The message on the topic of fishing lines is short. The origin of the tale form
He was born on February 4 (February 16), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, in the family of an investigator and the daughter of an impoverished nobleman. They had five children, Nikolai was the eldest child. The writer's childhood passed in the city of Orel. After the father left the position, the family moved from Orel to the village of Panino. Here the study and knowledge of the people by Leskov began.
Education and career
In 1841, at the age of 10, Leskov entered the Oryol Gymnasium. The future writer did not work out with his studies - in 5 years of study he graduated from only 2 classes. In 1847, thanks to the help of his father's friends, Leskov got a job as a clerical clerk in the Oryol Criminal Chamber of the court. At the age of sixteen, tragic events took place, which are worth mentioning even in a brief biography of Leskov - his father died of cholera, and all his property burned down in a fire.
In 1849, with the help of his uncle, a professor, Leskov transferred to Kyiv as an official of the Treasury, where he later received the post of clerk. In Kyiv, Leskov developed an interest in Ukrainian culture and great writers, painting and architecture of the old city.
In 1857, Leskov left his job and entered the commercial service in the large agricultural company of his uncle, an Englishman, on whose business he traveled most of Russia in three years. After the closing of the company, in 1860 he returned to Kyiv.
creative life
The year 1860 is considered the beginning of the creative writer Leskov, at this time he writes and publishes articles in various magazines. Six months later, he moves to St. Petersburg, where he plans to engage in literary and journalistic activities.
In 1862, Leskov became a regular contributor to the Severnaya Pchela newspaper. Working in it as a correspondent, he visited Western Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Poland. He was close and sympathetic to the life of Western twin nations, so he delved into the study of their art and life. In 1863 Leskov returned to Russia.
After studying and observing the life of the Russian people for a long time, sympathizing with their sorrows and needs, Leskov wrote the stories “Extinguished Business” (1862), the stories “The Life of a Woman”, “Musk Ox” (1863), “Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district” (1865).
In the novels Nowhere (1864), Bypassed (1865), On Knives (1870), the writer revealed the theme of Russia's unpreparedness for revolution. Maxim Gorky said “... after the evil novel“ On the Knives ”, Leskov’s literary work immediately becomes a bright painting or, rather, icon painting - he begins to create an iconostasis of her saints and righteous for Russia.”
Having disagreements with revolutionary democrats, Leskova refused to publish many magazines. The only one who published his work was Mikhail Katkov, editor of the Russky Vestnik magazine. It was incredibly difficult for Leskov to work with him, the editor ruled almost all of the writer's works, and some even refused to print at all.
In 1870 - 1880 he wrote the novels "Cathedrals" (1872), "The Mean Family" (1874), where he revealed the national and historical issues. The novel "The Seedy Family" was not completed by Leskov due to disagreements with the publisher Katkov. Also at this time, he wrote several stories: "The Islanders" (1866), "The Enchanted Wanderer" (1873), "The Sealed Angel" (1873). Fortunately, "The Sealed Angel" was not affected by the editorial revision of Mikhail Katkov.
In 1881, Leskov wrote the story “Lefty” (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and steel flea) - an old legend about gunsmiths.
The story "Hare Remise" (1894) was the last great work of the writer. In it he criticized political system Russia of that time. The story was published only in 1917 after the Revolution.
Leo Tolstoy spoke of Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov as "the most Russian of our writers", Anton Chekhov, along with Ivan Turgenev, considered him one of his main mentors.
Writer's personal life
Personal life in the biography of Nikolai Leskov was not very successful. The first wife of the writer in 1853 was the daughter of a Kyiv merchant Olga Smirnova. They had two children - the firstborn, son Mitya, who died in infancy, and daughter Vera. My wife fell ill with a mental disorder and was treated in St. Petersburg. The marriage broke up.
In 1865 Leskov lived with his widow Ekaterina Bubnova. The couple had a son Andrei (1866-1953). He divorced his second wife in 1877.
Last years
The last five years of Leskov's life were tormented by asthma attacks, from which he later died. Nikolai Semenovich died on February 21 (March 5), 1895 in St. Petersburg. The writer was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.
Chronological table
- In Leskov's biography interesting facts a lot has been collected from life. For example, he was an ideological vegetarian. He believed that it was wrong to kill animals. And even one of the first proposed to create a special book with recipes for vegetarians.
- see all
The most amazing and original literary creativity Nikolai Semenovich Leskov is the Russian language. His contemporaries wrote and tried to write in an even and smooth language, avoiding too bright or dubious turns. Leskov greedily grabbed every unexpected or picturesque idiomatic expression. All forms of professional or class language, all sorts of slang words - all this can be found on its pages. But he especially loved comic effects colloquial Church Slavonic and puns of "folk etymology". He allowed himself great liberties in this regard and invented many successful and unexpected deformations of the usual meaning or habitual sound. Other distinguishing feature Leskov: he, like no other of his contemporaries, possessed the gift of storytelling. As a storyteller, he perhaps occupies contemporary literature first place. His stories are mere anecdotes, told with colossal gusto and skill; even in his big things, he likes to characterize his characters by telling a few anecdotes about them. This was contrary to the traditions of "serious" Russian literature, and critics began to consider him just a Gaer. Leskov's most original stories are so filled with all sorts of incidents and adventures that the critics, for whom the main thing was ideas and trends, seemed ridiculous and absurd. It was too obvious that Leskov simply enjoys all these episodes, as well as the sounds and grotesque faces of familiar words. No matter how hard he tried to be a moralist and preacher, he could not neglect the opportunity to tell an anecdote or pun.
Nikolay Leskov. Life and legacy. Lecture by Lev Anninsky
Tolstoy loved Leskov's stories and enjoyed his verbal balancing act, but blamed him for the oversaturation of his style. According to Tolstoy, Leskov's main shortcoming was that he did not know how to keep his talent within limits and "overloaded his cart with good things." This taste for verbal picturesqueness, for the rapid presentation of an intricate plot, is strikingly different from the methods of almost all other Russian novelists, especially Turgenev, Goncharov or Chekhov. In Leskovsky's vision of the world there is no haze, no atmosphere, no softness; he chooses the most flashy colors, the roughest contrasts, the sharpest contours. His images appear in merciless daylight. If the world of Turgenev or Chekhov can be likened to the landscapes of Corot, then Leskov is Brueghel the Elder, with his colorful, bright colors and grotesque forms. Leskov does not have dull colors, in Russian life he finds bright, picturesque characters and paints them with powerful strokes. Greatest virtue, extraordinary originality, great vices, strong passions and grotesque comic features are his favorite subjects. He is both a servant of the cult of heroes and a comedian. Perhaps one could even say that the more heroic his characters, the more humorously he portrays them. This humorous cult of heroes is Lesk's most original trait.
Leskov's political novels of the 1860s and 70s, which brought him hostility at the time radicals are now almost forgotten. But the stories he wrote at the same time did not lose their glory. They are not as rich in verbal joys as the stories of the mature period, but they already show his skill as a storyteller to a high degree. Unlike later works, they give pictures of hopeless evil, invincible passions. An example of this Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District(1866). This is a very powerful exploration of a woman's criminal passion and her lover's brazen, cynical callousness. A cold, merciless light is shed on everything that happens and everything is told with strong "naturalistic" objectivity. Another great story of that time - Warrior , a colorful story of a St. Petersburg procuress who treats her profession with delightfully naive cynicism and is deeply, completely sincerely offended by the “black ingratitude” of one of her victims, whom she first pushed onto the path of shame.
Portrait of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. Artist V. Serov, 1894
Behind these early stories series followed chronicle fictional city of Stargorod. They make up a trilogy: Old years in the village of Plodomasovo (1869), Cathedral(1872) and seedy kind(1875). The second of these chronicles is the most popular of Leskov's works. It is about the Stargorod clergy. Its head, Archpriest Tuberozov, is one of Leskov’s most successful images of the “righteous man”. The deacon of Achilles is a superbly written character, one of the most marvelous in all portrait gallery Russian literature. The comical escapades and unconscious mischief of a huge, full of strength, completely soulless and simple-hearted like a deacon's child, and the constant reprimands that he receives from Archpriest Tuberozov, are known to every Russian reader, and Achilles himself has become a common favorite. But in general Cathedral the thing is uncharacteristic for the author - too even, unhurried, peaceful, poor in events, non-Leskovian.
Russian literature XIX century
Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov
Biography
1831 - 1895 Prose writer.
Born on February 4 (16 n.s.) in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, in the family of an official of the criminal chamber, who came from the clergy. Childhood years were spent in the estate of the Strakhovs' relatives, then in Orel. After his retirement, Leskov's father took up farming in the farm he acquired, Panin, Kromsky district. In the Oryol wilderness future writer he was able to see and learn a lot, which later gave him the right to say: “I did not study the people by talking with St. Petersburg cabbies ... I grew up among the people ... I was my own person with the people ... I was closer to these people than all the priests ... "In 1841 - 1846 Leskov he studied at the Oryol gymnasium, which he did not manage to finish: in the sixteenth year he lost his father, and the family's property was destroyed in a fire. Leskov joined the Orel Criminal Chamber of the Court, which gave him good material for future works. In 1849, with the support of his uncle, Kyiv professor S. Alferyev, Leskov was transferred to Kyiv as an official of the Treasury. In the house of his uncle, his mother's brother, a professor of medicine, under the influence of progressive university professors, Leskov's ardent interest arose in Herzen, in the great poet of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko, in Ukrainian culture, he became interested in old painting and architecture of Kyiv, becoming in the future an outstanding connoisseur of ancient Russian art. In 1857 Leskov retired and entered the private service in a large trading company, which was engaged in the resettlement of peasants to new lands and for which he traveled almost the entire European part of Russia. Start literary activity Leskova refers to 1860, when he first appeared as a progressive publicist. In January 1861 Leskov settled in St. Petersburg with the desire to devote himself to literary and journalistic activities. He began publishing in Domestic notes". Leskov came to Russian literature, having a large reserve of observations on Russian life, with sincere sympathy for the people's needs, which was reflected in his stories "Extinguished Case" (1862), "The Robber"; in the stories "The Life of a Woman" (1863), "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" (1865). In 1862, as a correspondent for the newspaper Severnaya Pchela, he visited Poland, Western Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. He wanted to get acquainted with life, art and poetry Western Slavs whom he was very fond of. The trip ended with a visit to Paris. In the spring of 1863 Leskov returned to Russia. Knowing well the province, its needs, human characters, details of everyday life and deep ideological currents, Leskov did not accept the calculations of "theorists" cut off from Russian roots. He talks about this in the story "The Musk Ox" (1863), in the novels "Nowhere" (1864), "The Bypassed" (1865), "On the Knives" (1870). They outline the theme of Russia's unpreparedness for the revolution and the tragic fate of people who connected their lives with the hope of its speedy implementation. Hence the disagreement with the revolutionary democrats. In 1870 - 1880 Leskov overestimated a lot; acquaintance with Tolstoy has on him big influence. National-historical issues appeared in his work: the novel "Soboryane" (1872), "The Seedy Family" (1874). During these years he wrote several stories about artists: "The Islanders", "The Sealed Angel". The talent of a Russian person, the kindness and generosity of his soul have always fascinated Leskov, and this theme found its expression in the stories “Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea)” (1881), “Dumb Artist” (1883), “The Man on the hours" (1887). In Leskov's legacy great place occupied by satire, humor and irony: "Selective Grain", "Shameless", "Waste Dances", etc. The story "Hare Remise" was the last major work of the writer. Leskov died in St. Petersburg.
Nikolai Leskov was born in the village of Gorokhov, Oryol province, on February 4 (16 n.s.), 1831. He was the son of an official of the criminal chamber. Nikolai grew up on the estates of the Strakhovs, then in Orel. The father retires from the chambers and buys the Panin farm in the Kromsky district, where he begins to engage in agriculture. In 1841 - 1846, the young man studied at the Oryol gymnasium, but due to the death of his father and a fire on the farm, Nikolai could not graduate from it. The young man goes to serve in the Oryol criminal chamber of the court. In 1849 he was transferred to Kyiv as an official of the state chamber at the request of his uncle S. Alferyev. In his uncle's house, the writer develops an interest in Taras Shevchenko and Ukrainian literature. In 1857, Leskov, having retired, got a job in a large trading company that was engaged in the resettlement of peasants.
In 1860 Leskov acts as a progressive publicist, which gives rise to his activities. In January 1861, Nikolai moved to St. Petersburg and began publishing in Otechestvennye Zapiski. Observing the hard life of the people, the author gives birth to the stories “Extinguished Business” (1862), “The Robber”, the novella “The Life of a Woman” (1863), “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” (1865). In 1862 he visited Poland, western Ukraine, and the Czech Republic, working as a correspondent for the newspaper Severnaya pchela. At the end of the trip he visited Paris. In the spring of 1863 Leskov returned to Russia. Nikolai diligently took up writing, and after a while the world saw the story "The Musk Ox" (1863), the novels "Nowhere" (1864), "Bypassed" (1865), "On Knives" (1870). In 1870 - 1880 Leskov rethinks everything; communication with Tolstoy strongly influences him, as a result of which national-historical problems emerge: the novel "Soboryane" (1872), "The Seedy Family" (1874). Over the years, stories about artists have also been written: "The Islanders", "The Sealed Angel". Admiration for the Russian man, his qualities (kindness, generosity) and soul, inspired the poet to write the stories "Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea)" (1881), "Dumb Artist" (1883), "The Man on the Clock" ( 1887). After himself, Leskov left many satirical works, humor and irony: "Selective Grain", "Shameless", "Waste Dances", etc. The final major masterpiece of the author was the story "Hare Remise".
Brief biography of Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov - Russian 19th writer century, according to many, the most national writer Russia. Leskov was born on February 16, 1831 in the village of Gorohovo (Oryol province) in a spiritual environment. The writer's father was an official of the criminal chamber, and his mother was a noblewoman. Nikolai spent his childhood years in the family estate in Orel. In 1839 the Leskov family moved to the village of Panino. Life in the village left its mark on the writer's work. He studied the people in everyday life and conversations, and also considered himself one of his own among the people.
From 1841 to 1846 Leskov attended the Oryol Gymnasium. In 1848 he lost his father, and their family property burned down in a fire. Around the same time, he entered the service of the criminal chamber, where he collected a lot of material for his future work. A year later he was transferred to the state chamber of Kyiv. There he lived with his uncle Sergei Alferyev. In Kyiv, in his free time, he attended lectures at the university, was fond of icon painting and the Polish language, and also attended religious and philosophical circles and talked a lot with the Old Believers. During this period, he developed an interest in Ukrainian culture, in the works of Herzen and Taras Shevchenko.
In 1857, Leskov retired and entered the service of Scott, his aunt's English husband. While working for Schcott & Wilkens, he has gained vast experience in many sectors, including industry and Agriculture. For the first time, as a publicist, he showed himself in 1860. A year later, he moved to St. Petersburg and decided to devote himself to literary activity. His works began to appear in the Notes of the Fatherland. Many of his stories were based on the knowledge of Russian original life, and were saturated with sincere participation in the needs of the people. This can be seen in the stories "Extinguished Business" (1862) and "Musk Ox" (1863), in the story "The Life of a Woman" (1863), in the novel "The Bypassed" (1865). One of the most popular works of the writer was the story "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" (1865).
In his stories, Leskov also tried to show tragic fate Russia and unpreparedness for the revolution. In this regard, he was in conflict with the revolutionary democrats. Much has changed in the writer's work after meeting Leo Tolstoy. In his works of 1870-1880, national-historical issues also appeared. During these years he wrote several novels and short stories about artists. Among them are "Islanders", "Cathedrals", "The Sealed Angel" and others. Leskov always admired the breadth of the Russian soul, and this theme was reflected in the story "Lefty". The writer died in St. Petersburg on March 5, 1895 at the age of 64. He was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Video short biography of Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov is a writer whose works, according to M. Gorky, should be on a par with the works of L. Tolstoy, I. Turgenev, N. Gogol. All his writings are true, as the author knew and understood the life of the people well.
This article provides a brief biography of Leskov, the most important and interesting about his creative heritage.
Childhood and education
Nikolai Semenovich was born in the Oryol region (years of life - 1831-1895). His father is a petty official who came from the clergy, his mother is the daughter of an impoverished nobleman. He received his first education in a family of wealthy relatives on his mother's side, and two years later he became a student at a gymnasium in Orel. Always distinguished by good abilities, but did not accept cramming and rods. As a result, following the results of the training, it was necessary to retake exams for the fifth grade, which the future writer considered unfair and left the gymnasium with a certificate. The lack of a certificate did not allow to receive further education, and the father arranged for his son in the chamber of the criminal court in Orel. Life dramas will subsequently be resurrected in numerous works of the writer. Takova short biography Leskov period of childhood and youth.
Service
In 1849, Nikolai Semenovich moved to Kyiv and settled with his uncle, a professor of medicine. It was a time of communication with university youth, who often visited the teacher's house, learning languages - Ukrainian and Polish, attending lectures, and independently exploring literature. As a result, the formation of spiritual interests and the mental development of the young man took place.
The year 1857 also became important for the writer. Leskov, whose biography and work are inextricably linked with the life of the Russian people, switched from public service to private. He started working in commercial company uncle, A. Shkotta, and for several years visited many parts of Russia. Subsequently, this will allow Nikolai Semenovich to say that he studied life "not at school, but on barges." And personal observations and accumulated material will form the basis of more than one work.
Publicistic activity
Leskov's subsequent biography and work (this will be briefly discussed below) are associated with St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the 61st, he leaves Kyiv and, having moved to the capital, begins to cooperate with the Russian Speech. By this time, Nikolai Semenovich had already acted as a publicist in Modern Medicine, Saint Petersburg Vedomosti, and Economic Index. Now the writer's articles appear in the Book Bulletin, Fatherland Notes, and Vremya.
In January 1962, Nikolai Semyonovich moved to the "Northern Bee": he was in charge of the department of internal life in it. For two years he has covered in his articles the most acute social problems, enters into disputes with Sovremennik and Den. Thus formed at the beginning creative way biography of Leskov.
Interesting facts from his journalistic activity were associated with the theme of fires in St. Petersburg (1862). Nikolai Semenovich spoke about the alleged organizers, nihilist students, and called on the authorities to confirm or refute these data. As a result, a lot of criticism fell upon him both from the side of progressive writers, who accused the author of denunciation and slander, and from the government. And the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky, with which he used to sign his works until that time, became so abusive that the writer had to abandon it.
There is also a note from the office in St. Petersburg, which notes that Leskov "sympathizes with everything anti-government."
On the whole, it can be argued that journalistic activity prepared further work of the writer.
New challenges
Biography of Leskov, summary which you are reading was not simple. After an article about fires, the writer left the capital. As a correspondent, he went on a trip to Europe, which gave him a lot interesting information about life in other countries. And Leskov began work on the first novel, Nowhere, the heroes of which were all the same nihilists. The work was not allowed to go to print for a long time, and when it finally reached the readers in 1964, the democrats again attacked the writer.
Debut in fiction
A brief biography of Leskov the writer originates in the 62nd year, when the story-essay "Extinguished Case" appeared in print. He was followed by the works "The Robber", "In the tarantass", the story "The Life of a Woman" and "Stingy". All of them resembled an artistic essay, which at that time was popular with raznochintsy. But a feature of the works of Nikolai Semenovich has always been a special approach to the image folk life. Many of his contemporaries believed that it should be studied. Nikolai Semenovich, on the other hand, was convinced that the life of the people must be known, "not by studying, but by living it." Such views, along with excessive vehemence in journalism, led to the fact that Nikolai Leskov, whose brief biography is given in the article, was excommunicated from progressive Russian literature for a long time.
The story “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”, published in 1964, as well as the “Warrior Girl” published two years later, writers and critics preferred to ignore. Although it was in them that customized style and the humor of the writer, which will later be highly appreciated by experts. This is how it was in the sixties creative biography Leskov, the brief content of which strikes with the amazing stamina and incorruptibility of the writer.
70s
The new decade was marked by the release of the novel "Knives". The author himself called it the worst in his work. And Gorky noted that after this work, the writer abandoned the theme of nihilists and set about creating an “iconostasis of the saints and righteous” of Russia.
A brief biography of Leskov of the new period begins with the novel "Cathedrals". He was a success with readers, but the opposition in the work of official Christianity to the true again led the writer to conflict, now not only with the authorities, but also with the church.
And then the author publishes "The Sealed Angel" and "The Enchanted Wanderer", reminiscent of ancient Russian walking and legends. If the first story "Russian Bulletin" was published without corrections, then disagreements arose again on the second. Free-form artwork and several storylines were at one time misunderstood by many critics.
In 1974, due to severe financial situation Leskov enters the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Education, where he studies books published for the people. A year later, he briefly goes abroad.
80-90s
Collection of short stories "The Righteous", satirical works“Dumb Artist” and “Scarecrow”, rapprochement with Tolstoy, anti-church “Notes of an Unknown” (not completed due to the ban on censorship), “Midnight Offices”, etc. - this is the main thing that Leskov did in the new decade.
A short biography for children necessarily includes a story about the adventures of Lefty. And although many critics felt that the writer in this case just retold old legend, today it is one of the most famous and original works of Nikolai Semenovich.
The event was the publication of ten volumes of the collected works of the writer. And here it was not without trouble: the sixth volume, which included church works, was completely withdrawn from sale, and later reformed.
The last years of his life for the writer were also not very joyful. None of his major works ("Devil's Dolls", "Invisible Trace", "Falcon Binding") were published in the author's version. On this occasion, Leskov wrote that it was not his task to please the public. He saw his destiny in scourging and tormenting the reader with frankness and truth.
Leskov's biography: interesting facts
Nikolai Semenovich was known as a vegetarian and even wrote an article on this subject. He, according to his own statement, was always against the slaughter, but at the same time he did not accept those who refused meat not out of pity, but for reasons of hygiene. And if Leskov's first calls to translate a book for vegetarians into Russian caused ridicule, then very soon such a publication really appeared.
In 1985, an asteroid was named after Nikolai Semenovich, which, of course, speaks of the recognition of his work by descendants.
This is a brief biography of Leskov, whom L. Tolstoy called the most Russian of the writers of Russia.
