The main themes of Turgenev's creativity. The originality of Turgenev's work

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, a famous writer, was born on December 28, 1818 in Orel, into a wealthy landowner family that belonged to an ancient noble family. [Cm. See also the article Turgenev, life and work.] Turgenev's father, Sergei Nikolaevich, married Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, who had neither youth nor beauty, but inherited huge property - solely by calculation. Soon after the birth of his second son, the future novelist, S. N. Turgenev, with the rank of colonel, left the military service, in which he had until then been, and moved with his family to his wife's estate, Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, near the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province . Here the new landowner quickly unfolded the violent nature of an unbridled and depraved tyrant, who was a thunderstorm not only for the serfs, but also for members of his own family. Turgenev's mother, even before her marriage, experienced a lot of grief in the house of her stepfather, who pursued her with vile offers, and then in the house of her uncle, to whom she fled, was forced to silently endure the wild antics of her despot husband and, tormented by the pangs of jealousy, did not dare to reproach loudly him in unworthy behavior that offended in her the feelings of a woman and wife. Hidden resentment and irritation accumulated over the years embittered and hardened her; this was fully revealed when, after the death of her husband (1834), having become a sovereign mistress in her possessions, she gave vent to her evil instincts of unrestrained landlord tyranny.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. Portrait by Repin

In this suffocating atmosphere, saturated with all the miasma of serfdom, the first years of Turgenev's childhood passed. According to the custom prevailing in the life of the landowners of that time, the future famous novelist was brought up under the guidance of tutors and teachers - Swiss, Germans and serf uncles and nannies. The main attention was paid to the French and German languages, assimilated by Turgenev in childhood; the native language was in the pen. According to the testimony of the author of The Hunter's Notes, the first person who interested him in Russian literature was his mother's serf valet, secretly, but with extraordinary solemnity, reading to him somewhere in the garden or in a remote room Kheraskov's Rossiada.

In early 1827, the Turgenevs moved to Moscow to raise their children. Turgenev was placed in the private pension of Weidenhammer, then was soon transferred from there to the director of the Lazarev Institute, with whom he lived as a boarder. In 1833, having only 15 years of age, Turgenev entered Moscow University in the Faculty of Languages, but a year later, with the family moving to St. Petersburg, he moved to St. Petersburg University. Having completed the course in 1836 with the title of a full student and having passed the exam for the degree of a candidate the following year, Turgenev, with the low level of Russian university science at that time, could not but be aware of the complete insufficiency of the university education he had received and therefore went to complete his studies abroad. To this end, in 1838 he went to Berlin, where for two years he studied ancient languages, history and philosophy, mainly the Hegelian system under the guidance of Professor Werder. In Berlin, Turgenev became close friends with Stankevich, Granovsky, Frolov, Bakunin, who together with him listened to the lectures of Berlin professors.

However, not only scientific interests prompted him to go abroad. Possessing by nature a sensitive and receptive soul, which he saved among the groans of the unanswered "subjects" of the landowners-masters, among the "beatings and tortures" of the serf situation, which inspired him from the very first days of his conscious life with invincible horror and deep disgust, Turgenev felt a strong need for at least temporarily flee from their native Palestine. As he himself wrote later in his memoirs, he had to “either submit and humbly wander along the common rut, along the beaten path, or turn away at once, recoil from himself“ everyone and everything ”, even risking losing much that was dear and close to my heart. I did just that ... I threw myself headlong into the "German sea", which was supposed to cleanse and revive me, and when I finally emerged from its waves, I nevertheless found myself a "Westerner" and remained so forever.

The beginning of Turgenev's literary activity dates back to the time preceding his first trip abroad. While still a 3rd year student, he gave Pletnev one of the first fruits of his inexperienced muse for consideration, a fantastic drama in verse, Stenio, - this is completely ridiculous, according to the author himself, a work in which, with childish ineptitude, a slavish imitation of Byron's was expressed " Manfred." Although Pletnev scolded the young author, he nevertheless noticed that there was “something” in him. These words prompted Turgenev to take him a few more poems, of which two were published a year later in " Contemporary". Upon returning in 1841 from abroad, Turgenev went to Moscow with the intention of taking the exam for a master of philosophy; this turned out to be impossible, however, due to the abolition of the department of philosophy at Moscow University. In Moscow, he met the luminaries of the emerging Slavophilism at that time - Aksakov, Kireevsky, Khomyakov; but the convinced "Westernizer" Turgenev reacted negatively to the new current of Russian social thought. On the contrary, with Belinsky, Herzen, Granovsky, and others hostile to the Slavophiles, he became very close.

In 1842, Turgenev left for St. Petersburg, where, as a result of a quarrel with his mother, who severely limited his means, he was forced to follow the “common track” and enter the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs Perovsky. "Listed" in this service for a little over two years, Turgenev was not so much engaged in official affairs as reading French novels and writing poetry. Around the same time, starting from 1841, in " Domestic Notes" His small poems began to appear, and in 1843 the poem "Parasha" signed by T. L. was published, very sympathetically received by Belinsky, with whom he soon met after that and remained in close friendly relations until the end of his days. The young writer made a very strong impression on Belinsky. “This is a man,” he wrote to his friends, “unusually intelligent; conversations and disputes with him took away my soul. Turgenev later recalled these disputes with love. Belinsky had a considerable influence on the further direction of his literary activity. (See Turgenev's early work.)

Soon Turgenev became close to a circle of writers who were grouped around Otechestvennye Zapiski and attracted him to participate in this journal, and took an outstanding place among them as a person with a broad philosophical education, familiar with Western European science and literature from primary sources. After Parasha, Turgenev wrote two more poems in verse: Conversation (1845) and Andrei (1845). His first prose work was the one-act dramatic essay "Carelessness" ("Notes of the Fatherland", 1843), followed by the story "Andrei Kolosov" (1844), the humorous poem "The Landowner" and the stories "Three Portraits" and "Breter" (1846) . These first literary experiences did not satisfy Turgenev, and he was already ready to quit his literary career, when Panaev, embarking on the publication of Sovremennik together with Nekrasov, asked him to send something for the first book of the updated magazine. Turgenev sent a short story "Khor and Kalinich", which was placed by Panaev in the modest department of "mixture" under the heading "From the notes of a hunter" invented by him, which created unfading glory for our famous writer.

This story, which immediately aroused everyone's attention, begins a new period of Turgenev's literary activity. He completely abandons the writing of poetry and turns exclusively to the story and the story, primarily from the life of the serf peasantry, imbued with a humane feeling and compassion for the enslaved masses of the people. The Hunter's Notes soon became a big name; their rapid success forced the author to abandon his previous decision to part with literature, but could not reconcile him with the difficult conditions of Russian life. An increasingly aggravated sense of dissatisfaction with them finally led him to the decision to finally settle abroad (1847). “I saw no other way before me,” he later wrote, recalling the internal crisis that he was going through at that time. “I could not breathe the same air, stay close to what I hated; for this, I probably lacked reliable endurance, firmness of character. I needed to move away from my enemy in order to attack him more strongly from my distance. In my eyes, this enemy had a certain image, bore a well-known name: this enemy was serfdom. Under this name, I collected and concentrated everything against which I decided to fight to the end - with which I swore never to reconcile ... This was my Annibal oath ... I went to the West in order to better fulfill it. Personal motives joined this main motive - hostile relations with his mother, who was dissatisfied with the fact that her son chose a literary career, and Ivan Sergeevich's attachment to the famous singer Viardo-Garcia and her family, with whom he lived almost inseparably for 38 years, a bachelor all his life.

Ivan Turgenev and Pauline Viardot. More than love

In 1850, in the year of his mother's death, Turgenev returned to Russia to arrange his affairs. All the yard peasants of the family estate, which he inherited with his brother, he set free; he transferred those who wished to quitrent and in every possible way contributed to the success of the general liberation. In 1861, at the time of redemption, he conceded a fifth part everywhere, and in the main estate he did not take anything for the estate land, which was a rather large amount. In 1852, Turgenev issued a separate edition of the Hunter's Notes, which finally strengthened his fame. But in official spheres, where serfdom was considered an inviolable foundation of social order, the author of the Hunter's Notes, who, moreover, had lived abroad for a long time, was in very bad shape. An insignificant occasion was enough for the official disgrace against the author to take concrete form. This occasion was Turgenev's letter, caused by Gogol's death in 1852 and placed in Moskovskie Vedomosti. For this letter, the author was imprisoned for a month on the "moving out", where, among other things, he wrote the story "Mumu", and then, by administrative procedure, was sent to live in his village of Spasskoye, "without the right to leave." Turgenev was released from this exile only in 1854 through the efforts of the poet Count A. K. Tolstoy, who interceded for him before the heir to the throne. The forced stay in the village, according to Turgenev himself, gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with those aspects of peasant life that had previously eluded his attention. There he wrote the novels "Two Friends", "Calm", the beginning of the comedy "A Month in the Country" and two critical articles. Since 1855, he again connected with his foreign friends, with whom he was separated by exile. From that time on, the most famous fruits of his artistic creativity began to appear - Rudin (1856), Asya (1858), Noble Nest (1859), On the Eve and First Love (1860). [Cm. Turgenev's novels and heroes, Turgenev - lyrics in prose.]

Retiring again abroad, Turgenev listened attentively to everything that was happening in his homeland. At the first rays of the dawn of the renaissance that was taking over Russia, Turgenev felt in himself a new surge of energy, which he wanted to give a new application. He wanted to add to his mission as a sensitive contemporary artist the role of a publicist-citizen, at one of the most important moments in the socio-political development of his homeland. During this period of preparing reforms (1857 - 1858), Turgenev was in Rome, where many Russians then lived, including Prince. V. A. Cherkassky, V. N. Botkin, gr. Ya. I. Rostovtsev. These persons arranged meetings among themselves, at which the question of the emancipation of the peasants was discussed, and the result of these meetings was a project for the founding of a journal, the program of which was entrusted to develop Turgenev. In his explanatory note to the program, Turgenev proposed calling on all the living forces of society to assist the government in the ongoing liberation reform. The author of the note recognized Russian science and literature as such forces. The projected magazine was supposed to devote "exclusively and specifically to the development of all issues related to the actual organization of peasant life and the consequences arising from them." This attempt, however, was recognized as "premature" and did not receive practical implementation.

In 1862, the novel Fathers and Sons appeared (see its full text, summary and analysis), which had an unprecedented success in the literary world, but also brought the author many difficult minutes. A whole hail of sharp reproaches rained down on him both from the conservatives, who accused him (pointing to the image of Bazarov) of sympathy for the "nihilists", in "somersaulting in front of the youth", and from the latter, who accused Turgenev of slandering the younger generation and treason " the cause of freedom." By the way, "Fathers and Sons" led Turgenev to break with Herzen, who offended him with a sharp review of this novel. All these troubles had such a hard effect on Turgenev that he seriously considered abandoning further literary activity. The lyrical story "Enough", written by him shortly after the troubles experienced, serves as a literary monument of the gloomy mood in which the author was seized at that time.

Fathers and Sons. Feature film based on the novel by I. S. Turgenev. 1958

But the artist's need for creativity was too great for him to dwell on his decision for a long time. In 1867, the novel Smoke appeared, which also brought accusations against the author of backwardness and misunderstanding of Russian life. Turgenev reacted much more calmly to the new attacks. "Smoke" was his last work, which appeared on the pages of "Russian Messenger". Since 1868, it has been published exclusively in the journal Vestnik Evropy, which was then born. At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war, Turgenev moved from Baden-Baden to Paris with Viardot and lived in the house of his friends in the winter, and moved to his dacha in Bougival (near Paris) in the summer. In Paris, he became close friends with the most prominent representatives of French literature, was on friendly terms with Flaubert, Daudet, Ogier, Goncourt, patronized Zola and Maupassant. As before, he continued to write a story or story every year, and in 1877 Turgenev's largest novel, Nov, appeared. Like almost everything that came out of the novelist's pen, his new work - and this time, perhaps with more reason than ever - aroused a lot of the most diverse interpretations. The attacks resumed with such ferocity that Turgenev returned to his old idea of ​​ending his literary activity. And, indeed, for 3 years he did not write anything. But during this time, events occurred that completely reconciled the writer with the public.

In 1879 Turgenev came to Russia. His arrival gave rise to a whole series of warm applause addressed to him, in which the youth took a particularly active part. They testified to how strong the sympathies of the Russian intelligentsia society were for the novelist. On his next visit in 1880, these ovations, but on an even grander scale, were repeated in Moscow during the "Pushkin days". Since 1881, alarming news about Turgenev's illness began to appear in the newspapers. The gout, from which he had long suffered, grew worse and at times caused him severe suffering; for almost two years, at short intervals, she kept the writer chained to a bed or an armchair, and on August 22, 1883, she put an end to his life. Two days after his death, Turgenev's body was transported from Bougival to Paris, and on September 19 it was sent to St. Petersburg. The transfer of the ashes of the famous novelist to the Volkovo cemetery was accompanied by a grandiose procession, unprecedented in the annals of Russian literature.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is known in Russian and world literature as the founder of plots that reflect reality. A small number of novels written by the writer brought him great fame. Novels, short stories, essays, plays, poems in prose also played an important role.

Tergenev was actively published during his lifetime. And although not every work of his caused delight among critics, it did not leave anyone indifferent. Disputes broke out constantly not only because of literary disagreements. Everyone knows that at the time when Ivan Sergeevich lived and worked, censorship was especially strict, and the writer could not openly talk about many things that would affect politics, criticize power or serfdom.

Separate works and complete works of Tergenev are published with enviable regularity. The most voluminous and complete collection of works is considered to be the release of the Nauka publishing house in thirty volumes, which combined all the works of the classic into twelve volumes, and published his letters in eighteen volumes.

Artistic features of the work of I.S. Turgenev

Most of the writer's novels have the same artistic features. Often the focus is on a girl who is beautiful, but not beautiful, developed, but this does not mean at all that she is very smart or educated. According to the plot, this girl is always courted by several applicants, but she chooses one, the one whom the author wants to single out from the crowd, to show his inner world, desires and aspirations.

According to the plot of each writer's novel, these people fall in love with each other, but something is always present in their love and does not make it possible to be together right away. It is probably worth listing all the novels of Ivan Turgenev:

★ Rudin.
★ "Noble Nest".
★ "Fathers and Sons".
★ "The day before".
★ "Smoke".
★ New.

In order to better understand the works of Turgenev, his features of writing, one should consider in more detail several of his novels. After all, most of the novels were written even before the peasant reform was carried out in Russia, and all this was reflected in the works.

Roman "Rudin"

This is the first novel by Turgenev, which was first defined by the author himself as a story. And although the main work on the work was completed in 1855, the author made several adjustments and improvements to his text. This was due to the criticism of the comrades, to whom the manuscript fell into the hands. And in 1860, after the first publications, the author added an epilogue.

The following characters act in Turgenev's novel:

⇒ Lasunskaya.
⇒ Pigasov.
⇒ Pandnlevsky.
⇒ Lipina.
⇒ Volintsev.
⇒ Bass players.

Lasunskaya is the widow of a privy councillor, who was very rich. The writer rewards Daria Mikhailovna not only with beauty, but also with freedom in communication. She participated in all conversations, trying to show her importance, which in reality she did not have at all. She considers Pigasov funny, who shows some kind of malice towards all people, but especially does not like women. Afrikan Semenovich lives alone because he is very ambitious.

The Turgenev hero from the novel, Konstantin Pandelevsky, is interesting, since it was impossible to determine his nationality. But the most remarkable thing about his image is his unusual ability to take care of the ladies in such a way that they then constantly patronized him. But he had nothing to do with Lipina Alexandra, since the woman, despite her young age, was already a widow, although without children. She inherited a large inheritance from her husband, but so that she would not let him down, she lived with her brother. Sergei Volintsev was a staff captain, but already retired. He is decent, and many knew that he was in love with Natalia. The young teacher of Bassists hates Pandelevsky, but respects the main character, Dmitry Rudin.

The protagonist is a poor man, although he is a nobleman by origin. He received a good education at the university. And although he grew up in the village, he is smart enough. He knew how to speak beautifully and for a long time, which surprised others. Unfortunately, his words and deeds differ. His philosophical views were liked by Natalya Lasunskaya, who falls in love with him. He constantly said that he was also in love with a girl, but this turned out to be a lie. And when she denounces him, Dmitry Nikolayevich immediately leaves, and soon dies in France on the barricades.

By composition, the entire Turgenev novel is divided into four parts. The first part tells how Rudin arrives at Natalya's house, sees her for the first time. In the second part, the author shows how much the girl is in love with Nikolai. The third part is the departure of the protagonist. The fourth part is an epilogue.

Novel "The Nest of Nobles"

This is the second novel by Ivan Sergeevich, the work on which lasted two years. Like the first novel, The Nest of Nobles was published in the Sovremennik magazine. This work caused a storm in literary circles, from disagreement in the interpretation of the plot, to outright accusations of plagiarism. But the work was a great success with the readership, and the name "Noble Nest" has become a real catchphrase and has become firmly established in the flesh to this day.

There are a large number of characters in the novel who will always be interesting in their character and Turgenev's description to readers. The female images of the work are represented by Kalitina, who is already fifty years old. Marya Dmitrievna was not only a rich, but also a very capricious noblewoman. She was so spoiled that at any moment she could cry because her desires were not fulfilled. Her aunt, Marya Timofeevnea, brought her special trouble. Pestova was already seventy years old, but she easily and always told the truth to everyone. Marya Dmitrievna had children. Liza, the eldest daughter, is already 19 years old. She is friendly and very kind. This was the influence of the nanny. The second female image in Turgenev's novel is Lavretskaya, who is not only beautiful, but also married. Although after her betrayal, her husband left her abroad, but this alone did not stop Varvara Pavlovna.

There are many characters in the novel. There are those that play an important role in the plot, and there are episodic ones. For example, a certain Sergei Petrovich appears several times in Turgenev's novel, who is a gossip from a secular society. A handsome Pashin, who is very young and has a position in society, comes to the city on his work. He is obsequious, but easily liked by the people around him. It is worth noting that he is very talented: he composes music and poetry himself, and then performs them. But only his soul is cold. He likes Lisa.

A music teacher comes to the Kalitins' house, who was a hereditary musician, but fate was against him. He is poor, although he is German. He does not like to communicate with people, but he perfectly understands everything that happens around him. The main characters include Lavretsky, who is thirty-five years old. He is a relative of the Kalitins. But he could not boast of his education, although in himself he was a kind person. Fedor Ivanovich has a noble dream - to plow the land, because he did not succeed in anything else. He is counting on a friend, the poet Mikhalevich, who will help him realize all his plans.

According to the plot, Fedor Ivanovich comes to the province to realize his dream, where he meets Liza and falls in love with her. The girl loves him back. But here comes the unfaithful wife of Lavretsky. He is forced to leave, and Liza goes to the monastery.

The composition of Turgenev's novel is divided into six parts. In the first part there is a story about how Fyodor Ivanovich arrives in the province. And so in the second part tells about the main character. In the third part, Lavretsky, and Kalitins, and other heroes go to Vasilyevskoye. Here begins the rapprochement between Liza and Fedor Ivanovich, but this is already discussed in the fourth part. But the fifth part is very sad, as Lavretsky's wife arrives. The sixth part is an epilogue.

Novel "On the Eve"

This novel was created by Ivan Turgenev in anticipation of a coup in Russia. The main character of his work becomes a Bulgarian. It is known that the novel was written by a famous writer in 1859, and the very next year it was published in one of the magazines.

The plot is based on the Stakhov family. Stakhov Nikolay Artemyevich, who not only spoke good French, but was also a great debater. In addition, he was also known as a philosopher who was bored at home all the time. He met a German widow and now spent all his time with her. This state of affairs greatly upset his wife, Anna Vasilievna, a calm and sad woman who complained to everyone in the house about her husband's infidelity. She loved her daughter, but in her own way. By the way, Elena at that time was already twenty years old, although from the age of 16 she left her parental care, and then she lived like herself. She had a need to constantly take care of the poor, the unfortunate, and it doesn’t matter whether they are people or animals. But for the environment, she seemed a little strange.

Elena was simply created to share her life with Dmitry Insarov. This young man, who is barely 30 years old, has an amazing and unusual fate. His mission was to free his land. Therefore, Elena follows him, begins to believe in his ideas. After the death of her husband, she decides to devote herself to a noble mission - she becomes a sister of mercy.

The meaning of Turgenev's novels

All the novels of the famous writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev reflect the history of Russian society. He doesn't just portray his characters and tell their life stories. The writer walks the path together with his characters and guides the reader along this path, forcing them to philosophize together about what the meaning of life is, what kindness and love are. A huge role in Turgenev's novels is played by landscapes that reflect the mood of the acting characters.

M. Katkov wrote about Turgenev's novels:

"Clarity of ideas, skill in delineation of types, simplicity in conception and course of action."

Turgenev's novels have not only educational, but also historical significance, as the writer reveals the moral problems of the whole society. In the fates of his heroes, the fates of thousands of Russians who lived more than one hundred and fifty years ago are guessed. This is a real digression into the history of both high society and the common people.

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Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883)

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev came from a wealthy noble family. He was born on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel. The writer's father was a guards officer, an educated and kind man. After retirement, he lived in the countryside, but died young in 1834.

Mother, Varvara Petrovna, was the owner of huge estates not only in Oryol, but also in neighboring provinces. She was descended from the ancient family of the Lutovinovs and, like her ancestors, was distinguished by cruelty towards the serfs.

Little Ivan spent his childhood in his mother's family estate, in the village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, Oryol province. The wayward and despotic treatment of the mother with the serfs, the arbitrariness of the landowner, the boy had to observe daily. This left a deep imprint in the soul, and in the future, much of what he saw was reflected in his works. Serf nannies and uncles were the first educators of the future writer, later they were replaced by foreign tutors.

In 1827 the Turgenevs moved to Moscow. The education of children was continued in a private boarding school, but later they were taught at home with the involvement of the best teachers. Such attention to the education of children led to the fact that at the age of 15 Turgenev was ready to enter a higher educational institution. In 1833, he successfully passed the exams at the Moscow University in the verbal department.

A year later, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and Ivan, having successfully completed his first year, transferred to the philological department of the philosophical faculty of St. Petersburg University. Turgenev's favorite teacher was Pushkin's friend Professor P.A. Pletnev, whom the young student, in his own words, revered as a demigod.

Turgenev's creative activity began in his student years. His first works (the lyrical poems "Evening", "Ballad", etc., the dramatic poem "The Wall") were distinguished by romanticism and at the same time immaturity. They clearly traced the influence of the poems of Pushkin and Byron, the romantic writings of popular Russian writers of the 1830s. However, the true talent of the young writer was already noticeable here, and in 1838 some of his youthful poems were published in the Sovremennik magazine.

Turgenev graduated from the University in the fall of 1837, after which he left to study philosophy in Germany. He returned to Russia in the spring of 1841, living alternately in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and spent the summer in Spassky.

He actively prepared for scientific activity, but gradually literature became more and more significant for him. For some time Turgenev served as an official for special assignments in the Ministry of the Interior, but in 1845 he retired.

Works written and published in 1842-1846 (poems Parasha, Landowner, stories Andrey Kolosov, Breter, Three Portraits) testify that the writer began to move away from romanticism and more and more established himself on the positions of realism.

In the spring of 1843, Turgenev met Belinsky, and their friendship began. They became especially close in the summer of 1847, while in Salzburg, where the critic was being treated. Turgenev lived abroad since the spring of 1847 in the family of the French singer Pauline Viardot, who was a friend of the writer until his death. In Paris, he witnessed the French Revolution

1848. His impressions of this event are reflected in the essays "Our sent!" and "The Man with Gray Glasses".

In the autumn of 1850, the writer's mother died, and he received a substantial inheritance. Turgenev wrote: “... I immediately released the courtyards to freedom; he transferred the peasants who wished for quitrent, contributed in every possible way to the success of the general liberation, at the ransom he gave up a fifth part everywhere ... ”In 1852, Gogol died.

The shocked Turgenev wrote a note about his death for the St. Turgenev asked friends to publish a note in Moskovskie Vedomosti, and before the ban came, it appeared in print.

The result was the arrest of Turgenev, after which the exile followed: “Send him to live in his homeland, under supervision.” However, the main reason for the arrest and exile was the dissatisfaction of officials with the Hunter's Notes.

The writer was in exile for about a year and a half. At the end of 1853 he was allowed to leave the village, but he still remained under police surveillance. Returning to St. Petersburg, Turgenev began to work actively, in the editorial office of Sovremennik. In the 1850s, such works as "The Nest of Nobles", "Rudin", "On the Eve" were created, and in early August 1860.

Turgenev began writing the novel Fathers and Sons, which he completed in July 1861. Turgenev spent the last fifteen years of his life mainly in Paris.

3.8 / 5. 13

He was born on October 28 (November 9, n.s.), 1818 in Orel in a noble family. Father, Sergei Nikolaevich, a retired hussar officer, came from an old noble family; mother, Varvara Petrovna, is 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."

In 1827 the family moved to Moscow; At first, Turgenev studied in private boarding schools and with good home teachers, then, in 1833, he entered the verbal department of Moscow University, and in 1834 he transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. One of the strongest impressions of early youth (1833), falling in love with Princess E. L. Shakhovskaya, who at that time was having an affair with Turgenev's father, was reflected in the story First Love (1860).

In his student years, Turgenev began to write. His first attempts at poetry were translations, short poems, lyric poems, and the drama The Wall (1834), written in the then fashionable romantic spirit. Among Turgenev's university professors, Pletnev stood out, one of Pushkin's close friends, "a mentor of the old age ... not a scientist, but wise in his own way." Having become acquainted with the first works of Turgenev, Pletnev explained to the young student their immaturity, but singled out and printed 2 of the most successful poems, encouraging the student to continue studying literature.
November 1837 - Turgenev officially graduates and receives a diploma from the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University for the title of candidate.

In 1838-1840. Turgenev continued his education abroad (at the University of Berlin he studied philosophy, history and ancient languages). During his free time from lectures, Turgenev traveled. For more than two years of his stay abroad, Turgenev was able to travel all over Germany, visit France, Holland and even live in Italy. The catastrophe of the steamer "Nikolai I", on which Turgenev sailed, will be described by him in the essay "Fire at Sea" (1883; in French).

In 1841 Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev returned to his homeland and began to prepare for the master's exams. Just at this time, Turgenev met such great people as Gogol and Asakov. Even in Berlin, having met Bakunin, in Russia he visits their Premukhino estate, converges with this family: soon an affair with T. A. Bakunina begins, which does not interfere with communication with the seamstress A. E. Ivanova (in 1842 she will give birth to Turgenev's daughter Pelageya) .

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.

But in Turgenev the fever for professional scholarship had already caught cold; he is more and more attracted to literary activity. He publishes small poems in Otechestvennye Zapiski, and in the spring of 1843 he publishes a separate book, under the letters of T. L. (Turgenev-Lutovinov), the poem Parasha.

In 1843 he entered the service of an official in the "special office" of the Minister of the Interior, where he served for two years. In May 1845 I.S. Turgenev retires. By this time, the writer's mother, irritated by his inability to serve and incomprehensible personal life, finally deprives Turgenev of material support, the writer lives in debt and starving, while maintaining the appearance of well-being.

The influence of Belinsky largely determined the formation of Turgenev's social and creative position, Belinsky helped him embark on the path of realism. But this path is difficult at first. The young Turgenev tries himself in a variety of genres: lyrical poems alternate with critical articles, after Parasha, the verse poems Conversation (1844), Andrey (1845) appear. From romanticism, Turgenev turned to the ironic moral descriptive poems "The Landowner" and the prose "Andrey Kolosov" in 1844, "Three Portraits" in 1846, "Breter" in 1847.

1847 - Turgenev brought his story "Khor and Kalinich" to Nekrasov in Sovremennik, to which Nekrasov made a subtitle "From the notes of a hunter." This story began the literary activity of Turgenev. In the same year, Turgenev takes Belinsky to Germany for treatment. Belinsky dies in Germany in 1848.

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. Turgenev lived in close contact with Viardo's family for 38 years.

I.S. Turgenev wrote several plays: "The Freeloader" in 1848, "The Bachelor" in 1849, "A Month in the Country" in 1850, "The Provincial Girl" in 1850.

In 1850 the writer returned to Russia and worked as an author and critic in Sovremennik. In 1852, the essays were published as a separate book called Notes of a Hunter. Impressed by Gogol's death in 1852, Turgenev published an obituary banned by the censors. For this he was arrested for a month, and then exiled to his estate without the right to travel outside the Oryol province. In 1853, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was allowed to come to St. Petersburg, but the right to travel abroad was returned only in 1856.

During his arrest and exile, he created the stories "Mumu" in 1852 and "Inn" in 1852 on a "peasant" theme. However, he was increasingly occupied with the life of the Russian intelligentsia, to whom the novels "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" in 1850, "Yakov Pasynkov" in 1855, and "Correspondence" in 1856 are dedicated.

In 1856, Turgenev received permission to travel abroad, and went to Europe, where he lived for almost two years. In 1858 Turgenev returned to Russia. They argue about his stories, literary critics give opposite assessments of Turgenev's works. After his return, Ivan Sergeevich publishes the story "Asya", around which the controversy of well-known critics unfolds. In the same year, the novel "The Nest of Nobles" was published, and in 1860 the novel "On the Eve" was published.

After "The Eve" and the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov devoted to the novel "When will the real day come?" (1860) there is a break between Turgenev and the radicalized Sovremennik (in particular, with N. A. Nekrasov; their mutual hostility persisted to the end).

In the summer of 1861 there was a quarrel with L. N. Tolstoy, which almost turned into a duel (reconciliation in 1878).

In February 1862, Turgenev published the novel "Fathers and Sons", where he tries to show the Russian society the tragic nature of the growing conflicts. The stupidity and helplessness of all classes in the face of a social crisis threatens to develop into confusion and chaos.

Since 1863, the writer settled with the Viardot family in Baden-Baden. Then he began to cooperate with the liberal-bourgeois Vestnik Evropy, in which all his subsequent major works were published.

In the 60s he published a short story "Ghosts" (1864) and an etude "Enough" (1865), where sad thoughts sounded about the ephemeral nature of all human values. For almost 20 years he lived in Paris and Baden-Baden, being interested in everything that happened in Russia.

1863 - 1871 - Turgenev and Viardot live in Baden, after the end of the Franco-Prussian war they move to Paris. At this time, Turgenev converges with G. Flaubert, the Goncourt brothers, A. Daudet, E. Zola, G. de Maupassant. Gradually, Ivan Sergeevich takes on the function of an intermediary between Russian and Western European literature.

The public upsurge of the 1870s in Russia, connected 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 financial 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 novels "Punin and Baburin" (1874), "Hours" (1875), etc. As a result of his life abroad, the largest volume from Turgenev's novels - "Nov" (1877).

Turgenev's worldwide recognition was expressed in the fact that he, together with Victor Hugo, was elected co-chairman of the First International Congress of Writers, which took place in 1878 in Paris. In 1879 he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. On the slope of his life, Turgenev wrote his famous "poems in prose", in which almost all the motives of his work are presented.

In 1883 On August 22, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev died. This sad event happened in Bougival. Thanks to the will, Turgenev's body was transported and buried in Russia, in St. Petersburg.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a well-known Russian writer, poet, publicist and translator. He created his own artistic system, which influenced the poetics of the novel in the second half of the 19th century.

Brief biography of Turgenev

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born on November 9, 1818 in Orel. He was brought up in an old noble family and was the second son of his parents.

His father, Sergei Nikolaevich, served in the army and retired with the rank of colonel of a cuirassier regiment. Mother, Varvara Petrovna, came from a wealthy noble family.

It is worth noting that this marriage was not happy, since Turgenev's father married for convenience, and not for love.

Childhood and youth

When Ivan was 12 years old, his father decided to leave the family, leaving his wife and three children. By that time, the youngest son Serezha had died of epilepsy.

Ivan Turgenev in his youth, 1838

As a result, the upbringing of both boys, Nikolai and Ivan, fell on the shoulders of the mother. By nature, she was an overly strict woman with a bad temper.

This is largely due to the fact that she was abused as a child, both by her mother and by her stepfather, who often beat her. As a result, the girl had to run away from home to her uncle.

Soon, Turgenev's mother married a second time. Despite the fact that she was strict with her sons, she managed to instill good qualities and manners in them.

She was a literate woman and spoke exclusively in French with all family members.

She also maintained friendly relations with writers and Mikhail Zagoskin. No wonder she wanted to give her sons a good education.

Both boys were taught by some of the best teachers in Europe, on whom she spared no expense.

Turgenev's education

During the winter holidays, he went to Italy, which charmed the future writer with its beauty and unique architecture.

Returning to Russia in 1841, Ivan Sergeevich successfully passed the exams and received a master's degree in philosophy from St. Petersburg University.

After 2 years, he was entrusted with a position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which could completely change his biography.

However, interest in writing took precedence over the benefits of a bureaucratic position.

Creative biography of Turgenev

When a well-known critic read it (see), he appreciated the talent of the novice writer and even wanted to meet him. As a result, they became good friends.

Later, Ivan Sergeevich had the honor to meet Nikolai Nekrasov (see), with whom he also had a good relationship.

Turgenev's next works were Andrey Kolosov, Three Portraits and Breter.

He claimed that his name was not worthy of mention in society, and also called him a "lackey writer." Musin-Pushkin immediately wrote a report to Tsar Nicholas 1, describing the incident in every detail.

Due to frequent trips abroad, Turgenev was under suspicion, because there he communicated with the disgraced Belinsky and. And now, because of the obituary, his situation has worsened even more.

It was then that problems began in Turgenev's biography. He was detained and imprisoned for a month, after which he was under house arrest for another 3 years without the right to travel abroad.

Works by Turgenev

At the end of his imprisonment, he published the book "Notes of a Hunter", which included such stories as "Bezhin Meadow", "Biryuk" and "Singers". Censorship saw serfdom in the works, but this did not lead to any serious consequences.

Turgenev wrote for both adults and children. Once, after spending some time in the village, he composed the famous story "Mumu", which received wide popularity in society.

In the same place, from his pen came such novels as "The Nest of Nobles", "On the Eve" and "Fathers and Sons". The last work caused a real sensation in society, since Ivan Sergeevich was able to masterfully convey the problem of the relationship between fathers and children.

In the late 1950s he visited several European countries where he continued his writing activity. In 1857, he wrote the famous story "Asya", which was subsequently translated into many languages.

According to some biographers, his illegitimate daughter Pauline Brewer became the prototype of the main character.

Turgenev's lifestyle was criticized by many of his colleagues. They condemned him for spending most of his time abroad, while considering himself a patriot of Russia.

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

So, for example, he was in a serious confrontation with, and. Despite this, Ivan Sergeevich's talent as a novelist was recognized by many famous writers.

Among them were the Goncourt brothers, Emile Zola and Gustave Flaubert, who later became his close friend.

In 1879, 61-year-old Turgenev arrived in St. Petersburg. He was very warmly received by the younger generation, although the authorities still treated him with suspicion.

In the same year, the prose writer went to Britain, where he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

When Ivan Sergeevich learned that the opening of the monument to Alexander Pushkin would take place in Moscow, he also attended this solemn event.

Personal life

The only love in Turgenev's biography was the singer Pauline Viardot. The girl did not possess beauty, but rather, on the contrary, disgusted many men.

She was stooped and had rough features. Her mouth was disproportionately large, and her eyes protruded from their sockets. Heinrich Heine even compared it to a landscape that was "both monstrous and exotic".

Turgenev and Viardot

But when Viardot began to sing, she immediately captivated the audience. It was in this image that Turgenev saw Polina, and immediately fell in love with her. All the girls with whom he had a close relationship before meeting the singer immediately ceased to interest him.

However, there was a problem - the writer's beloved was married. Nevertheless, Turgenev did not deviate from the goal and did everything possible to see Viardot more often.

As a result, he managed to settle in the house where Polina and her husband Louis lived. The singer's husband looked through his fingers at the relationship of the "guest" with his wife.

A number of biographers believe that the reason for this was the considerable sums that the Russian master left in the house of his mistress. Also, some researchers believe that the real father of Paul, the child of Polina and Louis, is Ivan Turgenev.

The writer's mother was against her son's relationship with Viardot. She hoped that Ivan would leave her and finally find a suitable match for himself.

Interestingly, in his youth, Turgenev had a fleeting affair with the seamstress Avdotya. As a result of their relationship, the daughter of Pelageya was born, whom he recognized only 15 years later.

Varvara Petrovna (Turgenev's mother) treated her granddaughter very coldly because of her peasant origin. But Ivan Sergeevich himself loved the girl very much, and even agreed to take her into his house, after living together with Viardot.

The love idyll with Polina did not last long. This was largely due to Turgenev's three-year house arrest, because of which the lovers could not see each other.

After parting, the writer began dating young Olga, who was 18 years younger than him. However, Viardot still did not leave his heart.

Not wanting to spoil the life of a young girl, he confessed to her that he still loves only Polina.

Portrait of Turgenev performed

The next hobby of Ivan Sergeevich was the 30-year-old actress Maria Savina. At that time, Turgenev was 61 years old.

When the couple went to, Savina saw a large number of Viardot's things in the writer's house and guessed that she would never be able to achieve the same love for herself.

As a result, they never got married, although they maintained friendly relations until the death of the writer.

Death

In 1882, Turgenev became seriously ill. After the examination, the doctors diagnosed him with cancer of the bones of the spine. The disease was very difficult and was accompanied by constant pain.

In 1883, he underwent an operation in Paris, but this did not give any results. The only joy for him was that in the last days of his life, his beloved woman, Viardot, was next to him.

After his death, she inherited all of Turgenev's property.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev died on August 22, 1883 at the age of 64. His body was taken from Paris to St. Petersburg, where he was buried at the Volkovo Cemetery.

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