Year of birth of Ivan Turgenev. Brief biography of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. Education. Beginning of literary activity

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a noble family on October 28, 1818. The writer's father served in a cavalry regiment and led a rather wild life. Because of his carelessness, and in order to improve his financial situation, he took Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova as his wife. She was very wealthy and came from the nobility.

Childhood

The future writer had two brothers. He himself was average, but became my mother's favorite.

The father died early and the mother raised his sons. Her character was domineering and despotic. In her childhood, she suffered from beatings from her stepfather and went to live with her uncle, who after his death left her a decent dowry. Despite her difficult character, Varvara Petrovna constantly took care of her children. To give them a good education, she moved from the Oryol province to Moscow. It was she who taught her sons to art, read the works of her contemporaries, and thanks to good teachers gave the children an education, which was useful to them in the future.

Writer's creativity

At the university, the writer studied literature from the age of 15, but due to his relatives moving from Moscow, he transferred to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.

Ivan already from a young age I saw myself as a writer and planned to connect his life with literature. During his student years, he communicated with T.N. Granovsky, a famous historian. He wrote his first poems while studying in his third year, and four years later he was already published in the Sovremennik magazine.

In 1938 Turgenev moves to Germany where he studies the work of Roman and then Greek philosophers. It was there that he met the Russian literary genius N.V. Stankevich, whose work had a great influence on Turgenev.

In 1841, Ivan Sergeevich returned to his homeland. At this time, the desire to engage in science cooled down, and creativity began to take up all my time. Two years later, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the poem “Parasha”, about which Belinsky left a positive review in “Notes of the Fatherland”. From that moment on, a strong friendship began between Turgenev and Belinsky, which lasted for a long time.

Works

The French Revolution made a strong impression on the writer, changing his worldview. The attacks and killings of people prompted the writer to write dramatic works. Turgenev spent a lot of time away from his homeland, but love for Russia always remained in the soul of Ivan Sergeevich and his creations.

• Bezhin meadow;
• Noble Nest;
• Fathers and Sons;
• Mu Mu.

Personal life

Personal life is replete with novels, but officially Turgenev never married.

The writer's biography includes a huge number of hobbies, but the most serious was romance with Pauline Viardot. She was a famous singer and the wife of a theater director in Paris. After meeting the Viardot couple, Turgenev lived in their villa for a long time and even settled his illegitimate daughter there. The complex relationship between Ivan and Polina is still not indicated in any way.

The love of the writer’s last days was actress Maria Savina, who very brightly played Verochka in the production of “A Month in the Country”. But on the part of the actress there was sincere friendship, but not love feelings.

last years of life

Turgenev gained particular popularity in the last years of his life. He was a favorite both at home and in Europe. The developing disease gout prevented the writer from working at full capacity. In recent years he lived in Paris in the winter and in the summer at the Viardot estate in Bougival.

The writer had a presentiment of his imminent death and tried with all his might to fight the disease. But on August 22, 1883, the life of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was cut short. The cause was a malignant tumor of the spine. Despite the fact that the writer died in Bougival, he was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, according to his last will. There were about four hundred people at the farewell funeral service in France alone. In Russia there was also a farewell ceremony for Turgenev, which was also attended by a lot of people.

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1818 , October 28 (November 9) - born in Orel into a noble family. He spent his childhood on his mother’s family estate, Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, Oryol province.

1822–1823 – trip abroad of the entire Turgenev family along the route: p. Spasskoe, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Narva, Riga, Memel, Koenigsberg, Berlin, Dresden, Carlsbad, Augsburg, Konstanz, ... Kyiv, Orel, Mtsensk. The Turgenevs lived in Paris for six months.

1827 – The Turgenevs move to Moscow, where they buy a house on Samotek. Ivan Turgenev was placed in the Weidenhammer boarding house, where he stayed for about two years.

1829 , August - Ivan and Nikolai Turgenev are placed in the boarding house of the Armenian Institute.
november– Ivan Turgenev leaves the boarding school and continues his educational training with home teachers - Pogorelov, Dubensky, Klyushnikov.

1833–1837 – studies at Moscow (faculty of literature) and St. Petersburg (philological department of the faculty of philosophy) universities.

1834 , December – finishes work on the poem “Wall”.

1836 , April 19 (May 1) – is present at the first performance of “The Inspector General” in St. Petersburg.
The end of the year– submits the poem “Wall” for consideration by P. A. Pletnev. After a condescending review, he gives him a few more poems.

1837 - A.V. Nikitenko sends his literary works: “The Wall”, “The Old Man’s Tale”, “Our Century”. He reports that he has three completed small poems: “Calm on the Sea”, “Phantasmagoria on a Midsummer Night”, “Dream” and about a hundred small poems.

1838 , beginning of April – the book is published. I of Sovremennik, in it: the poem “Evening” (signature: “---in”).
May 15 (27)- went abroad on the steamship "Nikolai". E. Tyutcheva, the first wife of the poet F.I. Tyutchev, P.A. Vyazemsky and D. Rosen left on the same ship.
Early October- the book comes out. 4 “Contemporaries”, in it: the poem “To the Venus of Medicine” (signature “---въ”).

1838–1841 – studies at the University of Berlin.

1883 , August 22 (September 3) - died in Bougival near Paris, buried in the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Literary critics argue that the artistic system created by the classic changed the poetics of the novel in the second half of the 19th century. Ivan Turgenev was the first to sense the emergence of a “new man” - the sixties - and showed it in his essay “Fathers and Sons”. Thanks to the realist writer, the term “nihilist” was born in the Russian language. Ivan Sergeevich introduced into use the image of a compatriot, which received the definition of “Turgenev’s girl.”

Childhood and youth

One of the pillars of classical Russian literature was born in Orel, into an old noble family. Ivan Sergeevich spent his childhood on his mother’s estate, Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, not far from Mtsensk. He became the second son of three born to Varvara Lutovinova and Sergei Turgenev.

The family life of the parents did not work out. The father, a handsome cavalry guard who had squandered his fortune, married not a beauty, but a wealthy girl, Varvara, who was 6 years older than him. When Ivan Turgenev turned 12, his father left the family, leaving three children in the care of his wife. 4 years later, Sergei Nikolaevich died. Soon the youngest son Sergei died of epilepsy.

Nikolai and Ivan had a hard time - their mother had a despotic character. An intelligent and educated woman suffered a lot of grief in her childhood and youth. Varvara Lutovinova's father died when her daughter was a child. The mother, a quarrelsome and despotic lady, whose image readers saw in Turgenev’s story “Death,” remarried. The stepfather drank and did not hesitate to beat and humiliate his stepdaughter. The mother did not treat her daughter in the best way either. Because of her mother’s cruelty and her stepfather’s beatings, the girl fled to her uncle, who left her niece an inheritance of 5 thousand serfs after her death.

The mother, who did not know affection in childhood, although she loved the children, especially Vanya, treated them the same way her parents treated her in childhood - her sons would forever remember their mother’s heavy hand. Despite her quarrelsome disposition, Varvara Petrovna was an educated woman. She spoke exclusively to her family in French, demanding the same from Ivan and Nikolai. Spassky kept a rich library, consisting mainly of French books.

When Ivan Turgenev turned 9, the family moved to the capital, to a house on Neglinka. Mom read a lot and instilled in her children a love of literature. Preferring French writers, Lutovinova-Turgeneva followed literary innovations and was friends with Mikhail Zagoskin. Varvara Petrovna knew the works thoroughly and quoted them in correspondence with her son.

The education of Ivan Turgenev was carried out by tutors from Germany and France, on whom the landowner spared no expense. The wealth of Russian literature was revealed to the future writer by the serf valet Fyodor Lobanov, who became the prototype of the hero of the story “Punin and Baburin”.

After moving to Moscow, Ivan Turgenev was assigned to the boarding house of Ivan Krause. At home and in private boarding houses, the young master completed a high school course, and at the age of 15 he became a student at the capital’s university. Ivan Turgenev studied at the Faculty of Literature, then transferred to St. Petersburg, where he received a university education at the Faculty of History and Philosophy.

During his student years, Turgenev translated poetry and the Lord and dreamed of becoming a poet.

Having received his diploma in 1838, Ivan Turgenev continued his education in Germany. In Berlin, he attended a course of university lectures on philosophy and philology, and wrote poetry. After the Christmas holidays in Russia, Turgenev went to Italy for six months, from where he returned to Berlin.

In the spring of 1841, Ivan Turgenev arrived in Russia and a year later passed the exams, receiving a master's degree in philosophy at St. Petersburg University. In 1843, he took a position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but his love for writing and literature prevailed.

Literature

Ivan Turgenev first appeared in print in 1836, publishing a review of Andrei Muravyov’s book “Journey to Holy Places.” A year later, he wrote and published the poems “Calm on the Sea”, “Phantasmagoria on a Moonlit Night” and “Dream”.

Fame came in 1843, when Ivan Sergeevich composed the poem “Parasha”, approved by Vissarion Belinsky. Soon Turgenev and Belinsky became so close that the young writer became the godfather of the son of a famous critic. The rapprochement with Belinsky and Nikolai Nekrasov influenced the creative biography of Ivan Turgenev: the writer finally said goodbye to the genre of romanticism, which became obvious after the publication of the poem “The Landowner” and the stories “Andrei Kolosov”, “Three Portraits” and “Breter”.

Ivan Turgenev returned to Russia in 1850. He lived sometimes on the family estate, sometimes in Moscow, sometimes in St. Petersburg, where he wrote plays that were successfully performed in theaters in two capitals.

In 1852, Nikolai Gogol passed away. Ivan Turgenev responded to the tragic event with an obituary, but in St. Petersburg, at the behest of the chairman of the censorship committee, Alexei Musin-Pushkin, they refused to publish it. The Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper dared to publish Turgenev’s note. The censor did not forgive the disobedience. Musin-Pushkin called Gogol a “lackey writer”, not worthy of mention in society, and moreover, he saw in the obituary a hint of a violation of the unspoken ban - not to remember in the open press Alexander Pushkin and those who died in a duel.

The censor wrote a report to the emperor. Ivan Sergeevich, who was under suspicion due to his frequent trips abroad, communication with Belinsky and Herzen, and radical views on serfdom, incurred even greater wrath from the authorities.

In April of the same year, the writer was put in custody for a month, and then sent under house arrest on the estate. For a year and a half, Ivan Turgenev stayed in Spassky without a break; for 3 years he did not have the right to leave the country.

Turgenev’s fears about the censorship ban on the release of “Notes of a Hunter” as a separate book were not justified: the collection of stories, previously published in Sovremennik, was published. For allowing the book to be printed, the official Vladimir Lvov, who served in the censorship department, was fired. The cycle included the stories “Bezhin Meadow”, “Biryuk”, “Singers”, “District Doctor”. Individually, the novellas did not pose a danger, but when collected together they were anti-serfdom in nature.

Ivan Turgenev wrote for both adults and children. The prose writer gave the little readers fairy tales and observation stories “Sparrow”, “Dog” and “Pigeons”, written in rich language.

In rural solitude, the classic author composed the story “Mumu”, as well as the novels “The Noble Nest”, “On the Eve”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Smoke”, which became an event in the cultural life of Russia.

Ivan Turgenev went abroad in the summer of 1856. In winter in Paris, he completed the dark story “A Trip to Polesie.” In Germany in 1857 he wrote “Asya” - a story translated during the writer’s lifetime into European languages. Critics consider Turgenev's daughter Polina Brewer and illegitimate half-sister Varvara Zhitova to be the prototype of Asya, the daughter of a master and a peasant woman born out of wedlock.

Abroad, Ivan Turgenev closely followed the cultural life of Russia, corresponded with writers who remained in the country, and communicated with emigrants. Colleagues considered the prose writer a controversial person. After an ideological disagreement with the editors of Sovremennik, which became the mouthpiece of revolutionary democracy, Turgenev broke with the magazine. But, having learned about the temporary ban on Sovremennik, he spoke out in its defense.

During his life in the West, Ivan Sergeevich entered into long conflicts with Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Nekrasov. After the release of the novel “Fathers and Sons,” he quarreled with the literary community, which was called progressive.

Ivan Turgenev was the first Russian writer to receive recognition in Europe as a novelist. In France, he became close to the realist writers, the Goncourt brothers, and Gustave Flaubert, who became his close friend.

In the spring of 1879, Turgenev arrived in St. Petersburg, where young people greeted him as an idol. The delight from the visit of the famous writer was not shared by the authorities, making Ivan Sergeevich understand that a long stay of the writer in the city was undesirable.

In the summer of the same year, Ivan Turgenev visited Britain - at Oxford University the Russian prose writer was given the title of honorary doctor.

The penultimate time Turgenev came to Russia was in 1880. In Moscow, he attended the opening of a monument to Alexander Pushkin, whom he considered a great teacher. The classic called the Russian language support and support “in the days of painful thoughts” about the fate of the homeland.

Personal life

Heinrich Heine compared the femme fatale, who became the love of the writer’s life, to a landscape, “at the same time monstrous and exotic.” The Spanish-French singer Pauline Viardot, a short and stooping woman, had large masculine features, a large mouth and bulging eyes. But when Polina sang, she transformed fabulously. At such a moment, Turgenev saw the singer and fell in love for the rest of his life, for the remaining 40 years.

The prose writer's personal life before meeting Viardot was like a roller coaster. The first love, which Ivan Turgenev sadly told about in the story of the same name, painfully wounded the 15-year-old boy. He fell in love with his neighbor Katenka, the daughter of Princess Shakhovskaya. What a disappointment befell Ivan when he learned that his “pure and immaculate” Katya, who captivated with her childish spontaneity and girlish blush, was the mistress of her father, Sergei Nikolaevich, a seasoned womanizer.

The young man became disillusioned with the “noble” girls and turned his attention to simple girls - serf peasant women. One of the undemanding beauties, seamstress Avdotya Ivanova, gave birth to Ivan Turgenev’s daughter Pelageya. But while traveling around Europe, the writer met Viardot, and Avdotya remained in the past.

Ivan Sergeevich met the singer’s husband, Louis, and began to enter their house. Turgenev's contemporaries, the writer's friends and biographers disagreed about this union. Some call it sublime and platonic, others talk about the considerable sums that the Russian landowner left in the house of Polina and Louis. Viardot's husband turned a blind eye to Turgenev's relationship with his wife and allowed her to live in their house for months. There is an opinion that the biological father of Paul, the son of Polina and Louis, is Ivan Turgenev.

The writer’s mother did not approve of the relationship and dreamed that her beloved offspring would settle down, marry a young noblewoman and give him legitimate grandchildren. Varvara Petrovna did not favor Pelageya; she saw her as a serf. Ivan Sergeevich loved and pitied his daughter.

Polina Viardot, hearing about the bullying of her despotic grandmother, was imbued with sympathy for the girl and took her into her home. Pelageya turned into Polynet and grew up with Viardot's children. To be fair, it is worth noting that Pelageya-Polinet Turgeneva did not share her father’s love for Viardot, believing that the woman stole the attention of her loved one from her.

Cooling in the relationship between Turgenev and Viardot came after a three-year separation, which occurred due to the writer’s house arrest. Ivan Turgenev made attempts to forget his fatal passion twice. In 1854, the 36-year-old writer met the young beauty Olga, the daughter of his cousin. But when a wedding appeared on the horizon, Ivan Sergeevich began to yearn for Polina. Not wanting to ruin the life of an 18-year-old girl, Turgenev confessed his love for Viardot.

The last attempt to escape from the embrace of a French woman happened in 1879, when Ivan Turgenev turned 61 years old. Actress Maria Savina was not afraid of the age difference - her lover turned out to be twice as old. But when the couple went to Paris in 1882, in the home of her future husband, Masha saw many things and trinkets that reminded her of her rival, and realized that she was superfluous.

Death

In 1882, after breaking up with Savinova, Ivan Turgenev fell ill. The doctors made a disappointing diagnosis - spinal bone cancer. The writer died in a foreign land long and painfully.

In 1883, Turgenev was operated on in Paris. The last months of his life, Ivan Turgenev was happy, as happy as a person tormented by pain can be - his beloved woman was next to him. After her death, she inherited Turgenev's property.

The classic died on August 22, 1883. His body was delivered to St. Petersburg on September 27. From France to Russia, Ivan Turgenev was accompanied by Polina's daughter, Claudia Viardot. The writer was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Calling Turgenev “a thorn in his side,” he reacted to the death of the “nihilist” with relief.

Bibliography

• 1855 – “Rudin”
• 1858 – “The Noble Nest”
• 1860 – “On the Eve”
• 1862 – “Fathers and Sons”
• 1867 – “Smoke”
• 1877 – “Nove”
• 1851-73 - “Notes of a Hunter”
• 1858 – “Asya”
• 1860 – “First Love”
• 1872 – “Spring Waters”

Ivan Turgenev is one of the world's greatest classics. Thanks to his work, Russian literature became popular abroad in the 19th century. Moreover, the artistic system created by Turgenev influenced the Western European novel.

A lot of interesting things can be said about literary works of this outstanding personality. But in today’s article we will talk about Turgenev not as a writer, but as a person with an interesting and vivid biography. How were the early years of the prose writer? Where was Turgenev born? In which city did he create his most famous works?

Origin

The writer was a representative of an ancient noble family. His father, Sergei Nikolaevich, once served in a cavalry regiment. He led a carefree lifestyle, was known as a handsome man, and loved to live in grand style. He was probably quite a practical person, because in 1816 he married Varvara Lutovinova, the heiress of a huge fortune. In the small town where Turgenev was born, this lady had a huge estate. Now there is a state museum, which will be discussed later.

When was Turgenev born? The future writer was born in 1818. Twelve years later, his father left the family - the profitable marriage turned out to be unhappy. In 1834, Turgenev Sr. died.

The classic's mother was a difficult woman. It miraculously coexisted feudal habits with progressive views. Despotism still prevailed in her manner of education. It has already been said above in what year Turgenev was born. Varvara Lutovinova was 25 years old by that time. She had two more sons - Nikolai and Sergei, who died at an early age from epilepsy.

This woman beat not only serfs, but also her own children. At the same time, she gave each of them an excellent education. The family spoke exclusively French. But the mother of the future writer was also partial to Russian literature.

Where was Turgenev born?

Ten kilometers from Mtsensk there is a small settlement called Spasskoye-Lutovinovo. Now there is a museum-reserve dedicated to the life and work of the writer.

The Lutovinov family estate, where Turgenev was born, has a long interesting history. The village of Spasskoye was granted to one of the representatives of an old noble family by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. The locality where Turgenev was born cannot be called a city. This is a small village, known today thanks to the estate, converted into a museum in the 20th century. The history of the Lutovinov estate is outlined below. Let's return to the life and work of the creator of “Spring Waters” and other wonderful books.

early years

The future writer lived on his mother’s estate until he was nine years old. It is noteworthy that a serf valet instilled in him a love of literature. This man, by the way, became the prototype of one of Turgenev’s characters. In 1822 the family went to Europe. Five years later, the Turgenevs settled in Moscow.

At the age of 15, Ivan entered the literature department, where Belinsky and Herzen also studied at that time. However, I did not have the opportunity to graduate from Moscow University Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich. Where did the idea of ​​becoming a writer come from? This happened in St. Petersburg, where the family moved after the eldest son joined the Guards artillery. Ivan Turgenev moved to the local university at the Faculty of Philosophy. Here he decided to connect his life with literature. However, initially I wanted to become not a writer, but a poet.

The beginning of creativity

And in 1834, Ivan Turgenev was a third-year student at the Faculty of Philosophy. It was at this time that his literary debut took place. He wrote a dramatic poem, then showed his composition to the teacher. The literature professor was quite strict about the young author’s work. True, he answered that there was “something” in the poem. These seemingly neutral words prompted Turgenev to write a number of more poetic works. Some of them were published in the Sovremennik magazine.

Abroad

Turgenev graduated from the University in 1836. Soon he received a candidate's degree. In 1838 he left for Germany, where he actively studied ancient languages ​​and attended lectures on Greek and Roman literature. Turgenev met Zhukovsky, Koltsov, Lermontov. There were only a few meetings with the latter, which, although they did not lead to close communication, had a certain influence on Turgenev.

Staying abroad had a strong influence on the writer’s work. Turgenev came to the conclusion that only the assimilation of the foundations of universal human culture can bring Russia out of the darkness in which it is immersed. Since then, he has become a convinced “Westernizer.”

"Spring Waters"

In 1839, the house in which Turgenev was born burned down. In what city was the writer at that time? He then lived in Frankfurt am Main. Having learned about the fire, he returned home. But soon he left his homeland again. In Germany one day he met a girl who made a strong impression on him. Returning home once again, the writer sat down to write a novel, which, after publication, gained worldwide fame. We are talking about the book “Spring Waters”.

Confession

In the forties, Turgenev became close to Annenkov and Nekrasov. At this time, he took an active part in the activities of the literary magazine Sovremennik. “Notes of a Hunter” were published in one of the issues. The success of the work was enormous, which inspired Turgenev to create other stories.

Turgenev was an ardent opponent of serfdom, which, according to many biographers, forced him to leave Russia so often. However, in 1848, while staying in Paris, he witnessed revolutionary events, which, as expected, were accompanied by bloodshed. From then on, he forever hated the word “revolution.”

The beginning of the 50s saw the heyday of Turgenev's creativity. Such works as “The Freeloader”, “Breakfast at the Leader’s”, “A Month in the Village” have already been published. The writer also worked on translations of Shakespeare and Byron. In 1855, Turgenev returned to Russia. Shortly before his arrival, Varvara Lutovinova passed away. The writer was unable to see his mother for the last time.

Link

In the early fifties, Turgenev often visited St. Petersburg. After Gogol's death, he wrote an obituary, which was not missed by censors. Then the writer sent his note to Moscow, where it was successfully published. The authorities did not like the obituary, the author of which too openly admired the creator of Dead Souls. Turgenev was sent into exile in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo.

True, there is an assumption that the reason for the authorities’ dissatisfaction was not the note dedicated to Gogol’s death. In Russia, many did not like the excessive radicalism of the prose writer’s views, his suspiciously frequent trips abroad, and sympathetic stories about serfs.

Turgenev did not always manage to find a common language with his fellow writers. It is known that he left the Sovremennik magazine due to a conflict with Dobrolyubov. Turgenev preferred to communicate with Westernized writers, to whom Leo Tolstoy also belonged for some time. Turgenev had friendly relations with this writer. However, in 1861, a quarrel occurred between the prose writers, which almost ended in a duel. Turgenev and Tolstoy did not communicate for 17 years. The author of Fathers and Sons also had difficult relationships with Goncharov and Dostoevsky.

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo

The estate, which once belonged to Turgenev’s mother, is located in the Mtsensk region. After the death of Varvara Lutovinova, the writer ceded his Moscow house and profitable estates to his brother. He himself became the owner of the family nest, where he spent his early years. Turgenev was in exile until 1853, but after his release he returned to Spasskoye more than once. Fet, Tolstoy, and Aksakov visited him at the estate.

The last time Ivan Turgenev visited the family estate was in 1881. The writer died in France. The heirs removed almost all the furniture from the estate. In 1906 it burned down. And 12 years later, the remaining property of Ivan Turgenev was nationalized.

More than 2,200 years ago, the great Carthaginian commander Hannibal was born. When he was nine years old, he swore that he would always resist Rome, with which Carthage had been at war for many years at that time. And he followed his word, devoting his entire life to struggle. What does Turgenev’s short biography have to do with it? - you ask. Read on and you will certainly understand everything.

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Hannibal's oath

The writer was a great humanist and did not understand how one could deprive a living person of the most necessary rights and freedoms. And in his time it was even more common than it is now. Then the Russian analogue of slavery flourished: serfdom. He hated him, and he dedicated his fight to him.

Ivan Sergeevich was not as brave as the Carthaginian commander. He would not fight a bloody war with his enemy. Yet he found a way to fight and win.

Sympathizing with the serfs, Turgenev writes his “Notes of a Hunter,” with which he draws public attention to this problem. Emperor Alexander I. himself, having read these stories, became imbued with the seriousness of this problem and after about 10 years abolished serfdom. Of course, it cannot be said that the reason for this was only “Notes of a Hunter,” but it is also incorrect to deny their influence.

This is how big a role a simple writer can play.

Childhood

On November 9, 1818, Ivan Turgenev was born in the city of Orel.. The writer's biography begins from this moment. The parents were hereditary nobles. His mother had a greater influence on him, since his father, who had married for convenience, left the family early. Ivan was then a 12-year-old child.

Varvara Petrovna (that was the name of the writer’s mother) was of a difficult character, since she had a difficult childhood - a drinking stepfather, beatings, an overbearing and demanding mother. Now her sons were about to experience a difficult childhood.

However, she also had advantages: an excellent education and security in funds. What is worth mentioning is the fact that in their family it was customary to speak exclusively French, according to the fashion of that time. As a result, Ivan received an excellent education.

He was taught by tutors until he was nine years old, and then the family moved to Moscow. Moscow at that time was not the capital, but the educational institutions there were first-class, and getting there from the Oryol province was three times closer than to the capital St. Petersburg.

Turgenev studied at the boarding houses of Weidenhammer and the director of the Lazarev Institute Ivan Krause, and at the age of fifteen he entered the literature department of Moscow University. A year later, he entered the capital’s university at the Faculty of Philosophy: his family moved to St. Petersburg.

At that time, Turgenev was fond of poetry and soon attracted the attention of university professor Pyotr Pletnev to his creations. In 1838, he published the poems “Evening” and “To the Venus of Medicine” in the Sovremennik magazine, where he was editor. This was the first publication of the artistic work of Ivan Turgenev. However, two years earlier it had already been published: then it was a review of Andrei Muravyov’s book “On a Journey to Holy Places.”

Ivan Sergeevich attached great importance to his activities as a critic and subsequently wrote many more reviews. He often combined them with his activities as a translator. He wrote critical works on the Russian translation of Goethe's Faust and Schiller's William Tell.

The writer published his best critical articles in the first volume of his collected works, published in 1880.

Academic life

In 1836 he graduated from the university, a year later he passed the exam and received the academic degree of a candidate from the university. This means graduated with honors and, in modern terms, received a master's degree.

In 1838, Turgenev traveled to Germany and attended lectures there at the University of Berlin on the history of Greek and Roman literature.

In 1842, he passed the exam for a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology, wrote a dissertation, but did not defend it. His interest in this activity is cooling.

Sovremennik magazine

In 1836, Alexander Pushkin organized the production of a magazine called Sovremennik. It was dedicated, of course, to literature. It contained both works by contemporary Russian authors of that time, as well as journalistic articles. There were also translations of foreign works. Unfortunately, even during Pushkin’s lifetime the magazine was not very successful. And with his death in 1837, it gradually fell into disrepair, although not immediately. In 1846, Nikolai Nekrasov and Ivan Panaev bought it.

And from that moment on, Ivan Turgenev, brought by Nekrasov, joined the magazine. The first chapters of “Notes of a Hunter” are published in Sovremennik. By the way, this title was originally the subtitle of the first story, and Ivan Panaev came up with it in the hope of interest the reader. The hope was justified: the stories were extremely popular. This is how Ivan Turgenev’s dream began to come true - to change public consciousness, to introduce into it the idea that serfdom was inhumane.

These stories were published in the magazine one at a time, and the censorship was lenient towards them. However, when they were published as a whole collection in 1852, the official who authorized the printing was fired. This was justified by the fact that when the stories are collected all together, they direct the reader’s thoughts in a reprehensible direction. Meanwhile, Turgenev never called for any revolutions and tried to be in harmony with the authorities.

But sometimes his works were misinterpreted, and this led to problems. Thus, in 1860, Nikolai Dobrolyubov wrote and published a laudatory review of Turgenev’s new book “On the Eve” in Sovremennik. In it, he interpreted the work in such a way that the writer was supposedly looking forward to the revolution. Turgenev adhered to liberal views and was offended by this interpretation. Nekrasov did not take his side and Ivan Sergeevich left Sovremennik.

Turgenev was not a supporter of revolutions for good reason. The fact is that he was in France in 1848 when the revolution began there. Ivan Sergeevich saw with his own eyes all the horrors of the military coup. Of course, he did not want a repetition of this nightmare in his homeland.

​Seven women in Turgenev’s life are known:

We cannot ignore the relationship between Ivan Turgenev and Pauline Viardot. He first saw her on stage in 1840. She performed the main role in the opera production of The Barber of Seville. Turgenev was captivated by her and passionately wanted to get to know her. The occasion presented itself three years later, when she went on tour again.

While hunting, Ivan Sergeevich met her husband, a famous art critic and theater director in Paris. Then he was introduced to Polina. Seven years later, he wrote to her in a letter that the memories associated with her were the most precious in his life. And one of them is how he first spoke to her on Nevsky Prospekt, in the house opposite the Alexandrinsky Theater.

Daughter

Ivan and Polina became very close friends. Polina raised Turgenev's daughter from Avdotya. Ivan was in love with Avdotya in 1941, he even wanted to marry, but his mother did not give her blessing, and he backed down. He went to Paris, where he lived for a long time with Polina and her husband Louis. And when he arrived home, a surprise awaited him: his eight-year-old daughter. It turns out that she was born on April 26, 1842. His mother was unhappy with his passion for Polina, did not help him financially, and did not even inform him about the birth of her daughter.

Turgenev decided to take care of the fate of his child. He agreed with Polina that she would raise her, and for this occasion he changed his daughter’s name to French - Polinette.

However, the two Polinas did not get along with each other and after some time Polinette went to a private boarding school, and then began to live with her father, which she was very happy about. She loved her father very much and he loved her too, although he never missed an opportunity to write to her in letters of instructions and comments about her shortcomings.

Polynette had two children:

1. Georges-Albert;
2. Zhanna.

Death of a Writer

After the death of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, all his property, including intellectual property, went to Pauline Viardot in his will. Turgenev's daughter was left with nothing and had to work hard to provide for herself and her two children. Apart from Polinette, Ivan had no children. When she (like her father - from cancer) and her two children died, there were no descendants of Turgenev left.

He died on September 3, 1883. Next to him was his beloved Polina. Her husband died four months before Turgenev, having been paralyzed after a stroke for the last almost ten years of his life. Many people saw off Ivan Turgenev on his last journey in France, among them was Emile Zola. Turgenev was buried, according to his wishes, in St. Petersburg, next to his friend Vissarion Belinsky.

The most significant works

1. "Noble Nest";
2. "Notes of a Hunter";
3. "Asya";
4. "Ghosts";
5. "Spring Waters";
6. "A month in the village."