Saltykova Shchedrin biography year of birth. Interesting facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin. Brief biography and works. Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: the last years of his life

These biographical essays were published about a hundred years ago in the series “The Lives of Remarkable People,” carried out by F.F. Pavlenkov (1839–1900). Written in the genre of poetic chronicle and historical and cultural research, new for that time, these texts retain their value to this day. Written for ordinary people`, for the Russian provinces, today they can be recommended not only to bibliophiles, but to the widest readership: both those who are not at all experienced in the history and psychology of great people, and those for whom these subjects are a profession.

From the series: Life of wonderful people

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by liters company.

Biographical sketch of S. N. Krivenko.

WITH portrait of M. E. Saltykov, engraved in Leipzig by Gedan.

CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

The proximity of death usually does not allow one to see the real magnitude of a person’s merits, and while the merits of some are exaggerated, the merits of others are undoubtedly presented in an understated form, even though no one doubted their existence and even their enemies paid them a silent tribute of respect. The latter also applies to Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov.

There are few names in Rus' that would speak so much to the mind and heart as his name; There are few writers who had such influence during their lifetime and left such an extensive literary legacy to society, a legacy rich and varied both in terms of internal content and external form and a very special language, which during their lifetime began to be called “Saltykovsky”. Adjacent in type of creativity directly to Gogol, he is in no way inferior to him either in originality or in the power of talent. Finally, there are few people who would be distinguished by such an integral character and would go through the field of life with such honor as he did.

Mikhail Evgrafovich was born on January 15, 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalyazinsky district, Tver province. His parents - his father, a collegiate adviser, Evgraf Vasilyevich, and his mother, Olga Mikhailovna, nee Zabelina, of a merchant family - were quite wealthy local landowners; He was baptized by his aunt Marya Vasilyevna Saltykova and the Uglich tradesman Dmitry Mikhailovich Kurbatov. The latter ended up as a successor in a noble house due to a rather exceptional previous circumstance, which Saltykov talks about in a humorous tone, both personally and then in “Poshekhonskaya Antiquity,” where Kurbatov is listed under the name of Barkhatov. This Kurbatov was famous for his piety and insight and, constantly going on pilgrimages to monasteries, he stopped along the way and stayed for quite a long time with the Saltykovs. He happened to visit them in the same way in 1826, shortly before Mikhail Evgrafovich was born. When asked by Olga Mikhailovna who would be born to her - a son or a daughter, he answered: “Cockerel, cockerel, voster marigold! He will conquer many adversaries and will be a female disperser.” When the son was actually born, he was named Mikhail, in honor of Michael the Archangel, and Kurbatov was invited to be the godfather.

The upbringing of landowners' children was carried out at that time according to a fairly common pattern, had some kind of abbreviated, factory-like character and did not abound in parental attention: children were usually raised and educated in a special half, first by a wet nurse, and then by nannies and governesses or uncles and tutors, then They were taught for up to ten years by parish priests and some “home teachers,” often from among their own serfs, and then they were sent to educational institutions, mainly state-run ones, or to some preparatory boarding schools. In general, this upbringing cannot be called rational, and Saltykov’s even more so because of the severity of the home regime and the rather exceptional family environment that was created on the basis of serfdom, and the subordination of the spineless father to the practical, businesslike mother, who thought most of all about the household. Little Saltykov saw a lot of both serfdom and family untruths, which offended human dignity and oppressed an impressionable child’s soul; but his gifted nature did not break, but, on the contrary, seemed to be tempered in the test and gathered strength in order to subsequently spread its wings widely over human untruth in general. One day we talked to him about memory - at what age does a person begin to remember himself and his surroundings - and he said to me: “Do you know from what moment my memory began? I remember being whipped, I don’t remember who exactly; but they flog me properly, with a rod, and the German woman - the governess of my older brothers and sisters - stands up for me, covers me with her palm from the blows and says that I am too young for this. I must have been two years old then, no more.” In general, Saltykov’s childhood was not replete with bright impressions.

“Poshekhon Antiquity,” which undoubtedly has an autobiographical meaning, is filled with the saddest colors and gives, if not literally accurate, then at least a fairly close picture of his home upbringing in the period up to the age of ten. Mikhail Evgrafovich had to grow up and study separately from his older brothers, who were already in educational institutions at that time, but still he remembered their childhood and experienced himself, although to a lesser extent, the same educational system in which corporal punishment V different types and forms were the main pedagogical technique. Children were forced to their knees, torn by the hair and ears, flogged, and most often fed with cuffs and beaters as a more convenient method.

“I remember the incessant crying of children, the incessant moans of children at the class table,” he makes his Shabby say, “I remember a whole retinue of governesses, following one after another and with a cruelty incomprehensible for the present time, pouring mallets right and left... They all fought inhumanly, and Maryu Even our strict mother called Andreevna (the daughter of a Moscow German shoemaker) a fury. So throughout her stay, the children’s ears were constantly covered with sores.”

The parents remained indifferent to all this, and the mother usually even intensified the punishment. It was the highest punitive authority. Saltykov did not like to remember his childhood, and when he remembered some of its individual features, he always remembered it with great bitterness. He didn’t blame anyone personally, but said that at that time the whole system, the whole order of life and relationships was like that. Neither those who punished and wasted punishment recognized themselves as cruel, nor did outsiders look at them like that; then they simply said: “You can’t do without this with children,” and this was the whole horror, much greater than the personal horrors, because it was this that made them possible and gave them the rights of citizenship. The external environment of childhood, in terms of hygiene, neatness and nutrition, also could not be boasted. Although the house had quite large and bright rooms, these were rooms front doors, the children were constantly crowded during the day in a small classroom, and at night in a common nursery, also small and with a low ceiling, where there were several cribs, and nannies slept on the floor, on felts. In the summer the children were still somewhat animated under the influence fresh air, but in winter they were positively sealed within four walls and not a single stream of fresh air reached them, because there were no windows in the house, and the room atmosphere was refreshed only by the fire of the stoves. They only knew one thing - to heat it hotter and wrap it up well. It was called gentle education. It is very possible that as a result of precisely these hygienic conditions, Saltykov subsequently turned out to be so frail and sickly. Neatness was also poorly maintained: children's rooms were often left unswept; The children's clothes were bad, most often altered from something old or passed down from older to younger. Add to this the servants, dressed in some kind of stinking, patched rags. The same can be said about the food: it was very meager. In this regard, landowner families were divided into two categories: in some, food was elevated to some kind of cult, they ate all day, ate entire fortunes, and children were also stuffed, overfed and made gluttons; in others, on the contrary, it was not just stinginess that prevailed, but some kind of incomprehensible hoarding: there always seemed to be little, and everything was a pity. Barns, glaciers, cellars and storerooms were bursting with provisions, many dishes were prepared, but not for themselves, but for guests; They served themselves on the table the leftovers and what was already beginning to deteriorate and was stale; there were a hundred or more cows in the barnyard, and skim milk, blue milk, etc., were served with tea.

This kind of order, and even to an increased degree, existed in the Saltykov family. But the moral and pedagogical conditions of education were even lower than the physical ones. There were constant quarrels between father and mother. Submitting to his mother and realizing his humiliation, the father repaid for this by showering her with impotent abuse, reproaches and reproaches on any occasion. The children were involuntary witnesses to this abuse, did not understand anything about it, but saw only that strength was on their mother’s side, but that she had somehow offended their father, although she usually listened to his abuse in silence, and therefore they felt an unaccountable fear of her, and towards him as a characterless person who could not protect not only them, but also himself, complete indifference. Saltykov said that neither father nor mother cared for them, that they grew up like strangers, and that he, at least, did not know at all what is called parental affection. The favorites were still caressed in a unique way, the rest were not. This very division of children into loved and unloved was bound to spoil the former and deeply offend the latter. Then, if unfair and severe punishments had a cruel effect on children, then the actions and conversations that took place in front of them revealed to them the whole underbelly of life; and the elders, unfortunately, even short time They did not consider it necessary to restrain themselves and, without the slightest hesitation, they turned out both the serf and any other mud.

More than once Saltykov complained about the lack of communication with nature in childhood, about the lack of a direct and living connection with its freedom, with its warmth and light, which have such an impact beneficial influence on a person, which fills his entire being and then passes through his entire life. And this is what we read in “Poshekhon Antiquity” on behalf of Zatrapezny: “...we became acquainted with nature by chance and in fits and starts - only during long journeys to Moscow or from one estate to another. The rest of the time everything around us was dark and silent.” No one had any idea about any hunting; occasionally they picked mushrooms and caught crucian carp in the pond, but “this fishing was purely economic in nature and had nothing in common with nature”; then, there were no live animals or birds in the house, so “we only knew animals and birds in salted, boiled and fried form.” This also affected his works: descriptions of nature are rare in him, and he is far from being such a master at such descriptions as, for example, Turgenev, Lermontov, Aksakov and others. However, northern nature could not give a child much joy either - poor and gloomy nature, which, in turn, produced a depressing impression not because of some majestic severity, but precisely because of poverty, inhospitability and a drab coloring. The area where Saltykov was born and where he spent his childhood was a backwater, even in the provincial part. It was a plain covered with coniferous forest and swamps, stretching without interruption for many tens of miles. The forests were burning, rotting on the roots and cluttered with dead wood and windbreaks; the swamps infected the surrounding area with miasma, the roads did not dry out in the most intense summer heat, and there was little running water. Small rivers barely flowed among the marshy swamps, sometimes forming stagnant ponds, sometimes completely lost under a thick veil of water thickets. In summer, the air was saturated with fumes and filled with clouds of insects that gave no rest to either people or animals.

In Saltykov’s childhood there were two circumstances that favored his development and the preservation in him of that spark of God, which later burned so brightly. One of these circumstances, which was essentially negative - that he grew up separately and that for some time there was less supervision over him - gave, however, positive result: he thought more, concentrated his thoughts on himself and those around him, and began to read and study on his own, learning to be active and independent, to rely on himself and believe in his own strength. There was almost nothing to read, since there were almost no books in the house, and therefore he read the textbooks left over from his older brothers. Among them, the Gospel made a special impression on him. This was the second circumstance that had the most decisive influence on him. He later remembered it as a life-giving ray that suddenly burst into his life and illuminated both his own existence and the darkness that surrounded him. He became acquainted with the Gospel not scholastically, but perceived it directly with the soul of a child. He was then eight or nine years old. We have no doubt that in the person of Zatrapezny he recalls precisely his acquaintance with the “Reading from the Four Evangelists.” Here are these wonderful lines:

“The main thing that I learned from reading the Gospel was that it sowed in my heart the beginnings of a universal conscience and called forth from the depths of my being something stable, yours, thanks to which the dominant way of life no longer enslaved me so easily. With the assistance of these new elements, I acquired a more or less solid basis for evaluating both my own actions and the phenomena and actions that took place in the environment around me... I began to recognize myself as a human being. Moreover, I transferred the right to this consciousness to others. Until now, I knew nothing about the hungry, or the thirsty and the burdened, but I saw only human individuals formed under the influence of the indestructible order of things; now these humiliated and insulted stood in front of me, illuminated by the light, and loudly cried out against the innate injustice that gave them nothing but shackles... And the excited thought was involuntarily transferred to the concrete reality of the girls’ room, to the table, where dozens of abused and tortured human beings were suffocating ... I can even say with confidence that this moment had an undoubted influence on the entire subsequent structure of my worldview. In this confession human image where, according to the strength of generally established conviction, only the desecrated image of a slave existed, this was the main and significant result that I learned from those attempts at self-education that I indulged in during the year.”

I can’t help but cite the following passage, remarkable in its depth of feeling, which speaks of Saltykov’s growing sympathy and attraction to the people - a process that shows an understanding of the people’s mood and close, organic connection this mood with his own state of mind:

“I understand that the most ardent religiosity can be accessible not only to teachers and theologians, but also to people who do not have a clear understanding of the meaning of the word “religion.” I understand that the most undeveloped, yoke-ridden commoner has every right to call himself religious, despite the fact that instead of a formulated prayer he brings to the temple only a tormented heart, tears and a chest filled with sighs. These tears and sighs represent a wordless prayer that lightens his soul and enlightens his being. Under her inspiration, he sincerely and fervently believes. He believes that there is something higher in the world than wild arbitrariness, that there is Truth in the world and that in its depths lies a Miracle that will come to his aid and lead him out of darkness. Let every new day confirm to him that there is no end to witchcraft; let the chains of slavery dig deeper and deeper into his exhausted body every hour... He believes that his misfortune is not indefinite and that the moment will come when the Truth will shine upon him along with others who are hungry and thirsty. And his faith will live until the source of tears in his eyes dries up and his last breath dies in his chest. Yes! Witchcraft is crumbling, the chains of slavery will fall, a light will appear that darkness will not defeat! If not life, then death will perform this miracle. It is not for nothing that at the foot of the temple in which he prays there is a rural cemetery where his fathers laid the bones. And they prayed the same wordless prayer, and they believed in the same miracle. And a miracle happened: death came and announced freedom to them. In turn, she will come to him, the believing son of believing fathers, and will give wings to the free one to fly to the kingdom of freedom, towards the free fathers...”

In another place, on behalf of the same Zatrapezny, Saltykov says even more clearly:

“Serfdom brought me closer to the forced masses. This may seem strange, but even now I still realize that serfdom played a huge role in my life, and that only after experiencing all its phases could I come to a complete conscious and passionate denial of it.”

In general, “Poshekhon Antiquity” is of great interest in relation to the author, because it throws light not only on his childhood, but also on his entire subsequent life. Although he appears there only sporadically, against the background of the general everyday picture, although we cannot follow him day after day, it is still clear how, under what influences and from what elements his character, his mental and moral character were formed . We repeat: it is impossible, of course, to say that everything happened exactly as it was told there, but much of what Saltykov personally told during his lifetime was reproduced by him with literal accuracy, even some names were preserved (for example, the midwife who received him, the Kalyazin bourgeois Ulyana Ivanovna, his first teacher Pavel, etc.) or only partially changed.

His first teacher was his own serf, the painter Pavel, who on the very birthday of Mikhail Evgrafovich, January 15, 1833, that is, when he turned seven years old, was ordered to begin teaching him to read and write, which he did, coming to class with with a pointer and starting with the ABCs. There is some inaccuracy here: when talking about Pavel’s first lesson to Zatrapezny, he says that before that he could neither read nor write, nor in English, not even in Russian, but only learned to chat in French around his older brothers and sisters and in German and learn by heart at the insistence of the governesses and speak congratulatory poems on the days of name days and births of parents; Meanwhile, the French poem cited in the 5th chapter of “Poshekhon Antiquity” turned out to be among Saltykov’s papers and was written in a child’s handwriting and signed as follows: “écrit par votre très humble fils Michel Saltykoff. Le 16 October 1832.” The boy was not yet seven years old at that time, therefore, one of two assumptions can be made: either that he read and wrote in French earlier than in Russian, or that the poem was written on his behalf by one of the older children. But this is a minor inaccuracy that is not worth dwelling on.

In 1834, Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov’s elder sister, Nadezhda Evgrafovna, left the Moscow Catherine Institute, and his further education was entrusted to her and her friend at the institute, Avdotya Petrovna Vasilevskaya, who entered the house as a governess. They were helped by the priest of the village of Zaozerye, Fr. Ivan Vasilyevich, who taught Saltykov Latin using Koshansky’s grammar, and student of the Trinity Theological Academy Matvey Petrovich Salmin, who was invited for two years in a row to summer vacations. Saltykov studied diligently and so well that in August 1836 he was admitted to the third class of the then six-grade Moscow Noble Institute, which had just been converted from a university boarding school. However, he had to stay in third grade for two years; but this is not due to bad success, but solely due to childhood. He continued to study well and in 1838 he was transferred as excellent student at the lyceum. The Moscow Noble Institute had the advantage of sending two of the best students to the lyceum every year and a half, where they entered for government support, and Saltykov was one of these.

At the Lyceum, already in the first grade, he felt an attraction to literature and began to write poetry. For this, as well as for reading books, he suffered all kinds of persecution both from tutors and the lyceum authorities, and especially from the Russian language teacher Grozdov. His talent was obviously not recognized. He was forced to hide poems, especially if their content might seem reprehensible, in the sleeves of his jacket and even in his boots, but contraband was found, and this had a strong influence on his behavioral grades: during the entire time he was in the lyceum, he received almost no income, at 12 -point system, over 9 points until the very last months before graduation, when everyone was usually given a full point. Therefore, the certificate issued to him reads: “when enough good behavior”, which means that the average behavior score for the last two years was below eight. And all this began with poetry, which was later joined by “rudeness”, that is, an undone button on a jacket or uniform, wearing a cocked hat from the “field”, and not according to the form (which was unusually difficult and constituted a whole science in itself), smoking tobacco and other school crimes.

Starting from the 2nd grade, the lyceum allowed students to subscribe to magazines at their own expense. Thus, Saltykov produced: “Domestic Notes”, “Library for Reading” (Senkovsky), “Son of the Fatherland” (Polevoy), “Lighthouse” (Burachka) and “Revue Etrangére”. The magazines were read voraciously by the pupils; The influence of “Domestic Notes” was especially strong, where he wrote critical articles Belinsky. In general, the influence of literature was then very strong in the lyceum: the memory of the recently deceased Pushkin seemed to oblige him to carry his banner, and his successor was expected at each course. Such successors were considered V. R. Zotov, N. P. Semenov (senator), L. A. Mei, V. P. Gaevsky and others, including Saltykov. His first poem “Lyre” was published in the “Library for Reading” in 1841, signed S-v. In 1842, another of his poems, “Two Lives,” signed by S. Then his works appeared in Sovremennik (Pletnev): in 1844, “Our Century,” “Spring,” and two translations, from Heine and Byron; in 1845 - “Winter Elegy”, “Evening” and “Music”. Under all these poems there is a signature: M. Saltykov. At that time he had already left the lyceum, but these poems were written there. He apparently didn’t write anything else in poetic form, at least he didn’t print it, but only sent for printing what was already in his portfolio, and didn’t give it away in the order of writing, but as it happens: things written later are written earlier , and the early ones - later. We will present some of these poems both in order to show how Saltykov wrote poetry, and in order to see the spiritual mood of the young man, the future outstanding writer, reflected in them.

(From Heine. 1841)

Oh sweet girl! fast

Direct your shuttle towards me!

Sit next to me and be quiet

We will talk in the dark.

And you are close to the heart of the sufferer

Press the young head -

After all, you entrust yourself to the sea

Both in storms and on clear days.

And my heart is the same sea -

It rages and boils,

And many priceless treasures

Keeps it at its clear bottom.

Music (1843)

I remember the evening: you played,

I listened to the sounds in horror,

The bloody moon flickered -

And the ancient hall was gloomy.

Your dead face, your suffering,

The grave sparkle of your eyes

And the lips are cold breath,

And the fluttering of breasts -

Everything brought a gloomy coldness.

You played... I was shaking all over,

And the echo repeated the sounds,

And the old hall was scary...

Play, play: let the torment

Fill my soul with longing;

My love lives on suffering

And peace is terrible for her!

Our Century (1844)

In our strange age, everything strikes with sadness.

No wonder: we are used to meeting

Work every day; everything imposes

We have a special stamp on our souls,

We are in a hurry to live. Without purpose, without meaning

Life drags on, passes day after day -

Where, to what? We don't know about that.

Our whole life is a vague kind of doubt.

We live in a heavy sleep, immersed in it.

How boring everything is: infant dreams

Full of some kind of secret sadness,

And the joke was somehow said through tears!

And our lyre blows after life

Terrible emptiness: hard!

A tired mind will stagnate untimely,

And the feeling in him is silent, lulled.

What's fun in life? Unwittingly

Silent sorrow will come to the soul

And the shadow of doubt will darken the heart...

No, really, life is both sad and painful!..

The author’s melancholic mood, sadness and questions about why life is so sad and what is the reason for this are definitely heard and sound with sincerity and depth. Life at that time really had little joy in it and was replete with difficult pictures of lawlessness and tyranny. To do this, you didn’t have to live long or go far, but it was enough to see serfdom alone. But you feel that this mood does not smack of disappointment, which makes you fold your hands, nor does it resemble barren melancholy, but, on the contrary, you can already hear in it a note of effective love (“my love lives in suffering and peace is terrible for it!”), which then it flared up brighter and brighter and did not go out until his very last days. He soon stopped writing poetry, either because they were not good for him, or because the form itself did not correspond to his mentality, but the mood remained, and the thought continued to work in the same direction.

“Even within the walls of the lyceum,” says Mr. Skabichevsky, “Saltykov abandoned his dreams of becoming the second Pushkin. Subsequently, he did not even like it when anyone reminded him of the poetic sins of his youth, blushing, frowning on this occasion and trying in every possible way to hush up the conversation. Once he even expressed a paradox about poets: that, in his opinion, they were all crazy people. “For mercy,” he explained, “isn’t it crazy to rack your brains for hours on end in order to squeeze living, natural human speech, at all costs, into measured rhymed lines! It’s the same as if someone suddenly decided to walk only on a spread out rope, and certainly crouch down at every step.” “Of course,” adds Mr. Skabichevsky, “this was nothing more than one of the satirical hyperboles of the great humorist, because in fact he was a subtle connoisseur and connoisseur of good poetry, and Nekrasov was constantly one of the first to read his new poems to him.”

Several lines by A. Ya. Golovacheva about Saltykov the lyceum student in her literary “Memoirs” relate to the time we are talking about: “... I saw him in the early forties in the house of M. Ya. Yazykov. Even then he did not have a cheerful expression on his face. His big gray eyes looked sternly at everyone, and he was always silent. He always sat not in the room where all the guests were sitting, but was placed in another, opposite the door, and from there he listened carefully to the conversations.” The smile of the “gloomy lyceum student” was considered a miracle. According to Yazykov, Saltykov went to him “to look at the writers.” The idea of ​​becoming a writer himself was obviously deeply ingrained in him. In addition, as we have already said, at the lyceum of that time they were interested in literature and read a lot; reading itself raised questions that worried and tormented, demanded answers and gave rise to a natural desire to hear the living word smart people. In addition to those who were discharged periodicals, read at the Lyceum and much more. K.K. Arsenyev says in “Materials for the biography of M.E. Saltykov” that “even in the late forties, early fifties, after the thunderstorm of 1848, after the case of the Petrashevites, in which it was no coincidence that many of the former lyceum students were involved ( Petrashevsky, Speshnev, Kashkin, Evropeus), other ideas that inspired the young man Saltykov wandered among the students of the lyceum.”

Saltykov graduated from the lyceum with first grade. At that time, as now, those who completed the course were graduated from the lyceum with the rank of IX, X and XII classes, depending on their success in science and “behavior.” Since Saltykov received bad scores for behavior And by subject I didn’t try very hard, so I came out with the rank of X class, seventeenth on the list. Of the 22 students from the class of 1844, 12 were graduated IX, 5-X and 5-XII. TO middle group and belonged to our lyceum student. It is curious that Pushkin, Delvig, and Mei left the lyceum with the rank of X class. Of Saltykov’s comrades at the Lyceum, who were at the same time with him both in his and other courses, none of them made such a big literary name like him, although many wrote and tried to write; in relation to social activities there is also no more distinguished name; and in their service, many reached high positions: for example, Count A.P. Bobrinsky, Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky (ambassador in Vienna) and others. Upon completion of the course, Saltykov entered service in the office of the War Ministry under Count Chernyshev.

He did not retain good memories of the lyceum and did not like to remember it. “I remember school,” he wrote ten years after graduation in one of his essays, “but somehow it resurrects in my imagination gloomily and uninvitingly...” On the contrary, the time of youth, youthful hopes and beliefs, a passionate desire from the impenetrable darkness to light and truth, comrades who strived for the same ideals with which he thought and worried together, are remembered more than once and with pleasure. Comparing what was in pre-reform Russia at the time with what was in Europe, young people were especially fascinated by France.

“For me, the memory of my youth, that is, the forties, is inextricably linked with the idea of ​​France and Paris,” we read in another essay by Saltykov. And not only for me personally, but also for all of us, our peers, these two words contained something radiant, luminous, which warmed our lives and, in a certain sense, even determined its content. As you know, in the forties, Russian literature (and after it, of course, the young reading public) was divided into two camps: Westerners and Slavophiles. There was also a third camp, in which the Bulgarins, Brandts, Puppeteers, etc. swarmed around, but this camp no longer had the slightest influence on the younger generation, and we knew it only to the extent that it showed itself to be related to the department of the deanery. At that time I had just left school and, brought up on Belinsky’s articles, naturally joined the Westerners.”

Telling further that he did not, in fact, join the most extensive and the only authoritative then, in literature, a circle of Westerners who studied German philosophy, and to an unknown circle that instinctively clung to French idealists, to France, not official, but to the one that strived for the best and set broad tasks for humanity, Saltykov says: in France “everything was clear like day... everything seemed to have just begun. And not only now, at this moment, but for more than half a century in a row everything began, and again, and again, and did not express the slightest desire to end. We followed with genuine excitement the ups and downs of the drama of the last two years of the reign of Louis Philippe and enthusiastically read the “History of the Decade”... Louis Philippe and Guizot, and Duchatel, and Thiers - all of these were, as it were, personal enemies, whose success was saddened by failure pleased. The trial of Minister Testa, the agitation in favor of electoral reform, Guizot’s arrogant speeches... all this still appears so vividly in my memory as if it happened yesterday.” “France seemed like a wonderland. Was it possible, having a young heart in my chest, not to be captivated by this inexhaustibility? life creativity, which, in addition, did not at all agree to concentrate within certain boundaries, but was eager to capture further and further?”

If we add to this that Saltykov was a Russian man in the best sense of the word, he was firmly connected with his whole being with Russian life and passionately loved his native country and people, he loved them not at all with sentimental, but with a living and active love that does not turn a blind eye to shortcomings and dark sides, but is looking for ways to eliminate them and ways to happiness, we will see that he entered life, if not a completely ready person, then a person, in any case, already with a fairly definite worldview and a fairly definite criterion, which only had to develop further and become stronger. Saltykov’s love for Russia was rarely expressed in any praises, but was expressed so often and in so many works that I would complicate the reader with evidence and quotations. Complaining about the lack of communication with nature in childhood, describing the meager northern nature of the outback in which he was destined to be born, he is imbued with a very special tenderness and love for her. Even in “Provincial Sketches” we read the following:

“I love this poor nature, perhaps because, whatever she is, she still belongs to me; she became close to me in the same way as I became close to her; she cherished my youth; she witnessed the first worries of my heart, and since then the best part of me has belonged to her. Take me to Switzerland, to India, to Germany, surround me with whatever luxurious nature you want, throw whatever transparent and blue sky you want over this nature - I will still find everywhere the lovely gray tones of my homeland, because I carry them everywhere and always in my heart, because my soul keeps them as its best asset.”

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The given introductory fragment of the book Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. His life and literary activity(S. N. Krivenko) provided by our book partner -

On January 15, 1826, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was born in a small village in the Tver province. The biography of this man is thoroughly permeated with philanthropy and contempt for the reactionary state apparatus of his time. However, first things first.

Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich: biography of his early years

Future famous writer was born into the family of a wealthy nobleman. By the way, Saltykov is his real name. Shchedrin is a creative pseudonym. The boy spent the first years of his life on his father's family estate. The most difficult years of serfdom occurred during this period. When the scientific and technological revolution had already occurred or was taking place in most states, and capitalist relations were developing, the Russian Empire became increasingly mired in its own medieval way of life. And in order to somehow keep up with the development of the great powers, the state machine worked more and more actively, extensively squeezing all the juices out of peasant class. Actually, all further biography Saltykov-Shchedrin eloquently testifies to the fact that he had sufficient opportunity to observe the situation of the peasants in his youth.

This greatly impressed the young man and left an imprint on all his further work. Primary education Mikhail receives it in his home, and being ten years old, he enters the Moscow Institute of Nobility. Here he studied for only two years, showing extraordinary abilities. And already in 1838 he was transferred to receive a state scholarship for his studies. Six years later, he graduates from this educational institution and enters the ministerial military office to serve.

Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: the beginning creative activity

Here the young man is seriously interested in the literature of his time, voraciously reading French educators and socialists. During this period, his first own stories were written: “Contradictions”, “A Confused Affair”, “Notes of the Fatherland”. However, the nature of these works, full of freethinking and satire on the tsarist autocracy, even then turned state power against the young official.

Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: creative recognition and acceptance by state authorities

In 1848, Mikhail Evgrafovich went into exile in Vyatka. There he enters the service as a clerical official. This period ended in 1855, when the writer was finally allowed to leave this city. Returning from exile, he is appointed as an official for special assignments under the State Minister of Internal Affairs. In 1860 he became the Tver vice-governor. At the same time, the writer resumes his creative activity. Already in 1862, he retired from public office and focused on literature. At the invitation of Sergei Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin comes to St. Petersburg and gets a job in the editorial office of Sovremennik. Here, and later in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, where he ended up under the patronage of the same Nekrasov, they are held

the most fruitful years of his creative activity. Many stories, satirical articles and, of course, the famous grotesque novels: “The History of a City”, “A Modern Idyll” and others - were written in the second half of 1860-1870.

Biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin: recent years life

In the 1880s, the writer’s satirical works increasingly enjoyed fame among the intelligentsia, but at the same time they were increasingly persecuted by the tsarist regime. Thus, the closure of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, where he was published, forced Mikhail Evgrafovich to look for publishing houses abroad. This printing ban home country greatly undermined the health of an already middle-aged man. And although he also wrote the famous “Fairy Tales” and “Poshekhon Antiquity,” over the course of several years he grew very old, his strength was rapidly leaving him. On May 10, 1889, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin died. The writer, in accordance with his request in his will, was buried in St. Petersburg, next to the grave of I.S. Turgenev.

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is a famous Russian writer, journalist, editor, and government official. His works are included in the required school curriculum. It’s not for nothing that the writer’s fairy tales are called that - they contain not only caricature ridicule and grotesquery, thereby the author emphasizes that man is the arbiter of his own destiny.

Childhood and youth

The genius of Russian literature comes from a noble family. Father Evgraf Vasilyevich was a quarter of a century older than his wife Olga Mikhailovna. The daughter of a Moscow merchant got married at the age of 15 and followed her husband to the village of Spas-Ugol, which was then located in the Tver province. There, on January 15, 1826, according to the new style, the youngest of six children, Mikhail, was born. In total, three sons and three daughters grew up in the Saltykov family (Shchedrin is part of the pseudonym that followed over time).

According to the descriptions of researchers of the writer's biography, the mother, who over time turned from a cheerful girl into an imperious mistress of the estate, divided the children into favorites and hateful ones. Little Misha was surrounded by love, but sometimes he also got whipped. There was constant screaming and crying at home. As Vladimir Obolensky wrote in his memoirs about the Saltykov-Shchedrin family, in conversations the writer described his childhood in gloomy colors, once saying that he hated “this terrible woman,” talking about his mother.

Saltykov knew French and German languages, received an excellent primary education at home, which allowed him to enter the Moscow Noble Institute. From there the boy, who showed remarkable diligence, ended up on full state support in a privileged Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, in which education was equated to university education, and graduates were assigned ranks according to the Table of Ranks.

Both educational institutions were famous for producing the elite of Russian society. Among the graduates are Prince Mikhail Obolensky, Anton Delvig, Ivan Pushchin. However, unlike them, Saltykov turned from a wonderful, smart boy into an unkempt, foul-mouthed boy who often sat in a punishment cell and never made close friends. It’s not for nothing that Mikhail’s classmates nicknamed him “The Gloomy Lyceum Student.”

The atmosphere within the walls of the lyceum promoted creativity, and Mikhail, in imitation of his predecessors, began to write freethinking poetry. This behavior did not go unnoticed: a graduate of the lyceum, Mikhail Saltykov, received the rank of collegiate secretary, although for his academic success he was given a higher rank - titular adviser.

After graduating from the lyceum, Mikhail got a job in the office of the military department and continued composing. In addition, I became interested in the works of French socialists. The themes raised by the revolutionaries were reflected in the first stories, “Entangled Affair” and “Contradictions.”

It’s just that the novice writer didn’t guess right with the source of publication. The magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” at that time was under unspoken political censorship and was considered ideologically harmful.

By decision of the supervisory commission, Saltykov was sent into exile to Vyatka, to the office of the governor. In exile, in addition to official affairs, Mikhail studied the history of the country, translated the works of European classics, traveled a lot and communicated with the people. Saltykov almost remained to vegetate in the provinces forever, even though he had risen to the rank of adviser to the provincial government: in 1855 he was crowned on the imperial throne, and they simply forgot about the ordinary exile.

Peter Lanskoy, a representative of the noble, came to the rescue noble family, second husband. With the assistance of his brother, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail was returned to St. Petersburg and given a position as an official of special assignments in this department.

Literature

Mikhail Evgrafovich is considered one of the brightest satirists of Russian literature, masterfully speaking the Aesopian language, whose novels and stories have not lost their relevance. For historians, the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin are a source of knowledge of morals and customs common in Russian Empire 19th century. The writer is the author of such terms as “bungling”, “soft-bodied” and “stupidity”.

Upon returning from exile, Saltykov reworked his experience of communicating with officials of the Russian hinterland and, under the pseudonym Nikolai Shchedrin, published a series of stories “Provincial Sketches,” recreating the characteristic types of Russian residents. The work was a great success; the name of the author, who subsequently wrote many books, will be primarily associated with the “Essays”; researchers of the writer’s work will call them a landmark stage in the development of Russian literature.

The stories describe ordinary hard-working people with particular warmth. Creating images of nobles and officials, Mikhail Evgrafovich spoke not only about the foundations of serfdom, but also focused on the moral side of representatives of the upper class and the moral foundations of statehood.

The pinnacle of the Russian prose writer’s work is considered to be “The History of a City.” The satirical story, full of allegory and grotesquery, was not immediately appreciated by his contemporaries. Moreover, the author was initially accused of mocking society and trying to denigrate historical facts.

The main characters, the mayors, show a rich palette human characters and social foundations - bribe takers, careerists, indifferent, obsessed with absurd goals, outright fools. The common people appear as a blindly submissive gray mass, ready to endure everything, which acts decisively only when it finds itself on the brink of death.

Saltykov-Shchedrin ridiculed such cowardice and cowardice in “The Wise Piskar.” The work, despite the fact that it is called a fairy tale, is not addressed to children at all. The philosophical meaning of the story about the fish endowed human qualities, lies in the fact that a lonely existence, focused only on one’s own well-being, is insignificant.

Another fairy tale for adults - “ Wild landowner", a lively and cheerful work with a slight touch of cynicism, in which the simple working people are openly opposed to the tyrant landowner.

Literary creativity Saltykov-Shchedrin received additional support when the prose writer began working in the editorial office of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. The general management of the publication since 1868 belonged to the poet and publicist.

At the personal invitation of the latter, Mikhail Evgrafovich headed the first department dealing with the publication of fiction and translated works. Bulk own compositions Saltykova-Shchedrin also appeared on the pages of Notes.

Among them is “The Monrepos Shelter”, according to literary scholars - a tracing paper family life the writer who became vice-governor, “The Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg” - a book about adventurers that are not translated into Rus', “Pompadours and Pompadours,” “Letters from the Province.”

In 1880, the epoch-making highly social novel “The Golovlevs” was published as a separate book - a story about a family in which the main goal is enrichment and an idle lifestyle, children have long turned into a burden for the mother, in general the family does not live according to God’s law and, without noticing moreover, moving towards self-destruction.

Personal life

Mikhail Saltykov met his wife Elizaveta in exile in Vyatka. The girl turned out to be the daughter of the writer’s immediate superior, Vice-Governor Apollo Petrovich Boltin. The official made a career in education, economic, military and police departments. At first, the experienced campaigner was wary of the freethinker Saltykov, but over time the men became friends.

Lisa's family name was Betsy; the girl called the writer, who was 14 years older than her, Michel. However, Boltin was soon transferred for service to Vladimir, and his family left for him. Saltykov was forbidden to leave the territory Vyatka province. But, according to legend, he twice violated the ban in order to see his beloved.

The writer’s mother, Olga Mikhailovna, categorically opposed the marriage to Elizaveta Apollonovna: not only is the bride too young, but the dowry given for the girl is not substantial. The difference in years also raised doubts among the Vladimir vice-governor. Mikhail agreed to wait one year.

The young people got married in June 1856, but the groom’s mother did not come to the wedding. Relationships in new family Things were complicated, the spouses often quarreled, the difference in character was evident: Mikhail was straightforward, quick-tempered, and people in the house were afraid of him. Elizabeth, on the contrary, is soft and patient, not burdened with knowledge of science. Saltykov did not like his wife’s affectation and coquetry; he called his wife’s ideals “not very demanding.”

According to the memoirs of Prince Vladimir Obolensky, Elizaveta Apollonovna entered the conversation at random and made remarks that were not relevant to the matter. The nonsense uttered by the woman baffled the interlocutor and angered Mikhail Evgrafovich.

Elizabeth loved beautiful life and required appropriate financial support. The husband, who had risen to the rank of vice-governor, could still contribute to this, but he constantly got into debt and called the acquisition of property a careless act. From the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin and studies of the writer’s life, it is known that he played the piano, knew about wines and was known as an expert in profanity.

However, Elizabeth and Mikhail lived together all their lives. The wife copied her husband’s works, turned out to be a good housewife, and after the writer’s death she wisely managed the inheritance, thanks to which the family did not experience need. The marriage produced a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Konstantin. The children did not show themselves in any way, which upset the famous father, who loved them boundlessly. Saltykov wrote:

“My children will be unhappy, no poetry in their hearts, no bright memories.”

Death

The health of the middle-aged writer, who suffered from rheumatism, was greatly undermined by the closure of Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1884. In a joint decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Justice and Public Education, the publication was recognized as a disseminator of harmful ideas, and the editorial staff were recognized as members of a secret society.

Last months Saltykov-Shchedrin spent his life in bed, asking his guests to tell them: “I’m very busy - I’m dying.” Mikhail Evgrafovich died in May 1889 from complications caused by a cold. According to his will, the writer was buried next to his grave at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

• According to one source, Mikhail Evgrafovich does not belong to the aristocratic boyar family of the Saltykovs. According to others, his family are descendants of an untitled branch of the family.
• Mikhail Saltykov - Shchedrin coined the word “softness”.
• Children appeared in the writer’s family after 17 years of marriage.

• There are several versions of the origin of the pseudonym Shchedrin. First: many peasants with that last name lived on the Saltykov estate. Second: Shchedrin is the name of a merchant, a participant in the schismatic movement, whose case the writer investigated due to his official duties. “French” version: one of the translations of the word “generous” into French– liberal. It was precisely the excessive liberal chatter that the writer exposed in his works.

Bibliography

• 1857 – “Provincial Sketches”
• 1869 – “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”
• 1870 – “The History of a City”
• 1872 – “Diary of a provincial in St. Petersburg”
• 1879 – “Asylum of Monrepos”
• 1880 – “Gentlemen Golovlevs”
• 1883 – “The Wise Minnow”
• 1884 – “Crucian carp the idealist”
• 1885 – “Horse”
• 1886 – “The Raven Petitioner”
• 1889 – “Poshekhon antiquity”

Born into the wealthy family of Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, a hereditary nobleman and collegiate adviser, and Olga Mikhailovna Zabelina. He received a home education - his first mentor was the serf artist Pavel Sokolov. Later, young Michael was educated by a governess, a priest, a seminary student and his older sister. At the age of 10, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin entered the Moscow Noble Institute, where he demonstrated great academic success.

In 1838, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. There, for his academic success, he was transferred to study at state expense. At the Lyceum, he began to write “free” poetry, ridiculing the shortcomings around him. The poems were weak, soon future writer stopped studying poetry and did not like being reminded of the poetic experiences of his youth.

In 1841, the first poem "Lyra" was published.

In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, Mikhail Saltykov entered service in the office of the War Ministry, where he wrote free-thinking works.

In 1847, the first story, “Contradictions,” was published.

On April 28, 1848, for the story “A Confused Affair,” Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was sent on official transfer to Vyatka - away from the capital and into exile. There he had an impeccable work reputation, did not take bribes and, enjoying great success, was allowed into all houses.

In 1855, having received permission to leave Vyatka, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin left for St. Petersburg, where a year later he became an official of special assignments under the Minister of Internal Affairs.

In 1858, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was appointed vice-governor of Ryazan.

In 1860 he was transferred to Tver as vice-governor. During the same period, he actively collaborated with the magazines “Moskovsky Vestnik”, “Russian Vestnik”, “Library for Reading”, “Sovremennik”.

In 1862, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin retired and tried to found a magazine in Moscow. But the publishing project failed and he moved to St. Petersburg.

In 1863, he became an employee of the Sovremennik magazine, but due to microscopic fees he was forced to return to service.

In 1864, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was appointed chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber, and was later transferred to Tula in the same position.

In 1867, as head of the Treasury Chamber, he was transferred to Ryazan.

In 1868, he again retired with the rank of a truly state councilor and wrote his main works “The History of a City,” “Poshekhon Antiquity,” “The Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg,” and “The History of a City.”

In 1877, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin became the editor-in-chief of Otechestvennye zapiski. He travels around Europe and meets Zola and Flaubert.

In 1880, the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” was published.

In 1884, the journal “Domestic Notes” was closed by the government and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin’s health condition deteriorated sharply. He has been sick for a long time.

In 1889, the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” was published.

In May 1889, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin fell ill with a cold and died on May 10. He was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.