“Neither man nor nation can exist without a higher idea.
And the highest idea on earth is only one, and that is the idea of the immortality of the human soul …"
F. M. Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich's paternal ancestors moved to Ukraine from Lithuania in the seventeenth century. The writer's grandfather was a priest, and his father, Mikhail Andreevich, at the age of twenty went to Moscow, where he graduated from the Medical-Surgical Academy. In 1819 he married the merchant's daughter, Maria Fedorovna Nechaeva. Soon their firstborn son Mikhail was born, and a year later, on November 11, 1821, their second son, named Fyodor, was born. By 1837, when Maria Feodorovna died of consumption, the Dostoevsky family had five children. They lived at the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital, where Mikhail Andreevich worked as a doctor. In 1828 he became a collegiate assessor, receiving hereditary nobility, as well as the right to acquire serfs and land. Dostoevsky the elder did not fail to take advantage of this right, acquiring in 1831 the Darovoe estate, located in the Tula province. Since then, the family of Fyodor Mikhailovich moved to their own estate for the summer.
Of all the Dostoevsky children, the two older brothers were especially close to each other. They received their primary education at home, and from 1834 they studied at the boarding school of Leonty Chermak. By the way, they were very lucky with the boarding house - the best university professors taught there. Fyodor Dostoevsky in his early years was a rather lively and inquisitive little boy - to such an extent that Mikhail Andreevich frightened him with his "red hat", that is, with soldier's service. However, over the years, the character of Fedor has changed, already in adolescence he preferred to "isolate himself from those around him", with the exception of his brother Mikhail, to whom he trusted the most sincere thoughts. Instead of the entertainments that were usual for his age, Dostoevsky read a lot, especially romantic writers and adherents of sentimentalism.
In May 1837, Mikhail Andreevich, who had lost his beloved wife, brought his eldest sons to St. Petersburg and submitted a petition to assign them to the Main Engineering School. For more than six months, the brothers studied at the preparatory boarding school of Captain Kostomarov. During this time, Mikhail developed health problems, and he was sent to Revel in the Engineering team. Fyodor, at the beginning of 1838, having successfully passed the entrance exams, entered the Engineering School, taking the vacancy of a conductor. The future writer studied without passion, and his lack of communication grew. Fellow students noted that the young man does not live a real life, but the one that is happening on the pages of the books of Shakespeare, Schiller, Walter Scott that he read … His father, Mikhail Andreevich, having retired, settled on his estate and led a life that was far from decent. He acquired concubines, became addicted to drinking, and treated his serfs too harshly and not always with justice. Finally, in 1839, local men killed him. From now on, Peter Karepin, the husband of their sister Varvara, became the Dostoevskys' guardian.
Two years later, Fyodor Mikhailovich received the first officer's rank, and with him the opportunity to live outside the walls of the school. It was here that the whole economic impracticality of the young man was revealed. Receiving considerable support from Karepin, he, nevertheless, managed to fall almost into poverty. At the same time, his literary studies became more and more serious, and his studies at the Engineering School - less and less successful. After graduating from an educational institution in 1843, Fyodor Mikhailovich retired a year later (in October 1844) with the rank of lieutenant. His service in the St. Petersburg team was far from outstanding. According to one legend, on the drawings made by Dostoevsky, Tsar Nicholas wrote with his own hand: "And what fool was drawing this?"
Meanwhile, the young man worked with inspiration on his first composition - the novel Poor People. In May 1845 Fyodor Mikhailovich introduced Dmitry Grigorovich, with whom he rented an apartment, with the fourth edition of his work. Dmitry Vasilievich, in turn, was a member of Vissarion Belinsky's circle. Very soon the manuscript was put on the table of the famous literary critic, and a few days later Vissarion Grigorievich announced that the author of the work was a genius. So in the blink of an eye Dostoevsky became a famous writer.
The newly-minted writer published his first work in the Petersburg Collection with the support of Nekrasov at the beginning of 1846. An interesting fact is that a young man in dire need of money had the opportunity to “sell” his work to Otechestvennye Zapiski by Kraevsky for four hundred rubles and publish it already in the fall of 1845, however, he agreed to a delay in publication and a lower fee (only 150 rubles). Later, Nekrasov, tormented by remorse, paid Fyodor Mikhailovich another hundred rubles, but this did not change anything. It was more important for Dostoevsky to be published in the same clip with the writers of the Petersburg Collection, and thus he joined the "progressive trend."
Perhaps before Fyodor Mikhailovich there was no writer in Russia who entered literature so triumphantly. His first novel was published only at the beginning of 1846, however, in the then educated environment, Belinsky's authority was so high that one of his spoken words could put someone on a pedestal or throw off him. Throughout the autumn of 1845, after returning from his brother from Revel, Dostoevsky wore celebrities. The stylistics of his message to Mikhail of that time strongly smacked of Khlestakovism: “I think my fame will never reach such a climax as it is now. Everywhere incredible reverence, terrible curiosity about me. Prince Odoevsky asks to make him happy with a visit, and Count Sologub tears his hair out of despair. Panaev told him that a talent had appeared that would trample everyone in the mud … Everyone accepts me as a miracle. I can't even open my mouth so that they don't repeat in all corners that Dostoevsky said something, Dostoevsky is going to do something. Belinsky adores me as much as possible …"
Alas, this love was released for a very short time. Already after the publication in February 1846 in the "Otechestvennye zapiski" "The Double", the enthusiasm of the praises diminished markedly. Vissarion Grigorievich still continued to defend his protégé, but after a while he also “washed his hands”. "Mistress", which came out at the end of 1847, was already declared by him "terrible nonsense", and a little later Belinsky in a letter to Annenkov said: "We are pouting, my friend, with the" genius "Dostoevsky!" Fyodor Mikhailovich himself was very upset about the failure of his works and even fell ill. The situation, by the way, was aggravated by malicious ridicule on the part of former friends from Belinsky's circle. If earlier they limited themselves to gentle teasing, now they have begun to really persecute the writer. The caustic Ivan Turgenev especially succeeded in it - it was at this time that the enmity of these outstanding Russian writers began.
It should be noted that the bookish preferences of the young Dostoevsky were not limited only to the sphere of fine literature. In 1845 he became seriously interested in socialist theories, having studied Proudhon, Cabet, Fourier. And in the spring of 1846 he met Mikhail Petrashevsky. In January 1847 Fyodor Mikhailovich, having finally broken with Belinsky and his circle, began to attend Petrashevsky's "Fridays", known throughout St. Petersburg. Radically-minded young people gathered here, reading reports on fashionable social systems, discussing international news and book novelties offering new interpretations of Christianity. Young people were in beautiful dreams and often allowed themselves careless statements. Of course, a provocateur was present at these meetings - reports on the "evenings" were regularly placed on the table of the chief of gendarmes, Alexei Orlov. At the very end of 1848, several young people, dissatisfied with the "empty chatter", organized a special secret circle, which set the goal of a violent seizure of power. It even went so far as to create a secret printing house. Dostoevsky was one of the most active members of this circle.
The misfortune of the Petrashevites was that they fell under the hot hand of the tsar. The revolutions in Europe in 1848 seriously worried Nicholas, and he took an active part in the suppression of any popular uprisings. The number of students was drastically reduced in the country, and there was talk of a possible closure of universities. In such conditions, the Petrashevites looked like real troublemakers and rioters, and on April 22, 1849 Nicholas I, having read another report on them, imposed the following resolution: “If there was only one lie, then it is intolerable and criminally to the highest degree. Get involved in the arrest. " Not even a day passed when all the suspects were thrown into the Peter and Paul Fortress. Fyodor Mikhailovich spent eight long months alone. It is curious that while his friends were going crazy and attempting suicide, Dostoevsky wrote perhaps his brightest work - the story "The Little Hero".
The death penalty for the "intruders" was scheduled for December 22, the writer was in the second "troika". At the very last moment, a pardon was announced, and instead of being shot, Dostoevsky received four years of hard labor, "and then a private." On Christmas Day 1850 Fyodor Mikhailovich left St. Petersburg in shackles and after half a month arrived at the Omsk fortress, where in terrible, inhuman conditions he was destined to live for the next four years. By the way, on the way to Omsk the Petrashevsky prisoners (Dostoevsky was traveling with Yastrzhembsky and Durov) secretly visited the wives of the Decembrists in Tobolsk - Annenkov and Fonvizin. They gave Dostoevsky the Gospel, in the binding of which ten rubles were hidden. It is known that Fyodor Mikhailovich never parted with this Gospel all his life.
While staying in the Omsk fortress, Dostoevsky wrote to his brother: "These four years I consider the time in which I was buried alive and closed in a coffin … This suffering is endless and inexpressible." In hard labor, the writer experienced a spiritual upheaval, which led to the abandonment of the romantic dreams of his youth. He formulated the result of Omsk reflections in his letters: “Not as a boy, I believe in Christ and confess Him, but my hosanna passed through a large crucible of doubts … than with the truth. " Dostoevsky devoted his "Notes from the House of the Dead" to his convict years, surpassing any other work of Russian literature in the power of merciless analysis. In hard labor, it also became finally clear that Fyodor Mikhailovich was sick with epilepsy. Unusual seizures occurred in him in St. Petersburg, but then they were attributed to the excessive excitability of the young man. In 1857, the Siberian physician Ermakov dispelled all doubts by giving the writer a certificate that he had epilepsy.
In February 1854 Dostoevsky was released from the Omsk convict prison and assigned as a private in the battalion based in Semipalatinsk. Coming out of the coffin, the writer received permission to read and peppered his brother with requests to send literature. In addition, while serving in Semipalatinsk, Fyodor Mikhailovich made friends with two people who brightened his life a little. The first comrade was the young prosecutor Alexander Wrangel, who arrived in the city in 1854. The baron gave Dostoevsky his own apartment, where the writer could forget about his hard lot - here he read books with a shank in his teeth and discussed his literary ideas with Alexander Yegorovich. In addition to him, Dostoevsky made friends with the very young Chokan Valikhanov, who served as an adjutant to the governor-general of Western Siberia, and who, despite his short life, was destined to become the most prominent Kazakh educator.
Once in the "high society" of Semipalatinsk, Fyodor Mikhailovich met a local official, a drunken drunkard, Isaev, and his wife, Maria Dmitrievna, with whom he fell passionately in love. In the spring of 1855 Isaev was transferred to Kuznetsk (today the city of Novokuznetsk), ironically, the manager of tavern affairs. He died three months later. Maria Dmitrievna was left alone in a strange city and among strangers, penniless and with her teenage son in her arms. Upon learning of this, the writer thought about marriage. However, this was a serious obstacle - the social position of Dostoevsky. Fyodor Mikhailovich undertook titanic efforts to overcome this, in particular, he composed three patriotic odes and, through acquaintances, passed them on to the highest state institutions. Finally, in the fall of 1855, the writer was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and a year later - to officer, which opened his way to marriage. In February 1857, Dostoevsky got married in Kuznetsk with Isaeva and returned to Semipalatinsk as a family man. However, on the way back, his wife witnessed a seizure that happened to her new husband as a result of wedding troubles. After that, a tragic breakdown occurred in their relationship.
In March 1859 Fyodor Mikhailovich received the coveted resignation. At first, he was not allowed to live in the capitals, but soon this ban was also lifted, and in December 1859 - after a ten-year absence - the writer appeared in St. Petersburg. It should be noted that he returned to literature while still serving in Siberia. In April 1857, after the return of the hereditary nobility to him, the writer was given the opportunity to publish, and in the summer Otechestvennye Zapiski published The Little Hero, composed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. And in 1859, Stepanchikovo Village and Uncle's Dream were released. Dostoevsky arrived in the northern capital with big plans, and first of all he needed an organ to express the postulates of the "pochvennichestvo" he had invented - a trend characterized by calls for a return to national, folk principles. His brother Mikhail, who by that time had founded his own tobacco factory, had also long wanted to start publishing. As a result, the Vremya magazine appeared, the first issue of which was published in January 1861. Mikhail Dostoevsky was listed as the official editor, and Fyodor Mikhailovich headed the art and critical departments. Soon the magazine acquired a couple of talented critics - Apollon Grigoriev and Nikolai Strakhov, who actively promoted soil-based ideas to the public. The magazine's circulation was growing and soon it could compete with the famous Nekrasov's Sovremennik. But it all ended sadly - in May 1863 "Vremya" was banned. The reason for the imperial command was Strakhov's article, which "incorrectly" interpreted the "Polish question".
In the summer of 1862 Dostoevsky went abroad for the first time. He had long wanted to get acquainted with the "land of holy miracles", as the writer called old Europe. For three months the writer traveled around European countries - his tour included France, Italy, Germany, England. The impressions received only strengthened Fyodor Mikhailovich in his thoughts about the special path of Russia. Since then, he has spoken of Europe only as a "cemetery - even if it is dear to the Russian heart."Despite this, Dostoevsky spent the summer and autumn of 1863, upset by the closure of the Vremya magazine, again spent abroad. However, the trip did not bring anything good - during this trip Fyodor Mikhailovich "fell ill" playing roulette. This passion burned the writer for the next eight years, bringing the most severe suffering and forcing him to play regularly to smithereens. Abroad, he was waiting for the collapse of a new love story. Two years earlier, he published in his magazine the stories of twenty-year-old Apollinaria Suslova, and after a while she became his mistress. In the spring of 1863 Suslova went abroad and waited for the writer in Paris. However, on the way, Dostoevsky received a message from her with the words: "You are a little late." It soon became known that she managed to get carried away by a Spaniard physician. Fyodor Mikhailovich offered her "pure friendship", and for two months they traveled together, after which they parted forever. Their love story became the basis of the novel "The Gambler", once again confirming that Dostoevsky, for the most part, was an "autobiographical" writer.
Upon returning to his homeland, Fyodor Mikhailovich, together with his brother, worked hard for permission to publish a new magazine called "Epoch". This permission was obtained at the beginning of 1864. The brothers did not have enough money and this was reflected in the appearance of the "Epoch". Despite Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground" published by Dostoevsky, as well as collaboration with the editorial staff of such a prominent writer as Turgenev, the magazine did not enjoy popularity among the people and a year later ceased to exist. By this time, several more tragic events had taken place in Dostoevsky's life - in April his wife, Maria Dmitrievna, who was ill with consumption, died. The spouses have long lived separately, but the writer took a great part in the upbringing of Pasha's stepson. And in July, Mikhail Dostoevsky died. The writer, having accepted all the debts of his brother, undertook to support his relatives.
In the summer of 1865, after the liquidation of the Epoch magazine, Fyodor Mikhailovich literally fled abroad from his creditors, where he soon lost completely again. Sitting in a wretched room in a Wiesbaden hotel with no food and no candles, he began to compose Crime and Punishment. He was rescued by his old friend, Baron Wrangel, who sent money and invited the writer to live with him in Copenhagen, where he served at that time. In the next year, 1866, advances were no longer given to the writer, and he had to conclude an onerous agreement with the publisher Stellovsky, according to which Fyodor Mikhailovich, for only three thousand rubles, gave the literary businessman permission to publish a three-volume edition of his works, and also undertook to present a new novel by November 1866. In a separate paragraph it was stated that in the event of failure to fulfill the latter obligation, each of Dostoevsky's works written in the future would be transferred to the exclusive property of the publisher. On this occasion, in 1865, in a letter to Baron Wrangel, Fyodor Mikhailovich dropped the terrible words: "I would gladly go to hard labor again, just to pay off debts and feel free again." And in the same letter: “Everything seems to me that I'm just going to live. Isn't it funny? " In a sense, the writer really "started" - throughout the year, "Russian Bulletin" published "Crime and Punishment". This novel opened the "five-part" cycle of Dostoevsky's works, which made him the world's largest writer. And the autumn of the same year brought him a truly fateful meeting, which gave Fyodor Mikhailovich a faithful companion for the rest of his life.
The acquaintance of the writer and Anna Grigorievna Snitkina happened in a not at all romantic situation. There were only four weeks left until the terrible time that deprived Dostoevsky of the rights to his labors. To save the day, he decided to hire a stenographer. Stenography in those years was just becoming fashionable, and one of the writer's acquaintances, who taught lectures on this topic, recommended to Fyodor Mikhailovich his best student, twenty-year-old Anna Grigorievna. The girl managed to complete the work on time, and at the end of October the novel "The Gambler" was presented to Stellovsky. And in early November, Dostoevsky proposed to Anna. The girl agreed, and after three months in search of the necessary funds, a wedding took place in the Izmailovsky Cathedral of St. Petersburg. In the days of the post-wedding cheerful turmoil, the newlywed had two terrible seizures. However, this time "Isaev's scenario" did not work - unlike the deceased Maria Dmitrievna, the young wife was not afraid of the disease, remaining fully determined to "make her loved one happy." For the first time in his life, the sufferer Dostoevsky was truly lucky. Anna Grigorievna, born into the family of a St. Petersburg official, successfully combined the features of a cheerful but impractical father and a calculating, energetic Swedish mother. Already in childhood, Anya read Dostoevsky's books, and becoming the writer's wife, took on all the household chores. Thanks to the diaries that Anna Grigorievna regularly kept, the last years of Fyodor Mikhailovich's life can be studied literally by day.
Meanwhile, the difficulties in Dostoevsky's life multiplied. Anna Grigoryevna in the family circle of the writer was hostile, not without scandals and his meeting with the family of his late brother Mikhail. In this situation, the Dostoevskys decided to go abroad. The writer took two thousand rubles from the Russian Bulletin publishing house as an advance payment for his future novel. However, his relatives insisted on "adequate" assistance, and the money disappeared. Then the young wife pledged her dowry, and in April 1867 the Dostoevskys left St. Petersburg. They wanted to stay abroad for only three months, but it turned out that the couple returned only four years later. This time of voluntary exile was filled with the writer's hard labor (on The Idiot and The Demons), terrible lack of money (which was the main reason for the constantly delayed return), travel from country to country, longing for Russia and terrible losses at roulette.
The Dostoevskys lived in Geneva, Dresden, Milan, Baden-Baden, Florence, and again in Dresden. In Switzerland, in February 1868, Anna Grigorievna gave birth to a daughter, Sonya, but three months later the child died. Dostoevsky had a hard time going through the death of his daughter; it was here that the famous "rebellion" of Ivan Karamazov originated. In January 1869, the writer finally finished working on his tormented novel The Idiot. At the same time, listening to the latest news from Russia and following the "democratic" revelry in France, Fyodor Mikhailovich conceived "Demons" - a fiery refutation of revolutionary practice and theory. This work "Russian Bulletin" began to publish in January 1871. By that time (in September 1869) the Dostoevskys had another child - daughter Lyuba. And in the middle of 1871, the writer was miraculously healed forever of his craving for roulette. Once Anna Grigorievna, noticing that after another seizure her husband was tormented by the blues, she herself invited him to go to Wiesbaden to try his luck. Dostoevsky, having lost as usual, upon arrival announced the disappearance of the "vile fantasy" and promised never to play again. Having received another translation from the Russian Bulletin, Fyodor Mikhailovich took his family home, and in early July 1871 the Dostoevskys arrived in St. Petersburg. And a week later, Anna Grigorievna gave birth to a son, Fedor.
Upon learning of the return of the writer, creditors perked up. Dostoevsky was threatened with a debt prison, but his wife took over all the affairs and, having managed to find the right tone in relations with creditors (it must be added, very aggressive), achieved a delay in payments. At the same time, Anna Grigorievna protected her husband from financially insatiable relatives. Nothing more prevented the writer from doing what he loved, but after the end of "Demons" he took a break. Wanting to temporarily change his occupation, Fyodor Mikhailovich in 1873 took up editing the ultra-conservative weekly "Citizen". It was in it that the "Diaries of a Writer" appeared, which was constantly renewed between the writing of novels. Later, when Dostoevsky left "Citizen", "The Writer's Diaries" came out in separate editions. In fact, the writer founded a new genre, which meant communicating with readers "directly". In the "Diaries" appeared individual stories and stories, memoirs, responses to recent events, reflections, travel reports … Feedback worked without interruption - Fyodor Mikhailovich received mountains of letters, many of which were the topics of the next issues. By the way, in 1877 the number of subscribers to the "Diaries of a Writer" exceeded seven thousand people, which is a lot for Russia at that time.
It is curious that Dostoevsky considered Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" all his life to be the highest manifestation of human genius. In the fall of 1879 Countess Tolstaya, the widow of the poet Alexei Tolstoy, through her Dresden acquaintances, found a life-size photograph of this Raphael masterpiece and presented it to the writer. Fyodor Mikhailovich's joy knew no bounds, and since then the "Sistine Madonna" has always hung in his office. Anna Grigorievna recalled: "How many times have I found him standing in front of this great picture in deep emotion …".
Having conceived another novel called "Teenager", Dostoevsky did not agree with the editors of "Russian Bulletin" in the amount of the fee. Fortunately, an old acquaintance of the writer Nikolai Nekrasov appeared on the horizon, offering to publish the novel in Otechestvennye zapiski, where they agreed to all the author's demands. And in 1872 the Dostoevskys went on a summer vacation to Staraya Russa for the first time. Starting this year, they constantly rented there a two-story country house of Colonel Gribbe, and after his death in 1876 they acquired it. So for the first time in his life Fyodor Mikhailovich became a homeowner. Staraya Russa was one of his "pivotal" points - the "geography" of the writer in the seventies was limited to a rented apartment in St. Petersburg and a dacha. There was also Ems, where Dostoevsky went four times to be treated with local mineral waters. However, he did not work well in Ems, the writer honored the Germans for what it was worth, yearned for his relatives and looked forward to the end of the course. In Staraya Russa, he felt completely different, this provincial town in the Novgorod province gave Fyodor Mikhailovich a huge literary "material". For example, the topography of the Brothers Karamazov is entirely copied from these places. And in 1874 the Dostoevskys stayed at their dacha for the winter, having spent more than a year there almost without a break. By the way, in 1875 their family consisted of five people - in August Anna Grigorievna gave her husband another boy, Alyosha.
In May 1878, a new tragedy struck the Dostoevsky family. Alyosha, who was not even three years old, died. The writer went crazy with grief, according to Anna Grigorievna: “He loved him somehow especially, with an almost painful love, as if feeling that he would soon be deprived of him. Fyodor Mikhailovich was especially depressed by the fact that his son died of epilepsy, an ailment inherited from him. In order to distract her husband, Anna Grigorievna initiated the family's move to a new apartment in Kuznechny Pereulok, and then persuaded Dostoevsky to go on a trip to Optina Pustyn, a monastery near Kozelsk, where the traditions of elders were strong. In case of a sudden seizure, she picked up her husband and companion - the young philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, who was the son of the famous historian. In the monastery, the writer had a number of lengthy conversations with Elder Ambrose, who was later canonized by the Church. These conversations made a deep impression on Fyodor Mikhailovich, and the writer used certain features of Father Ambrose in the image of Elder Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov.
Meanwhile, the fame of the writer in Russia was growing. In February 1878 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1879-1880, The Brothers Karamazov were published in the Russian Bulletin, which caused a huge resonance in the educated environment. Dostoevsky was constantly invited to speak at various events, and he almost never refused. Young people looked at him as a "prophet", addressing the most pressing issues. In April 1878, Dostoevsky, in a letter "To Moscow Students", said: "To come to the people and stay with them, firstly, you must forget how to despise them, and secondly, you need to believe in God."
In June 1880, a monument to Pushkin was unveiled in Moscow. A noisy celebration on this occasion could not do without a famous writer, and he, having received an official invitation, arrived at the event. The read "Speech about Pushkin", in which Fyodor Mikhailovich expressed his most sincere thoughts, was accompanied by a practically "madness" of the audience. Dostoevsky himself did not expect such a frenzied success - a single, not very long speech, delivered in a broken, deaf voice, for a short time reconciled all social trends, forcing yesterday's opponents to embrace. According to Dostoevsky himself: “The audience was in hysterics - strangers between the audience were crying, crying, hugging and vowing to each other to become better … The order of the meeting was upset - everyone rushed to the stage: students, grand ladies, secretaries of state - everyone hugged and kissed me … Ivan Aksakov announced that my speech is a whole historical event! From this time on, brotherhood will come, and there will be no bewilderment. " Of course, no brotherhood came out. The very next day, having come to their senses, people began to live as before. And yet, such a moment of social unity was worth dear, at this moment Fyodor Mikhailovich reached the pinnacle of his lifetime glory.
It is necessary to tell about the history of the relationship between Turgenev and Dostoevsky. Having met in 1845, a year later they were already sworn enemies. Subsequently, when Fyodor Mikhailovich returned from Siberia, their dislike began to decline, Ivan Sergeevich even published in the magazine of the Dostoevsky brothers. However, the communication between the writers continued to remain ambiguous - each meeting ended with a new clash and disagreement. They were completely different - in artistic preferences, in political convictions, even in psychological organization. It is necessary to pay tribute to Turgenev - at the end of Dostoevsky's speech at the Pushkin Festival, he was among the first to step on the stage and embrace him. However, the next meeting of writers returned the outstanding masters of the word to their "original positions." Having rest on Tverskoy Boulevard, Fyodor Mikhailovich, noticing the approaching Turgenev, threw him: "Moscow is great, but you can't hide from you!" They did not see each other again.
Dostoevsky met the new year (1881) in a very cheerful state of mind. He had many plans - to continue the publication of the Writer's Diaries, to write a second novel about the Karamazovs. However, Dostoevsky managed to prepare only one January issue of The Diaries. His body has exhausted the released vital forces. Everything influenced - hard labor, inhuman living conditions, poverty, epileptic seizures, long-term wear and tear, abnormal routine - even in Siberia, Fedor Mikhailovich got used to a nocturnal lifestyle. As a rule, the writer got up at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, had breakfast, read to his wife what he had written at night, walked, dined, and in the evening closed in his office and worked until six in the morning, continuously smoking and drinking the strongest tea. All this could not but affect his health, and without it not brilliant. On the night of February 6-7, 1881, Dostoevsky's throat began to bleed. Doctors were called, but the patient's condition continued to deteriorate, and on February 9 he died. A great multitude of people gathered to see the great writer on his last journey. Fyodor Mikhailovich was buried at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Dostoevsky's triumphal march around the world took place in the last century. The works of the genius writer were translated into all languages and published in huge editions, many films were shot on them and a lot of performances were staged. The ways of success of Fyodor Mikhailovich's works are unusually whimsical, and it is often completely unclear what explains the popularity of his work in a particular country. Everything seems to be different - the history, the organization, the psychology of the inhabitants, and the religion - and suddenly Dostoevsky becomes almost a national hero. This, in particular, happened in Japan. Most prominent Japanese writers (not excluding Haruki Murakami) proudly declare their apprenticeship with the outstanding Russian novelist.
