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Brief biography of Nikolai Leskov

Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov – Russian writer XIX century, according to many, the most national writer of Russia. Leskov was born on February 16, 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo (Oryol province) in a spiritual environment. The writer's father was an official of the criminal chamber, and his mother was a noblewoman. Nikolai spent his childhood years on the family estate in Orel. In 1839 the Leskov family moved to the village of Panino. Life in the village left its mark on the writer’s work. He studied the people through their everyday life and conversations, and also considered himself one of the people.

From 1841 to 1846 Leskov attended the Oryol gymnasium. In 1848, he lost his father, and their family property burned down in a fire. Around this time, he entered the service of the criminal chamber, where he collected a lot of material for his future works. A year later he was transferred to the state chamber of Kyiv. There he lived with his uncle Sergei Alferev. In Kyiv, in his free time from work, he attended lectures at the university, was interested in icon painting and the Polish language, and also attended religious and philosophical circles and communicated a lot with Old Believers. During this period, he developed an interest in Ukrainian culture, in the works of Herzen and Taras Shevchenko.

In 1857, Leskov resigned and entered the service of Scott, the English husband of his aunt. While working for Schcott & Wilkens, he gained extensive experience in many sectors, including industry and agriculture. For the first time, he showed himself as a publicist in 1860. A year later he moved to St. Petersburg and decided to devote himself to literary activity. His works began to appear in " Domestic notes" Many of his stories were based on knowledge of Russian original life, and were imbued with sincere participation in the needs of the people. This can be seen in the stories “The Extinguished Cause” (1862) and “Musk Ox” (1863), in the story “The Life of a Woman” (1863), in the novel “Outlooked” (1865). One of the writer’s most popular works was the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (1865).

In his stories, Leskov also tried to show the tragic fate of Russia and its unpreparedness for the revolution. In this regard, he was in conflict with the revolutionary democrats. Much has changed in the writer’s work after meeting Leo Tolstoy. National-historical issues also appeared in his works of 1870-1880. During these years, he wrote several novels and stories about artists. Among them are “Islanders”, “Soborians”, “Sealed Angel” and others. Leskov has always admired the breadth of the Russian soul, and this theme is reflected in the story “Lefty.” The writer died in St. Petersburg on March 5, 1895 at the age of 64. He was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Video short biography of Nikolai Leskov

Born on February 4 (February 16), 1831 in the village of Gorokhov, Oryol province, in the family of an investigator and the daughter of an impoverished nobleman. They had five children, Nikolai was the eldest child. The writer spent his childhood in the city of Orel. After his father left office, the family moved from Orel to the village of Panino. This is where Leskov’s study and knowledge of the people began.

Education and career

In 1841, at the age of 10, Leskov entered the Oryol gymnasium. The future writer’s studies did not work out - in 5 years of study he completed only 2 classes. In 1847, Leskov, thanks to the help of his father’s friends, got a job in the Oryol Criminal Chamber of the Court as a clerical employee. At the age of sixteen, tragic events occurred, which are worth mentioning even in a short biography of Leskov - his father died of cholera, and all his property was burned in a fire.

In 1849, Leskov, with the help of his uncle-professor, was transferred to Kyiv as an official of the state chamber, where he later received the position of chief of staff. In Kyiv, Leskov developed an interest in Ukrainian culture and great writers, painting and architecture of the old city.

In 1857, Leskov left his job and entered commercial service in the large agricultural company of his English uncle, on whose business he traveled throughout most of Russia in three years. After the closure of the company, he returned to Kyiv in 1860.

Creative life

1860 is considered the beginning creative Leskov the writer, during this time he writes and publishes articles in various magazines. Six months later he moves to St. Petersburg, where he plans to engage in literary and journalistic activities.

In 1862, Leskov became a permanent contributor to the Northern Bee newspaper. While working as a correspondent there, I visited Western Ukraine, Czech Republic and Poland. The life of the Western sister nations was close and attractive to him, so he delved into the study of their art and life. In 1863 Leskov returned to Russia.

Having studied and observed the life of the Russian people for a long time, sympathizing with their sorrows and needs, from the pen of Leskov came the stories “The Extinguished Cause” (1862), the stories “The Life of a Woman”, “Musk Ox” (1863), “Lady Macbeth” Mtsensk district” (1865).

In the novels “Nowhere” (1864), “Bypassed” (1865), “On Knives” (1870), the writer revealed the theme of Russia’s unpreparedness for revolution. Maxim Gorky said “...after the evil novel “On Knives,” Leskov’s literary work immediately becomes bright painting or, rather, iconography - he begins to create for Russia an iconostasis of its saints and righteous people.”

Having disagreements with the revolutionary democrats, Leskova refused to publish many magazines. The only one who published his works was Mikhail Katkov, editor of the Russian Messenger magazine. It was incredibly difficult for Leskov to work with him; the editor edited almost all of the writer’s works, and even refused to publish some of them.

In 1870 - 1880 he wrote the novels “The Soborians” (1872), “A Seedy Family” (1874), where he revealed national and historical issues. The novel “A Seedy Family” was not completed by Leskov due to disagreements with the publisher Katkov. Also at this time he wrote several stories: “The Islanders” (1866), “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873), “The Sealed Angel” (1873). Fortunately, “The Captured Angel” was not affected by Mikhail Katkov’s editorial edits.

In 1881, Leskov wrote the story “Lefty” (The Tale of the Tula oblique Lefty and about steel flea) – old legend about gunsmiths.

The story “The Hare Remise” (1894) was the writer’s last great work. In it he criticized political system Russia at that time. The story was published only in 1917 after the Revolution.

Leo Tolstoy spoke of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov as "the most Russian of our writers", Anton Chekhov, along with Ivan Turgenev, considered him one of his main mentors.

Writer's personal life

The personal life in the biography of Nikolai Leskov was not very successful. The writer’s first wife in 1853 was the daughter of a Kyiv merchant, Olga Smirnova. They had two children - the first-born, son Mitya, who died in infancy, and daughter Vera. My wife got sick mental disorder and was treated in St. Petersburg. The marriage broke up.

In 1865, Leskov lived with the widow Ekaterina Bubnova. The couple had a son, Andrei (1866-1953). He separated from his second wife in 1877.

Last years

The last five years of Leskov’s life were tormented by asthma attacks, from which he later died. Nikolai Semenovich died on February 21 (March 5), 1895 in St. Petersburg. The writer was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

Chronological table

• In the biography of Leskov interesting facts A lot has been collected from life. For example, he was an ideological vegetarian. He believed that animals should not be killed. And he was even one of the first to propose creating a special book with recipes for vegetarians.
• see all

Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:	Village of Gorokhovo, Oryol Governorate, Russian Empire
Date of death:
A place of death:	Saint Petersburg
	Russian empire
Occupation:	Novelist, journalist, playwright
	Novels, stories, stories, essays, tales
Language of works:

Biography

Literary career

Pseudonyms of N. S. Leskov

Article about fires

"Nowhere"

First stories

"At Knives"

"Soborians"

1872-1874

"The Righteous"

Attitude to the church

Later works

last years of life

Publication of works

Reviews from critics and contemporary writers

Personal and family life

Vegetarianism

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Geographical names

Some works

Stories

Bibliography

Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov(February 4 (16), 1831, village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district, Oryol province, now Sverdlovsk district, Oryol region - February 21 (March 5), 1895, St. Petersburg) - Russian writer.

He was called the most national of Russian writers: “Russian people recognize Leskov as the most Russian of Russian writers and who knew the Russian people more deeply and widely as they are” (D. P. Svyatopolk-Mirsky, 1926). In his spiritual formation A significant role was played by the Ukrainian culture, which became close to him during the eight years of his life in Kyiv in his youth, and the English culture, which he mastered thanks to many years of close communication with his older relative on his wife’s side, A. Scott.

The son of Nikolai Leskov, Andrei Leskov, worked for many years on the biography of the writer, finishing it even before the Great Patriotic War. This work was published in 1954. In the city of Orel, School No. 27 bears his name.

Biography

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was born on February 4, 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district. Leskov’s father, Semyon Dmitrievich Leskov (1789-1848), who came from a spiritual background, according to Nikolai Semyonovich, was “... a great, wonderful smart guy and a dense seminarian.” Having broken with the spiritual environment, he entered the service of the Oryol Criminal Chamber, where he rose to ranks that gave him the right to hereditary nobility, and, according to contemporaries, acquired a reputation as an astute investigator capable of unraveling complex cases. Mother Maria Petrovna Leskova (nee Alfereva) was the daughter of an impoverished Moscow nobleman. One of her sisters was married to a wealthy Oryol landowner, the other to an Englishman who managed several estates in different provinces.

Childhood

N. S. Leskov spent his early childhood in Orel. After 1839, when his father left the service (due to a quarrel with his superiors, which, according to Leskov, incurred the wrath of the governor), his family - spouses, three sons and two daughters - moved to the village of Panino (Panin Khutor) not far from the city of Kromy. Here, as the future writer recalled, his acquaintance with the folk language took place.

In August 1841, at the age of ten, N. S. Leskov entered the first grade of the Oryol provincial gymnasium, where he studied poorly: five years later he received a certificate of completion of only two classes. Drawing an analogy with N.A. Nekrasov, B. Bukhshtab suggests: “In both cases, obviously, they acted - on the one hand, neglect, on the other - aversion to cramming, to the routine and carrion of the then state-owned educational institutions with a greedy interest in life and a bright temperament.”

In June 1847, Leskov entered service in the same chamber of the criminal court where his father worked, to the position of clerical servant of the 2nd category. After the death of his father from cholera (in 1848), Nikolai Semenovich received another promotion, becoming an assistant to the head of the Oryol Chamber of the Criminal Court, and in December 1849, at his own request, he was transferred to the staff of the Kyiv Treasury Chamber. He moved to Kyiv, where he lived with his uncle S.P. Alferyev.

In Kyiv (1850-1857) Leskov attended lectures at the university as a volunteer, studied the Polish language, became interested in icon painting, took part in a religious and philosophical student circle, communicated with pilgrims, Old Believers, and sectarians. It was noted that the economist D. P. Zhuravsky, a champion of the abolition of serfdom, had a significant influence on the worldview of the future writer.

In 1857, Leskov left the service and began working in the company of his aunt’s husband A. Ya. Shcott (Scott) “Schcott and Wilkens”. In the enterprise, which (in his words) tried to “exploit everything for which the region offered any convenience,” Leskov acquired vast practical experience and knowledge in numerous fields of industry and agriculture. At the same time, on company business, Leskov constantly went on “wanderings around Russia,” which also contributed to his acquaintance with the language and life of different regions of the country. “...These are the most best years my life, when I saw a lot and lived easily,” N. S. Leskov later recalled.

During this period (until 1860) he lived with his family in the village of Raisky, Gorodishchensky district, Penza province.

Some time later, however, trading house ceased to exist and Leskov returned to Kyiv in the summer of 1860, where he began journalistic and literary activities. Six months later he moved to St. Petersburg, staying with I.V. Vernadsky.

Literary career

Leskov began publishing relatively late, in the twenty-ninth year of his life, having published several notes in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” (1859-1860), several articles in the Kiev publications “Modern Medicine”, which was published by A.P. Walter (article “About working class", several notes about doctors) and "Economic Index". Leskov’s articles, which exposed the corruption of police doctors, led to a conflict with his colleagues: as a result of the provocation they organized, Leskov, who conducted the internal investigation, was accused of bribery and was forced to leave the service.

At the beginning of its literary career N. S. Leskov collaborated with many St. Petersburg newspapers and magazines, most of all publishing in “Otechestvennye zapiski” (where he was patronized by his familiar Oryol publicist S. S. Gromeko), in “Russian speech” and “Northern Bee”. “Otechestvennye zapiski” published “Essays on the Distilling Industry,” which Leskov himself called his first work, considered his first major publication. In the summer of that year, he briefly moved to Moscow, returning to St. Petersburg in December.

Pseudonyms of N. S. Leskov

IN beginning creative activity Leskov wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. The pseudonymous signature “Stebnitsky” first appeared on March 25, 1862, under the first fictional work, “The Extinguished Case” (later “Drought”). It lasted until August 14, 1869. At times the signatures “M. C", "C", and finally in 1872. "L. S", "P. Leskov-Stebnitsky" and "M. Leskov-Stebnitsky." Among other conventional signatures and pseudonyms used by Leskov, the following are known: “Freishitz”, “V. Peresvetov”, “Nikolai Ponukalov”, “Nikolai Gorokhov”, “Someone”, “Dm. M-ev”, “N.”, “Member of Society”, “Psalmist”, “Priest. P. Kastorsky", "Divyanka", "M. P.", "B. Protozanov", "Nikolai-ov", "N. L.", "N. L.--v”, “Lover of Antiquities”, “Traveler”, “Watch Lover”, “N. L.", "L."

Article about fires

In an article about the fires in the journal “Northern Bee” dated May 30, 1862, which were rumored to be arson carried out by revolutionary students and Poles, the writer mentioned these rumors and demanded that the authorities confirm or refute them, which was perceived by the democratic by the public as a denunciation. In addition, criticism of the actions of the administrative authorities, expressed by the wish “that the teams sent to fires be for actual help, and not for standing,” aroused the anger of the tsar himself. After reading these lines, Alexander II wrote: “It should not have been missed, especially since it is a lie.”

As a result, Leskov was sent by the editors of the Northern Bee on a long business trip. He traveled around the western provinces of the empire, visited Dinaburg, Vilna, Grodno, Pinsk, Lvov, Prague, Krakow, and at the end of the trip - Paris. In 1863, he returned to Russia and published a series of journalistic essays and letters, in particular, “From a Travel Diary,” “ Russian society in Paris".

"Nowhere"

From the beginning of 1862, N. S. Leskov became a permanent contributor to the newspaper “Northern Bee”, where he began to write both editorials and essays, often on everyday, ethnographic topics, but also - critical articles, directed, in particular, against “vulgar materialism” and nihilism. His activities were highly appreciated on the pages of the then Sovremennik.

Writing career N. S. Leskova began in 1863, his first stories “The Life of a Woman” and “Musk Ox” (1863-1864) were published. At the same time, the magazine “Library for Reading” began publishing the novel “Nowhere” (1864). “This novel bears all the signs of my haste and ineptitude,” the writer himself later admitted.

“Nowhere,” which satirically depicted the life of a nihilistic commune, which was contrasted with the hard work of the Russian people and Christian family values, aroused the displeasure of the radicals. It was noted that most of the “nihilists” depicted by Leskov had recognizable prototypes (the writer V. A. Sleptsov was seen in the image of the head of the Beloyartsev commune).

It was this first, politically radical debut that for many years predetermined Leskov’s special place in the literary community, which, for the most part, was inclined to attribute to him “reactionary”, anti-democratic views. The left-wing press actively spread rumors according to which the novel was written “commissioned” by the Third Section. This “vile slander,” according to the writer, ruined his entire creative life, depriving him of the opportunity to publish in popular magazines for many years. This predetermined his rapprochement with M. N. Katkov, publisher of the Russian Messenger.

First stories

In 1863, the magazine “Library for Reading” published the story “The Life of a Woman” (1863). During the writer’s lifetime, the work was not republished and was then published only in 1924 in a modified form under the title “Cupid in Shoes. A Peasant Novel" (Vremya Publishing House, edited by P. V. Bykov). The latter claimed that Leskov himself gave him a new version of his own work - in gratitude for the bibliography of works he compiled in 1889. There were doubts about this version: it is known that N. S. Leskov already in the preface to the first volume of the collection “Tales, Essays and Stories of M. Stebnitsky” promised to publish in the second volume “the experience of a peasant novel” - “Cupid in Shoes”, but then the promised publication did not materialize.

In the same years, Leskov’s works were published, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District” (1864), “Warrior” (1866) - stories, mainly of a tragic sound, in which the author brought out bright female images different classes. Modern criticism practically ignored, they subsequently received the highest ratings from specialists. It was in the first stories that Leskov’s individual humor manifested itself, for the first time his unique style began to take shape, a type of “tale”, the ancestor of which - along with Gogol - he later began to be considered Elements of Leskov's glorification literary style is also in the story “Kotin Doilets and Platonida” (1867).

Around this time, N. S. Leskov made his debut as a playwright. In 1867 Alexandrinsky Theater staged his play "The Spendthrift", a drama from merchant life, after which Leskov was once again accused by critics of “pessimism and antisocial tendencies.” Of Leskov’s other major works of the 1860s, critics noted the story “Outlooked” (1865), which polemicized with N. G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”, and “The Islanders” (1866), a morally descriptive story about the Germans living on Vasilyevsky Island .

"At Knives"

In 1870, N. S. Leskov published the novel “On Knives,” in which he continued to angrily ridicule the nihilists, representatives of the emerging culture in Russia in those years revolutionary movement, in the writer’s mind, fused with criminality. Leskov himself was dissatisfied with the novel, subsequently calling it his worst work. In addition, constant disputes with M. N. Katkov, who time after time demanded to redo and edit the finished version, left an unpleasant aftertaste for the writer. “In this publication, purely literary interests were belittled, destroyed and adapted to serve interests that had nothing in common with any literature,” wrote N. S. Leskov.

Some contemporaries (in particular, Dostoevsky) noted the complexity of the adventurous plot of the novel, the tension and implausibility of the events described in it. After that, to the genre of the novel in pure form N.S. Leskov never returned.

"Soborians"

The novel “On Knives” was a turning point in the writer’s work. As M. Gorky noted, “...after the evil novel “On Knives,” Leskov’s literary work immediately becomes bright painting or, rather, iconography - he begins to create for Russia an iconostasis of its saints and righteous people.” The main characters in Leskov’s works were representatives of the Russian clergy, partly landed nobility. Scattered passages and essays gradually began to form into great novel, eventually called "Soboryan" and published in 1872 in the "Russian Bulletin". As literary critic V. Korovin notes, goodies- Archpriest Saveliy Tuberozov, Deacon Akhill Desnitsyn and Priest Zakharia Benefaktov, - the narrative about which is consistent with traditions heroic epic, “on all sides are surrounded by figures of the new time - nihilists, swindlers, civil and church officials of a new type.” The work, the theme of which was the opposition of “true” Christianity to the official one, subsequently led the writer into conflict with church and secular authorities. It was also the first to have significant public resonance.

Simultaneously with the novel, two “chronicles” were written, consonant in theme and mood with the main work: “Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo” (1869) and “A Seedy Family” (full title: “A Seedy Family. Family chronicle of the Protazanov princes. From the notes of Princess V. D.P.", 1873). According to one critic, the heroines of both chronicles are “examples of persistent virtue, calm dignity, high courage, and reasonable philanthropy.” Both of these works left a feeling of incompleteness. Subsequently, it turned out that the second part of the chronicle, in which (according to V. Korovin) “sarcastically depicted the mysticism and hypocrisy of the end of Alexander’s reign and affirmed the social disembodiment of Christianity in Russian life,” aroused M. Katkov’s dissatisfaction. Leskov, having disagreed with the publisher, simply did not finish writing what could develop into a novel. “Katkov... during the printing of “A Seedy Family” said (to an employee of the “Russian Messenger”) Voskoboynikov: We are mistaken: this person is not ours!” - the writer later asserted.

"Lefty"

One of the most striking images in the gallery of Leskov’s “righteous people” was Lefty (“The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea”, 1881). Subsequently, critics noted here, on the one hand, the virtuosity of the embodiment of Leskov’s “tale”, full of wordplay and original neologisms (often with a mocking, satirical overtone), on the other hand, the multi-layered nature of the narrative, the presence of two points of view: open (belonging to the simple-minded character) and hidden , author's, often the opposite. N. S. Leskov himself wrote about this “cunning” of his own style:

As biographer B. Ya. Bukhshtab noted, such “cunning” was manifested primarily in the description of the actions of Ataman Platov, from the hero’s point of view - almost heroic, but hiddenly ridiculed by the author. "Southpaw" was subjected to devastating criticism from both sides. Liberals and “leftists” accused Leskov of nationalism, while “rightists” considered the depiction of the life of the Russian people to be overly gloomy. N. S. Leskov replied that “to belittle the Russian people or to flatter them” was in no way his intention.

When published in Rus, as well as in a separate edition, the story was accompanied by a preface:

1872-1874

In 1872, N. S. Leskov’s story “The Sealed Angel” was written and a year later published, which told about the miracle that led the schismatic community to unity with Orthodoxy. In a work where there are echoes of ancient Russian “walkings” and legends about miraculous icons and subsequently recognized as one of the writer’s best works, Leskov’s “tale” received the most powerful and expressive embodiment. “The Sealed Angel” turned out to be practically the only work of the writer that was not subject to editorial editing by the Russian Messenger, because, as the writer noted, “it passed through their lack of leisure in the shadows.” The story, which contained criticism of the authorities, nevertheless made a resonance in official spheres and even at court.

In the same year, the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” was published, a work of free forms that did not have a complete plot, built on the interweaving of disparate plot lines. Leskov believed that such a genre should replace what was considered to be the traditional modern novel. Subsequently it was noted that the image of the hero Ivan Flyagin resembles epic Ilya Muromets and symbolizes “the physical and moral fortitude of the Russian people amid the suffering that befalls them.”

If until then Leskov’s works had been edited, this was simply rejected, and the writer had to publish it in different issues of the newspaper. Not only Katkov, but also “leftist” critics reacted with hostility to the story. In particular, the critic N.K. Mikhailovsky pointed out the “absence of any center,” so that, in his words, there is “... a whole series of plots strung like beads on a thread, and each bead on its own can be It’s very convenient to take it out and replace it with another, and you can string as many more beads as you like on the same thread.”

After the break with Katkov, the financial situation of the writer (who by this time had remarried) worsened. In January 1874, N. S. Leskov was appointed a member of the special department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education for the review of books published for the people, with a very modest salary of 1000 rubles per year. Leskov’s duties included reviewing books to determine whether they could be sent to libraries and reading rooms. In 1875, he briefly went abroad without stopping his literary work.

"The Righteous"

Creating a gallery of bright ones positive characters was continued by the writer in a collection of stories published under common name"The Righteous" ("Figure", "Man on the Clock", " Non-lethal Golovan”, etc.) As critics later noted, Leskov’s righteous people are united by “straightforwardness, fearlessness, heightened conscientiousness, and inability to come to terms with evil.” Responding in advance to critics’ accusations that his characters were somewhat idealized, Leskov argued that his stories about the “righteous” were mostly in the nature of memories (in particular, what his grandmother told him about Golovan, etc.), and tried to give the story a background of historical authenticity , introducing descriptions of real people into the plot.

As the researchers noted, some eyewitness accounts referred to by the writer were genuine, others were his own fiction. Leskov often processed old manuscripts and memoirs. For example, in the story “The Non-Lethal Golovan”, “Cool Vertograd” is used - a medical book of the 17th century. In 1884, in a letter to the editor of the Warsaw Diary newspaper, he wrote:

Leskov (according to the memoirs of A. N. Leskov) believed that by creating cycles about “Russian antiquities,” he was fulfilling Gogol’s will from “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”: “Exalt in the solemn hymn of the unnoticed worker.” In the preface to the first of these stories (“Odnodum”, 1879), the writer explained their appearance as follows: “It’s terrible and unbearable... to see one “rubbish” in the Russian soul, which has become the main subject new literature, and... I went to look for the righteous, but wherever I turned, everyone answered me in the same way that they had never seen righteous people, because all people are sinners, and so, some good people both knew. I started writing it down.”

In the 1880s, Leskov also created a series of works about the righteous of early Christianity: the action of these works takes place in Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. The plots of these stories were, as a rule, borrowed by him from the “prologue” - a collection of the lives of saints and edifying stories compiled in Byzantium in the 10th-11th centuries. Leskov was proud that his Egyptian sketches “Pamphalon” and “Azu” were translated into German, and the publishers gave him preference over Ebers, the author of “The Daughter of the Egyptian King.”

At the same time, the satirical and accusatory line intensified in the writer’s work (“The Stupid Artist”, “The Beast”, “Scarecrow”): along with officials and officers among him negative heroes Clergymen began to appear more and more often.

Attitude to the church

In the 1880s, N. S. Leskov’s attitude towards the church changed. In 1883, in a letter to L.I. Veselitskaya about “Soboryans” he wrote:

Leskov’s attitude towards the church was influenced by Leo Tolstoy, with whom he became close in the late 1880s. “I always agree with him and there is no one on earth who is dearer to me than him. I am never embarrassed by what I cannot share with him: I value his common, so to speak, dominant mood of his soul and the terrible penetration of his mind,” Leskov wrote about Tolstoy in one of his letters to V.G. Chertkov.

Perhaps Leskov’s most notable anti-church work was the story “Midnight Office,” completed in the fall of 1890 and published in the last two issues of 1891 of the journal “Bulletin of Europe.” The author had to overcome considerable difficulties before his work saw the light of day. “I will keep my story on the table. It’s true that no one will print it at present,” N. S. Leskov wrote to L. N. Tolstoy on January 8, 1891.

A scandal was also caused by N. S. Leskov’s essay “Popov’s leapfrog and parish whim” (1883). The proposed cycle of essays and stories “Notes of an Unknown” (1884) was dedicated to satirizing the vices of clergy, but work on it was stopped under pressure from censorship. Moreover, for these works N. S. Leskov was fired from the Ministry of Public Education. The writer again found himself in spiritual isolation: the “right” now saw him as a dangerous radical, and the “liberals” (as B. Ya. Bukhshtab noted), before “Leskov as a reactionary writer, now publish his works because of their political harshness.”

Leskov's financial situation was improved by the publication in 1889-1890 of a ten-volume collection of his works (later the 11th volume and the 12th volume were added posthumously). The publication was quickly sold out and brought the writer a significant fee. But it was precisely with this success that his first heart attack was connected, which happened on the stairs of the printing house, when it became known that the sixth volume of the collection (containing works on church topics) was delayed by censorship (it was subsequently reorganized by the publishing house).

Later works

In the 1890s, Leskov became even more sharply journalistic in his work than before: his stories and novellas in last years lives were sharply satirical in nature. The writer himself said about his works of that time:

The publication of the novel “Devil's Dolls” in the magazine “Russian Thought”, the prototypes of which were Nicholas I and the artist K. Bryullov, was suspended by censorship. Leskov was also unable to publish the story “Hare Remiz” - neither in Russian Thought, nor in Vestnik Evropy: it was published only after 1917. Not a single major later work of the writer (including the novels “Falcon Flight” and “Invisible Trace”) was published in full: the chapters rejected by censorship were published after the revolution. N. S. Leskov said that the process of publishing his works, always difficult, at the end of his life became unbearable for him.

last years of life

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on March 5 (old style - February 21), 1895 in St. Petersburg, from another attack of asthma, which tormented him for the last five years of his life. Nikolai Leskov was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Publication of works

Shortly before his death, in 1889-1893, Leskov compiled and published from A. S. Suvorin “ Complete collection works" in 12 volumes (republished in 1897 by A.F. Marx), which included most of his artistic works (moreover, in the first edition, the 6th volume was not passed by the censor). In 1902-1903, the printing house of A. F. Marx (as a supplement to the Niva magazine) published a 36-volume collected works, in which the editors also tried to collect the writer’s journalistic heritage and which caused a wave of public interest in the writer’s work. After the revolution of 1917, Leskov was declared a “reactionary, bourgeois-minded writer,” and his works on long years(the exception is the inclusion of 2 stories by the writer in the 1927 collection) were consigned to oblivion. During the short Khrushchev thaw, Soviet readers finally got the opportunity to come into contact with Leskov’s work again - in 1956-1958, an 11-volume collection of the writer’s works was published, which, however, is not complete: for ideological reasons, the most harsh in tone was not included in it the anti-nihilistic novel “On Knives”, and journalism and letters are presented in a very limited volume (volumes 10-11). During the years of stagnation, attempts were made to publish short collected works and separate volumes with Leskov’s works, which did not cover the areas of the writer’s work associated with religious and anti-nihilistic themes (the chronicle “Soborians”, the novel “Nowhere”), and which were supplied with extensive tendentious comments. In 1989, the first collected works of Leskov - also in 12 volumes - were republished in the Ogonyok Library. For the first time, a truly complete (30-volume) collected works of the writer began to be published by the Terra publishing house in 1996 and continues to this day. In addition to this edition famous works it is planned to include all found, previously unpublished articles, stories and novellas of the writer.

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was born on February 4, 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district (now the village of Staroe Gorokhovo, Sverdlovsk district, Oryol region). Leskov’s father, Semyon Dmitrievich Leskov (1789-1848), who came from a spiritual background, according to Nikolai Semyonovich, was “... a great, wonderful smart guy and a dense seminarian.” Having broken with the spiritual environment, he entered the service of the Oryol Criminal Chamber, where he rose to ranks that gave the right to hereditary nobility, and, according to contemporaries, acquired a reputation as an insightful investigator capable of unraveling complex cases. Mother, Maria Petrovna Leskova (née Alfereva) (1813-1886) was the daughter of an impoverished Moscow nobleman. One of her sisters was married to a wealthy Oryol landowner, the other to a wealthy Englishman. Younger brother, Alexey, (1837-1909) became a doctor, had an academic degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences.

Childhood

N. S. Leskov spent his early childhood in Orel. After 1839, when the father left the service (due to a quarrel with his superiors, which, according to Leskov, incurred the wrath of the governor), the family: his wife, three sons and two daughters moved to the village of Panino (Panin Khutor) not far from the city of Kromy . Here, as the future writer recalled, his knowledge of the people began.

Service and work

I... think that I know the Russian person to his very depths, and I do not take any credit for this. I didn’t study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cab drivers, but I grew up among the people, on the Gostomel pasture, with a cauldron in my hand, I slept with it on the dewy grass of the night, under a warm sheepskin coat, and on Panin’s fancy crowd behind the circles of dusty habits...

During this period (until 1860) he lived with his family in the village of Nikolo-Raisky, Gorodishchensky district, Penza province and in Penza. Here he first put pen to paper. In 1859, when a wave of “drinking riots” swept across the Penza province, as well as throughout Russia, Nikolai Semenovich wrote “Essays on the distillery industry (Penza province)”, published in Otechestvennye zapiski. This work is not only about distillery production, but also about agriculture, which, according to him, in the province is “far from flourishing,” and peasant cattle breeding is “in complete decline.” He believed that distillation interfered with the development of agriculture in the province, “the state of which is bleak in the present and cannot promise anything good in the future...”.

Some time later, however, the trading house ceased to exist, and Leskov returned to Kyiv in the summer of 1860, where he took up journalism and literary activity. Six months later he moved to St. Petersburg, staying with I.V. Vernadsky.

Literary career

Leskov began publishing relatively late - in the twenty-sixth year of his life, having published several notes in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” (1859-1860), several articles in the Kiev publications “Modern Medicine”, which was published by A.P. Walter (article “About working class", several notes about doctors) and "Economic Index". Leskov’s articles, which exposed the corruption of police doctors, led to a conflict with his colleagues: as a result of the provocation they organized, Leskov, who conducted an internal investigation, was accused of bribery and was forced to leave the service.

At the beginning of his literary career, N. S. Leskov collaborated with many St. Petersburg newspapers and magazines, most of all publishing in Otechestvennye zapiski (where he was patronized by his familiar Oryol publicist S. S. Gromeko), in Russian Rech and Northern Bee . “Otechestvennye zapiski” published “Essays on the distillery industry (Penza province),” which Leskov himself called his first work, considered his first major publication. In the summer of that year, he briefly moved to Moscow, returning to St. Petersburg in December.

Pseudonyms of N. S. Leskov

IN beginning Leskov wrote his creative activity under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. The pseudonymous signature “Stebnitsky” first appeared on March 25, 1862, under the first fictional work, “The Extinguished Case” (later “Drought”). It lasted until August 14, 1869. At times the signatures “M. S", "S", and finally, in 1872, "L. S", "P. Leskov-Stebnitsky" and "M. Leskov-Stebnitsky." Among other conventional signatures and pseudonyms used by Leskov, the following are known: “Freishitz”, “V. Peresvetov”, “Nikolai Ponukalov”, “Nikolai Gorokhov”, “Someone”, “Dm. M-ev”, “N.”, “Member of Society”, “Psalmist”, “Priest. P. Kastorsky", "Divyanka", "M. P.", "B. Protozanov", "Nikolai-ov", "N. L.", "N. L.--v”, “Lover of Antiquities”, “Traveler”, “Watch Lover”, “N. L.", "L."

Article about fires

As a result, Leskov was sent by the editors of the Northern Bee on a long business trip. He toured the western provinces of the empire, visited Dinaburg, Vilna, Grodno, Pinsk, Lvov, Prague, Krakow, and at the end of the trip, Paris. In 1863, he returned to Russia and published a series of journalistic essays and letters, in particular, “From a Travel Diary”, “Russian Society in Paris”.

"Nowhere"

The writing career of N. S. Leskov began in 1863, his first stories “The Life of a Woman” and “Musk Ox” (1863-1864) were published. At the same time, the magazine “Library for Reading” began publishing the novel “Nowhere” (1864). “This novel bears all the signs of my haste and ineptitude,” the writer himself later admitted.

“Nowhere,” which satirically depicted the life of a nihilistic commune, which was contrasted with the hard work of the Russian people and Christian family values, aroused the displeasure of the radicals. It was noted that most of the “nihilists” depicted by Leskov had recognizable prototypes (the writer V. A. Sleptsov was guessed in the image of the head of the Beloyartsev commune).

It was this first novel - politically a radical debut - that for many years predetermined Leskov’s special place in the literary community, which, for the most part, was inclined to attribute to him “reactionary”, anti-democratic views. The left-wing press actively spread rumors according to which the novel was written “commissioned” by the Third Section. This “vile slander,” according to the writer, ruined his entire creative life, depriving him of the opportunity to publish in popular magazines for many years. This predetermined his rapprochement with M. N. Katkov, publisher of the Russian Messenger.

First stories

In the same years, Leskov’s works were published, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (), “Warrior” () - stories, mainly of a tragic sound, in which the author brought out vivid female images of different classes. Almost ignored by modern criticism, they subsequently received the highest ratings from specialists. It was in the first stories that Leskov’s individual humor manifested itself, for the first time his unique style began to take shape, a type of skaz, the ancestor of which - along with Gogol - he later began to be considered. Elements of the literary style that made Leskov famous are also found in the story “Kotin Doilets and Platonida” (1867).

Around this time, N. S. Leskov made his debut as a playwright. In 1867, the Alexandrinsky Theater staged his play “The Spendthrift,” a drama from the life of a merchant, after which Leskov was once again accused by critics of “pessimism and antisocial tendencies.” Of Leskov’s other major works of the 1860s, critics noted the story “Outlooked” (1865), which polemicized with N. G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done? ", and "The Islanders" (1866), a morally descriptive story about the Germans living on Vasilyevsky Island.

"At Knives"

Some contemporaries (in particular, Dostoevsky) noted the complexity of the adventurous plot of the novel, the tension and implausibility of the events described in it. After this, N. S. Leskov never returned to the genre of the novel in its pure form.

"Soborians"

The novel “On Knives” was a turning point in the writer’s work. As Maxim Gorky noted, “...after the evil novel “On Knives,” Leskov’s literary work immediately becomes bright painting or, rather, iconography - he begins to create for Russia an iconostasis of its saints and righteous people.” The main characters of Leskov’s works were representatives of the Russian clergy, and partly of the local nobility. Scattered excerpts and essays began to gradually take shape into a large novel, which ultimately received the name “Soboryan” and published in 1872 in the “Russian Messenger”. As the literary critic V. Korovin notes, the positive heroes - archpriest Savely Tuberozov, deacon Akhill Desnitsyn and priest Zakharia Benefaktov, the narrative of which is in the tradition of the heroic epic, “are surrounded on all sides by figures of modern times - nihilists, swindlers, civil and church officials new type." The work, the theme of which was the opposition of “true” Christianity to the official one, subsequently led the writer into conflict with church and secular authorities. It was also the first to “have significant success.”

Simultaneously with the novel, two “chronicles” were written, consonant in theme and mood with the main work: “Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo” () and “A Seedy Family” (full title: “A Seedy Family. Family chronicle of the Protazanov princes. From the notes of Princess V. D. . P.", ). According to one critic, the heroines of both chronicles are “examples of persistent virtue, calm dignity, high courage, and reasonable philanthropy.” Both of these works left a feeling of incompleteness. Subsequently, it turned out that the second part of the chronicle, in which (according to V. Korovin) “sarcastically depicted the mysticism and hypocrisy of the end of Alexander’s reign and affirmed the social disembodiment of Christianity in Russian life,” aroused M. Katkov’s dissatisfaction. Leskov, having disagreed with the publisher, “did not finish writing the novel.” “Katkov... during the printing of “A Seedy Family” said (to an employee of the “Russian Messenger”) Voskoboynikov: We are mistaken: this person is not ours!” - the writer later asserted.

"Lefty"

One of the most striking images in the gallery of Leskov’s “righteous people” was Lefty (“The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea”, 1881). Subsequently, critics noted here, on the one hand, the virtuosity of the embodiment of Leskov’s “tale”, full of wordplay and original neologisms (often with a mocking, satirical overtone), on the other hand, the multi-layered nature of the narrative, the presence of two points of view: “where the narrator constantly holds the same views, and the author inclines the reader to something completely different, often opposite.” N. S. Leskov himself wrote about this “cunning” of his own style:

Several other people supported that in my stories it is really difficult to distinguish between good and evil, and that sometimes it’s even impossible to tell who is harming the cause and who is helping it. This was attributed to some innate cunning of my nature.

When published in Rus, as well as in a separate edition, the story was accompanied by a preface:

I cannot say where exactly the first breeding of the fable about the steel flea was born, that is, whether it started in Tula, Izhma or Sestroretsk, but, obviously, it came from one of these places. In any case, the tale of the steel flea is a specifically gunsmith legend, and it expresses the pride of Russian gunsmiths. It depicts the struggle of our masters with the English masters, from which ours emerged victorious and the English were completely shamed and humiliated. Here, some secret reason for military failures in Crimea is revealed. I wrote down this legend in Sestroretsk according to a local tale from an old gunsmith, a Tula native, who moved to the Sister River during the reign of Emperor Alexander the First.

1872-1874

In 1872, N. S. Leskov’s story “The Sealed Angel” was written and a year later published, which told about the miracle that led the schismatic community to unity with Orthodoxy. In the work, which contains echoes of ancient Russian “walkings” and legends about miraculous icons and was subsequently recognized as one of the writer’s best works, Leskov’s “tale” received the most powerful and expressive embodiment. “The Captured Angel” turned out to be practically the only work of the writer that was not subject to editorial editing by the Russian Messenger, because, as the writer noted, “it passed through their lack of leisure in the shadows.”

In the same year, the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” was published, a work of free forms that did not have a complete plot, built on the interweaving of disparate plot lines. Leskov believed that such a genre should replace what was considered to be the traditional modern novel. Subsequently, it was noted that the image of the hero Ivan Flyagin resembles the epic Ilya of Muromets and symbolizes “the physical and moral fortitude of the Russian people amid the suffering that befalls them.” Despite the fact that The Enchanted Wanderer criticized the dishonesty of the authorities, the story was a success in official spheres and even at court.

If until then Leskov's works had been edited, then this was simply rejected, and the writer had to publish it in different issues of the newspaper. Not only Katkov, but also “leftist” critics reacted with hostility to the story. In particular, the critic N.K. Mikhailovsky pointed out the “absence of any center,” so that, in his words, there is “... a whole series of plots strung like beads on a thread, and each bead on its own can be It’s very convenient to take it out and replace it with another, and you can string as many more beads as you like on the same thread.”

After the break with Katkov, the financial situation of the writer (who by this time had remarried) worsened. In January 1874, N. S. Leskov was appointed a member of the special department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education for the review of books published for the people, with a very modest salary of 1000 rubles per year. Leskov’s duties included reviewing books to determine whether they could be sent to libraries and reading rooms. In 1875, he briefly went abroad without stopping his literary work.

"The Righteous"

The creation of a gallery of bright positive characters was continued by the writer in a collection of stories published under the general title “The Righteous” (“Figure”, “Man on the Clock”, “Non-Lethal Golovan”, etc., 1876-1889). As critics later noted, Leskov’s righteous people are united by “straightforwardness, fearlessness, heightened conscientiousness, and inability to come to terms with evil.” Responding in advance to critics’ accusations that his characters were somewhat idealized, Leskov argued that his stories about the “righteous” were mostly in the nature of memories (in particular, what his grandmother told him about Golovan, etc.), and tried to give the story a background of historical authenticity , introducing descriptions of real people into the plot.

As the researchers noted, some of the eyewitness accounts referred to by the writer were genuine, while others were his own fiction. Leskov often processed old manuscripts and memoirs. For example, in the story “Non-Lethal Golovan”, “Cool Vertograd” is used - a 17th-century medical book. In 1884, in a letter to the editor of the newspaper “Warsaw Diary”, he wrote:

Your newspaper articles say that I for the most part copied living persons and conveyed true stories. Whoever the author of these articles is, he is absolutely right. I have powers of observation and perhaps some ability to analyze feelings and impulses, but I have little imagination. I invent things with difficulty and difficulty, and therefore I have always needed living persons who could interest me with their spiritual content. They took possession of me, and I tried to embody them in stories, which were also very often based on an actual event.

Leskov (according to the memoirs of A.N. Leskov) believed that by creating cycles about “Russian antiquities”, he was fulfilling Gogol’s will from “Selected passages from correspondence with friends”: “Exalt the unnoticed worker in a solemn hymn.” In the preface to the first of these stories (“Odnodum”, 1879), the writer explained their appearance as follows: “It’s terrible and unbearable... to see one “rubbish” in the Russian soul, which has become the main subject of new literature, and... I went to look for the righteous,<…>but wherever I turned,<…>Everyone answered me in the same way that they had never seen righteous people, because all people were sinners, but both of them knew some good people. I started writing it down.”

At the same time, the writer created a series of works for children, which he published in the magazines “Sincere Word” and “Igrushechka”: “Christ Visiting a Man”, “The Unchangeable Ruble”, “The Father’s Testament”, “The Lion of Elder Gerasim”, “ Languidity of the Spirit”, originally - “Goat”, “Fool” and others. In the last magazine it was willingly published by A. N. Peshkova-Toliverova, who became in 1880-1890. close friend of the prose writer. At the same time, the satirical and accusatory line in the writer’s work also intensified (“The Stupid Artist”, “The Beast”, “The Scarecrow”): along with officials and officers, clergy began to appear more and more often among his negative heroes.

Attitude to the church

In the 1880s, N. S. Leskov’s attitude towards the church changed. In 1883, in a letter to L.I. Veselitskaya about the “Soboryans”, he wrote:

Now I would not write them, but I would willingly write “Notes of Undressed”... Oaths to resolve; bless knives; to sanctify weaning through force; divorce; enslave children; give away secrets; maintain the pagan custom of devouring body and blood; forgive offenses done to another; to provide protection to the Creator or to curse and do thousands of other vulgarities and meanness, falsifying all the commandments and requests of the “righteous man hanged on the cross” - this is what I would like to show people... But this is probably called “Tolstoyanism”, otherwise it is not at all similar to the teachings of Christ is called “Orthodoxy”... I don’t argue when it is called by this name, but it is not Christianity.

" The author had to overcome considerable difficulties before his work saw the light of day. “I will keep my story on the table. It’s true that no one will print it at present,” N. S. Leskov wrote to L. N. Tolstoy on January 8, 1891.

A scandal was also caused by N. S. Leskov’s essay “Popov’s leapfrog and parish whim” (1883). The intended cycle of essays and stories “Notes of an Unknown” (1884) was dedicated to ridiculing the vices of the clergy, but work on it was stopped under pressure from censorship. Moreover, for these works N. S. Leskov was fired from the Ministry of Public Education. The writer again found himself in spiritual isolation: the “right” now saw him as a dangerous radical. Literary critic B. Ya. Bukhshtab noted that at the same time, “liberals are becoming especially cowardly, and those who previously interpreted Leskov as a reactionary writer are now afraid to publish his works because of their political harshness.”

Leskov's financial situation was improved by the publication in 1889-1890 of a ten-volume collection of his works (later the 11th volume and the 12th volume were added posthumously). The publication was quickly sold out and brought the writer a significant fee. But it was precisely with this success that his first heart attack was connected, which happened on the stairs of the printing house, when it became known that the sixth volume of the collection (containing works on church topics) was delayed by censorship (it was subsequently reorganized by the publishing house).

Later works

In the 1890s, Leskov became even more sharply journalistic in his work than before: his stories and novellas in the last years of his life were sharply satirical in nature. The writer himself said about his works of that time:

My latest works about Russian society are very cruel. “The Corral”, “Winter Day”, “The Lady and the Fela”... The public does not like these things for their cynicism and directness. Yes, I don’t want to please the public. Let her at least choke on my stories and read. I know how to please her, but I don’t want to please her anymore. I want to scourge her and torture her.

The publication of the novel “Devil's Dolls” in the magazine “Russian Thought”, the prototypes of which were Nicholas I and the artist Karl Bryullov, was suspended by censorship. Leskov was also unable to publish the story “Hare Remiz” - neither in “Russian Thought”, nor in “Bulletin of Europe”: it was published only after 1917. Not a single major later work of the writer (including the novels “Falcon Flight” and “Invisible Trace”) was published in full: the chapters rejected by censorship were published after the revolution. Publication own compositions for Leskov it was always a difficult matter, and in the last years of his life it turned into constant torment.

The story “Yudol” about the famine in Russia in 1840 was first published in the journal Book of the Week in 1892.

last years of life

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on February 21 [March 5], 1895 in St. Petersburg from another attack of asthma, which tormented him for the last five years of his life. Nikolai Leskov was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov is one of the most amazing and original Russian writers, whose fate in literature cannot be called simple. During his lifetime, his works mostly caused a negative attitude and were not accepted by the majority of progressive people of the second half of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy called him “the most Russian writer,” and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov considered him one of his teachers.

It can be said that Leskov’s work was truly appreciated only at the beginning of the twentieth century, when articles by M. Gorky, B. Eikhenbaum and others were published. L. Tolstoy’s words that Nikolai Semenovich was “the writer of the future” turned out to be truly prophetic.

Origin

Leskov’s creative destiny was largely determined by the environment in which he spent his childhood and adulthood.
He was born in 1831, February 4 (16 according to the new style), in the Oryol province. His ancestors were hereditary clergymen. The grandfather and great-grandfather were priests in the village of Leska, which is where the writer’s surname most likely came from. However, Semyon Dmitrievich, the author’s father, broke this tradition and received the title of nobleman for his service in the Oryol chamber of the criminal court. Marya Petrovna, the writer’s mother, nee Alfereva, also belonged to this class. Her sisters were married to wealthy people: one - for the Englishman, the other - for the Oryol landowner. This fact will also have an impact on Leskov’s life and work in the future.

In 1839, Semyon Dmitrievich had a conflict in the service, and he and his family moved to Panin Farm, where his son’s real acquaintance with the original Russian speech began.

Education and beginning of service

The writer N. S. Leskov began his studies in the family of wealthy relatives of the Strakhovs, who hired German and Russian teachers and a French governess for their children. Even then, his extraordinary talent was fully revealed. little Nicholas. But he never received a “great” education. In 1841, the boy was sent to the Oryol provincial gymnasium, from which he left five years later with two classes of education. Perhaps the reason for this lay in the peculiarities of teaching, built on rote learning and rules, far from the lively and inquisitive mind that Leskov possessed. The writer's biography includes further service in the treasury chamber, where his father served (1847-1849), and translation by at will after it tragic death as a result of cholera to the treasury chamber of the city of Kyiv, where his maternal uncle S.P. Alferyev lived. The years of stay here gave a lot to the future writer. Leskov attended lectures at Kiev University as a free listener, independently studied the Polish language, for some time became interested in icon painting and even attended a religious and philosophical circle. Acquaintance with Old Believers and pilgrims also influenced Leskov’s life and work.

Work at Schcott and Wilkens

A real school for Nikolai Semenovich was working in the company of his English relative (aunt’s husband) A. Schcott in 1857-1860 (before the collapse of the trading house). According to the writer himself, these were the best years when he “saw a lot and lived easily.” Due to the nature of his service, he had to constantly travel around the country, which provided enormous material in all spheres of life of Russian society. “I grew up among the people,” Nikolai Leskov later wrote. His biography is an acquaintance with Russian life first-hand. This is being in a truly popular environment and personal knowledge of all the hardships of life that befall the common peasant.

In 1860, Nikolai Semenovich returned to Kyiv for a short time, after which he ended up in St. Petersburg, where his serious literary activity.

Leskov's creativity: formation

The writer's first articles on corruption in medical and police circles were published in Kyiv. They aroused strong responses and became the main reason that the future writer was forced to leave his service and go in search of a new place of residence and work, which is what St. Petersburg became for him.
Here Leskov immediately declares himself as a publicist and is published in “Notes of the Fatherland”, “Northern Bee”, “Russian Speech”. For several years, he signed his works with the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky (there were others, but this one was used most often), which soon became quite notorious.

In 1862 there was a fire in the Shchukin and Apraksin courtyards. Nikolai Semenovich Leskov responded vividly to this event. A short biography of his life includes such an episode as an angry tirade from the tsar himself. In an article about the fires published in the Northern Bee, the writer expressed his point of view regarding who could be involved in them and what their purpose was. He believed that the nihilistic youth, who never enjoyed his respect, were to blame for everything. The authorities were accused of not paying enough attention to the investigation of the fact, and the arsonists remained undetected. The criticism that immediately fell upon Leskov both from democratically minded circles and from the administration forced him to leave St. Petersburg for a long time, since no explanations from the writer about the article written were accepted.

The western borders of the Russian Empire and Europe - Nikolai Leskov visited these places during the months of disgrace. His biography from then on included, on the one hand, recognition of a writer who was absolutely unlike anyone else, and on the other, constant suspicions, sometimes reaching the point of insults. They were especially evident in the statements of D. Pisarev, who considered that Stebnitsky’s name alone would be enough to cast a shadow both on the magazine publishing his works and on the writers who found the courage to publish together with the scandalous author.

Novel "Nowhere"

His first serious piece of art. In 1864, the Reading Magazine published his novel Nowhere, begun two years earlier during a trip to the West. It satirically depicted representatives of the nihilists that were quite popular at that time, and in the appearance of some of them the features of real people were clearly discernible. And again attacks with accusations of distorting reality and that the novel is the fulfillment of an “order” from certain circles. Nikolai Leskov himself was critical of the work. His biography, primarily creative, was predetermined for many years by this novel: the leading magazines of that time refused to publish his works for a long time.

The origin of the fantastic form

In the 1860s, Leskov wrote several stories (among them “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”), in which the features of a new style were gradually defined, which later became a kind of calling card of the writer. This is a tale with amazing, unique humor and a special approach to depicting reality. Already in the twentieth century, these works would be highly appreciated by many writers and literary critics, and Leskov, whose biography is one of constant clashes with leading representatives of the second half of the nineteenth century, will be placed on a par with N. Gogol, M. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov. However, at the time of publication, practically no attention was paid to them, since everyone was still under the impression of his previous publications. The production also attracted negative criticism. Alexandria Theater the play “The Spendthrift” about the Russian merchants, and the novel “On Knives” (all about the same nihilists), because of which Leskov entered into a sharp polemic with the editor of the magazine “Russian Messenger” M. Katkov, where his works were mainly published.

Showing true talent

Only after going through numerous accusations, sometimes reaching the point of direct insults, was N. S. Leskov able to find a real reader. His biography took a sharp turn in 1872, when the novel “Soborians” was published. Its main theme is confrontation with the true Christian faith official, and the main characters are the clergy of old times and the nihilists and officials of all ranks and areas, including church ones, opposed to them. This novel became the beginning of the creation of works dedicated to the Russian clergy and preserving folk traditions local nobles. Under his pen, a harmonious and original world emerges, built on faith. The works also contain criticism of the negative aspects of the current system in Russia. Later, this feature of the writer’s style will still open the way for him to democratic literature.

"The Tale of the Tula Oblique Left-Hander..."

Perhaps the most in a bright way, created by the writer, was Lefty, drawn in a work whose genre - a guild legend - was determined by Leskov himself during its first publication. The biography of one forever became inseparable from the life of the other. And the writer’s writing style is most often recognized precisely by the story about a skilled master. Many critics immediately seized on the version put forward by the writer in the preface that this work was just a retold legend. Leskov had to write an article about the fact that in fact “Lefty” is the fruit of his imagination and long observations of life common man. So briefly, Leskov was able to draw attention to the talent of the Russian peasant, as well as to the economic and cultural backwardness of Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Later creativity

In the 1870s, Leskov was an employee of the educational department of the Academic Committee in the Ministry of Public Education, then an employee of the Ministry of State Property. Service never brought him much joy, so he accepted his resignation in 1883 as an opportunity to become independent. Literary activity has always remained the main thing for the writer. “The Enchanted Wanderer”, “The Captured Angel”, “The Man on the Clock”, “The Non-Lethal Golovan”, “The Stupid Artist”, “Evil” - this is a small part of the works that Leskov N. S. wrote in the 1870-1880s. Stories and the stories are united by the images of the righteous - heroes who are straightforward, fearless, and unable to put up with evil. Quite often, the basis of the works was made up of memories or surviving old manuscripts. And among the heroes, along with fictional ones, there were also prototypes of real people, which gave the plot special authenticity and truthfulness. Over the years, the works themselves increasingly acquired satirical and accusatory features. As a result, stories and novels later years, including “Invisible Trace”, “Falcon Flight”, “Hare Remise” and, of course, “Devil's Dolls”, where Tsar Nicholas the First served as the prototype for the main character, were not published at all or were published with extensive censorship edits. According to Leskov, the publication of works, always quite problematic, in his declining years became completely unbearable.

Personal life

Leskov’s family life was not easy either. He married for the first time in 1853 to O. V. Smirnova, the daughter of a wealthy and famous businessman in Kyiv. From this marriage two children were born: daughter Vera and son Mitya (died in infancy). Family life was short-lived: the spouses - initially different people, increasingly moved away from each other. The situation was aggravated by the death of their son, and already in the early 1860s they separated. Subsequently, Leskov’s first wife ended up in psychiatric hospital, where the writer visited her until his death.

In 1865, Nikolai Semenovich became friends with E. Bubnova, they lived in a civil marriage, but also with her common life didn't work out. Their son, Andrei, remained with Leskov after his parents separated. He later compiled a biography of his father, published in 1954.

Such a person was Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, whose brief biography is of interest to every connoisseur of Russian classical literature.

In the footsteps of the great writer

N. S. Leskov died on February 21 (March 5, new style) 1895. His body rests in the Volkov Cemetery (on the Literary Stage), on the grave there is a granite pedestal and a large cast-iron cross. And Leskov’s house on Furshtadskaya Street, where he spent the last years of his life, can be recognized by a memorial plaque installed in 1981.

The memory of the original writer, who more than once returned to his native places in his works, was truly immortalized in the Oryol region. Here, in his father’s house, the only Leskov literary and memorial museum in Russia is opened. Thanks to his son, Andrei Nikolaevich, it contains a large number of unique exhibits related to the life of Leskov: a child, a writer, public figure. Among them are personal items, valuable documents and manuscripts, letters, including the writer's class journal and watercolors depicting native home and relatives of Nikolai Semenovich.

And in the old part of Orel to anniversary date- 150 years since his birth - a monument to Leskov was erected by Yu. Yu. and Yu. G. Orekhov, A. V. Stepanov. The writer sits on a pedestal-sofa. In the background is the Church of the Archangel Michael, which was mentioned more than once in Leskov’s works.