Oral story about n in Gogol. Biography of Nikolai Gogol

In this publication we will consider the most important things from the biography of N.V. Gogol: his childhood and youth, literary path, theater, last years life.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852) – writer, playwright, classic of Russian literature, critic, publicist. He is primarily known for his works: the mystical story “Viy”, the poem “Dead Souls”, the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, the story “Taras Bulba”.

Nikolai was born into the family of a landowner in the village of Sorochintsy on March 20 (April 1), 1809. The family was large - Nikolai eventually had 11 brothers and sisters, but he himself was the third child. Training began at the Poltava School, after which it continued at the Nizhyn Gymnasium, where the future great Russian writer devoted his time to justice. It is worth noting that Nikolai was only strong in drawing and Russian literature, but did not work out with other subjects. He also tried himself in prose - the works turned out unsuccessful. Now it is perhaps difficult to imagine.

At the age of 19, Nikolai Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to find himself. He worked as an official, but Nikolai was drawn to creativity - he tried to become an actor in the local theater, and continued to try himself in literature. Gogol's theater was not doing very well, and the government service did not satisfy all of Nikolai's needs. Then he made up his mind - he decided to continue to engage exclusively in literature, to develop his skills and talent.

The first work of Nikolai Vasilyevich that was published was “Basavryuk”. Later this story was revised and received the title “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala.” It was she who became the starting point for Nikolai Gogol as a writer. This was Nikolai's first success in literature.

Gogol very often described Ukraine in his works: in “May Night”, “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Taras Bulba”, etc. And this is not surprising, because Nikolai was born on the territory of modern Ukraine.

In 1831, Nikolai Gogol began to communicate with representatives of the literary circles of Pushkin and Zhukovsky. And this had a positive impact on his writing career.

Nikolai Vasilyevich’s interest in theater never faded, because his father was a famous playwright and storyteller. Gogol decided to return to the theater, but as a playwright, not an actor. His famous work “The Inspector General” was written specifically for the theater in 1835, and a year later it was staged for the first time. However, the audience did not appreciate the production and responded negatively to it, which is why Gogol decided to leave Russia.

Nikolai Vasilyevich visited Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy. It was in Rome that he decided to work on the poem “Dead Souls,” the basis of which he came up with back in St. Petersburg. After completing work on the poem, Gogol returned to his homeland and published his first volume.

While working on the second volume, Gogol was overcome by a spiritual crisis, which the writer never coped with. On February 11, 1852, Nikolai Vasilyevich burned all his work on the second volume of “Dead Souls,” thereby burying the poem as a continuation, and 10 days later he himself died.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 - 1852) was born in Ukraine, in the village of Sorochintsy in the Poltava region. His father was from the landowners of the family of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. In total, the family raised 12 children.

Childhood and youth

Neighbors and friends constantly gathered at the Gogol family estate: the father of the future writer was known as a great admirer of the theater. It is known that he even tried to write his own plays. So Nikolai inherited his talent for creativity on his father’s side. While studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium, he became famous for his love of composing bright and funny epigrams about his classmates and teachers.

Since the teaching staff of the educational institution was not highly professional, high school students had to devote a lot of time to self-education: they wrote out almanacs, prepared theatrical performances, and published their own handwritten journal. At that time, Gogol had not yet thought about a writing career. He dreamed of entering the civil service, which was then considered prestigious.

Petersburg period

Moving to St. Petersburg in 1828 and the much-desired public service did not bring moral satisfaction to Nikolai Gogol. It turned out that office work was boring.

At the same time, Gogol's first published poem, Hans Küchelgarten, appeared. But the writer is also disappointed in her. And so much so that he personally takes the published materials from the store and burns them.

Life in St. Petersburg has a depressing effect on the writer: uninteresting work, dull climate, financial problems... He increasingly thinks about returning to his picturesque native village in Ukraine. It was the memories of the homeland that were embodied in a well-represented national flavor in one of the writer’s most famous works, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” This masterpiece was warmly received by critics. And after Zhukovsky and Pushkin left positive reviews of “Evenings...”, the doors opened for Gogol into the world of real luminaries of the art of writing.

Inspired by the success of his first successful work, Gogol a short time later wrote “Notes of a Madman,” “Taras Bulba,” “The Nose,” and “Old World Landowners.” They further reveal the writer's talent. After all, no one before in his works had so accurately and vividly touched upon the psychology of “little” people. It is not for nothing that the famous critic of that time, Belinsky, spoke so enthusiastically about Gogol’s talent. One could find everything in his works: humor, tragedy, humanity, poetism. But despite all this, the writer continued to remain not completely satisfied with himself and his work. He believed that his civic position was expressed too passively.

Having failed in public service, Nikolai Gogol decides to try his hand at teaching history at St. Petersburg University. But even here another fiasco awaited him. Therefore, he makes another decision: to devote himself entirely to creativity. But no longer as a contemplative writer, but as an active participant, a judge of heroes. In 1836, the bright satire “The Inspector General” came out from the author’s pen. Society received this work ambiguously. Perhaps because Gogol managed to very sensitively “touch a nerve”, showing all the imperfections of the society of that time. Once again, the writer, disappointed in his abilities, decides to leave Russia.

Roman holiday

Nikolai Gogol emigrates from St. Petersburg to Italy. The quiet life in Rome has a beneficial effect on the writer. It was here that he began to write a large-scale work - “Dead Souls”. And again, society did not accept a real masterpiece. Gogol was accused of slandering his homeland, because society could not take the blow to the serfdom. Even the critic Belinsky took up arms against the writer.

Not being accepted by society had a negative impact on the writer’s health. He made an attempt and wrote the second volume of Dead Souls, but he himself personally burned the handwritten version.

The writer died in Moscow in February 1852. The official cause of death was given as “nervous fever.”

• Gogol was fond of knitting and sewing. He made the famous neckerchiefs for himself.
• The writer had the habit of walking along the streets only on the left side, which constantly disturbed passers-by.
• Nikolai Gogol loved sweets very much. You could always find candy or a piece of sugar in his pockets.
• The writer's favorite drink was goat's milk boiled with rum.
• The writer’s entire life was associated with mysticism and legends about his life, which gave rise to the most incredible, sometimes ridiculous rumors.

Gogol Nikolai Vasilievich (1809-1852)
Great Russian writer.

Born in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol spent his childhood years on his parents' estate Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina). The cultural center of the region was Kibintsy, the estate of D. P. Troshchinsky, their distant relative; Gogol’s father served as his secretary. In Kibintsy there was a large library, there was a home theater, for which Gogol’s father wrote comedies, being also its actor and conductor.

In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he paints and takes part in performances. He also tries himself in various literary genres (writes elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems, stories). At the same time he writes the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he dreams of a legal career.

Having graduated from the gymnasium in 1828, Gogol in December, together with another graduate A.S. Danilevsky travels to St. Petersburg, where he makes his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appears, published by “Hanz Küchelgarten” (under the pseudonym “V. Alov”).

At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “The Nose”, “Taras Bulba” were published.

In the fall of 1835, he began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which was suggested by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that the play premiered in the spring of 1836 on the stage of the Alexandria Theater.

In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany (in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years). He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he begins to work on the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin.

In November 1836, Gogol met A. Mitskevich in Paris. In Rome he receives shocking news about the death of Pushkin. In May 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published. The three years (1842-1845) that followed the writer’s departure abroad was a period of intense and difficult work on the second volume of Dead Souls.

At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a mental crisis, and in a state of sharp exacerbation of his illness, he burned the manuscript of the second volume, on which he would continue to work some time later.

In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where he spent most of his time in Moscow, visiting St. Petersburg, and also in his native places - in Little Russia. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes his first and last attempt to arrange his family life - he proposes to A.M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.

On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the second volume is “completely finished.” But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis were revealed, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol.

On February 7, Gogol confesses and receives communion, and on the night of February 11-12, he burns the white manuscript of the second volume (only five chapters have survived in incomplete form). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in the Talyzin house in Moscow. The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Childhood and youth

Saint Petersburg

Abroad

Funeral and grave of Gogol

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Creation

Gogol and painters

Hypotheses about Gogol's personality

Some works of Gogol

Monuments

Bibliography

First editions

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol(surname at birth Yanovsky, since 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20, 1809, Sorochintsy, Poltava province - February 21, 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics of Russian literature. He came from an old noble family of the Gogol-Yanovskys.

Biography

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1), 1809 in Sorochintsy near the Psel River, on the border of Poltava and Mirgorod districts (Poltava province). Nicholas was named after the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas. According to family legend, he came from an old Ukrainian Cossack family and was a descendant of Ostap Gogol, hetman of the Right Bank Army of the Zaporozhye Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In troubled times of Ukrainian history, some of his ancestors pestered the nobility, and Gogol’s grandfather, Afanasy Demyanovich Gogol-Yanovsky (1738-1805), wrote in an official paper that “his ancestors, with the surname Gogol, of the Polish nation,” although most biographers tend to believe that he was still a “Little Russian”. A number of researchers, whose opinion was formulated by V.V. Veresaev, believe that the descent from Ostap Gogol could have been falsified by Afanasy Demyanovich to obtain the nobility, since the priestly pedigree was an insurmountable obstacle to acquiring a noble title.

Great-great-grandfather Yan (Ivan) Yakovlevich, a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy, “went to the Russian side”, settled in the Poltava region (currently the Poltava region of Ukraine), and from him the nickname “Yanovsky” came. (According to another version, they were Yanovskys, since they lived in the area of ​​Yanov). Having received a charter of nobility in 1792, Afanasy Demyanovich changed his surname “Yanovsky” to “Gogol-Yanovsky”. Gogol himself, being baptized “Yanovsky,” apparently did not know about the real origin of the surname and subsequently discarded it, saying that the Poles had invented it. Gogol's father, Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky (1777-1825), died when his son was 15 years old. It is believed that the stage activities of his father, who was a wonderful storyteller and wrote plays for home theater in Ukrainian, determined the interests of the future writer - Gogol showed an early interest in theater.

Gogol's mother Maria Ivanovna (1791-1868), born. Kosyarovskaya, was married at the age of fourteen in 1805. According to contemporaries, she was exceptionally pretty. The groom was twice her age. In addition to Nikolai, there were eleven more children in the family. There were six boys and six girls in total. The first two boys were stillborn. Gogol was the third child. The fourth son was Ivan (1810-1819), who died early. Then a daughter, Maria (1811-1844), was born. All middle children also died in infancy. The last born were daughters Anna (1821-1893), Elizaveta (1823-1864) and Olga (1825-1907).

Life in the village before school and after, during the holidays, went on in the fullest atmosphere of Ukrainian life, both lordly and peasant. Subsequently, these impressions formed the basis of Gogol’s Little Russian stories and served as the reason for his historical and ethnographic interests; Later, from St. Petersburg, Gogol constantly turned to his mother when he needed new everyday details for his stories. The inclinations of religiosity and mysticism, which by the end of his life took possession of Gogol’s entire being, are attributed to the influence of his mother.

At the age of ten, Gogol was taken to Poltava to one of the local teachers to prepare for the gymnasium; then he entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn (from May 1821 to June 1828). Gogol was not a diligent student, but had an excellent memory, prepared for exams in a few days and moved from class to class; he was very weak in languages ​​and made progress only in drawing and Russian literature.

Apparently, the gymnasium itself, which was not very well organized in the first years of its existence, was partly to blame for the poor teaching; for example, history was taught by rote learning; literature teacher Nikolsky extolled the importance of Russian literature of the 18th century and did not approve of the contemporary poetry of Pushkin and Zhukovsky, which, however, only increased the interest of schoolchildren in romantic literature. Moral education lessons were supplemented with the rod. Gogol got it too.

The shortcomings of the school were made up for by self-education in a circle of comrades, where there were people who shared literary interests with Gogol (Gerasim Vysotsky, who apparently had considerable influence on him at that time; Alexander Danilevsky, who remained his friend for life, as did Nikolai Prokopovich; Nestor Kukolnik, with whom, however, Gogol never agreed).

Comrades contributed magazines; They started their own handwritten journal, where Gogol wrote a lot in poetry. At that time, he wrote elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems and stories, as well as the satire “Something about Nezhin, or There is no law for fools.” Along with literary interests, a love for the theater also developed, where Gogol, already distinguished by his unusual comedy, was the most zealous participant (from the second year of his stay in Nizhyn). Gogol's youthful experiences were formed in the style of romantic rhetoric - not in the taste of Pushkin, whom Gogol already admired, but rather in the taste of Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.

The death of his father was a heavy blow for the whole family. Concerns about business also fall on Gogol; he gives advice, reassures his mother, and must think about the future arrangement of his own affairs. The mother idolizes her son Nikolai, considers him a genius, she gives him the last of her meager funds to provide for his life in Nezhin, and subsequently in St. Petersburg. Nikolai also paid her all his life with ardent filial love, but there was no complete understanding and trusting relationship between them. Later, he would renounce his share of the common family inheritance in favor of his sisters in order to devote himself entirely to literature.

Towards the end of his stay at the gymnasium, he dreams of broad social activity, which, however, he sees not at all in the literary field; no doubt under the influence of everything around him, he thinks to advance and benefit society in a service for which in reality he was not capable. Thus, plans for the future were unclear; but Gogol was sure that he had a wide career ahead of him; he is already talking about the instructions of providence and cannot be satisfied with what ordinary people are content with, as he put it, which were the majority of his Nezhin comrades.

Saint Petersburg

In December 1828, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg. Here, for the first time, severe disappointment awaited him: his modest means turned out to be completely insignificant in the big city, and his brilliant hopes were not realized as quickly as he expected. His letters home at that time were a mixture of this disappointment and a vague hope for a better future. He had a lot of character and practical enterprise in reserve: he tried to enter the stage, become an official, and devote himself to literature.

He was not accepted as an actor; the service was so meaningless that he began to feel burdened by it; the more attracted he was to the literary field. In St. Petersburg, at first he kept to a society of fellow countrymen, which consisted partly of former comrades. He found that Little Russia aroused keen interest not only among Ukrainians, but also among Russians; experienced failures turned his poetic dreams to his native Ukraine, and from here the first plans for work arose, which was supposed to give rise to the need for artistic creativity, as well as bring practical benefits: these were the plans for “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka.”

But before that he published under a pseudonym V. Alova the romantic idyll “Hanz Küchelgarten” (1829), which was written back in Nizhyn (he himself marked it with the year 1827) and whose hero was given the ideal dreams and aspirations that he was fulfilled in the last years of his life in Nizhyn. Soon after the book was published, he himself destroyed its circulation when the critics reacted unfavorably to his work.

In a restless search for life's work, Gogol at that time went abroad, by sea to Lubeck, but a month later he returned again to St. Petersburg (September 1829) - and then explained his action by the fact that God showed him the way to a foreign land, or referred to hopeless love . In reality, he was running from himself, from the discord between his lofty and arrogant dreams and practical life. “He was drawn to some fantastic land of happiness and reasonable productive work,” says his biographer; America seemed like such a country to him. In fact, instead of America, he ended up serving in the III Division thanks to the patronage of Thaddeus Bulgarin. However, his stay there was short-lived. Ahead of him was service in the department of appanages (April 1830), where he remained until 1832. In 1830, the first literary acquaintances were made: Orest Somov, Baron Delvig, Pyotr Pletnev. In 1831, a rapprochement with the circle of Zhukovsky and Pushkin took place, which had a decisive influence on his future fate and on his literary activity.

The failure of Hanz Küchelgarten was a tangible indication of the need for a different literary path; but even earlier, from the first months of 1829, Gogol besieged his mother with requests to send him information about Ukrainian customs, legends, costumes, as well as to send “notes kept by the ancestors of some old family, ancient manuscripts,” etc. All this was material for future stories from Ukrainian life and legends, which became the beginning of his literary fame. He already took some part in the publications of that time: at the beginning of 1830, “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” was published in Svinin’s “Notes of the Fatherland” (with editorial corrections); at the same time (1829) “Sorochinskaya Fair” and “May Night” were started or written.

Gogol then published other works in the publications of Baron Delvig “Literary Newspaper” and “Northern Flowers”, which included a chapter from the historical novel “Hetman”. Perhaps Delvig recommended him to Zhukovsky, who received Gogol with great cordiality: apparently, from the first time the mutual sympathy of people related by love of art, by religiosity inclined to mysticism was felt between them - after that they became very close friends.

Zhukovsky handed over the young man to Pletnev with a request to place him, and indeed, in February 1831, Pletnev recommended Gogol for the position of teacher at the Patriotic Institute, where he himself was an inspector. Having gotten to know Gogol better, Pletnev waited for the opportunity to “bring him under Pushkin’s blessing”: this happened in May of the same year. Gogol's entry into this circle, which soon recognized his great emerging talent, had a huge impact on Gogol's fate. Finally, the prospect of the broad activity that he had dreamed of opened before him, but not in the official field, but in the literary field.

In material terms, Gogol could have been helped by the fact that, in addition to a place at the institute, Pletnev provided him with the opportunity to conduct private classes with the Longinovs, Balabins, and Vasilchikovs; but the main thing was the moral influence that this new environment had on Gogol. In 1834, he was appointed to the post of adjunct in the department of history at St. Petersburg University. He entered the circle of people who stood at the head of Russian fiction: his long-standing poetic aspirations could develop in all their breadth, his instinctive understanding of art could become a deep consciousness; Pushkin's personality made an extraordinary impression on him and forever remained an object of worship for him. Serving art became for him a high and strict moral duty, the requirements of which he tried to fulfill religiously.

Hence, by the way, his slow manner of work, the long definition and development of the plan and all the details. The society of people with a broad literary education was generally useful for a young man with meager knowledge learned from school: his powers of observation become deeper, and with each new work his creative level reaches new heights. At Zhukovsky, Gogol met a select circle, partly literary, partly aristocratic; in the latter, he soon began a relationship that would play a significant role in his life in the future, for example, with the Vielgorskys; At the Balabins he met the brilliant maid of honor Alexandra Rosetti (later Smirnova). The horizon of his life observations expanded, long-standing aspirations gained ground, and Gogol’s high concept of his destiny became the utmost conceit: on the one hand, his mood became sublimely idealistic, on the other, the prerequisites for religious quests arose, which marked the last years of his life.

This time was the most active era of his work. After small works, some of which were mentioned above, his first major literary work, which marked the beginning of his fame, was “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. Stories published by the pasichnik Rudy Panko”, published in St. Petersburg in 1831 and 1832, in two parts (the first contained “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “May Night, or the Drowned Woman”, “The Missing Letter”; in the second - “The Night Before Christmas”, “Terrible Revenge, Ancient True Story”, “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, “Enchanted Place”).

These stories, depicting scenes of Ukrainian life in an unprecedented way, shining with gaiety and subtle humor, made a great impression on Pushkin. The next collections were first “Arabesques”, then “Mirgorod”, both published in 1835 and composed partly from articles published in 1830-1834, and partly from new works published for the first time. That's when Gogol's literary fame became undeniable.

He grew up in the eyes of both his inner circle and the younger literary generation in general. Meanwhile, events took place in Gogol's personal life that in various ways influenced the internal structure of his thoughts and fantasies and his external affairs. In 1832, he was in his homeland for the first time after completing a course in Nizhyn. The path lay through Moscow, where he met people who later became his more or less close friends: Mikhail Pogodin, Mikhail Maksimovich, Mikhail Shchepkin, Sergei Aksakov.

Staying at home initially surrounded him with impressions of his native, beloved environment, memories of the past, but then also with severe disappointments. Household affairs were upset; Gogol himself was no longer the enthusiastic young man he had been when he left his homeland: life experience taught him to look deeper into reality and see its often sad, even tragic basis behind its outer shell. Soon his “Evenings” began to seem to him like a superficial youthful experience, the fruit of that “youth during which no questions come to mind.”

Ukrainian life even at that time provided material for his imagination, but the mood was different: in the stories of “Mirgorod” this sad note constantly sounds, reaching the point of high pathos. Returning to St. Petersburg, Gogol worked hard on his works: this was generally the most active time of his creative activity; At the same time, he continued to make life plans.

From the end of 1833, he was carried away by a thought as unrealizable as his previous plans for service were: it seemed to him that he could enter the scientific field. At that time, the opening of Kyiv University was being prepared, and he dreamed of occupying the department of history there, which he taught to girls at the Patriotic Institute. Maksimovich was invited to Kyiv; Gogol dreamed of starting classes in Kyiv with him, and wanted to invite Pogodin there too; in Kyiv, Russian Athens appeared to his imagination, where he himself thought of writing something unprecedented in universal history, and at the same time studying Ukrainian antiquity.

However, it turned out that the department of history was given to another person; but soon, thanks to the influence of his high literary friends, he was offered the same chair at St. Petersburg University. He actually occupied this pulpit; Several times he managed to give an effective lecture, but then the task turned out to be beyond his strength, and he himself refused the professorship in 1835. In 1834 he wrote several articles on the history of the Western and Eastern Middle Ages.

In 1832, his work was somewhat suspended due to domestic and personal troubles. But already in 1833 he worked hard again, and the result of these years were the two mentioned collections. First came “Arabesques” (two parts, St. Petersburg, 1835), which contained several articles of popular scientific content on history and art (“Sculpture, painting and music”; a few words about Pushkin; about architecture; about teaching general history; a look at the state of Ukraine; about Ukrainian songs, etc.), but at the same time also new stories “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospekt” and “Notes of a Madman”.

Then in the same year “Mirgorod” was released. Stories that serve as a continuation of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" (two parts, St. Petersburg, 1835). A whole series of works were placed here, in which new striking features of Gogol’s talent were revealed. In the first part of “Mirgorod” “Old World Landowners” and “Taras Bulba” appeared; in the second - “Viy” and “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.”

Subsequently (1842) “Taras Bulba” was completely reworked by Gogol. Being a professional historian, Gogol used factual materials to construct the plot and develop the characteristic characters of the novel. The events that formed the basis of the novel are the peasant-Cossack uprisings of 1637-1638, led by Gunya and Ostryanin. Apparently, the writer used the diaries of a Polish eyewitness to these events - military chaplain Simon Okolsky.

The plans for some other works of Gogol date back to the early thirties, such as the famous “The Overcoat”, “The Stroller”, perhaps “Portrait” in its revised version; these works appeared in the “Contemporary” of Pushkin (1836) and Pletnev (1842) and in the first collected works (1842); a later stay in Italy includes “Rome” in Pogodin’s “Moskvityanin” (1842).

The first idea of ​​“The Inspector General” dates back to 1834. The surviving manuscripts of Gogol indicate that he worked on his works extremely carefully: from what has survived from these manuscripts, it is clear how the work in its completed form known to us grew gradually from the initial outline, becoming more and more complicated with details and finally reaching that amazing artistic completeness and vitality with which we know them at the end of a process that sometimes lasted for years.

The main plot of The Inspector General, as well as the plot of Dead Souls later, was communicated to Gogol by Pushkin. The entire creation, from the plan to the last details, was the fruit of Gogol’s own creativity: an anecdote that could be told in a few lines turned into a rich work of art.

“The Inspector” caused endless work of determining the plan and details of execution; There are a number of sketches, in whole and in parts, and the first printed form of the comedy appeared in 1836. The old passion for the theater took possession of Gogol to an extreme degree: comedy did not leave his head; he was languidly fascinated by the idea of ​​coming face to face with society; he took the greatest care to ensure that the play was performed in accordance with his own ideas of characters and action; The production encountered various obstacles, including censorship, and finally could only be carried out by the will of Emperor Nicholas.

“The Inspector General” had an extraordinary effect: the Russian stage had never seen anything like it; the reality of Russian life was conveyed with such force and truth that although, as Gogol himself said, the matter was only about six provincial officials who turned out to be rogues, the whole society rebelled against him, which felt that it was a matter of a whole principle, a whole order life, in which it itself resides.

But, on the other hand, the comedy was greeted with the greatest enthusiasm by those elements of society who were aware of the existence of these shortcomings and the need to overcome them, and especially by the young literary generation, who saw here once again, as in the previous works of their favorite writer, a whole revelation, a new, the emerging period of Russian art and Russian public. Thus, “The Inspector General” split public opinion. If for the conservative-bureaucratic part of society the play seemed like a demarche, then for the seeking and free-thinking fans of Gogol it was a definite manifesto.

Gogol himself was interested, first of all, in the literary aspect; in social terms, he stood completely in line with the point of view of his friends in the Pushkin circle; he only wanted more honesty and truth in this order of things, and that is why he was especially struck by the discordant noise of misunderstanding that arose around his play. Subsequently, in “Theatrical Tour after the Presentation of a New Comedy,” he, on the one hand, conveyed the impression that “The Inspector General” made in various strata of society, and on the other, expressed his own thoughts about the great importance of theater and artistic truth.

The first dramatic plans appeared to Gogol even before The Inspector General. In 1833, he was absorbed in the comedy “Vladimir of the 3rd Degree”; it was not completed by him, but its material served for several dramatic episodes, such as “The Morning of a Business Man,” “Litigation,” “The Lackey” and “Excerpt.” The first of these plays appeared in Pushkin's Sovremennik (1836), the rest - in the first collection of his works (1842).

In the same meeting, “Marriage”, sketches of which date back to the same 1833, and “Players”, conceived in the mid-1830s, appeared for the first time. Tired of the creative tension of recent years and the moral anxieties that The Government Inspector cost him, Gogol decided to take a break from work by going on a trip abroad.

Abroad

In June 1836, Nikolai Vasilyevich went abroad, where he stayed, intermittently, for about ten years. At first, life abroad seemed to strengthen and calm him, giving him the opportunity to complete his greatest work, “Dead Souls” - but it also became the embryo of deeply fatal phenomena. The experience of working with this book, the contradictory reaction of his contemporaries to it, just as in the case of “The Inspector General,” convinced him of the enormous influence and ambiguous power of his talent over the minds of his contemporaries. This thought gradually began to take shape in the idea of ​​one’s prophetic destiny, and, accordingly, of using one’s prophetic gift by the power of one’s talent for the benefit of society, and not to its detriment.

He lived abroad in Germany and Switzerland, spent the winter with A. Danilevsky in Paris, where he met and became especially close to Smirnova and where he was caught by the news of Pushkin’s death, which shocked him terribly.

In March 1837, he was in Rome, which he fell in love with greatly and became like a second homeland for him. European political and social life always remained alien and completely unfamiliar to Gogol; he was attracted by nature and works of art, and Rome at that time represented precisely these interests. Gogol studied ancient monuments, art galleries, visited artists’ workshops, admired folk life and loved to show Rome and “treat” it to visiting Russian acquaintances and friends.

But in Rome he worked hard: the main subject of this work was “Dead Souls,” conceived in St. Petersburg in 1835; here, in Rome, he finished “The Overcoat”, wrote the story “Anunziata”, later remade into “Rome”, wrote a tragedy from the life of the Cossacks, which, however, after several alterations he destroyed.

In the fall of 1839, he and Pogodin went to Russia, to Moscow, where he was met by the Aksakovs, who were enthusiastic about the writer’s talent. Then he went to St. Petersburg, where he had to take his sisters from the institute; then he returned to Moscow again; in St. Petersburg and Moscow, he read the completed chapters of “Dead Souls” to his closest friends.

Having arranged his affairs, Gogol again went abroad, to his beloved Rome; He promised his friends to return in a year and bring the finished first volume of Dead Souls. By the summer of 1841, the first volume was ready. In September of this year, Gogol went to Russia to print his book.

He again had to endure the severe anxieties that he had once experienced during the production of “The Inspector General” on stage. The book was first submitted to the Moscow censorship, which was going to completely ban it; then the book was submitted to the St. Petersburg censorship and, thanks to the participation of Gogol’s influential friends, was, with some exceptions, allowed. It was published in Moscow (“The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls, poem by N. Gogol,” M., 1842).

In June, Gogol went abroad again. This last stay abroad was the final turning point in Gogol’s state of mind. He lived now in Rome, now in Germany, in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, now in Nice, now in Paris, now in Ostend, often in the circle of his closest friends - Zhukovsky, Smirnova, Vielgorsky, Tolstoy, and his religious -the prophetic direction mentioned above.

A high idea of ​​his talent and the responsibility that lay upon him led him to the conviction that he was doing something providential: in order to expose human vices and take a broad look at life, one must strive for internal improvement, which is given only by thinking of God. Several times he had to endure serious illnesses, which further increased his religious mood; in his circle he found favorable soil for the development of religious exaltation - he adopted a prophetic tone, self-confidently gave instructions to his friends and eventually came to the conviction that what he had done so far was unworthy of the high goal to which he considered himself called. If before he said that the first volume of his poem was nothing more than a porch to the palace that was being built in it, then at that time he was ready to reject everything he wrote as sinful and unworthy of his high mission.

Nikolai Gogol was not in good health since childhood. The death of his younger brother Ivan in adolescence and the untimely death of his father left an imprint on his mental state. Work on the continuation of “Dead Souls” was not going well, and the writer experienced painful doubts that he would be able to bring his planned work to the end. In the summer of 1845, he was overtaken by a painful mental crisis. He writes a will and burns the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. To commemorate his deliverance from death, Gogol decides to go to a monastery and become a monk, but monasticism did not take place. But his mind was presented with the new content of the book, enlightened and purified; It seemed to him that he understood how to write in order to “direct the whole society towards the beautiful.” He decides to serve God in the field of literature. New work began, and in the meantime he was occupied by another thought: he rather wanted to tell society what he considered useful for him, and he decides to collect in one book everything he wrote in recent years to friends in the spirit of his new mood and orders the publication of this Pletnev's book. These were “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” (St. Petersburg, 1847).

Most of the letters that make up this book date back to 1845 and 1846, the time when Gogol's religious mood reached its highest development. The 1840s were the time of formation and demarcation of two different ideologies in contemporary Russian educated society. Gogol remained alien to this demarcation, despite the fact that each of the two warring parties - Westerners and Slavophiles - laid their legal rights on Gogol. The book made a grave impression on both of them, since Gogol thought in completely different categories. Even his Aksakov friends turned away from him. Gogol with his tone of prophecy and edification, preaching humility, because of which, however, one could see his own conceit; condemnations of previous works, complete approval of the existing social order was clearly dissonant with those ideologists who hoped only for the social reorganization of society. Gogol, without rejecting the expediency of social reorganization, saw the main goal in spiritual self-improvement. Therefore, for many years the subject of his study became the works of the Church Fathers. But, not joining either the Westerners or the Slavophiles, Gogol stopped halfway, not completely joining spiritual literature - Seraphim of Sarov, Ignatius (Brianchaninov), etc.

The book’s impression on Gogol’s literary fans, who wanted to see in him only the leader of the “natural school,” was depressing. The highest degree of indignation aroused by “Selected Places” was expressed in Belinsky’s famous letter from Salzbrunn.

Gogol was painfully worried about the failure of his book. Only A. O. Smirnova and P. A. Pletnev were able to support him at that moment, but these were only private epistolary opinions. He explained the attacks on her partly by his mistake, by the exaggeration of the edifying tone, and by the fact that the censor did not miss several important letters in the book; but he could explain the attacks of former literary adherents only by calculations of parties and pride. The social meaning of this polemic was alien to him.

In a similar sense, he then wrote the “Preface to the second edition of Dead Souls”; “The Inspector's Denouement,” where he wanted to give the free artistic creation the character of a moralizing allegory, and “Pre-Notification,” where it was announced that the fourth and fifth editions of “The Inspector General” would be sold for the benefit of the poor... The failure of the book had an overwhelming effect on Gogol. He had to admit that a mistake had been made; even friends, like S. T. Aksakov, told him that the mistake was gross and pathetic; he himself confessed to Zhukovsky: “I have made such a big deal about Khlestakov in my book that I don’t have the courage to look into it.”

In his letters since 1847, there is no longer the former arrogant tone of preaching and edification; he saw that it is possible to describe Russian life only in the midst of it and by studying it. His refuge remained a religious feeling: he decided that he could not continue work without fulfilling his long-standing intention to venerate the Holy Sepulcher. At the end of 1847 he moved to Naples and at the beginning of 1848 he sailed to Palestine, from where he finally returned to Russia through Constantinople and Odessa.

His stay in Jerusalem did not have the effect he expected. “I have never been so little pleased with the state of my heart as in Jerusalem and after Jerusalem,” he says. “It was as if I was at the Holy Sepulcher so that I could feel there on the spot how much coldness of heart I had, how much selfishness and selfishness.”

Gogol calls his impressions of Palestine sleepy; Once caught in the rain in Nazareth, he thought he was just sitting at a station in Russia. He spent the end of spring and summer in the village with his mother, and on September 1 he moved to Moscow; spent the summer of 1849 with Smirnova in the village and in Kaluga, where Smirnova’s husband was the governor; spent the summer of 1850 again with his family; then he lived for some time in Odessa, was at home again, and in the fall of 1851 he settled again in Moscow, where he lived in the house of his friend Count Alexander Tolstoy (No. 7 on Nikitsky Boulevard).

He continued to work on the second volume of Dead Souls and read excerpts from it from the Aksakovs, but the same painful struggle between the artist and the Christian that had been going on in him since the early forties continued. As was his custom, he revised what he had written many times, probably succumbing to one mood or another. Meanwhile, his health became increasingly weaker; in January 1852 he was struck by the death of Khomyakov’s wife, who was the sister of his friend Yazykov; he was overcome by the fear of death; he gave up his literary studies and began fasting at Maslenitsa; One day, when he was spending the night in prayer, he heard voices saying that he would soon die.

Death

From the end of January 1852, Rzhev Archpriest Matthew Konstantinovsky, whom Gogol met in 1849, and before that was acquaintance by correspondence, stayed in the house of Count Alexander Tolstoy. Complex, sometimes harsh conversations took place between them, the main content of which was Gogol’s insufficient humility and piety, for example, the demand for Fr. Matthew: “Renounce Pushkin.” Gogol invited him to read the white version of the second part of “Dead Souls” for review, in order to listen to his opinion, but was refused by the priest. Gogol insisted on his own until he took the notebooks with the manuscript to read. Archpriest Matthew became the only lifetime reader of the manuscript of the 2nd part. Returning it to the author, he spoke out against the publication of a number of chapters, “even asked to destroy” them (previously, he also gave a negative review of “Selected Passages ...”, calling the book “harmful”).

The death of Khomyakova, the conviction of Konstantinovsky and, perhaps, other reasons convinced Gogol to abandon his creativity and begin fasting a week before Lent. On February 5, he saw off Konstantinovsky and since that day he has eaten almost nothing. On February 10, he handed Count A. Tolstoy a briefcase with manuscripts to be handed over to Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, but the Count refused this order so as not to deepen Gogol’s dark thoughts.

Gogol stops leaving the house. At 3 a.m. from Monday to Tuesday 11-12 (23-24) February 1852, that is, on Great Compline on the Monday of the first week of Lent, Gogol woke up his servant Semyon, ordered him to open the stove valves and bring a briefcase from the closet. Taking a bunch of notebooks out of it, Gogol put them in the fireplace and burned them. The next morning he told Count Tolstoy that he wanted to burn only some things that had been prepared in advance, but he burned everything under the influence of an evil spirit. Gogol, despite the admonitions of his friends, continued to strictly observe fasting; On February 18, I went to bed and stopped eating completely. All this time, friends and doctors are trying to help the writer, but he refuses help, internally preparing for death.

On February 20, the medical council decided to compulsorily treat Gogol, the result of which was final exhaustion and loss of strength, in the evening he fell into unconsciousness, and on the morning of February 21, Thursday, he died.

An inventory of Gogol's property showed that he left behind personal belongings worth 43 rubles 88 kopecks. The items included in the inventory were complete cast-offs and spoke of the writer’s complete indifference to his appearance in the last months of his life. At the same time, S.P. Shevyrev still had more than two thousand rubles in his hands, donated by Gogol for charitable purposes to needy students at Moscow University. Gogol did not consider this money his own, and Shevyrev did not return it to the writer’s heirs.

Funeral and grave of Gogol

On the initiative of Moscow State University professor Timofey Granovsky, the funeral was held as a public one; Contrary to the initial wishes of Gogol's friends, at the insistence of his superiors, the writer was buried in the university church of the martyr Tatiana. The funeral took place on Sunday afternoon on February 24 (March 7), 1852 at the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. A bronze cross was installed on the grave, standing on a black tombstone (“Golgotha”), and on it was carved the inscription: “I will laugh at my bitter word” (quote from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, 20, 8).

In 1930, the Danilov Monastery was finally closed, and the necropolis was soon liquidated. On May 31, 1931, Gogol’s grave was opened and his remains were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery. Golgotha ​​was also moved there, but the official examination report drawn up by the NKVD officers, now stored in TsGALI (f. 139, No. 61), is disputed by the unreliable and mutually exclusive memories of a participant and witness to the exhumation of the writer Vladimir Lidin. According to one of his memoirs (“Transferring the Ashes of N.V. Gogol”), written fifteen years after the event, and published posthumously in 1991 in the Russian Archive, the writer’s skull was missing from Gogol’s grave.

According to his other memories, transmitted in the form of oral stories to students at the Literary Institute when Lidin was a professor at this institute in the 1970s, Gogol’s skull was turned on its side. This, in particular, is evidenced by former student V. G. Lidina, and later senior researcher at the State Literary Museum Yu. V. Alekhin. Both of these versions are apocryphal in nature, they gave rise to many legends, including the burial of Gogol in a state of lethargy and the theft of Gogol’s skull for the collection of the famous Moscow collector of theatrical antiquities A. A. Bakhrushin. Of the same contradictory nature are numerous memoirs about the desecration of Gogol’s grave by Soviet writers (and Lidin himself) during the exhumation of Gogol’s burial, published by the media from the words of V. G. Lidin.

In 1952, instead of Golgotha, a new monument was installed on the grave in the form of a pedestal with a bust of Gogol by the sculptor Tomsky, on which is inscribed: “To the great Russian wordsmith Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol from the government of the Soviet Union.”

Golgotha, as unnecessary, was for some time in the workshops of the Novodevichy cemetery, where it was discovered by the widow of M.A. Bulgakov, E.S. Bulgakova, with the inscription already scraped off. She was looking for a suitable headstone for the grave of her late husband. According to legend, I. S. Aksakov himself chose the stone for Gogol’s grave somewhere in the Crimea (cutters called the stone “Black Sea granite”). Elena Sergeevna bought the tombstone, after which it was installed over the grave of Mikhail Afanasyevich. Thus, M. A. Bulgakov’s dream came true: “Teacher, cover me with your cast-iron overcoat.”

Currently - on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth - on the initiative of members of the anniversary organizing committee, the grave has been given almost its original appearance: a bronze cross on a black stone.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

• End of 1828 - Trut apartment building - embankment of the Catherine Canal, 72;
• beginning of 1829 - Galibin apartment building - Gorokhovaya Street, 46;
• April - July 1829 - house of I.-A. Jochima - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya Street, 39;
• end of 1829 - May 1831 - Zverkov apartment building - embankment of the Catherine Canal, 69;
• August 1831 - May 1832 - Brunst apartment building - Ofitserskaya Street (until 1918, now - Dekabristov Street), 4;
• summer 1833 - June 6, 1836 - courtyard wing of the Lepen house - Malaya Morskaya Street, 17, apt. 10. Historical monument of Federal significance; Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. No. 7810075000 // Website “Objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation.” Verified
• October 30 - November 2, 1839 - P. A. Pletnev’s apartment in Stroganov’s house - Nevsky Prospekt, 38;
• May - July 1842 - P. A. Pletnev’s apartment in the rector’s wing of the St. Petersburg Imperial University - Universitetskaya embankment, 9.

Creation

Early researchers of Gogol’s literary activity imagined, wrote A. N. Pypin, that his work was divided into two periods: the first, when he served the “progressive aspirations” of society, and the second, when he became religiously conservative.

Another approach to the study of Gogol’s biography, which included, among other things, an analysis of his correspondence, which revealed his inner life, allowed researchers to come to the conclusion that, no matter how contradictory the motives of his stories, “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” may be, with on the one hand, and “Selected Passages” - on the other, in the writer’s personality itself there was not the turning point that was supposed to be in it, one direction was not abandoned and another, opposite one was adopted; on the contrary, it was one integral inner life, where already at an early time there were the makings of later phenomena, where the main feature of this life did not cease - service to art; but this personal life was complicated by the internal mutual contestation of the idealist poet, the citizen writer and the consistent Christian.

Gogol himself said about the properties of his talent: “I only succeeded in what I took from reality, from the data known to me.” At the same time, the faces he depicted were not simply a repetition of reality: they were entire artistic types in which human nature was deeply understood. His heroes more often than any other Russian writer became household names.

Another personal feature of Gogol was that from his earliest years, from the first glimpses of his young consciousness, he was excited by sublime aspirations, the desire to serve society in something high and beneficial; from an early age he hated limited self-satisfaction, devoid of internal content, and this trait was later reflected, in the 1830s, by a conscious desire to expose social ills and depravity, and it also developed into a high idea of ​​​​the importance of art, standing above the crowd as the highest enlightenment of the ideal ...

All of Gogol's fundamental ideas about life and literature were ideas of the Pushkin circle. His artistic sense was strong and appreciated Gogol’s unique talent; the circle also took care of his personal affairs. As A. N. Pypin believed, Pushkin expected great artistic merit from Gogol’s works, but he hardly expected their social significance, as Pushkin’s friends later did not fully appreciate him and as Gogol himself was ready to distance himself from him.

Gogol distanced himself from the understanding of the social significance of his works, which was invested in them by the literary criticism of V. G. Belinsky and his circle, social-utopian criticism. But at the same time, Gogol himself was no stranger to utopianism in the sphere of social reconstruction, only his utopia was not socialist, but Orthodox.

The idea of ​​“Dead Souls” in its final form is nothing more than showing the path to goodness for absolutely any person. The three parts of the poem are a kind of repetition of “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. The fallen heroes of the first part rethink their existence in the second part and are spiritually reborn in the third. Thus, the literary work was loaded with the applied task of correcting human vices. The history of literature before Gogol did not know such a grandiose plan. And at the same time, the writer intended to write his poem not just conventionally schematic, but lively and convincing.

After the death of Pushkin, Gogol became close to the circle of Slavophiles, or actually with Pogodin and Shevyrev, S. T. Aksakov and Yazykov; but he remained alien to the theoretical content of Slavophilism, and it had no influence on the composition of his work. In addition to personal affection, he found here warm sympathy for his works, as well as for his religious and dreamily conservative ideas. Gogol did not see Russia without monarchy and Orthodoxy; he was convinced that the church should not exist separately from the state. However, later in the elder Aksakov he encountered resistance to his views expressed in “Selected Places.”

The most acute moment of the clash between Gogol’s worldview and the aspirations of the revolutionary part of society was Belinsky’s letter from Salzbrunn, the very tone of which painfully wounded the writer (Belinsky, with his authority, established Gogol as the head of Russian literature during Pushkin’s lifetime), but Belinsky’s criticism could no longer change anything in the spiritual make-up Gogol, and the last years of his life passed, as they say, in a painful struggle between the artist and the Orthodox thinker.

For Gogol himself, this struggle remained unresolved; he was broken by this internal discord, but, nevertheless, the significance of Gogol’s main works for literature was extremely deep. Not to mention the purely artistic merits of performance, which, after Pushkin himself, raised the level of possible artistic perfection among writers, his deep psychological analysis had no equal in previous literature and expanded the range of topics and possibilities of literary writing.

However, artistic merit alone cannot explain either the enthusiasm with which his works were received by younger generations, or the hatred with which they were met among the conservative masses of society. By the will of fate, Gogol became the banner of a new social movement, which was formed outside the sphere of the writer’s creative activity, but in a strange way intersected with his biography, since this social movement did not have any other figures of similar scale at that moment for this role. In turn, Gogol misinterpreted the hopes of readers placed on the ending of Dead Souls. The hastily published summary equivalent of the poem in the form of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” resulted in a feeling of annoyance and irritation among the deceived readers, since Gogol as a humorist had developed a strong reputation among readers. The public was not yet ready for a different perception of the writer.

The spirit of humanity, which distinguishes the works of Dostoevsky and other writers after Gogol, is already clearly revealed in Gogol’s prose, for example, in “The Overcoat,” “Notes of a Madman,” and “Dead Souls.” The first work of Dostoevsky is adjacent to Gogol to the point of obviousness. In the same way, the depiction of the negative aspects of landowner life, adopted by the writers of the “natural school,” is usually traced back to Gogol. In their subsequent work, new writers made independent contributions to the content of literature, as life posed and developed new questions, but the first thoughts were given by Gogol.

Gogol's works coincided with the emergence of social interest, which they greatly served and from which literature did not emerge until the end of the 19th century. But the evolution of the writer himself was much more complex than the formation of a “natural school.” Gogol himself had little overlap with the “Gogolian trend” in literature. It is curious that in 1852, for a small article in memory of Gogol, Turgenev was arrested in his unit and sent to the village for a month. For a long time, the explanation for this was found in the dislike of the Nikolaev government towards Gogol the satirist. It was later established that the true motive for the ban was the government’s desire to punish the author of “Notes of a Hunter,” and the ban on the obituary due to the author’s violation of censorship regulations (printing in Moscow an article banned by censorship in St. Petersburg) was only a reason to stop the activities of a socially dangerous person from the point of view of Nikolaev censorship of the writer. There was no single assessment of Gogol’s personality as a pro-government or anti-government writer among the officials of Nicholas I. One way or another, the second edition of the Works, begun in 1851 by Gogol himself and not completed due to his premature death, could only be published in 1855-1856. But Gogol’s connection with subsequent literature is beyond doubt.

This connection was not limited to the 19th century. In the next century, the development of Gogol's work took place at a new stage. Symbolist writers found a lot for themselves in Gogol: imagery, sense of words, “new religious consciousness” - F. K. Sologub, Andrei Bely, D. S. Merezhkovsky, etc. Later, M. A. Bulgakov established their continuity with Gogol , V.V. Nabokov.

Gogol and Orthodoxy

Gogol's personality has always been particularly mysterious. On the one hand, he was a classic type of satirist writer, an exposer of vices, social and human, a brilliant humorist, on the other, a pioneer in Russian literature of the patristic tradition, a religious thinker and publicist, and even an author of prayers. Its last quality has not yet been sufficiently studied and is reflected in the works of Doctor of Philology, Professor of Moscow State University. Lomonosov V.A. Voropaev, who is convinced that

Gogol was an Orthodox Christian, and his Orthodoxy was not nominal, but effective, believing that without this it is impossible to understand anything from his life and work.

Gogol received the beginnings of faith in his family. In a letter to his mother dated October 2, 1833 from St. Petersburg, Nikolai Gogol recalled the following: “I asked you to tell me about the Last Judgment, and you told me as a child so well, so clearly, so touchingly about the benefits that await people for a virtuous life, and they described the eternal torment of sinners so strikingly, so horribly, that it shocked and awakened all sensitivity in me. This sown and subsequently produced in me the highest thoughts.”

From a spiritual point of view, Gogol's early work contains not just a collection of humorous stories, but extensive religious teaching, in which there is a struggle between good and evil and good invariably wins, and sinners are punished. Gogol’s main work, the poem “Dead Souls,” also contains deep subtext, the spiritual meaning of which is revealed in the writer’s suicide note: “Be not dead, but living souls. There is no other door except that indicated by Jesus Christ..."

According to V. A. Voropaev, satire in such works as “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” is only their upper and shallow layer. Gogol conveyed the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200b“The Inspector General” in a play called “The Denouement of “The Inspector General””, where there are the following words: “... the auditor who is waiting for us at the door of the coffin is terrible.” This, according to Voropaev, is the main idea of ​​the work: we need to fear not Khlestakov or the auditor from St. Petersburg, but “He who is waiting for us at the door of the coffin”; This is the idea of ​​spiritual retribution, and the real auditor is our conscience.

Literary critic and writer I.P. Zolotussky believes that the now fashionable debate about whether Gogol was a mystic or not is unfounded. A person who believes in God cannot be a mystic: for him, God knows everything in the world; God is not a mystic, but a source of grace, and the divine is incompatible with the mystical. According to I.P. Zolotussky, Gogol was “a Christian believer in the bosom of the Church, and the concept of the mystical is not applicable either to himself or to his writings.” Although among his characters there are sorcerers and the devil, they are just heroes of a fairy tale, and the devil is often a parodic, comic figure (as, for example, in “Evenings on the Farm”). And in the second volume of “Dead Souls” a modern devil is introduced - a legal adviser, a rather civilized person in appearance, but essentially more terrible than any evil spirit. With the help of circulating anonymous papers, he created great confusion in the province and turned the existing relative order into complete chaos.

Gogol repeatedly visited Optina Pustyn, having the closest spiritual communication with Elder Macarius.

Gogol completed his writing journey with “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” - a Christian book. However, it has not yet been truly read, according to Zolotussky. Since the 19th century. It is generally accepted that the book is a mistake, a departure of the writer from his path. But perhaps it is his path, and even more so than other books. According to Zolotussky, these are two different things: the concept of the road (“Dead Souls” at first glance is a road novel) and the concept of the path, that is, the exit of the soul to the pinnacle of the ideal.

In July 2009, Patriarch Kirill blessed the release of the complete works of Nikolai Gogol in the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate during 2009. The new edition has been prepared at an academic level. The working group for the preparation of the complete works of N.V. Gogol included scientists and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Gogol and Russian-Ukrainian connections

The complex interweaving of two cultures in one person has always made the figure of Gogol the center of interethnic disputes, but Gogol himself did not need to find out whether he was Ukrainian or Russian - his friends dragged him into disputes about this. Until now, not a single work of the writer written in Ukrainian is known, and few writers of Russian origin have made a contribution to the development of the Russian language commensurate with Gogol’s.

Attempts were made to understand Gogol from the point of view of his Ukrainian origin: the latter explained, to a certain extent, his attitude towards Russian life. Gogol’s attachment to his homeland was very strong, especially in the first years of his literary activity and right up to the completion of the second edition of Taras Bulba, but his satirical attitude towards Russian life, no doubt, is explained not by his national properties, but by the entire nature of his internal development.

There is no doubt, however, that Ukrainian features were also reflected in the writer’s work. These are considered the features of his humor, which remains the only example of its kind in Russian literature. Ukrainian and Russian principles happily merged in this talent into one, extremely remarkable phenomenon.

A long stay abroad balanced the Ukrainian and Russian components of Gogol’s worldview; he now called Italy the homeland of his soul. The late Gogol’s understanding of the peculiarities of Russian-Ukrainian relations was reflected in the writer’s dispute with O. M. Bodyansky, conveyed by G. P. Danilevsky, about the Russian language and the work of Taras Shevchenko. " We, Osip Maksimovich, need to write in Russian, we need to strive to support and strengthen one, master language for all our native tribes. The dominant for Russians, Czechs, Ukrainians and Serbs should be a single sacred thing - the language of Pushkin, which is the Gospel for all Christians, Catholics, Lutherans and Herrnhuters... We, Little Russians and Russians, need one poetry, calm and strong, imperishable poetry of truth, goodness and beauty. Russian and Little Russian are the souls of twins, replenishing each other, relatives and equally strong. It is impossible to give preference to one over the other" From this dispute it becomes clear that towards the end of his life the writer was worried not so much about national antagonism as about the antagonism of faith and unbelief.

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, when relations between the two states - Ukraine and Russia - were going through difficult times, the attitude towards Gogol in Ukraine was ambiguous. For some politicians, he was inconvenient precisely because he was born in Ukraine and wrote in Russian, although in Gogol’s time there was no Ukrainian statehood, the Ukrainian people were considered part of the Russian people, and the Ukrainian language was a Little Russian dialect.

Gogol and painters

Along with writing and an interest in theater, Gogol was passionate about painting from a young age. His high school letters to his parents speak about this. At the gymnasium, Gogol tried himself as a painter, book graphic artist (handwritten magazines “Meteor of Literature”, “Parnassian Manure”) and theater decorator. After leaving the gymnasium in St. Petersburg, Gogol continued his painting classes in evening classes at the Academy of Arts. Communication with Pushkin's circle, with K. P. Bryullov, makes him a passionate admirer of art. The latter’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii” is the subject of an article in the collection “Arabesques”. In this article, as well as in other articles in the collection, Gogol defends a romantic view of the nature of art. The image of the artist, as well as the conflict between aesthetic and moral principles, will become central in his St. Petersburg stories “Nevsky Prospekt” and “Portrait”, written in the same 1833-1834 as his journalistic articles. Gogol’s article “On the Architecture of the Present Time” was an expression of the writer’s architectural predilections.

In Europe, Gogol enthusiastically indulges in the study of architectural monuments, sculpture, and paintings by old masters. A. O. Smirnova recalls how in the Strasbourg Cathedral “he drew with a pencil on a piece of paper the ornaments above the Gothic columns, marveling at the selectivity of the ancient masters, who made decorations above each column that were excellent from others. I looked at his work and was surprised at how clearly and beautifully he drew. “You draw so well!” I said. “But you didn’t know that?” answered Gogol.” Gogol’s romantic elation is replaced by a well-known sobriety (A. O. Smirnova) in his assessment of art: “Slimness in everything, that’s what’s beautiful.” Raphael becomes the most valued artist for Gogol. P.V. Annenkov: “Under these masses of greenery of Italian oak, plane tree, pina, etc. Gogol happened to be inspired as a painter (he, as you know, was a decent painter himself). Once he said to me: “If I were an artist, I would invent a special kind of landscape.” What kind of trees and landscapes they paint now!.. I would link tree to tree, mix up the branches, throw out light where no one expects it, that’s the kind of landscapes that should be painted!” In this sense, in the poetic depiction of Plyushkin’s garden in “Dead Souls,” the view, method and composition of Gogol the painter are clearly felt.

In 1837 in Rome, Gogol met Russian artists, boarders of the Imperial Academy of Arts: the engraver Fyodor Jordan, the author of a large engraving from Raphael’s painting “Transfiguration”, Alexander Ivanov, who was then working on the painting “The Appearance of the Messiah to the People”, F. A. Moller and others sent to Italy to improve their art. Especially close in foreign lands were A. A. Ivanov and F. I. Jordan, who together with Gogol represented a kind of triumvirate. The writer has a long-term friendship with Alexander Ivanov. The artist becomes the prototype of the hero of the updated version of the story “Portrait”. At the height of his relationship with A. O. Smirnova, Gogol gave her Ivanov’s watercolor “Groom Choosing a Ring for the Bride.” He jokingly called Jordan “Raphael of the first manner” and recommended his work to all his friends. Fyodor Moller painted a portrait of Gogol in Rome in 1840. In addition, seven more portraits of Gogol painted by Moller are known.

But most of all, Gogol valued Ivanov and his painting “The Appearance of the Messiah to the People,” he participated in the creation of the concept of the painting, took part as a sitter (the figure closest to Christ), and lobbied with whomever he could to extend the artist’s opportunity to work calmly and slowly above the painting, dedicated a large article to Ivanov in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” “The Historical Painter Ivanov”. Gogol contributed to Ivanov’s turn to writing genre watercolors and to the study of iconography. The painter reconsidered the relationship between the sublime and the comical in his paintings; in his new works, features of humor appeared that were previously completely alien to the artist. Ivanovo’s watercolors, in turn, are close in genre to the story “Rome”. On the other hand, Gogol was several years ahead of the initiatives of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in the field of studying the Old Russian Orthodox icon. Along with A. A. Agin and P. M. Boklevsky, Alexander Ivanov was one of the first illustrators of Gogol’s works.

The fate of Ivanov had much in common with the fate of Gogol himself: on the second part of “Dead Souls” Gogol worked as slowly as Ivanov did on his painting, both were equally hurried from all sides to finish their work, both were equally in need, unable to tear themselves away from what you love for extra income. And Gogol had both himself and Ivanov in mind equally when he wrote in his article: “Now everyone feels the absurdity of reproaching such an artist for slowness and laziness, who, like a worker, sat all his life at work and forgot even whether there was any kind of art in the world.” any pleasure other than work. The artist’s own spiritual work was connected with the production of this painting, a phenomenon that is too rare in the world.” On the other hand, A. A. Ivanov’s brother, architect Sergei Ivanov, testifies that A. A. Ivanov “never had the same thoughts with Gogol, he internally never agreed with him, but at the same time he never argued with him.” . Gogol’s article weighed heavily on the artist; the advance praise and premature fame fettered him and placed him in an ambiguous position. Despite personal sympathy and a common religious attitude towards art, the once inseparable friends, Gogol and Ivanov, towards the end of their lives become somewhat internally distant, despite the fact that correspondence between them does not stop until their last days.

Gogol in a group of Russian artists in Rome

In 1845, Sergei Levitsky came to Rome and met with Russian artists and Gogol. Taking advantage of the visit to Rome of the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts, Count Fyodor Tolstoy, Levitsky persuaded Gogol to appear in a daguerreotype together with a colony of Russian artists. The idea was connected with the arrival of Nicholas I to Rome from St. Petersburg. The Emperor personally visited the boarders of the Academy of Arts. More than twenty boarders were summoned to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, where, after Russian-Italian negotiations, Nicholas I arrived, accompanied by the vice-president of the Academy, Count F. P. Tolstoy. “Walking from the altar, Nicholas I turned around, greeted with a slight bow of his head and instantly looked at those gathered with his quick, brilliant gaze. “Your Majesty’s artists,” Count Tolstoy pointed out. “They say they are partying a lot,” the sovereign remarked. “But they also work,” answered the count.”

Among those depicted are architects Fyodor Eppinger, Karl Beine, Pavel Notbeck, Ippolit Monighetti, sculptors Peter Stawasser, Nikolai Ramazanov, Mikhail Shurupov, painters Pimen Orlov, Apollo Mokritsky, Mikhail Mikhailov, Vasily Sternberg. The daguerreotype was first published by critic V.V. Stasov in the magazine “Ancient and New Russia” for 1879, No. 12, who described those depicted as follows: “Look at these hats of the theatrical “brigants”, at the cloaks, as if unusually picturesque and majestic - what an unwitty and untalented masquerade! And yet, this is still a truly historical picture, because it sincerely and faithfully conveys a whole corner of the era, a whole chapter from Russian life, a whole strip of people, lives, and delusions.” From this article we know the names of those photographed and who is where. Thus, through the efforts of S. L. Levitsky, the only photographic portrait of the great writer was created. Later, in 1902, on the 50th anniversary of Gogol’s death, in the studio of another outstanding portrait painter, Karl Fischer, his image was cropped from this group photograph, retaken and enlarged.

Sergei Levitsky himself is present in the group of those photographed - second from left in the second row - without a frock coat.

Hypotheses about Gogol's personality

Gogol's personality attracted the attention of many cultural figures and scientists. Even during the writer’s lifetime, there were conflicting rumors about him, aggravated by his isolation, tendency to mythologize his own biography and mysterious death, which gave rise to many legends and hypotheses.

Some works of Gogol

• Dead Souls
• see also: Which Russian doesn’t like driving fast?
• Auditor
• Marriage
• Theater crossing
• Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
• Mirgorod
• The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
• Old world landowners
• Taras Bulba
• Petersburg stories
• Nevsky Avenue
• Overcoat
• Diary of a Madman
• Portrait
• Stroller
• Selected places from correspondence with friends

Influence on modern culture

Gogol's works have been filmed many times. Composers composed operas and ballets for his works. In addition, Gogol himself became the hero of films and other works of art.

Based on the novel “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” Step Creative Group released two quests: “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (2005) and “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (2006). The first game based on Gogol's story was Viy: A Story Told Again (2004).

Ukraine hosts the annual multidisciplinary contemporary art festival Gogolfest, named after the writer.

The writer's surname is reflected in the name of the musical group Gogol Bordello, whose leader, Evgeniy Gudz, is a native of Ukraine.

Images of Gogol can be found on postage stamps and coins.

Memory

• Streets in a number of cities in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other republics of the post-Soviet space, as well as in Harbin (China), are named after Gogol.
• A crater on Mercury and a steamship are named after Gogol.
• In Ukraine, N.V. Gogol’s birthday is celebrated by many citizens as a holiday of the Russian language and an occasion to remember the unity of the Slavic peoples

Monuments

• The first monument to Gogol in the empire by Parmen Zabila was erected in Nizhyn in 1881. Today there are two monuments to the writer in the city.
• In 1909, a monument to Gogol by sculptor N. A. Andreev was erected in Moscow, on Prechistensky Boulevard (now Gogolevsky). In 1951, the monument was moved to the Donskoy Monastery (currently located on Nikitsky Boulevard), and in its place a new one, created by N.V. Tomsky, was erected.
• In 1910, a bronze bust of Gogol by I. F. Tavbiy was installed on Elizavetinskaya Street in Tsaritsyn. Today it is the oldest monument in the city. The street was also renamed and became Gogolevskaya.
• In Dnepropetrovsk, on the corner of Gogol Street and Karl Marx Avenue, a monument to Nikolai Gogol was erected on May 17, 1959. Sculptors A. V. Sytnik, E. P. Kalishenko, A. A. Shrubshtok, architect V. A. Zuev.
• In Kyiv, at house No. 34 of Andreevsky Spusk, a monument to “The Nose” was erected, the prototype of which was the writer’s nose. Sculptor: Oleg Dergachev.
• There is a monument to Gogol in Poltava, a bust of the writer is installed in Zaporozhye, Mirgorod, Kharkov, Brest
• On March 4, 1952, on the centenary of Gogol’s death, a foundation stone was installed in the park on Manezhnaya Square in St. Petersburg, the inscription on which read: “A monument to the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol will be built here.” The foundation stone existed in this form until 1999, when a fountain was installed in its place. As a result, another location was chosen for this monument, on the street. Malaya Konyushennaya.
• In Veliky Novgorod, on the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia”, among the 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history (as of 1862), there is the figure of N.V. Gogol.
• On August 13, 1982, a monument to the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was unveiled in Kyiv. In honor of the 1500th anniversary of the capital, a monument to the writer was erected on Rusanovskaya embankment in Kyiv.

Bibliography

Anthologies

• N.V. Gogol in Russian criticism: Sat. Art. / Prepare text by A.K. Kotov and M.Ya. Polyakov; Entry Art. and note. M. Ya. Polyakova.. - M.: State. published artist lit., 1953. - LXIV, 651 p.
• Gogol in Russian criticism: Anthology / Comp. S. G. Bocharov. - M.: Fortuna EL, 2008. - 720 p. - ISBN 978-5-9582-0042-9

First editions

• The first collected works were prepared by himself in 1842. He began preparing the second in 1851; it was already completed by his heirs: here the second part of “Dead Souls” appeared for the first time.
• In Kulish's publication in six volumes (1857), an extensive collection of Gogol's letters (the last two volumes) appeared for the first time.
• In the edition prepared by Chizhov (1867), “Selected passages from correspondence with friends” are printed in full, including what was not missed by the censor in 1847.
• The tenth edition, published in 1889 under the editorship of N. S. Tikhonravov, is the best of all published in the 19th century: it is a scientific publication with text corrected from manuscripts and Gogol’s own editions, and with extensive comments, which detail the history of each of Gogol's works based on surviving manuscripts, his correspondence and other historical data.
• The material of letters collected by Kulish and the text of Gogol’s works began to be replenished, especially since the 1860s: “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” based on a manuscript found in Rome (“Russian Archive”, 1865); unpublished from “Selected Places”, first in the “Russian Archive” (1866), then in Chizhov’s edition; about Gogol’s comedy “Vladimir of the 3rd degree” - Rodislavsky, in “Conversations in the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature” (M., 1871).
• Research of Gogol’s texts and his letters: articles by V. I. Shenrok in “Bulletin of Europe”, “Artist”, “Russian Antiquity”; Mrs. E. S. Nekrasova in “Russian Antiquity” and especially the comments of Mr. Tikhonravov in the 10th edition and in the special edition of “The Inspector General” (M., 1886).
• There is information about the letters in the book “Index to Gogol’s Letters” by Mr. Shenrok (2nd ed. - M., 1888), which is necessary when reading them in Kulish’s edition, where they are interspersed with blank, arbitrarily taken letters instead of names and other censorship omissions .
• “Letters from Gogol to Prince V.F. Odoevsky” (in the “Russian Archive”, 1864); “to Malinovsky” (ibid., 1865); "to the book P. A. Vyazemsky" (ibid., 1865, 1866, 1872); “to I. I. Dmitriev and P. A. Pletnev” (ibid., 1866); “to Zhukovsky” (ibid., 1871); “to M.P. Pogodin” from 1833 (not 1834; ibid., 1872; more complete than Kulish, V, 174); “Note to S. T. Aksakov” (“Russian Antiquity”, 1871, IV); letter to actor Sosnitsky about “The Inspector General” of 1846 (ibid., 1872, VI); Letters from Gogol to Maksimovich, published by S. I. Ponomarev, etc.

Gogol Nikolai (03/20/1809 – 02/21/1852) - Russian writer, poet, author of dramatic works, publicist. He is a classic of Russian literature.

Early years

Nikolai Vasilyevich received the surname Yanovsky at birth; he was born in the village of Sorochintsy, Poltava province. Biographers have different opinions regarding his origins; most of them consider him to be a Little Russian; there are also versions about his Polish roots. Gogol's grandfather received a noble title; after government service, his father devoted a lot of time to theatrical life, wrote plays and was an excellent storyteller. Perhaps, thanks to his activities, Nikolai developed an early passion for theater.

Gogol's mother, according to contemporaries, was a rare beauty, half the age of her husband. It is believed that she influenced the writer's interest in mysticism. In total, eleven children were born in the family, many of them died in infancy, two were born dead. When Nikolai was ten years old, he was sent to study in Poltava.

From 1821 to 1828 he received his education at the Nezhin gymnasium. He was not diligent in his studies; his good memory helped him pass each class, thanks to which he could prepare for exams in a short time. Gogol had a hard time with languages; he received good marks for literature and fine arts.

At the gymnasium, students organized a literary club, where they subscribed to periodicals together, and also organized their own magazine, which was written by hand. Gogol often posted his poems there. In 1825, his father died, which greatly undermined the spirit of the family; as the eldest son, Nikolai’s shoulders fell on the shoulders of worries about the family and material problems.

High school student N.V. Gogol, 1820s

Initiation into the literary world

After high school, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg. He made big plans for his life in the capital, but here he faced many difficulties. There wasn’t enough money, and at first it was impossible to find a decent job. Nikolai tried many times to become an actor, but was not accepted; he was completely unsuitable for bureaucratic service. As a result, Gogol still found his calling in literature.

While still in Nizhyn, he wrote the poem “Hanz Küchelgarten,” which was published in 1829. The author signed himself as V. Alov. Having met a wave of negative responses, Nikolai bought the edition and burned the books with his own hands. Failure brought new disappointments, after which Gogol undertook a trip to Germany, then served briefly in the political police, after which he served for two years in the department of appanages.

In 1831, Gogol entered the social circle of Zhukovsky, Pushkin, and other literary figures. After the unsuccessful "Gantz" he realizes the need to change his literary style. From the beginning of his stay in St. Petersburg, Nikolai asked his mother to send him stories of Little Russian life, information about customs, and ancient manuscripts. He collected this data for his new works “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “The Missing Letter”, etc.

Having become close to Zhukovsky and Pletnev, Gogol got a job as a teacher at the Patriotic Institute, and he was finally noticed in the literary field. In 1834 he became an assistant at the history department at the University of St. Petersburg. Nikolai received extensive new knowledge about art, expanded his horizons, while improving his skills.

Literary activity

The first successful brainchild of Nikolai Vasilyevich was “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, consisting of two parts, which in turn included separate stories. These works made a great impression with their unique description of Ukrainian life combined with a humorous style. The author quickly became famous and strengthened his success in 1835 by publishing “Mirgorod” and “Arabesques,” which were also collections of works. This was the time when Gogol was most active as a writer.

His manuscripts testify to the meticulousness with which the author approached the writing of his works. The initial essay gradually acquired many details before being presented to the reader. In 1834, Gogol began work on “The Inspector General,” the idea of ​​which was told to him by Pushkin (later he would be the source of the idea for “Dead Souls”). This comedy had special significance for the writer; it was evidence of his love for the theater. Particularly exciting for him was the challenge to a society that had never seen anything like it before. Opinions about The Inspector General were divided: some greeted it with admiration, others with protest. The reason was the author’s surprisingly accurate depiction of the situation of that time.

Pushkin from Gogol (M. Klodt)

Gogol decided to interrupt the period of intense creativity with a change of scenery. In 1836 he went abroad. For ten years he managed to live in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Abroad, he completes his outstanding work “Dead Souls” (first volume) and writes new stories. In 1841 he comes to Russia to publish his main creation. Here he again experiences experiences associated with the public reaction. With some delays, the first volume of Dead Souls was finally released, slightly corrected by censorship. In 1842, Gogol's collected works were also published for the first time.

After the writer returned abroad, all this time he developed a sense of his high destiny. Religious sentiments became increasingly stronger, especially due to the serious illnesses that he had to endure. In 1845, all this resulted in an internal crisis. Having decided to become a monk, Gogol leaves a will and destroys the sequel to Dead Souls. Then he nevertheless leaves thoughts about serving in a monastery, rushing to worship through literature and studying church books.

Nikolai Vasilyevich decides to publish a new type of creativity, collecting together his moralizing letters to friends. The book was published in 1847, but was not successful. The failure greatly undermined the author’s mood and forced him to take a fresh look at his work. In search of spiritual food, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, after which he returned to Russia. He lived alternately in his native village, Odessa, and Moscow. I worked on the second part of Dead Souls, constantly adding to what I had written, as usual. Health problems returned, and by 1952 Gogol gave up literary activity, turning to prayer and fasting and anticipating his imminent death.

Gogol on his deathbed (V. Rachinsky, 02/22/1952)

Death

At the beginning of 1952, the writer had communication with Archpriest M. Konstantinovsky, whom he had previously known. It was he who became the only person who read the second part of “Dead Souls,” and his review of the work was negative. In February, Nikolai Vasilyevich no longer traveled anywhere; one night he burned his last manuscripts. Three days before his death, he refused food and brushed off any attempts to help. As a result, they decided to treat him forcibly, but this worsened the writer’s condition. After his death, Gogol left practically no property, except for a gold watch and a library, books from which, without an inventory, were immediately sold for pennies. He did not consider the proceeds from the sale of his own books to be his own and donated them to charity.

The funeral service for Nikolai Vasilyevich was held in the church at the university, and he was buried in Moscow at the Danilov Monastery. A black stone and a bronze cross were placed on the grave. After the monastery was closed in 1931, Gogol was reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery. In 1952, a bust was installed on the grave, and the old tombstone was sent to the workshop. There it was bought by M. Bulgakov’s wife for her husband’s grave. In honor of the writer’s bicentenary, the monument was restored to its original appearance.

Mysterious person

Nikolai Vasilyevich amazingly combined a satirist and a religious thinker; he is one of the most mysterious figures in Russian literature. His work united Russian and Ukrainian cultures. He was the author of not only works of art, but also numerous articles and even prayers. Both during his life and after his death, there were many rumors and assumptions around Gogol’s personality. Thus, the lonely and secluded life of Nikolai Vasilyevich became the source of rumors about his unconventional orientation. At the same time, practically no data has been preserved about his personal life.

Monument to Gogol (Moscow, Gogolevsky Boulevard)

Many legends are associated with the death of the writer. There is speculation that he suffered from a mental disorder before his death. Another hypothesis claims that Gogol did not die, but only fell into a lethargic sleep. According to some evidence, when the grave was opened, his remains were in an unnatural position. In addition, some scientists suggest that the writer starved himself to death. Finally, another version is poisoning with a medicine containing mercury.

Nikolai Vasilyevich had a huge influence on Russian culture; he became the author of dozens of interesting works. In Russia, his name is known to everyone; certain works are mandatory for the school curriculum. They have been filmed more than once; plays, operas and ballets have been staged based on them. Many streets and educational institutions bear the name of the writer. There are more than 15 monuments to Gogol in the world.