Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol April 1. When was Gogol born? The most amazing places in Spain

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (surname at birth Yanovsky, from 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20 (April 1) 1809, Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province - February 21 (March 4) 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics of Russian literature. Came from ancient noble family Gogol-Yanovsky.

Biography:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We bring to your attention films based on the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol:

1. Viy
2. May Night, or the Drowned Woman
3. Inspector
4. How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
5. Dead souls (episodes 1 - 5)
6. Nose
7. Evenings on a farm near Dikanka
8. Marriage
9. Taras Bulba

(N.V. Gogol in Pavlovsk)

Opposite the Pavlovsk Palace there is a hilly area. It has long been called the Swiss roller coaster. On the left side of the site, between Soldatskaya, Zverinitskaya streets and the pond, at the beginning of the last century there was a dacha of the widow of Infantry General E.A. Arkharova. Wooden one-story house with a mezzanine and outbuildings.

Here, in this house, the glory of the future great writer N.V. was born. Gogol, who created within its walls the second part of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, because it was “Evenings...” that made him famous.

And the backstory was not happy. In December 1828, nineteen-year-old Gogol came to St. Petersburg for the first time. He pinned his hopes on living in the capital. But the severe frosts that met the northern city of the young dreamer were, as it were, a prologue to further ordeals. The poem "Hans Küchelgarten", begun in Ukraine at the Nizhyn gymnasium, and published in St. Petersburg with his own money, was not successful. The attempt to go on stage was futile. The service of a minor official doomed Gogol to poverty and deprivation. But at the end of 1830 Gogol met P.A. Pletnev, and through him with V.A. Zhukovsky and A.S. Pushkin. Pletnev introduced young Gogol into literary and teaching circles, introduced him to the noble families of the Vasilchikovs, Balabins, and Longinovs. For some time, Gogol was a home teacher in these houses. Future bibliographer and head of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs, former student of N.V. Gogol Mikhail Nikolaevich Longinov recalled: “Gogol soon became a very close person in our house. On the days of his lessons, he often dined with us and usually chose a place closer to us children, amusing himself with our chatter and indulging in his own gaiety. His stories were hilarious I now remember the humor with which he conveyed, for example, city rumors and rumors about dancing chairs in some house on Konyushennaya Street, which were then in full swing, it seems that this anecdote especially amused him, because several years later he remembered. him in his story “The Nose”…” For some time, Gogol taught at the Women’s Patriotic Institute.

About N.V.’s appearance Gogol of that time was later recalled by S.T. Aksakov: “Gogol’s appearance was then completely different and unfavorable for him: the crest on his head, smoothly trimmed temples, shaved mustache and chin, large and tightly starched collars gave a completely different physiognomy to his face... Gogol’s dress had a noticeable pretension to panache. What remains in my memory is that he was wearing a colorful, light-colored vest with a large chain.”

In the summer of 1831, Gogol was the tutor of a sick child in the Vasilchikov family. It was then that he lived in a house on the Swiss Hills; his grandson E.A. recalled this time. Arkharova V.A. Sollogub. This was in the summer of 1831. Gogol once read his “Evenings...” in a small, low room, “the bed was bashfully blocked off by screens, there was an old-fashioned chintz-covered sofa against the wall, and in front of it was a round table covered with a red paper tablecloth; on the table under a dark green lampshade there was a fire. lamp... All three old women were knitting stockings, looking condescendingly over their glasses at the young man sitting right next to the table...

Well, Nikolai Vasilyevich, start!

The young man looked at me questioningly; he was poorly dressed and seemed very shy; I became more dignified.

Read,” I said somewhat haughtily...

I will never forget the expression on his face! What subtle intelligence was reflected in his slightly squinted eyes, what a caustic smile crooked his thin lips. He still modestly moved closer to the table, slowly unfolded the manuscript with his long thin hands and began to read... From the first words, I separated from the back of my chair, fascinated and ashamed, and listened eagerly; Several times I tried to stop him, to tell him how much he amazed me, but he coldly raised his eyes to me and steadily continued his reading. When he finished, I threw myself on his neck and cried."

In another place in his memoirs, V. Sollogub describes Gogol the reader: “Whoever has not heard Gogol read, does not fully know his works. He gave them a special flavor with his calmness, his pronunciation, elusive shades of mockery and comedy that trembled in his voice and quickly ran through from his original, sharp-nosed face, while his small gray eyes smiled good-naturedly, and he shook the hair that always fell on his forehead. Describing the Ukrainian night, he seemed to pour an impression into his soul. summer freshness, blue, star-studded heights, fragrance, spiritual spaciousness."

We must not forget that “Evenings...” were created in St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk, where there are no real dark nights, and in the spring, in the usual sense, they simply do not exist. The famous question: “Do you know the Ukrainian night?” could be perceived polemically by contemporaries. In his stories, Gogol seemed to open up another world and other nights to St. Petersburg residents. Back in May 1829, Gogol wrote to his mother from St. Petersburg: “The arrival of spring in our dusty capital, which does not look like spring at all, makes me remember with regret our Little Russian spring.”

Continuing the story about reading “Evenings...” with Arkharova’s hangers-on, Sollogub further wrote about Gogol: “Suddenly he stopped. “Yes, the hopak doesn’t dance like that!” The hangers-on cried out: “Why is it wrong?” They thought that Gogol was addressing them. Gogol smiled and continued the drunken man's monologue."

Gogol's extraordinary artistry and unsurpassed reading of his works were noted by many contemporaries.

S.T. Aksakov recalled about “Marriage” that Gogol read, or better yet, played, his play so skillfully that many people who understand this matter still say that on stage, despite good game actors, especially Mr. Sadovsky in the role of Podkolesin, this comedy is not as complete, integral and not nearly as funny as in the author’s own reading.”

In March 1830, the first story of the future “Evenings...” “Bisavryuk, or the Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” appeared. Before this, in Gogol’s letters to his family there were constant requests to send him information about folk beliefs, customs, fortune telling, the names of folk clothing and household items.

Living in Pavlovsk in the summer of 1831 and caring for the Vasilchikovs’ sick child, Gogol at the same time was finishing the second part of “Evenings...” Then he often visited Tsarskoe Selo, where he met with Pushkin and Zhukovsky. To his friend from the Nizhyn gymnasium A.S. He wrote to Danilevsky: “I lived all summer in Pavlovsk and Tsarskoye Selo... We gathered almost every evening: Zhukovsky, Pushkin and I. Oh, if you only knew how many delights came from the pens of these men.”

Gogol and Pushkin met at the end of May 1831 at Pletnev’s. Getting to know Zhukovsky a little earlier. Now in the summer this creative intimacy has strengthened. Gogol asked the letters to be addressed to himself in the name of Pushkin in Tsarskoe Selo.

Matters related to the printing of “Evenings...” caused Gogol’s early departure to St. Petersburg. “How much trouble this book caused me...,” Gogol wrote to Zhukovsky, “for three days I was constantly pushing from the printing house to the Censorship Committee, from the Censorship Committee to the printing house, and finally now I’ve just caught my breath.” By September 10, “Evenings...” had already been published, and in the same letter Gogol writes to Zhukovsky about sending him three printed copies: “One for you, the other for Pushkin, the third with a sentimental inscription for Rosetti, and the rest for those you care about.” determine at your own discretion."

In August, Gogol wrote to Pushkin: “The most curious thing was my meeting with the printing house. As soon as I poked my head through the doors, the typesetters, seeing me, let each one snort and spray into his hand, turning to the wall. This surprised me somewhat. I am a factor, and he, after some deft evasions, finally said that the THINGS THAT WE DID SEND FROM PAVLOVSK FOR PRINTING ARE VERY EXTREMELY FUNNY AND BROUGHT GREAT FUN TO THE COMPOSITORS.” In a reply letter, Pushkin congratulated Gogol on this first popular recognition and in the same 1831 he used this story by Gogol in a printed response to the publication of the book “Evenings...” in a letter to the publisher of “Literary Additions” to the “Russian Invalid”. “Just now I read “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. They amazed me. This is real gaiety, sincere, unconstrained, without affectation, without primness. And in places, what poetry! What sensitivity! All this is so unusual in our current literature that I have not yet I came to my senses... I congratulate the public on a truly funny book, and I sincerely wish the author further success,” wrote Pushkin.

It is known that later Pushkin would share his literary ideas with Gogol. He will tell him the plots of "The Inspector General" and "Dead Souls".

Shortly before his tragic death on the eve of the premiere of The Inspector General, remembering “Evenings...”, Pushkin will say about their author: “Since then he has continuously developed and improved. Mr. Gogol is moving forward.”

Yes, world fame awaited Gogol, but it began with “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” created in Pavlovsk. Gogol visited Pavlovsk and in the early 1840s already famous writer- in the house of A.P. Bryullov on Elizavetinskaya Street (now Pravda), in the house of M.Yu. Vielgorsky at the Five Corners. But these were episodes associated with another period of his life.

Galina BOGRAD NAA PHOTO Pavlovsk. Peel tower. G.S. Sergeev, 1799

“He who is created to create in the depths of his soul,
live and breathe your creations,
he must be strange in many ways.”
N.V.Gogol

Nikolai Gogol is the most mystical writer, the brilliant creator of the encyclopedia of Ukrainian life. There is no other writer in Russia whose death would be surrounded by so many legends, with a complete absence of legends about his life. In his world there is no line between reality and fantasy. Remember how “The Nose” ends? “Whatever you say, but such incidents happen in the world - rarely, but they do happen”... And this is about the fact that the nose escaped from a person and led an independent life, and even serving in high rank. That’s how it was with Gogol himself - some kind of incredible thing always happened...

Gogol sincerely considered himself a genius, spoke and wrote a lot about his greatness, which greatly irritated the people around him. But he really was a genius. At the age of 22, Gogol composed “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” The writer was listed in Russian literature for quite a long time as a satirist, at first even as a humorist. He considered it the highest compliment (and Pushkin congratulated him on this) that the typesetters laughed while reading “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” But Gogol, at the same time, is a tragic and deep writer. And this is undoubtedly one of the most profound Russian thinkers.

The future writer was born in 1809 in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, into the family of a landowner. They named him Nicholas in honor of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, kept in the church of the village of Dikanka.

The Gogols had over a thousand acres of land and about 400 serfs. The writer’s ancestors on his father’s side were hereditary priests, but his grandfather Afanasy Demyanovich left the spiritual career and entered the hetman’s office. It was he who added another one to his surname Yanovsky - Gogol, which was supposed to demonstrate the origin of the family from Colonel Evstafy (Ostap) Gogol, famous in Ukrainian history in the 18th century, a fact that, however, does not find sufficient confirmation.

Parents N.V. Gogol

In 1818-1819, Gogol, together with his brother Ivan, studied at the Poltava district school, and then, in 1820-1821, took lessons from the Poltava teacher Gabriel Sorochinsky, living in his apartment. In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. A frail, nervous boy who looked younger than his years, his ears were always leaking (a consequence of a history of early childhood scrofula) - this is how he entered into independent life. At the gymnasium, Gogol was not particularly diligent; according to teachers’ certification, he was “stupid, weak, harsh.” However, in the class he enjoyed the reputation of being a great wit. Here he is engaged in painting, participates in performances - as a set designer and as an actor, and with particular success he plays comic roles. He also tries himself in various literary genres, writing elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems, and stories. At the same time he wrote the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” which, unfortunately, has not been preserved.

However, the thought of writing has not yet occurred to Gogol; all his aspirations are connected with government service, he dreams of a legal career. Gogol’s adoption of this decision was greatly influenced by Professor N. G. Belousov, who taught a course on natural law, as well as the general strengthening of freedom-loving sentiments in the gymnasium.

After graduating from high school in 1828, Gogol went to St. Petersburg. Experiencing financial difficulties, unsuccessfully fussing about a place, he made his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appeared, and in the spring of the same year, under the pseudonym “V. Alov" Gogol prints an idyll in the paintings of "Hanz Küchelgarten". The poem was unsuccessful, completely childish, and poetry is not his, the great master of prose, elemental. But that wouldn’t be so bad, you never know how many bad poems there are. It’s bad that he also wrote the foreword himself. The inability to distinguish reality from fantasy once again played with him cruel joke: on behalf of the fictional publishers, Nikolai sang a bunch of praises for himself. Magazine criticism, trashing the poem to smithereens, she mocked the preface separately. His self-confidence was blown away like the wind. Gogol fell into a real panic and ran around the bookstores until he bought all six hundred copies of the ill-fated poem. For three days the would-be poet stoked the stove in his rented apartment with books.

At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the department of state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From April 1830 to March 1831 he served in the department of appanages, first as a scribe, then as an assistant to the clerk, under the command of the famous idyllic poet V.I. Panaev. His stay in the offices caused Gogol deep disappointment in government service, but it provided him with rich material for future works that depicted bureaucratic life and the functioning of the state machine.

During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was published. The audience was captivated by Gogol once and for all.

The pinnacle of Gogol’s fiction is the St. Petersburg story “The Nose,” an extremely bold grotesque that anticipated some trends in twentieth-century art. In contrast to both the provincial and metropolitan worlds was the story “Taras Bulba,” which captured that moment in the national past when the people, defending their sovereignty, acted integrally, together and, moreover, as a force that determined the nature of pan-European history.

In the fall of 1835, he began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which was suggested by Pushkin. the work progressed so successfully that on January 18, 1836, he read the comedy at an evening at Zhukovsky’s in the presence of Pushkin, Vyazemsky and others, and in February-March he was already busy staging it on the stage of the Alexandria Theater. The play premiered on April 19. May 25 - premiere in Moscow, at the Maly Theater.

In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany; in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years. He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he begins to work on the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin. The work began back in 1835, before the writing of The Inspector General, and immediately acquired a wide scope. In St. Petersburg, several chapters were read to Pushkin, causing him both approval and at the same time a depressing feeling.

In November 1836, Gogol moved to Paris, where he met Adam Mickiewicz. Then he moves to Rome. Here in February 1837, in the midst of work on “Dead Souls,” he received the shocking news of Pushkin’s death. In a fit of “inexpressible melancholy” and bitterness, Gogol feels “the present work” as the “sacred testament” of the poet.

In December 1838, V. Zhukovsky arrived in Rome, accompanying the heir of Alexander II. Gogol was extremely happy about the poet’s arrival, showed him Rome, and drew views of the city with him.

In September 1839, Gogol arrived in Moscow and began reading chapters of Dead Souls in the presence of his old friends. A total of 6 chapters have been read. There was universal delight.

In May 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published. After the first, brief, but very commendable reviews, the initiative was seized by Gogol’s enemies, who accused him of caricature, farce and slander of reality.

All this controversy took place in the absence of Gogol, who went abroad in June 1842. Before leaving, he entrusts Nikolai Yakovlevich Prokopovich with the publication of the first collection of his works. Gogol spends the summer in Germany and moves to Rome in October. He is working on the 2nd volume of Dead Souls, which apparently began back in 1840; He devotes a lot of time to preparing his collected works. “The Works of Nikolai Gogol” in four volumes was published at the beginning of 1843, as censorship suspended the two volumes that had already been printed for a month.

The three years from 1842 to 1845 that followed the writer’s departure abroad were a period of intense and difficult work on the 2nd volume of Dead Souls.

At the beginning of 1845, Nikolai Gogol showed signs of a new mental crisis. The writer goes to Paris to rest and recuperate, but returns to Frankfurt in March. A period of treatment and consultations with various medical celebrities begins, moving from one resort to another: now to Halle, now to Berlin, now to Dresden, now to Carlsbad. At the end of June or beginning of July 1845, in a state of sharp exacerbation of the disease, Gogol burns the manuscript of the 2nd volume. Subsequently, Gogol explained this step by saying that the book did not show the “paths and roads” to the ideal clearly enough.

Gogol spends the winter of 1847-1848 in Naples, intensively reading Russian periodicals, new fiction, historical and folklore books. At the same time, he is preparing for a long-planned pilgrimage to holy places. In January 1848 by sea heading to Jerusalem. In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where he spent most of his time in Moscow, visiting St. Petersburg, as well as in his native places - Little Russia.

In 1849-1850, Gogol reads individual chapters of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls to his friends. General approval and delight inspire the writer, who now works with redoubled energy. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes his first and last attempt to arrange his family life - he proposes to Anna Mikhailovna Vielgorskaya. According to V. A. Sollogub, she “seems to be the only woman with whom Gogol was in love,” but she is refused.

In October 1850, Gogol arrived in Odessa. His condition is improving, he is active, cheerful, cheerful, willingly getting along with the actors of the Odessa troupe, to whom he gives lessons in reading comedy works, and with local writers. In March 1851 he left Odessa and, after spending the spring and early summer in his native places, returned to Moscow in June. A new round of readings follows of the 2nd volume of the poem; In total, up to 7 chapters were read. In October he attended “The Inspector General” at the Maly Theater, with Shumsky in the role of Khlestakov, and was pleased with the performance. In November he reads “The Inspector General” to a group of actors, including Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.

On January 1, 1852, Gogol finishes the 2nd volume of Dead Souls. But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis clearly emerged. He is tormented by a premonition of imminent death, aggravated by newly intensified doubts about the beneficialness of his writing. On February 7, Gogol confesses and receives communion, and on the night of February 11-12, Gogol woke up his serf boy Semyon and ordered the stove in his office to be lit. On the way there, Nikolai Vasilyevich stopped in every room and was baptized. At the same time, he kept a briefcase with manuscripts under his arm. When Gogol threw the notebooks rolled into a tube and tied with a ribbon into the fire, Semyon fell to his knees and tearfully begged the master to come to his senses. “None of your business!” - answered Nikolai Vasilyevich. The tight bundle still did not flare up, and Gogol pulled it out of the fire, untied it and sent it back into the inferno, turning the paper with a poker until only ashes remained. This is how the second volume of Dead Souls perished, with the exception of those few chapters that were not in the briefcase, but in the closet, and which Gogol forgot about.

Having destroyed his work, the patient returned to his room and lay down on the sofa. Gogol now had absolutely no reason to live. Another 10 days have passed. Gogol completely calmed down, although he was terribly weakened. Now he did not wash, did not dress, he just lay motionless on the sofa with an enlightened gaze and a clear face, and to all the pesterings of friends, doctors and priests he answered: “Leave me alone, I’m fine!”

The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Interesting facts:

• Gogol had a passion for needlework. I knitted scarves, cut dresses for my sisters, wove belts, and sewed neckerchiefs for the summer.
• The writer loved to cook and treat his friends to dumplings and dumplings.
• One of his favorite drinks was goat's milk, which he brewed in a special way by adding rum. He jokingly called this concoction Gogol-Mogol, and often laughing, said: “Gogol loves Gogol-Mogol!”
• Nikolai Vasilyevich usually walked along the streets and alleys on the left side, so he constantly collided with passers-by.
• Gogol was very afraid of thunderstorms. According to contemporaries, the bad weather had a bad effect on his weak nerves.
• Gogol always had sweets in his pockets. Living in a hotel, he never allowed the servants to take away the sugar served with tea, he collected it, hid it, and then gnawed pieces while working or talking.
• A few years later, when Gogol became a famous writer, his mother could not understand what exactly he became famous for, and told everyone she met that her son had invented the steamship, the telegraph and the railway.
• There are authentic photographs of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. They were taken in Rome, in 1845, by one of the pioneers of Russian photography, Sergei Lvovich Levitsky.
• In theatrical performances, Gogol had no equal as an actor. He had enormous talent and all the capabilities to play on stage. Gogol’s comrade later said: “I saw the play “The Minor” in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I always retained the conviction that not a single actress succeeded in the role of Prostakova as well as the then sixteen-year-old Gogol played this role.”
• In the gymnasium, Gogol was known as the custodian of books subscribed to by pool, i.e. was a librarian. A high school student who received a book to read had to, in the presence of a librarian, sit decorously on a bench in the classroom, in the place indicated to him, and not get up from his seat until he returned the books. Also, the librarian personally wrapped a large and index fingers every reader, and then only entrusted him with the book. Gogol treasured books like treasure, and especially loved miniature editions.
• Almost all of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s works have been filmed (since 1907, more than 60 film adaptations of Gogol’s works have been released), some even more than once.

Today it is celebrated as a holiday of world culture. Numerous commemorative events will be held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as in Ukraine and other countries.

“My thoughts, my name, my works will belong to Russia” - these words of Nikolai Gogol ring especially true today in our homeland, when the anniversary of the great writer is celebrated. By decision of UNESCO, 2009 was declared throughout the world as the “Year of Gogol”, before whom, according to Taras Shevchenko, “one should reverence him as a person gifted with the deepest mind and the deepest love for people.” At the same time, the great Ukrainian poet especially emphasized that Nikolai Vasilyevich is “a true knower of the human heart.” This is exactly how Gogol and his descendants perceive him, whose thoughts today are turned to the immortal name.

The main events on the anniversary day will begin in Moscow in the morning. At the Novodevichy Cemetery, a ceremony of laying wreaths at Gogol’s grave will be held by cultural and artistic figures led by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Alexander Avdeev. Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna is also here. While there is a bust of the work on the grave Soviet sculptor Nikolai Tomsky. It was installed in 1952, after the coffin with Gogol's body was moved from the original burial in the St. Daniel Monastery. During the transfer, the granite calvary, a tombstone with a bronze cross, located at the site of the first burial, was lost. Gogol himself bequeathed “not to erect any monument and not to think about such a trifle, unworthy of a Christian.” Now his posthumous will will be fulfilled - in the fall, the original tombstone will be restored at the writer’s grave. Except Novodevichy Cemetery, the funeral service will be held at St. Daniel's Monastery.

On the same day, Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov and a group of parliamentarians will lay flowers at the Gogol monument in the courtyard of the house on Nikitsky Boulevard, where Gogol lived the last four years of his life and died on February 21, 1852. Last Friday, the first museum of the writer in Russia opened here. It is adjacent to city library number 2, where Gogol Readings will open on the anniversary day.

The main event associated with the name of the writer will take place in the evening at the Academic Maly Theater, which is rightfully considered his home. Artistic director Theater Yuri Solomin recalled in an interview with ITAR-TASS that on May 25, during the 1836-1837 season, the play “The Inspector General” appeared on the stage of the Maly Theater for the first time. As Solomin said, his story is as follows: “Nikolai Vasilyevich wrote a letter to his friend, theater artist Mikhail Shchepkin, where he asked him not only to take part in the play, but also to become a director.” “Since then, “The Inspector General” has not left the stage of our theater; during this time, 12 productions have been performed here immortal comedy", added Solomin. The third act from the latest production, which, by the way, was also performed by Solomin, will be shown today on the famous stage. In addition, the evening program includes a performance by Gogol’s biographer, literary critic Igor Zolotussky, and theater groups that will perform fragments from the works writer.

Today the long-awaited Moscow film directed by Vladimir Bortko will take place. The title role in the film with the Russian-Ukrainian star cast played People's Artist USSR, in the recent past, Minister of Culture of Ukraine Bogdan Stupka.

On the same day, cultural events on many other stages and stages will be dedicated to Gogol. So maestro Valery Gergiev and led by him Mariinsky Theater We have prepared new productions of operas based on the works of the classics for the “round” date: “Litigation”, “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka”, “The Stroller”. Their authors were young Russian composers. Also on the Mariinsky stage will be the operas “May Night” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Sorochinskaya Fair” and “The Marriage” by Mussorgsky, as well as “Dead Souls” by Rodion Shchedrin. And the Moscow Philharmonic will dedicate the musical and literary composition “They will laugh at my bitter word” to Nikolai Vasilyevich. It will be presented by soloists of the Moscow choral ensemble "Blagovest", who will perform Russian folk spiritual poems, Ukrainian carols and psalms. In addition, the Philharmonic dedicated an Internet screening to the 200th anniversary of the writer " Sorochinskaya Fair"Mussorgsky performed by the State academic chapel Russia under the leadership of Valery Polyansky.

Gogol's anniversary is marked by many other cultural events: the opening of exhibitions, the publication of new books dedicated to his work, documentaries and retrospectives of paintings based on classic works.

The first of April is the 210th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. There are many great ones in our literature, but not all of them can be considered so modern. Any reader will find around him quite advanced Khlestakovs and Chichikovs, dressed in the latest fashion. The virtual noses of the Kovalev majors are now legally registered on the worldwide Internet.

The series "Gogol" became the most successful film in history lately. In the role of the classic Alexander Petrov. Photo: Caroprokat

Let's talk about this with Gogol himself. The conversation, of course, will be “spiritualistic,” but this can be forgiven since it’s April 1st. Questions from the present, and Nikolai Vasilyevich from the past will answer exact quotes from his preface to " Dead souls", "Theatrical Travel", "Author's Confession", "Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends", as well as from letters of 1832-52.

Nikolai Vasilyevich, I’m tired of winter. I really want warmth. Spring, April is just around the corner. How are you?

Nikolai Gogol: Do you believe that there often comes a frantic desire to turn into one nose, so that there is nothing more - no eyes, no arms, no legs, except for just one huge nose, whose nostrils would be the size of good buckets, so that you can suck in as maybe more incense and spring.

But then you would have nothing to answer questions with. And we would like to hear from you...

Nikolai Gogol: And by the way, I’m no smarter than anyone. I know people who are several times smarter and more educated than me and could give advice several times more useful than mine; but they don't do it and don't even know how to do it.

We won't ask them. Let's ask you anyway. How do you manage to make others laugh and remain such a gloomy person?

Nikolai Gogol: I never thought that I would have to be a satirical writer and make my readers laugh. It is true that, while I was still at school, I at times felt inclined to be cheerful and annoyed my comrades with inappropriate jokes. But these were temporary fits; in general, I was rather of a melancholic character and inclined to think. Subsequently, illness and blues joined this.

Do you want to say that your completely harmless, but terribly funny “Inspector General” was the result of illness and blues?

Nikolai Gogol: My laughter was good-natured at first; I didn’t at all think of ridiculing anything for any purpose... I decided to collect everything bad that I knew and laugh at it at once - that’s the origin of “The Inspector General”! This was my first work, conceived with the goal of making a good influence on society, which, however, failed: in comedy they began to see a desire to ridicule the legal order of things and government forms, while I had the intention of ridiculing only the arbitrary deviation of some individuals from the formal and legalized order. The performance of The Inspector General made a painful impression on me.

Around us there are many advanced Khlestakovs and Chichikovs dressed in the latest fashion. The virtual noses of Major Kovalevs have been registered on the World Wide Web

A comedy for all ages, never leaves the stage - what are you talking about?

Nikolai Gogol: There is no need to worry about style or beauty of expressions; it's about the deed and the truth of the deed, and not about the style.

Doesn’t it bother you that Khlestakovism can easily be called a disease of the 21st century?

Nikolai Gogol: Everyone, at least for a minute, if not for several minutes, was or is becoming Khlestakov, but, naturally, he just doesn’t want to admit it; he even loves to laugh at this fact, but only, of course, in the skin of another, and not in his own. And a clever guards officer will sometimes turn out to be Khlestakov, and a statesman will sometimes turn out to be Khlestakov, and our brother, a sinful writer, will sometimes turn out to be Khlestakov. In a word, it is rare that someone will not be one at least once in their life - the only thing is that after that they will very cleverly turn around, and as if it were not him.

We have news almost every day about those who “turned cleverly.” Governors are removed, cases are started.

Nikolai Gogol: One of our statesmen defined this position this way: “The Governor-General is the Minister of the Interior, stopped on the road.” This position is more temporary than permanent.

What would you say to those governors who are now sitting on their bunks?

Nikolai Gogol: It was not necessary to care that everything would be fine only with you, but precisely that everything would be fine after you.

Now the whole world is complete fake news. We saw Prime Minister Theresa May dancing in Africa. Trump cuts off power to Venezuela. To envy Khlestakov, haven’t you read Twitter?

Nikolai Gogol: Khlestakov lies not at all coldly or in a fanfare theatrical manner; he lies with feeling, his eyes express the pleasure he receives from this. This is generally the best and most poetic moment of his life - almost a kind of inspiration.

By the way, you love the songs of Little Russia - “this flourishing part of Russia.” Have you heard any news from there for a long time? You wrote it down in notebooks miscellaneous - maybe some of the latter?

Nikolai Gogol:“- Why are you, matchmaker, coming to us... - I was that, my wife is melting, I’m just like that.”

Russia is under sanctions: following America, Europe, supposedly “in defense” of the Ukrainians, threatens with anathemas and cannot calm down. What's next?

Nikolai Gogol: Another ten years will pass, and you will see that Europe will come to us not to buy hemp and lard, but to buy wisdom, which is no longer sold in European markets.

“Thinking” in our time means getting on some Facebook or Telegram channel and drowning in a lot of crazy “likes” and “comments”. What remains in a person’s head after this?

Nikolai Gogol: There is an auditor in everyone's head. Everyone is busy with the auditor. Everyone's fears and hopes are swirling around the auditor. characters. Some have hope of getting rid of bad mayors and all kinds of grabbers. Others have a panicky fear at the sight of the most important dignitaries and leading people of society in fear. Others, who look at all the affairs of the world calmly, cleaning their own noses, have curiosity...

Again you're talking about the nose. What does a nose have in common with an auditor?

Nikolai Gogol: I am tired both in soul and body. I swear, no one knows or hears my suffering. God be with them all. I was disgusted with my play. I would like to run away now God knows where...

But don't run far from yourself. Not Khlestakovs - so Chichikovs. Do you think there are fewer of these? Or have you not heard how in our time they commit fraud with " dead souls"?

Drawing: Igor Virabov

Nikolai Gogol: In this book, much is described incorrectly, not as it is and as it really happens in Russian soil... At every step I was stopped by questions: why? what is this for? What should such and such a character say? What should such and such a phenomenon express? The question is: what should you do when such questions come? Drive them away? I tried, but irresistible questions stood before me... Everything came out strained, forced, and even what I laughed at became sad.

Why is it sad? What did you see that was incorrect and wrong?

Nikolai Gogol: Russia had to develop from its beginnings. It was necessary to look at Europe without becoming related, without becoming exhausted. If a house has already been built according to one plan, you cannot destroy it. You can remove the decorations and perfectly decorate every corner in a European way. But breaking the main walls of a building is absurd, it’s almost the same as correcting the work of God. From this it happened that the Russian proper in Russia has made little progress, despite 100 years of continuous corrections, alterations, troubles and fuss.

Apparently, you are afraid of today's Europe, in which, out of political correctness, minorities are subjugated by the majority and, in order not to offend refugees from the East, they are afraid to decorate Christmas trees?

Nikolai Gogol: In Europe, such turmoil is now brewing everywhere that no human remedy will help when it opens up, and the fears that you now see in Russia will be an insignificant thing in front of them. There is still light in Russia, there are still ways and roads to salvation, and thank God that these fears have come now and not later.”

What about the “yellow vests”? Many people sleep and see how they can dump some kind of “Maidan” on our heads?

Nikolai Gogol: Russia is not France; the elements are French - not Russian. You have even forgotten the uniqueness of each nation... The same hammer, when it falls on glass, crushes it into pieces, and when it falls on iron, it forges it.

But we, economists say, are sitting on a dollar needle. Global finance, “Swifts”, something will be turned off, arrested, blocked - and everything will immediately collapse for us?

Nikolai Gogol: Your thoughts about finances are based on reading foreign books and English magazines, and therefore are dead thoughts. Shame on you for being smart person, have not yet entered into one’s own mind, which could have developed in its own way, but have cluttered it with foreign manure.

We recently published a comic book about the siege of Leningrad. Judging by this book, it is not clear what to save, why then they saved their world, their city. Or I’ll ask this: why should Bagration die for Borodino, if all of St. Petersburg sighs for its idol Napoleon and speaks more readily in French? How can we fix this when we go in circles all the time?

Nikolai Gogol: Some people think that with transformations and reforms, with conversions in this and that way, the world can be corrected; others think that through some special, rather mediocre literature, which you call fiction, one can influence the education of society. But neither unrest nor ardent heads will bring the welfare of society to a better state. The fermentation within cannot be corrected by any constitution.

That's reassuring, thank you!

Nikolai Gogol: The Russian man has an enemy, an irreconcilable, dangerous enemy, without which he would be a giant. This enemy is laziness or, better to say, a painful sleepiness that overcomes the Russian. Many thoughts, not accompanied by embodiment, have already perished fruitlessly among us.

What can cure us of sleeping sickness?

Nikolai Gogol: How smart Pushkin was in everything he said in the last part of his life! “Why is it necessary,” he said, “for one of us to become higher than all of us... A state without a full-powered monarch is an automaton: many, many, if it achieves what the United States has achieved. And what is the United States? Carrion; a man they have weathered to the point that they are not worth a damn..."

You talked about our common " soulful city", about the fact that “our spiritual covetous people” are hindering us. That is, everything low and vulgar that sits inside. And can you tell us how to get rid of them?

Nikolai Gogol: There is a remedy, there is a scourge that can drive them out. Laughter, my noble compatriots! Laughter, which all our base passions are so afraid of! Laughter, which was created to laugh at everything that disgraces true beauty person. Let's return laughter to its true meaning! Let us take it away from those who turned it into frivolous secular blasphemy over everything, without discerning either good or bad!

Well, you're back to laughing again. What about love? Many people swear in love - how to distinguish who really loves Russia, who is her friend, who is her foe?

Nikolai Gogol: If only a Russian loves Russia, he will love everything that is in Russia... Without the illnesses and suffering that have accumulated in such abundance inside her and which are our own fault, none of us would feel compassion for her. And compassion is already the beginning of love.

In the State Public historical library The exhibition "Gogol's Pearls from the GPIB Collection: Autographs, Rare Lifetime and Illustrated Editions" opened. The exhibition can be visited free of charge until April 4. Learn about books that cannot be borrowed from the library, about rare facts creative life Nikolai Gogol will be useful for schoolchildren, teachers, students, as well as bibliophiles.