district and took up farming. Having been a “peasant” for quite some time, I became completely disillusioned with the quiet rural life, which he subsequently repeatedly stated to his son, Nikolai Leskov. In 1848, he died suddenly during a cholera epidemic.
Nikolai Semenovich's mother, Maria Petrovna Leskova (née Alferyeva, 1813-1886), was a dowryless woman, a representative of an impoverished noble family.
The first years of his life, little Nikolai lived in Gorokhov, on the estate of the Strakhov family, wealthy relatives on his mother’s side. He was far from only child in the family. Leskov lived surrounded by six cousins. Russian and German teachers, as well as a French governess, were invited to teach the children. Being naturally very gifted, the boy stood out sharply from other children. His cousins disliked him for this. Under these circumstances, the maternal grandmother, who lived there, wrote a letter to Nikolai’s father and asked to take the boy to her home, which was done.
In Orel, the Leskovs lived on Third Noble Street. In 1839, Leskov Sr. retired and bought an estate - “Panin Khutor”. The stay at Panin Khutor made an indelible impression on the future writer Leskov. Direct communication with the simple, peasant people had a direct impact on the formation of his worldview. Subsequently, Leskov will say: “I did not study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cab drivers... I grew up among the people... I was one of the people with the people... I was closer to these people than all the priests...”
The writer's youth
At the age of 10, Nikolai was sent to study at the Oryol gymnasium. Thanks to his innate abilities, the young man studied easily, but after 5 years of study, Leskov never received a certificate. Unfortunately, we do not know the exact reasons for this event. As a result, the young man received only a certificate stating that he had studied at the gymnasium. Using old connections, the father got the young man a job as a scribe in the office of the Oryol Criminal Chamber. And in 1848, at the age of seventeen, Nikolai became an assistant to the head of the same institution. Working in the criminal chamber gives Leskov an initial life experience, which in the future greatly helped in literary activities. That same year, as a result of severe fires, the Leskovs lost their already modest fortune. Leskov's father died of cholera.
After the death of his father, his most active participation in future fate The young man was received by his uncle (on his mother’s side), doctor of medicine, famous professor at Kyiv University S.P. Alferyev. Leskov moved to Kyiv. There, thanks to the efforts of his uncle, he went to work at the Kyiv Treasury Chamber as an assistant to the head of the recruitment audit department. Moving to Kyiv allowed Leskov to fill the gaps in his education. He had the opportunity to listen to university lectures privately, which the young man did not fail to take advantage of. He absorbed new knowledge like a sponge: medicine, agriculture, statistics, painting, architecture and much more. Kyiv amazed the young man with its amazing ancient architecture and painting, awakened a keen interest in ancient Russian art. In the future, Leskov became a prominent expert on these subjects. The range of his interests was incredibly wide. He read a lot. In those years, his favorite authors were Shevchenko. Leskov knew Taras Shevchenko personally. During his life in Kyiv, Nikolai mastered the Ukrainian and Polish languages.
The progressive student environment of that time was passionate about advanced, revolutionary ideas. Essays were especially popular. This hobby did not escape our hero either. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, young Leskov was distinguished by his temper and despotism, and was not comfortable in disputes. He often acted as a stern moralist, although he himself was not a Puritan. Nikolai was a member of a student religious and philosophical circle, studied the traditions of Russian pilgrimage, communicated with Old Believers, and learned the secrets of icon painting. Leskov subsequently admitted that in those years he did not have a clear idea of what he ultimately wanted to become.
In 1853, despite the protests of his relatives, Leskov married Olga Smirnova, the daughter of a wealthy Kyiv landlord. During this period, Leskov made significant advancement in his career, was promoted to collegiate registrar, and a little later was appointed head of the Kiev State Chamber. In 1854, Nikolai Semenovich’s first child was born - son Dmitry, and in 1856 - daughter Vera.
In 1855 the emperor dies. His death served as a fundamental impetus for the further spread of free-thinking ideas in various strata of Russian society. Many bans were lifted. The new tsar, essentially a conservative, was forced to implement liberal reforms in order to cool down hotheads. In 1861 - the abolition of serfdom, followed by judicial, city, military, and zemstvo reforms.
Having agreed to a job offer received from a relative, the husband of his maternal aunt, the Englishman A. Ya. Shkot, Leskov retired in 1857. He left his beloved Kyiv and together with his family moved for permanent residence to the Penza province - to the village of Gorodishche district. Leskov’s new field of activity is work at the Shcott and Wilkens company. The company was engaged in the trade of agricultural products, distillery production, and also the production of parquet boards. It was occupied by settlers - peasants from the Oryol province. Leskov traveled a lot on company business; during his trips he saw the most diverse aspects of real Russian life. Result - huge amount observations made during business travel, as well as extensive practical experience gained during this most active period for Leskov. Memories of these wanderings in the future will serve as a bright beacon for the creation of unique Leskov works. Later, Nikolai Leskov recalled these years as the best years of his life, when he saw a lot and “lived easily.” It is very likely that it was at that time that Leskov formed a clear, definite desire to convey his thoughts to Russian society.
First attempts at writing
In 1860, the Schcott and Wilkens company went bankrupt. Leskov returned to Kyiv. His goal is to study journalism and literature. After a short period of time, Leskov moved to, where he settled in the apartment of his Kyiv friend, the famous political economist and publisher Ivan Vasilyevich Vernadsky. Living with him in the apartment was the official A.I. Nichiporenko, a Russian revolutionary, one of Herzen’s most active emissaries in Russia. In St. Petersburg, Leskov launched an active journalistic activity. The first attempts to write in Vernadsky’s journal “Economic Index” followed. Leskov wrote several sharp articles devoted to various topics: agriculture, industry, the problem of drunkenness and many others. He was published in many well-known publications: in St. Petersburg Gazette, in the magazines Otechestvennye Zapiski, Modern Medicine. In literary circles, Leskov was noted as a bright and talented author. He was invited to a permanent position at the Northern Bee newspaper.
Nikolai Semenovich actively wrote topical essays, feuilletons, and scathing articles. One of the articles he wrote had a rather serious impact on the writer’s fate. The material was dedicated to the fires in the Shchukin and Apraksin courtyards. At that time, there were rumors in the city about student revolutionaries allegedly involved in arson. In his article, the writer appealed to the authorities with a request to refute such offensive statements, but the democratic camp perceived such an appeal as a denunciation. In the same article, Leskov writes about the inactivity of the fire brigade during the disaster, which was perceived as criticism of the existing government. The article turned out to be objectionable to both revolutionaries and reactionaries. The matter reached the king himself. After reading the article, Alexander II issued a verdict: “It should not have been missed, especially since it was a lie.”
In 1862, after a scandal broke out, the editors of the Northern Bee sent Leskov on a long business trip abroad. The writer traveled abroad for the first time; he visited the Baltic states, Poland, and then France. There, abroad, Leskov begins work on his first novel, “Nowhere.” A visit to Europe further strengthened Leskov’s belief that Russian society was unprepared for radical, revolutionary changes. The progress of the peasant reform of 1861 forced Leskov, like many other progressive people of that time, to rethink Russian reality. Leskov, hitherto considered a liberal, a follower of the most advanced ideas, found himself on the other side of the barricades.
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was a man who deeply knew, understood, and felt his native Russian people. At some point, he saw the scale of a possible catastrophe, capable of completely destroying the very foundations of the Russian traditional life. True Understanding Russian reality set Leskov on his own path. The ideas of social utopias requiring a radical restructuring of society no longer attracted him. Leskov preaches the ideas of spiritual self-improvement and the development of the culture of Russian society. In his amazing works, he will talk about the great power of “small deeds.”
However, despite the fact that Leskov became a champion of completely different ideas, the authorities still continued to consider him a nihilist, although in reality he was never one. The police report “On Writers and Journalists” in 1866 noted that “Leskov is an extreme socialist and, sympathizing with everything anti-government, displays nihilism in all forms.”
The beginning of his writing career dates back to 1863; the writer’s first stories, “The Musk Ox” and “The Life of a Woman,” were published. Leskov works under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. An interesting feature is that Leskov had a huge number of literary pseudonyms: “Stebnitsky”, “Leskov-Stebnitsky”, “Nikolai Ponukalov”, “Freishitz”, “Nikolai Gorokhov”, “V. Peresvetov”, “Dm.m-ev”, “N.”, “Someone”, “Member of Society”, “Lover of Antiquities”, “Psalm Reader” and many others. In 1864, the magazine “Library for Reading” published Leskov’s first novel “Nowhere” - a work of anti-nihilist orientation. The progressive, democratic public “reared up.” The work was hit with a wave of deafening criticism. The well-known D.I. Pisarev wrote: “Is there now in Russia, besides the Russian Messenger, at least one magazine that would dare to print on its pages something coming from the pen of Stebnitsky and signed with his name? Is there at least one honest writer in Russia who would be so careless and indifferent to his reputation that he would agree to work in a magazine that adorns itself with Stebnitsky’s stories and novels?”
In 1865, Nikolai Semenovich entered into a civil marriage with the widow Ekaterina Bubnova. A year later they had a son, Andrei, who later wrote a book about his famous father. It should be noted that Leskov’s first wife suffered from a mental disorder. In 1878, the woman was admitted to the St. Petersburg hospital on the Pryazhka River, where the famous S.P. Botkin supervised the treatment.
In the same year, 1865, Leskov’s second novel, “Bypassed,” was published.
On the way to the "Enchanted Wanderer"
In 1866, the novel “The Islanders” was published. An interesting detail: the genius was one of the first to pay attention to Leskov. Dostoevsky considered Leskov a great writer, and by his own admission he borrowed a lot from him, especially in terms of the artistry of his images. Agree that the words of a writer of this level were worth a lot.
In 1870, the novel “On Knives” was published in the magazine “Russian Messenger” (publisher M. N. Katkov). The publication of this work finally cemented Leskov’s fame as a conservative. The author himself considered the novel extremely unsuccessful.
The year 1872 was marked by the appearance of the chronicle novel “The Soborians.” A landmark work that touched upon the deepest questions of the spirituality of Russian society. On its pages, Leskov spoke about the dangers that awaited Russia as a result of inevitable spiritual decay. Nihilists - people without ideals and principles, according to the writer, were more terrible than any, the most fanatical revolutionary. Now we, people of a different time, have the opportunity to appreciate the prophetic meaning of this work. The chronicle novel “Soborians” is rightfully considered one of the best creations of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.
In the summer of 1872, Leskov went to and then to Valaam. A visit to Valaam served as the impetus for writing a stunning, unique work - “The Enchanted Wanderer”. Initially it was called “Chernozemny Telemak”, under this name it was proposed for publication in the “Russian Bulletin”. However, M. N. Katkov refused to publish the story, considering it “damp”. As a result, Leskov broke the contract with the magazine “Russian Messenger”. Even before this, Leskov had repeatedly stated the difficulties of working with Katkov, the reason for this was the severe censorship introduced by this publisher. But in 1873 the story was published in the Russkiy Mir newspaper. Full title: “The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures.”
From 1874 to 1883 Leskov served in a special department for the review of books published for the people under the Ministry of Public Education. In 1877, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, impressed by Leskov’s novel “The Soborians,” gave him patronage to receive a position - a member of the educational department in the Ministry of State Property. These positions provided the writer with a modest income. That same year, Leskov officially divorced his first wife.
In 1881, Leskov wrote and published “The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea,” a work that became a cult favorite.
Leskov’s worldview at that time was clearly expressed by the series of essays “Little Things in Bishop’s Life.” The work was published from 1878 to 1883; it described the life of the highest church hierarchs. Needless to say, the Essays generated extremely negative reviews from the church leadership. Chief Prosecutor of the Synod lobbied for Leskov's resignation from his position in the ministry. Now, finding himself without a position, Leskov completely, without a trace, devoted himself to writing.
At the end of the 1880s. Leskov got closer. He recognized Tolstoy's teachings as "true Christianity." Tolstoy called Leskov “the most Russian of our writers.” Just like Lev Nikolaevich, Leskov was a vegetarian. Leskov's vegetarianism was even reflected in his work. For the first time in Russian literature, he created vegetarian characters. Nikolai Semenovich was one of the first authors to draw public attention to the issue of animal protection.
A special place in the writer’s work is occupied by a collection of stories and legends compiled by the author himself called “The Righteous”. Leskov told us the background to the creation of the collection: the writer experienced “fierce anxiety.” The reason was caused by the ominous statement of the “great Russian writer” (it was A.F. Pisemsky), who accused Leskov of seeing only “nasties” and “abominations” in all his compatriots. According to Leskov, this was deeply unfair, extreme and overwhelming pessimism. “How,” I thought, “is it really possible that neither in mine, nor in his, nor in anyone else’s Russian soul can one see anything but rubbish? Is it really possible that everything good and good that the artistic eye of other writers has ever noticed is mere fiction and nonsense? It's not only sad, it's scary." The search for the true Russian soul, faith in the real good people pushed the writer to create this unique collection. The collection was compiled gradually; it was based on the cycle of works “Three Righteous Men and One Sheramur.” Later, such stories were added as: “The Enchanted Wanderer”, “The Non-Lethal Golovan”, “Lefty”, “Silverless Engineers” and others.
...I blamed myself
In 1889, a ten-volume collected works of Leskov began to be published (the 11th and 12th volumes were added later). The publication enjoyed considerable success with the public. Thanks to the fee from the publication, Leskov even managed to somewhat improve his greatly shaken financial situation. However, this event, in addition to joy, also brought with it grief - apparently a heart attack that struck Leskov right on the stairs of the printing house. The attack occurred after Leskov learned that the sixth volume of the collection (dedicated to religious issues) was delayed by censorship.
Leskov's work has become a unique page in Russian literature. Like all brilliant authors, he is unique in his highest spiritual work. Inimitable master artistic word. Bright, original, sarcastic, searching. He occupies his own special place on the golden horizon of great Russian literature.
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on March 5 (old style - February 21), 1895 in St. Petersburg. Information about the cause of the writer’s death is contradictory: according to one version, it was an attack of asthma, which he suffered in the last years of his life, according to another, as we have already noted, an attack of angina pectoris. However, it is known for certain that a couple of years before his death, the writer bequeathed: “At my funeral, I ask you not to make any speeches about me. I know that there is a lot of bad in me and that I do not deserve any praise or regret. Anyone who wants to blame me should know that I blamed myself.”
Nikolai Leskov was buried on the Literary Bridge of Volkov Cemetery with the silence bequeathed to him.
Dmitry Sytov
