When Turgenev lived. Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich - famous writer

Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) is a world-famous Russian prose writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and translator of the 19th century, recognized as a classic of world literature. He wrote many outstanding works that have become literary classics, the reading of which is mandatory for school and university curricula.

Born Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev from the city of Orel, where he was born on November 9, 1818 in a noble family in the family estate of his mother. Sergei Nikolaevich, father - a retired hussar, who served before the birth of his son in a cuirassier regiment, Varvara Petrovna, mother - a representative of an old noble family. In addition to Ivan, there was another eldest son Nikolai in the family, the childhood of the little Turgenevs passed under the vigilant supervision of numerous servants and under the influence of their mother's rather heavy and unbending temper. Although mother was distinguished by her special dominance and severity of temper, she was known as a rather educated and enlightened woman, it was she who interested her children in science and fiction.

At first, the boys were educated at home, after the family moved to the capital, they continued their studies with local teachers. Then follows a new turn in the fate of the Turgenev family - a trip and subsequent life abroad, where Ivan Turgenev lives and is brought up in several prestigious boarding houses. Upon arrival at home (1833), at the age of fifteen, he entered the Faculty of Literature of Moscow State University. After the eldest son Nikolai becomes a guards cavalryman, the family moves to St. Petersburg and the younger Ivan becomes a student of the philosophical faculty of a local university. In 1834, the first poetic lines appeared from the pen of Turgenev, imbued with the spirit of romanticism (a trendy trend at that time). Poetic lyrics were appreciated by his teacher and mentor Pyotr Pletnev (a close friend of A. S. Pushkin).

After graduating from St. Petersburg University in 1837, Turgenev left to continue his studies abroad, where he attended lectures and seminars at the University of Berlin, traveling in parallel across Europe. Returning to Moscow and successfully passing the master's exams, Turgenev hopes to become a professor at Moscow University, but due to the abolition of philosophy departments in all universities in Russia, this desire will not come true. At that time, Turgenev was becoming more and more interested in literature, several of his poems were published in the newspaper Otechestvennye Zapiski, in the spring of 1843, the time of the appearance of his first small book, where the poem Parasha was published.

In 1843, at the insistence of his mother, he becomes an official in the "special office" at the Ministry of the Interior and serves there for two years, then retires. The imperious and ambitious mother, dissatisfied with the fact that her son did not live up to her hopes both in career and personal terms (he did not find a worthy party for himself, and even had an illegitimate daughter Pelageya from a seamstress), refuses to support him and Turgenev has to live from hand to mouth and get into debt.

Acquaintance with the famous critic Belinsky turned Turgenev's work towards realism, and he began to write poetic and ironic moral poems, critical articles and stories.

In 1847, Turgenev brought the story “Khor and Kalinich” to the Sovremennik magazine, which Nekrasov prints with the subtitle “From the Notes of a Hunter,” and this is how Turgenev’s real literary activity begins. In 1847, because of his love for the singer Pauline Viardot (he met her in 1843 in St. Petersburg, where she came on tour), he left Russia for a long time and lived first in Germany, then in France. During his life abroad, several dramatic plays were written: "Freeloader", "Bachelor", "A Month in the Country", "Provincial Girl".

In 1850, the writer returned to Moscow, worked as a critic in the Sovremennik magazine, and in 1852 published a book of his essays called Notes of a Hunter. At the same time, impressed by the death of Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, he wrote and published an obituary, officially banned by the tsarist caesura. This is followed by an arrest for one month, deportation to the family estate without the right to leave the Oryol province, a ban on traveling abroad (until 1856). During the exile, the story "Mumu", "Inn", "The Diary of a Superfluous Man", "Yakov Pasynkov", "Correspondence", the novel "Rudin" (1855) were written.

After the end of the ban on traveling abroad, Turgenev leaves the country and lives in Europe for two years. In 1858, he returned to his homeland and published his story "Asya", around which critics immediately flared up heated debates and disputes. Then the novel "The Nest of Nobles" (1859), 1860 - "On the Eve" is born. After that, there is a break between Turgenev and such radical writers as Nekrasov and Dobrolyubov, a quarrel with Leo Tolstoy and even the challenge of the latter to a duel, which eventually ended in peace. February 1862 - printing of the novel "Fathers and Sons", in which the author showed the tragedy of the growing conflict of generations in the context of a growing social crisis.

From 1863 to 1883, Turgenev lives first with the Viardot family in Baden-Baden, then in Paris, never ceasing to be interested in the events taking place in Russia and acting as a kind of mediator between Western European and Russian writers. During his life abroad, the “Notes of a Hunter” were supplemented, the novels “The Hours”, “Punin and Baburin”, the largest of all his novels “Nov”, were written.

Together with Victor Hugo Turgenev was elected co-chairman of the First International Congress of Writers, held in Paris in 1878, in 1879 the writer was elected an honorary doctor of the oldest university in England - Oxford. In his declining years, Turgenevsky did not cease to engage in literary activity, and a few months before his death, "Poems in Prose" were published, prose fragments and miniatures distinguished by a high degree of lyricism.

Turgenev dies in August 1883 from a serious illness in the French Bougival (a suburb of Paris). In accordance with the last will of the deceased, recorded in his will, his body was transported to Russia and buried at the Volkovo cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (October 28 (November 9), 1818, Oryol, Russian Empire - August 22 (September 3), 1883, Bougival, France) - Russian realist writer, poet, publicist, playwright, translator. One of the classics of Russian literature, who made the most significant contribution to its development in the second half of the 19th century. Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of Russian language and literature (1860), honorary doctor of Oxford University (1879).

The artistic system he created influenced the poetics of not only Russian, but also Western European novels in the second half of the 19th century. Ivan Turgenev was the first in Russian literature to begin to study the personality of the "new man" - the sixties man, his moral qualities and psychological characteristics, thanks to him the term "nihilist" began to be widely used in Russian. He was a propagandist of Russian literature and dramaturgy in the West.

The study of the works of I. S. Turgenev is an obligatory part of the general education school programs in Russia. The most famous works are the cycle of stories "Notes of a Hunter", the story "Mumu", the story "Asya", the novels "The Noble Nest", "Fathers and Sons".

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 20 years.

Artist K. Gorbunov. 1838-1839 Watercolor

Origin and early years

The family of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev came from an ancient family of Tula nobles, the Turgenevs. In a memorial book, the mother of the future writer wrote: “On October 28, 1818, on Monday, the son Ivan, 12 inches tall, was born in Orel, in his house, at 12 o’clock in the morning. Baptized on the 4th of November, Feodor Semenovich Uvarov with his sister Fedosya Nikolaevna Teplovoy.

Ivan's father Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev (1793-1834) served at that time in the cavalry regiment. The careless lifestyle of the handsome cavalry guard upset his finances, and in order to improve his position, he entered into a marriage of convenience in 1816 with an elderly, unattractive, but very wealthy Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova (1787-1850). In 1821, with the rank of colonel of the cuirassier regiment, my father retired. Ivan was the second son in the family. The mother of the future writer, Varvara Petrovna, came from a wealthy noble family. Her marriage to Sergei Nikolaevich was not happy. The father died in 1834, leaving three sons - Nikolai, Ivan and Sergei, who died early from epilepsy. Mother was a domineering and despotic woman. She herself lost her father early, suffered from the cruel attitude of her mother (whom the grandson later portrayed as an old woman in the essay "Death"), and from a violent, drinking stepfather, who often beat her. Due to constant beatings and humiliation, she later moved in with her uncle, after whose death she became the owner of a magnificent estate and 5,000 souls.

Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, writer's father

Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, mother of the writer

Varvara Petrovna was a difficult woman. Serfdom habits coexisted in her with erudition and education, she combined care for the upbringing of children with family despotism. Ivan was also subjected to maternal beatings, despite the fact that he was considered her beloved son. The boy was taught literacy by frequently changing French and German tutors. In the family of Varvara Petrovna, everyone spoke exclusively in French among themselves, even prayers in the house were pronounced in French. She traveled a lot and was an enlightened woman, she read a lot, but also mostly in French. But her native language and literature were not alien to her either: she herself had an excellent figurative Russian speech, and Sergei Nikolayevich demanded that the children write letters to him in Russian during their father's absences. The Turgenev family maintained ties with V. A. Zhukovsky and M. N. Zagoskin. Varvara Petrovna followed the novelties of literature, was well aware of the work of N. M. Karamzin, V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov and N. V. Gogol, whom she willingly quoted in letters to her son.

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 7 years.

Unknown artist. 1825 Watercolor

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 12.

Artist I. Pirks. 1830 Watercolor

Love for Russian literature was also instilled in young Turgenev by one of the serf valets (who later became the prototype of Punin in the story "Punin and Baburin"). Until the age of nine, Ivan Turgenev lived in his mother's hereditary estate Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, 10 km from Mtsensk, Oryol province. In 1822, the Turgenev family made a trip to Europe, during which four-year-old Ivan almost died in Bern, falling off the railing of a moat with bears (Berengraben); his father saved him by catching him by the leg. In 1827, the Turgenevs, in order to educate their children, settled in Moscow, buying a house on Samotyok. The future writer first studied at the Weidenhammer boarding school, then became a boarder with the director of the Lazarev Institute, I.F. Krause

Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, Artist Nikolai Bodarevsky

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo

Spasskoye Lutovinovo - Sorokina Olga Alexandrovna

Education. The beginning of literary activity

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

In 1833, at the age of 15, Turgenev entered the verbal faculty of Moscow University. At the same time, A. I. Herzen and V. G. Belinsky studied here. A year later, after Ivan's elder brother entered the Guards Artillery, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where Ivan Turgenev moved to the Faculty of Philosophy at St. Petersburg University. At the university, T. N. Granovsky, the future famous historian of the Western school, became his friend.

Timofei Granovsky (1813-1855), Russian historian

Pyotr Zakharov is a Chechen

At first, Turgenev wanted to become a poet. In 1834, as a third-year student, he wrote the dramatic poem "Steno" in iambic pentameter. The young author showed these pen tests to his teacher, professor of Russian literature P. A. Pletnev. During one of the lectures, Pletnev analyzed this poem quite strictly, without disclosing its authorship, but at the same time he also admitted that “there is something” in the writer. These words prompted the young poet to write a number of more poems, two of which Pletnev published in 1838 in the Sovremennik magazine, of which he was the editor. They were published under the signature "....v". The debut poems were "Evening" and "To Venus Mediciy".

Portrait of Pyotr Pletnev (1836). Pushkin Museum in St. Petersburg.

Alexey Tyranov

Turgenev's first publication appeared in 1836 - in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, he published a detailed review of A. N. Muravyov's Journey to Holy Places. By 1837, he had already written about a hundred small poems and several poems (the unfinished "The Old Man's Tale", "Calm at Sea", "Phantasmagoria on a Moonlit Night", "Dream")

Andrey Nikolaevich Muravyov, Chamberlain of the Russian Imperial Court; Orthodox spiritual writer and Church historian, pilgrim and traveler; playwright, poet. Honorary Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1836).

P.Z. Zakharov-Chechen, 1838

After graduation. Abroad

In 1836 Turgenev graduated from the university with the degree of a real student. Dreaming of scientific activity, the following year he passed the final exam and received a Ph.D. In 1838 he went to Germany, where he settled in Berlin and seriously took up his studies. At the University of Berlin he attended lectures on the history of Roman and Greek literature, and at home he studied the grammar of ancient Greek and Latin. Knowledge of ancient languages ​​allowed him to freely read the ancient classics. During his studies, he became friends with the Russian writer and thinker N.V. Stankevich, who had a noticeable influence on him. Turgenev attended the lectures of the Hegelians, became interested in German idealism with its doctrine of world development, the "absolute spirit" and the lofty vocation of the philosopher and poet. In general, the whole way of Western European life made a strong impression on Turgenev. The young student came to the conclusion that only the assimilation of the basic principles of universal culture can lead Russia out of the darkness in which it is immersed. In this sense, he became a convinced "Westernizer".

Nikolai Vladimirovich Stankevich (1813-1840), public figure, philosopher, writer

Humboldt University in Berlin, 19th century

In the 1830s-1850s, an extensive circle of literary acquaintances of the writer was formed. Back in 1837 there were fleeting meetings with A. S. Pushkin. At the same time, Turgenev met V. A. Zhukovsky, A. V. Nikitenko, A. V. Koltsov, and a little later - with M. Yu. Lermontov. Turgenev had only a few meetings with Lermontov, which did not lead to a close acquaintance, but Lermontov's work had a certain influence on him. He tried to master the rhythm and stanza, style and syntactic features of Lermontov's poetry. Thus, the poem "The Old Landowner" (1841) in some places is close in form to Lermontov's "Testament", in "Ballad" (1841) one feels the influence of "The Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov". But the connection with Lermontov's work is most tangible in the poem "Confession" (1845), whose accusatory pathos brings him closer to Lermontov's poem "Duma".

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Orest Adamovich Kiprensky

Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov

Zabolotsky, Pyotr Efimovich

In May 1839, the old house in Spassky burned down, and Turgenev returned to his homeland, but already in 1840 he again went abroad, visiting Germany, Italy and Austria. Impressed by a meeting with a girl in Frankfurt am Main, Turgenev later wrote the story "Spring Waters". In 1841, Ivan returned to Lutovinovo.

"Spring Waters"

In early 1842, he applied to Moscow University for admission to the examination for the degree of Master of Philosophy, but at that time there was no full-time professor of philosophy at the university, and his request was rejected. Not settling in Moscow, Turgenev satisfactorily passed the exam for a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology in Latin at St. Petersburg University and wrote a dissertation for the verbal department. But by this time, the craving for scientific activity had cooled down, and literary creativity began to attract more and more. Refusing to defend his dissertation, he served until 1844 in the rank of collegiate secretary in the Ministry of the Interior.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Eugene Louis Lamy (1800-1890)

In 1843 Turgenev wrote the poem Parasha. Not really hoping for a positive review, he nevertheless took the copy to V. G. Belinsky. Belinsky highly appreciated Parasha, publishing his review in Fatherland Notes two months later. Since that time, their acquaintance began, which later grew into a strong friendship; Turgenev was even godfather to Belinsky's son, Vladimir. The poem was published in the spring of 1843 as a separate book under the initials "T. L." (Turgenev-Lutovinov). In the 1840s, in addition to Pletnev and Belinsky, Turgenev met with A. A. Fet.

Vissarion Belinsky

In November 1843, Turgenev created the poem "Mistful Morning", set to music in different years by several composers, including A. F. Gedike and G. L. Catuar. The most famous, however, is the romance version, which was originally published under the title "Music of Abaza"; its belonging to V. V. Abaza, E. A. Abaza or Yu. F. Abaza has not been finally established. Upon publication, the poem was seen as a reflection of Turgenev's love for Pauline Viardot, whom he met during this time.

Portrait of the singer Pauline Viardot

Karl Bryullov

In 1844, the poem "Pop" was written, which the writer himself described rather as fun, devoid of any "deep and significant ideas." Nevertheless, the poem attracted public interest for its anti-clerical focus. The poem was curtailed by Russian censorship, but it was printed in its entirety abroad.

In 1846, the novels Breter and Three Portraits were published. In Breter, which became Turgenev's second story, the writer tried to present the struggle between Lermontov's influence and the desire to discredit posturing. The plot for his third story, Three Portraits, was drawn from the Lutovinov family chronicle.

The heyday of creativity

Since 1847, Ivan Turgenev participated in the reformed Sovremennik, where he became close to N. A. Nekrasov and P. V. Annenkov.

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov

His first feuilleton "Modern Notes" was published in the journal, and the first chapters of "Notes of a Hunter" began to be published. In the very first issue of Sovremennik, the story "Khor and Kalinich" was published, which opened countless editions of the famous book. The subtitle "From the notes of a hunter" was added by the editor I. I. Panaev in order to draw the attention of readers to the story. The success of the story turned out to be enormous, and this led Turgenev to the idea of ​​writing a number of others of the same kind. According to Turgenev, "Notes of a Hunter" was the fulfillment of his Annibal oath to fight to the end with the enemy, whom he had hated since childhood. “This enemy had a certain image, bore a well-known name: this enemy was serfdom.” To carry out his intention, Turgenev decided to leave Russia. “I could not,” Turgenev wrote, “breathe the same air, stay close to what I hated<…>It was necessary for me to move away from my enemy in order to be given a stronger attack on him from my own.”

Khor and Kalinich. Illustration by Elisabeth Böhm. 1883

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev "Lgov" (from the cycle "Notes of a hunter").

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev "Swan" (from the series "Notes of a hunter").

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev "Pyotr Petrovich Karataev" (from the cycle "Notes of a hunter").

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

Illustration for the story by I.S. Turgenev "Office" (from the series "Notes of a hunter").

Petr Petrovich Sokolov

In 1847, Turgenev went abroad with Belinsky and in 1848 lived in Paris, where he witnessed revolutionary events. As an eyewitness to the killing of hostages, the many attacks, the construction and the fall of the barricades of the February French Revolution, he forever endured a deep disgust for revolutions in general. A little later, he became close to A. I. Herzen, fell in love with Ogaryov's wife N. A. Tuchkova.

Alexander Ivanovich Herzen

Dramaturgy

The end of the 1840s - the beginning of the 1850s became the time of Turgenev's most intensive activity in the field of dramaturgy and the time of reflection on issues of history and theory of drama. In 1848, he wrote such plays as "Where it is thin, there it breaks" and "The Freeloader", in 1849 - "Breakfast at the Leader" and "The Bachelor", in 1850 - "A Month in the Country", in 1851 -m - "Provincial". Of these, "The Freeloader", "The Bachelor", "The Provincial Girl" and "A Month in the Country" were successful due to their excellent productions on stage. The success of The Bachelor was especially dear to him, which became possible largely thanks to the performing skills of A. E. Martynov, who played in four of his plays. Turgenev formulated his views on the position of the Russian theater and the tasks of dramaturgy as early as 1846. He believed that the crisis in the theatrical repertoire that was observed at that time could be overcome by the efforts of writers committed to Gogol's dramaturgy. Turgenev counted himself among the followers of Gogol the playwright.

"In the box. 1909", Kustodiev

To master the literary techniques of dramaturgy, the writer also worked on translations of Byron and Shakespeare. At the same time, he did not try to copy Shakespeare's dramatic techniques, he only interpreted his images, and all attempts by his contemporary playwrights to use Shakespeare's work as a role model, to borrow his theatrical techniques only caused Turgenev's irritation. In 1847 he wrote: “The shadow of Shakespeare hangs over all dramatic writers, they cannot get rid of memories; these unfortunates read too much and lived too little.

1850s

In 1850, Turgenev returned to Russia, but he never saw his mother, who died that same year. Together with his brother Nikolai, he shared a large fortune of his mother and, if possible, tried to alleviate the hardships of the peasants he inherited.

Nikolai Sergeevich Turgenev, brother of the writer

In 1850-1852 he lived either in Russia or abroad, and saw N.V. Gogol. After Gogol's death, Turgenev wrote an obituary, which the St. Petersburg censors did not let through. The reason for her dissatisfaction was that, as the chairman of the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee M. N. Musin-Pushkin put it, “it is criminal to speak so enthusiastically about such a writer.” Then Ivan Sergeevich sent the article to Moscow, V.P. Botkin, who published it in Moskovskie Vedomosti. The authorities saw a rebellion in the text, and the author was placed on the exit, where he spent a month. On May 18, Turgenev was sent to his native village, and only thanks to the efforts of Count A.K. Tolstoy, two years later, the writer again received the right to live in the capitals.

Botkin Vasily Petrovich

Portrait of the writer Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy

Ilya Repin

There is an opinion that the real reason for the exile was not an obituary to Gogol, but the excessive radicalism of Turgenev's views, manifested in sympathy for Belinsky, suspiciously frequent trips abroad, sympathetic stories about serfs, a laudatory review of an emigrant Herzen about Turgenev. In addition, it is necessary to take into account V.P. Botkin’s warning to Turgenev in a letter on March 10, so that he should be careful in his letters, referring to third-party transmitters of advice, to be more circumspect (the said letter from Turgenev is completely unknown, but its excerpt is from a copy in the case of the III Branch - contains a sharp review of M. N. Musin-Pushkin). The enthusiastic tone of the article about Gogol only overwhelmed the gendarmerie's patience, becoming an external reason for punishment, the meaning of which was thought out by the authorities in advance. Turgenev feared that his arrest and exile would interfere with the publication of the first edition of the Hunter's Notes, but his fears were not justified - in August 1852 the book was censored and published.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

However, the censor V.V. Lvov, who let the “Notes of a Hunter” go to print, was dismissed from service by personal order of Nicholas I with deprivation of his pension (“Highest Forgiveness” followed on December 6, 1853). Russian censorship also imposed a ban on the re-edition of the Hunter's Notes, explaining this step by the fact that Turgenev, on the one hand, poeticized the serfs, and on the other hand, depicted “that these peasants are oppressed, that the landowners behave indecently and illegal ... finally, that it is more free for a peasant to live in freedom ”

Franz Kruger

During his exile in Spasskoye, Turgenev went hunting, read books, wrote stories, played chess, listened to Beethoven's Coriolanus performed by A.P. Tyutcheva and his sister, who lived at that time in Spasskoye, and from time to time was subjected to raids by the bailiff .

In 1852, while still in exile in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, he wrote the textbook story "Mumu". Most of the "Notes of a Hunter" was created by the writer in Germany. "Notes of a Hunter" in 1854 was published in Paris as a separate edition, although at the beginning of the Crimean War this publication was in the nature of anti-Russian propaganda, and Turgenev was forced to publicly protest against the poor-quality French translation by Ernest Charrière. After the death of Nicholas I, four of the most significant works of the writer were published one after another: Rudin (1856), The Noble Nest (1859), On the Eve (1860) and Fathers and Sons (1862). The first two were published in Nekrasov's Sovremennik, the other two were published in M. N. Katkov's Russkiy Vestnik.

Illustrations for I.S. Turgenev's story "Mumu"

Rudakov Konstantin Ivanovich - illustrations for I.S. Turgenev "Noble Nest"

Illustrations for the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"

Employees of Sovremennik I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, I. I. Panaev, M. N. Longinov, V. P. Gaevsky, D. V. Grigorovich sometimes gathered in a circle of “warlocks” organized by A. V. Druzhinin. The humorous improvisations of the “warlocks” sometimes went beyond the scope of censorship, so they had to be published abroad. Later, Turgenev took part in the activities of the Society for Assistance to Needy Writers and Scientists (Literary Fund), founded on the initiative of the same A. V. Druzhinin. From the end of 1856, the writer collaborated with the journal Library for Reading, published under the editorship of A. V. Druzhinin. But his editing did not bring the expected success to the publication, and Turgenev, who hoped for a close magazine success in 1856, in 1861 called the "Library", edited by that time by A.F. Pisemsky, "a dead hole."

In the autumn of 1855, Leo Tolstoy was added to Turgenev's circle of friends. In September of the same year, Tolstoy's story "The Cutting of the Forest" was published in Sovremennik with a dedication to I. S. Turgenev.

Employees of the Sovremennik magazine. Top row: L. N. Tolstoy, D. V. Grigorovich; bottom row: I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, A. V. Druzhinin, A. N. Ostrovsky. Photo by S. L. Levitsky, February 15, 1856

Turgenev took an ardent part in the discussion of the upcoming Peasant Reform, participated in the development of various collective letters, draft addresses addressed to Tsar Alexander II, protests, and so on. From the first months of publication of Herzen's "The Bell" Turgenev was his active collaborator. He himself did not write in The Bell, but he helped in collecting materials and preparing them for publication. An equally important role of Turgenev was to mediate between A. I. Herzen and those correspondents from Russia who, for various reasons, did not want to be in direct relations with the disgraced London emigrant. In addition, Turgenev sent detailed review letters to Herzen, information from which, without the author's signature, was also published in Kolokol. At the same time, Turgenev always spoke out against the harsh tone of Herzen’s materials and excessive criticism of government decisions: “Please don’t scold Alexander Nikolayevich, otherwise all the reactionaries in St. - so he, perhaps, will lose his spirit.

Portrait of Emperor Alexander II. 1874. GIM

Alexey Kharlamov

In 1860, Sovremennik published an article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “When will the real day come?” In which the critic spoke very flatteringly about the new novel “On the Eve” and Turgenev’s work in general. Nevertheless, Turgenev was not satisfied with the far-reaching conclusions of Dobrolyubov, made by him after reading the novel. Dobrolyubov connected the idea of ​​Turgenev's work with the events of the approaching revolutionary transformation of Russia, with which the liberal Turgenev could not come to terms. Dobrolyubov wrote: “Then the full, sharply and vividly outlined image of the Russian Insarov will appear in literature. And we do not have to wait long for him: this is vouched for by the feverish, tormenting impatience with which we await his appearance in life.<…>He will come, finally, this day! And, in any case, the eve is not far from the day following it: just some kind of night separates them! ... ”The writer delivered an ultimatum to N. A. Nekrasov: either he, Turgenev, or Dobrolyubov. Nekrasov preferred Dobrolyubov. After that, Turgenev left Sovremennik and stopped communicating with Nekrasov, and subsequently Dobrolyubov became one of the prototypes for the image of Bazarov in the novel Fathers and Sons.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Turgenev gravitated toward the circle of Western writers who professed the principles of "pure art", opposed to the tendentious creativity of raznochintsev revolutionaries: P. V. Annenkov, V. P. Botkin, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin. For a short time, Leo Tolstoy also joined this circle. For some time Tolstoy lived in Turgenev's apartment. After Tolstoy's marriage to S. A. Bers, Turgenev found a close relative in Tolstoy, but even before the wedding, in May 1861, when both prose writers were visiting A. A. Fet at the Stepanovo estate, a serious quarrel occurred between them, almost ended in a duel and ruined relations between writers for a long 17 years. For some time, the writer developed complex relationships with Fet himself, as well as with some other contemporaries - F. M. Dostoevsky, I. A. Goncharov

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Dmitry Vasilievich Grigorovich

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

"Portrait of the poet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet."

Ilya Efimovich Repin

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

Vasily Perov.

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov

In 1862, good relations with former friends of Turgenev's youth, A. I. Herzen and M. A. Bakunin, began to deteriorate. From July 1, 1862 to February 15, 1863, Herzen's Bell published a series of articles, Ends and Beginnings, consisting of eight letters. Without naming the addressee of Turgenev's letters, Herzen defended his understanding of the historical development of Russia, which, in his opinion, should move along the path of peasant socialism. Herzen contrasted peasant Russia with bourgeois Western Europe, whose revolutionary potential he considered already exhausted. Turgenev objected to Herzen in private letters, insisting on the commonality of historical development for different states and peoples.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin

At the end of 1862, Turgenev was involved in the process of the 32nd in the case of "persons accused of having relations with London propagandists." After the authorities ordered him to immediately appear in the Senate, Turgenev decided to write a letter to the sovereign, trying to convince him of the loyalty of his convictions, "quite independent, but conscientious." He asked interrogation points to be sent to him in Paris. In the end, he was forced to leave for Russia in 1864 for a Senate interrogation, where he managed to avert all suspicions from himself. The Senate found him not guilty. Turgenev's appeal to Emperor Alexander II personally caused Herzen's bilious reaction in Kolokol. Much later, this moment in the relationship between the two writers was used by V.I. Lenin to illustrate the difference between the liberal hesitations of Turgenev and Herzen: “When the liberal Turgenev wrote a private letter to Alexander II with assurance of his loyal feelings and donated two gold pieces to the soldiers wounded during the pacification of the Polish uprising , “The Bell” wrote about “the gray-haired Magdalene (male), who wrote to the sovereign that she did not know sleep, tormented that the sovereign did not know about the repentance that had befallen her.” And Turgenev immediately recognized himself. But Turgenev's vacillation between tsarism and revolutionary democracy manifested itself in another way.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

In 1863 Turgenev settled in Baden-Baden. The writer actively participated in the cultural life of Western Europe, establishing acquaintances with the leading writers of Germany, France and England, promoting Russian literature abroad and acquainting Russian readers with the best works of contemporary Western authors. Among his acquaintances or correspondents were Friedrich Bodenstedt, William Thackeray, Charles Dickens, Henry James, Georges Sand, Victor Hugo, Charles Saint-Beuve, Hippolyte Taine, Prosper Mérimée, Ernest Renan, Théophile Gautier, Edmond Goncourt, Emile Zola, Anatole France , Guy de Maupassant, Alphonse Daudet, Gustave Flaubert.

I. S. Turgenev at the dacha of the Milyutin brothers in Baden-Baden, 1867

Despite living abroad, all Turgenev's thoughts were still connected with Russia. He wrote the novel "Smoke" (1867), which caused a lot of controversy in Russian society. According to the author, everyone scolded the novel: “both red and white, and from above, and from below, and from the side - especially from the side.

In 1868, Turgenev became a permanent contributor to the liberal journal Vestnik Evropy and severed ties with M. N. Katkov. The gap did not go easily - the writer began to be persecuted in the Russky Vestnik and Moskovskie Vedomosti. The attacks were especially toughened at the end of the 1870s, when, regarding the applause that fell to the lot of Turgenev, the Katkov newspaper assured that the writer was “tumbling” in front of progressive youth.

Since 1874, the famous bachelor's "dinners of five" - ​​Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet, Zola and Turgenev - took place in the Parisian restaurants of Rich or Pellet. The idea belonged to Flaubert, but Turgenev played the main role in them. Lunches were held once a month. They raised various topics - about the features of literature, about the structure of the French language, told stories and simply enjoyed delicious food. Lunches were held not only at the Parisian restaurateurs, but also at the writers' houses.

Feast of the classics. A. Daudet, G. Flaubert, E. Zola, I. S. Turgenev

I. S. Turgenev acted as a consultant and editor of foreign translators of Russian writers, wrote prefaces and notes to translations of Russian writers into European languages, as well as to Russian translations of works by famous European writers. He translated Western writers into Russian and Russian writers and poets into French and German. This is how translations of Flaubert's works "Herodias" and "The Tale of St. Julian the Merciful" for Russian readers and Pushkin's works for French readers. For a while, Turgenev became the most famous and most widely read Russian author in Europe, where critics ranked him among the first writers of the century. In 1878, at the international literary congress in Paris, the writer was elected vice-president. On June 18, 1879, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, despite the fact that the university had not given such an honor to any novelist before him.

Photo by I.S. Turgenev (from the collection of A.F. Onegin in Paris). Taken in Baden-Baden, 1871. The picture was first published in print on August 25, 1913.

The fruit of the writer's reflections in the 1870s was the largest of his novels, Nov (1877), which was also criticized. So, for example, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin regarded this novel as a service to the autocracy.

Turgenev was friends with the Minister of Education A.V. Golovnin, with the Milyutin brothers (comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of War), N.I. Turgenev, and was closely acquainted with the Minister of Finance M.Kh. Reitern. In the late 1870s, Turgenev became closer to the leaders of the revolutionary emigration from Russia, his circle of acquaintances included P. L. Lavrov, P. A. Kropotkin, G. A. Lopatin and many others. Among other revolutionaries, he placed German Lopatin above all, bowing before his mind, courage and moral strength.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 1872

Vasily Perov

In April 1878, Leo Tolstoy invited Turgenev to forget all the misunderstandings between them, to which Turgenev happily agreed. Friendship and correspondence resumed. Turgenev explained the meaning of modern Russian literature, including Tolstoy's work, to the Western reader. In general, Ivan Turgenev played a big role in promoting Russian literature abroad.

However, Dostoevsky in the novel "Demons" portrayed Turgenev in the form of "the great writer Karmazinov" - a noisy, petty, scribbled and practically mediocre writer who considers himself a genius and sits out abroad. A similar attitude towards Turgenev by the ever-needy Dostoevsky was caused, among other things, by Turgenev’s well-to-do position in his noble life and by the highest literary fees at that time: “To Turgenev for his“ Noble Nest ”(I finally read it. Extremely well) I ask for 100 rubles per sheet) gave 4,000 rubles, that is, 400 rubles per sheet. My friend! I know very well that I write worse than Turgenev, but not too worse, and finally, I hope to write not worse at all. Why am I, with my needs, taking only 100 rubles, and Turgenev, who has 2,000 souls, 400 each?

Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky

His visits to Russia in 1878-1881 were real triumphs. All the more disturbing in 1882 were the reports of a severe exacerbation of his usual gouty pains. In the spring of 1882, the first signs of the disease appeared, which soon turned out to be fatal for Turgenev. With temporary relief of pain, he continued to work and, a few months before his death, he published the first part of "Poems in Prose" - a cycle of lyrical miniatures, which became his kind of farewell to life, homeland and art. The book was opened by the poem in prose "Village", and completed by "Russian language" - a lyrical hymn in which the author put his faith in the great destiny of his country:

In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections on the fate of my homeland, you are my only support and support, O great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 1879

Ilya Repin

Parisian doctors Charcot and Jacquet diagnosed the writer with angina pectoris; soon she was joined by intercostal neuralgia. The last time Turgenev was in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo was in the summer of 1881. The sick writer spent the winters in Paris, and for the summer he was transported to Bougival, on the estate of Viardot.

By January 1883, the pains had intensified so much that he could not sleep without morphine. He underwent an operation to remove a neuroma in the lower part of the abdominal cavity, but the operation did not help much, since it did not alleviate the pain in the thoracic region of the spine. The disease developed, in March and April the writer was so tormented that those around him began to notice momentary clouding of reason, caused in part by morphine. The writer was fully aware of his imminent death and resigned himself to the consequences of the disease, which made it impossible for him to walk or just stand.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Ilya Repin

Death and funeral

The confrontation between "an unimaginably painful illness and an unimaginably strong organism" (P. V. Annenkov) ended on August 22 (September 3), 1883 in Bougival near Paris. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev died of myxosarcoma (a malignant tumor of the bones of the spine). Doctor S.P. Botkin testified that the true cause of death was clarified only after an autopsy, during which physiologists also weighed his brain. As it turned out, among those whose brains were weighed, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev had the largest brain (2012 grams, which is almost 600 grams more than the average weight).

Turgenev's death was a great shock to his admirers, expressed in a very impressive funeral. The funeral was preceded by mourning celebrations in Paris, in which over four hundred people took part. Among them were at least a hundred Frenchmen: Edmond Abu, Jules Simon, Emile Ogier, Emile Zola, Alphonse Daudet, Juliette Adam, artist Alfred Diedone (French) Russian, composer Jules Massenet. Ernest Renan addressed the mourners with a heartfelt speech. In accordance with the will of the deceased, on September 27, his body was brought to St. Petersburg

Ivan Turgenev on his deathbed. Drawing sketched in Bougival, on the day of the death of the great writer, by artist E. Lipgardt

Even from the border station Verzhbolovo, funeral services were served at stops. On the platform of the St. Petersburg Warsaw railway station, a solemn meeting of the coffin with the body of the writer took place. Senator A.F. Koni recalled the funeral at the Volkovsky cemetery:

The reception of the coffin in St. Petersburg and its passage to the Volkovo cemetery presented unusual spectacles in their beauty, majestic character and complete, voluntary and unanimous observance of order. An uninterrupted chain of 176 deputations from literature, from newspapers and magazines, scientists, educational and educational institutions, from zemstvos, Siberians, Poles and Bulgarians occupied a space of several miles, attracting the sympathetic and often touched attention of a huge audience that blocked the sidewalks - carried deputations graceful, magnificent wreaths and banners with significant inscriptions. So, there was a wreath “To the author of “Mumu”” from the Society for the Protection of Animals ... a wreath with the inscription “Love is stronger than death” from pedagogical women's courses ...

- A.F. Koni, "Turgenev's Funeral", Collected Works in eight volumes. T. 6. M., Legal Literature, 1968. Pp. 385-386.

There were no misunderstandings either. The day after the funeral of Turgenev's body in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on the Rue Daru in Paris, on September 19, the well-known populist émigré P. L. Lavrov published in the Parisian newspaper "Justice" (fr.) Russian, edited by the future socialist prime minister Georges Clemenceau, published a letter in which he reported that I. S. Turgenev, on his own initiative, transferred 500 francs to Lavrov annually for three years to facilitate the publication of the revolutionary émigré newspaper Vperyod.

Russian liberals were outraged by this news, considering it a provocation. The conservative press in the person of M. N. Katkov, on the contrary, took advantage of Lavrov’s message for the posthumous persecution of Turgenev in the Russky Vestnik and Moskovskie Vedomosti in order to prevent the deceased writer from being honored in Russia, whose body “without any publicity, with special care” should was to arrive in the capital from Paris for burial. The following of the ashes of Turgenev was very worried about the Minister of the Interior D. A. Tolstoy, who was afraid of spontaneous rallies. According to the editor of Vestnik Evropy, M. M. Stasyulevich, who accompanied the body of Turgenev, the precautions taken by the officials were as inappropriate as if he had accompanied the Nightingale the Robber, and not the body of the great writer

Tombstone bust of Turgenev at the Volkovskoye cemetery

Monument to I. S. Turgenev

Bust of I. S. Turgenev

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgenev,_Ivan_Sergeevich

1818 , October 28 (November 9) - was born in Orel in a noble family. He spent his childhood in the family estate of his mother, Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, Oryol province.

1822–1823 - a trip abroad for the whole Turgenev family along the route: with. Spasskoye, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Narva, Riga, Memel, Koenigsberg, Berlin, Dresden, Karlsbad, Augsburg, Konstanz, ... Kyiv, Orel, Mtsensk. The Turgenevs lived in Paris for six months.

1827 - The Turgenevs move to Moscow, where they acquire a house on Samoteka. Ivan Turgenev is placed in the Weidenhammer boarding house, where he stayed for about two years.

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

1833–1837 - studies at the Moscow (language faculty) and St. Petersburg (philological department of the philosophical faculty) universities.

1834 , December - finishes work on the poem "Steno".

1836 , April 19 (May 1) - attends the first performance of The Inspector General in St. Petersburg.
The end of the year- submits the poem "The Wall" for consideration by P. A. Pletnev. After a condescending response, he gives him a few more poems.

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

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

1838–1841 - studies at the University of Berlin.

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

Russian writer, corresponding member of the Puturburg Academy of Sciences (1880). In the cycle of stories "Notes of a Hunter" (1847 52) he showed the high spiritual qualities and talents of the Russian peasant, the poetry of nature. In the socio-psychological novels Rudin (1856), The Noble Nest (1859), On the Eve (1860), Fathers and Sons (1862), the stories Asya (1858), Spring Waters (1872) ) created images of the outgoing noble culture and new heroes of the era - raznochintsy and democrats, images of selfless Russian women. In the novel "Smoke" (1867) and "Nov" (1877) he depicted the life of Russian peasants abroad, the populist movement in Russia. On the slope of his life he created the lyric-philosophical Poems in Prose (1882). Master of Language and Psychological Analysis. Turgenev had a significant impact on the development of Russian and world literature.

Biography

Born October 28 (November 9 n.s.) in Orel in a noble family. Father, Sergei Nikolaevich, a retired hussar officer, came from an old noble family; mother, Varvara Petrovna, from a wealthy landowning family of the Lutovinovs. Turgenev's childhood passed in the family estate of Spasskoe-Lutovinovo. He grew up in the care of "tutors and teachers, Swiss and Germans, homegrown uncles and serf nannies."

With the family moving to Moscow in 1827, the future writer was sent to a boarding school and spent about two and a half years there. Further education continued under the guidance of private teachers. Since childhood, he knew French, German, English.

In the autumn of 1833, before reaching the age of fifteen, he entered Moscow University, and the following year he transferred to St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated in 1936 in the verbal department of the philosophical faculty.

In May 1838 he went to Berlin to listen to lectures on classical philology and philosophy. He met and became friends with N. Stankevich and M. Bakunin, meetings with whom were of much greater importance than the lectures of Berlin professors. He spent more than two academic years abroad, combining studies with long trips: he traveled around Germany, visited Holland and France, and lived in Italy for several months.

Returning to his homeland in 1841, he settled in Moscow, where he prepared for the master's exams and attended literary circles and salons: he met Gogol, Aksakov, Khomyakov. On one of the trips to St. Petersburg with Herzen.

In 1842, he successfully passed the master's exams, hoping to get a professorship at Moscow University, but since philosophy was taken under suspicion by the Nikolaev government, the departments of philosophy were abolished at Russian universities, and it was not possible to become a professor.

In 1843, Turgenev entered the service of an official in the "special office" of the Minister of the Interior, where he served for two years. In the same year, an acquaintance with Belinsky and his entourage took place. Turgenev's social and literary views during this period were determined mainly by the influence of Belinsky. Turgenev published his poems, poems, dramatic works, novels. The critic guided his work with his assessments and friendly advice.

In 1847, Turgenev went abroad for a long time: love for the famous French singer Pauline Viardot, whom he met in 1843 during her tour in St. Petersburg, took him away from Russia. He lived for three years in Germany, then in Paris and on the estate of the Viardot family. Even before leaving, he submitted an essay "Khor and Kalinich" to Sovremennik, which was a resounding success. The following essays from folk life were published in the same magazine for five years. In 1852 they came out as a separate book called Notes of a Hunter.

In 1850, the writer returned to Russia, as an author and critic he collaborated in Sovremennik, which became a kind of center of Russian literary life.

Impressed by Gogol's death in 1852, he published an obituary banned by the censors. For this he was arrested for a month, and then sent to his estate under the supervision of the police without the right to travel outside the Oryol province.

In 1853 it was allowed to come to St. Petersburg, but the right to travel abroad was returned only in 1856.

Along with the "hunting" stories, Turgenev wrote several plays: "The Freeloader" (1848), "The Bachelor" (1849), "A Month in the Country" (1850), "Provincial Girl" (1850). During his arrest and exile, he created the stories "Mumu" (1852) and "Inn" (1852) on a "peasant" theme. However, he was increasingly occupied with the life of the Russian intelligentsia, to whom the novel "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" (1850) is dedicated; "Yakov Pasynkov" (1855); "Correspondence" (1856). Work on stories facilitated the transition to the novel.

In the summer of 1855, the novel "Rudin" was written in Spassky, and in subsequent years, novels: in 1859 "The Noble Nest"; in 1860 "On the Eve", in 1862 "Fathers and Sons".

The situation in Russia was changing rapidly: the government announced its intention to free the peasants from serfdom, preparations for the reform began, giving rise to numerous plans for the upcoming reorganization. Turgenev took an active part in this process, became Herzen's unspoken collaborator, sending accusatory material to the Kolokol magazine, and collaborated with Sovremennik, which gathered around itself the main forces of advanced literature and journalism. Writers from different directions at first acted as a united front, but sharp disagreements soon appeared. There was a break between Turgenev and the Sovremennik magazine, the cause of which was Dobrolyubov’s article “When will the real day come?” Dedicated to Turgenev’s novel “On the Eve”, in which the critic predicted the imminent appearance of the Russian Insarov, the approach of the day of the revolution. Turgenev did not accept such an interpretation of the novel and asked Nekrasov not to publish this article. Nekrasov took the side of Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky, and Turgenev left Sovremennik. By 1862 1863 he had a polemic with Herzen on the question of the further paths of development of Russia, which led to a divergence between them. Pinning hopes on reforms "from above", Turgenev considered Herzen's faith in the revolutionary and socialist aspirations of the peasantry unfounded.

Since 1863, the writer settled with the Viardot family in Baden-Baden. At the same time, he began to collaborate with the liberal-bourgeois Vestnik Evropy, in which all his subsequent major works were published, including his last novel, Nov (1876).

Following the Viardot family, Turgenev moved to Paris. During the days of the Paris Commune, he lived in London, after its defeat he returned to France, where he remained until the end of his life, spending the winters in Paris, and the summer months outside the city, in Bougival, and making short trips to Russia every spring.

The public upsurge of the 1870s in Russia, associated with the attempts of the populists to find a revolutionary way out of the crisis, the writer met with interest, became close to the leaders of the movement, and provided material assistance in the publication of the collection Vperyod. His long-standing interest in the folk theme was awakened again, he returned to the "Notes of a Hunter", supplementing them with new essays, wrote the stories "Punin and Baburin" (1874), "Hours" (1875), etc.

A social revival began among the student youth, among the general strata of society. Turgenev's popularity, once shaken by his break with Sovremennik, has now recovered again and is growing rapidly. In February 1879, when he arrived in Russia, he was honored at literary evenings and ceremonial dinners, strenuously inviting him to stay in his homeland. Turgenev was even inclined to stop his voluntary exile, but this intention was not carried out. In the spring of 1882, the first signs of a serious illness appeared, which deprived the writer of the opportunity to move (cancer of the spine).

On August 22 (September 3, n.s.), 1883, Turgenev died in Bougival. According to the writer's will, his body was transported to Russia and buried in St. Petersburg.

Biography and episodes of life Ivan Turgenev. When born and died Ivan Turgenev, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. writer quotes, images and videos.

Years of life of Ivan Turgenev:

born October 28, 1818, died August 22, 1883

Epitaph

“The days are gone. And now ten years
It's been a while since death bowed to you.
But there is no death for your creatures,
The crowd of your visions, O poet,
Illuminated with immortality forever.
Konstantin Balmont, from the poem "In Memory of I. S. Turgenev"

Biography

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was not only one of the greatest Russian writers who, literally during his lifetime, became classics of Russian literature. He also became the most famous Russian writer in Europe. Turgenev was respected and revered by such great people as Maupassant, Zola, Galsworthy, he lived abroad for a long time and was a kind of symbol, the quintessence of the best features that distinguished the Russian nobleman. Moreover, Turgenev's literary talent put him on a par with the greatest writers of Europe.

Turgenev was the heir to a wealthy noble family (through his mother) and therefore never needed funds. Young Turgenev studied at St. Petersburg University, then went to complete his education in Berlin. The future writer was impressed by the European way of life and upset by the striking contrast with Russian reality. Since then, Turgenev lived abroad for a long time, returning to St. Petersburg only on short visits.

Ivan Sergeevich tried himself in poetry, which, however, did not seem good enough to his contemporaries. But as an excellent writer and a true master of the word, Russia learned about Turgenev after the publication of fragments of his Notes of a Hunter in Sovremennik. During this period, Turgenev decided that it was his duty to fight against serfdom, and therefore he went abroad again, because he could not "breathe the same air, stay close to what he hated."

Portrait of I. Turgenev by Repin, 1879

Returning to Russia in 1850, Turgenev wrote an obituary for N. Gogol, which caused extreme dissatisfaction with the censors: the writer was sent to his native village, forbidding him to live in the capitals for two years. It was during this period, in the village, that the famous story "Mumu" was written.

After complication of relations with the authorities, Turgenev moved to Baden-Baden, where he quickly entered the circle of the European intellectual elite. He communicated with the greatest minds of that time: George Sand, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Victor Hugo, Prosper Merimee, Anatole France. By the end of his life, Turgenev became an unconditional idol both at home and in Europe, where he continued to live permanently.

Ivan Turgenev died in the suburbs of Paris, Bougival, after several years of painful illness. Only after the death of the doctor S.P. Botkin was the true cause of death discovered - myxosarcoma (cancer of the spine). Before the funeral of the writer in Paris, events were held, which were attended by more than four hundred people.

Ivan Turgenev, photograph, 1960s

life line

October 28, 1818 Date of birth of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
1833 Admission to the verbal faculty of Moscow University.
1834 Moving to St. Petersburg and transfer to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.
1836 Turgenev's first publication in the Journal of the Ministry of National Education.
1838 Arriving in Berlin and studying at the University of Berlin.
1842 Obtaining a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology at St. Petersburg University.
1843 Publication of the first poem "Parash", highly appreciated by Belinsky.
1847 Work in the Sovremennik magazine together with Nekrasov and Annenkov. Publication of the story "Khor and Kalinich". Departure abroad.
1850 Return to Russia. Link to his native village of Spasskoe-Lutovinovo.
1852 The release of the book "Notes of a hunter".
1856 Rudin is published in Sovremennik.
1859 Sovremennik publishes The Nest of Nobles.
1860"On the Eve" is published in "Russkiy vestnik". Turgenev becomes a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
1862 The Russkiy Vestnik publishes Fathers and Sons.
1863 Moving to Baden-Baden.
1879 Turgenev receives an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.
August 22, 1883 Date of Ivan Turgenev's death.
August 27, 1883 Turgenev's body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

Memorable places

1. House number 11 on the street. Turgenev in Orel, the city where Turgenev was born; now - the museum of the writer.
2. Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, where Turgenev's estate was located, now it is a house-museum.
3. House number 37/7, building 1 on the street. Ostozhenka in Moscow, where Turgenev lived with his mother from 1840 to 1850, visiting Moscow. Now - the house-museum of Turgenev.
4. House number 38 on the embankment. Fontanka River in St. Petersburg (Stepanov's tenement house), where Turgenev lived in 1854-1856.
5. House number 13 on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street in St. Petersburg (Weber's tenement house), where Turgenev lived in 1858-1860.
6. House number 6 on Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg (formerly the France Hotel), where Turgenev lived in 1864-1867.
7. Baden-Baden, where Turgenev lived for a total of about 10 years.
8. House number 16 on the embankment. Turgenev in Bougival (Paris), where Turgenev lived for many years and died; now - the house-museum of the writer.
9. Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, where Turgenev is buried.

Episodes of life

There were many hobbies in Turgenev's life, and often they were reflected in his work. So, one of the first ended with the appearance in 1842 of an illegitimate daughter, whom Turgenev officially recognized in 1857. But the most famous (and most dubious) episode in Turgenev’s personal life, who never got his own family, was his relationship with the actress Polina Viardot and his life with the Viardots in Europe for many years.

Ivan Turgenev was one of the most passionate hunters in Russia of his time. When meeting Pauline Viardot, he was recommended to the actress as "a glorious hunter and a bad poet."

Living abroad, from 1874 Turgenev participated in the so-called bachelor's "dinners of five" - ​​monthly meetings with Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet and Zola in Parisian restaurants or at writers' apartments.

Turgenev became one of the highest paid writers in the country, which caused rejection and envy among many - in particular, F. M. Dostoevsky. The latter considered unfair such high fees in the already excellent state of Turgenev, which he inherited after the death of his mother.

Testaments

“In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections about the fate of my homeland, you are my only support and support, O great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! .. Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that happens at home . But it is impossible to believe that such a language was not given to a great people!”

“Our life does not depend on us; but we all have one anchor from which, if you don’t want to, you will never break: a sense of duty.

“Whatever a person prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer boils down to the following: “Great God, make sure that twice two is not four!”

“If you wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, you will never have to start.”

Documentary-journalistic film “Turgenev and Viardot. More than love"

condolences

“And yet it hurts ... Russian society owes too much to this man to treat his death with simple objectivity.”
Nikolai Mikhailovsky, critic, literary critic and populist theorist

“Turgenev was also in his spirit a native Russian person. Didn't he possess the genius of the Russian language with the impeccable perfection, accessible besides him, perhaps only to Pushkin?
Dmitry Merezhkovsky, writer and critic

"If now the English novel has some manners and grace, then it is primarily due to Turgenev for this."
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright