A classic of Russian literature, a genius and a quiet revolutionary - Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - significantly influenced the development of culture and thought in our country. It was taught to more than one generation of the youth of our country. Although few today know what influenced the development of the writer’s worldview, how he lived, worked, and where Turgenev was born.

Earlier childhood

It is customary to begin the study of the work of any writer with a study of his childhood, first impressions, as well as the environment that influenced him in one way or another. Uninformed people, especially schoolchildren, confuse where Turgenev was born and in what city, calling his mother’s estate his homeland. In fact, although the Russian classic spent most of his childhood there, he was still born in the city of Orel.

Researchers of the work of the famous writer of the 19th century note that all the childhood impressions of the Russian classic were subsequently reflected in his works. The time and place where Turgenev was born became the determining factors in his attitude towards the existing government.

Reflection of childhood memories in literature

Ivan Sergeevich came from an ancient noble family, his father - refined, noble, a favorite of women and society - sharply contrasted with the domineering and despotic mother Varvara Petrovna, née Lutovinova. Later, all the memories of where Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born, grew up and was brought up, will be included in some of the plots of his works. And the images of the mother and grandmother will become prototypes of the domineering and heartless landowners from the “Notes of a Hunter” series.

The area where Turgenev was born was rich in truly Russian traditions and ancient customs. Ivan Sergeevich listened with pleasure to the stories of his mother’s serfs, and was imbued with their dreams and suffering. It was here, in the family estate, that the writer understood what slavery was and fiercely hated this phenomenon. Childhood impressions shaped the writer’s unyielding position; all his life he advocated for the freedom of every person, regardless of his origin.

The most striking image of Turgenev's creativity is a fading old estate, which personified the decline of the nobility, the crushing of the souls and actions of the intelligentsia. All these thoughts were inspired precisely by the environment of the family nest.

Estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo

When the question arises about where Turgenev was born, everyone immediately remembers the picture from the school textbook. the rays of the setting sun penetrating through the foliage and an old house with white columns. Not everyone will remember the name of the estate where Turgenev was born, and yet the local environment greatly influenced the writer’s work; one can say that Russian literary classics were born here.

Here, in forced exile, the stories “The Inn” and the unpublished work “Two Generations”, the essay “On Nightingales”, as well as the famous novel about the failed revolutionary “Rudin” were written. Silence and natural beauty reigned here, all this was conducive to creativity and self-criticism. It is not surprising that the classic always returned here after long trips to European countries.

Turgenev not only verbally opposed slavery; after he gave freedom to his serfs (many of whom remained in the service as free people), the writer organized a school for children and a kind of home for the elderly on the estate. Until the end of his life, Ivan Sergeevich adhered to the European traditions of respect for the freedoms of every person.

Link

After the death of his mother, the writer ceded most of his inheritance to his brother Nikolai, but left himself the only place where he was happy - the family estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo. It was here that Nicholas I exiled him in the hope of bringing the obstinate writer to reason. But the punishment failed, Ivan Sergeevich released all his serfs and continued to write books that were objectionable to the court.

Other geniuses of Russian literature often came to where he was born and where he was imprisoned by order of the emperor. Nikolai Nekrasov, Afanasy Fet and Lev Tolstoy visited Spasskoye-Lutovinovo at different times to support their comrade. After each trip abroad, Turgenev returns precisely here, to the family estate. Here he writes “The Noble Nest”, “Fathers and Sons” and “On the Eve”, and no serious philological study of these works is possible without correlating the events of the novels with the history of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo estate.

Turgenev Museum

Today in Russia there are many abandoned and destroyed noble estates. Many of them were destroyed during the Civil War, some were nationalized or demolished, and some simply collapsed due to time and lack of repair.

The history of the estate where Ivan Turgenev was born is also quite tragic. The house burned down several times, the property was confiscated, and the famous alleys were overgrown with dense grass. But thanks to connoisseurs of Russian classical literature, back in Soviet times, the estate was restored according to the remaining drawings and drawings. Gradually, the garden plot was put in order, and today a museum named after Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, a world classic and famous genius of Russian literature, is opened here.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev(Turgeniev) (October 28, 1818, Oryol, Russian Empire - August 22, 1883, Bougival, France) - Russian writer, poet, translator; Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of Russian language and literature (1860). Considered one of the classics of world literature.

Biography

Father, Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev (1793-1834), was a retired cuirassier colonel. Mother, Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (before Lutovinov's marriage) (1787-1850), came from a wealthy noble family.

The family of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev came from an ancient family of Tula nobles, the Turgenevs. It is curious that the great-grandfathers were involved in the events of the times of Ivan the Terrible: the names of such representatives of this family as Ivan Vasilyevich Turgenev, who was Ivan the Terrible’s nursery (1550-1556); Dmitry Vasilyevich was a governor in Kargopol in 1589. And in the Time of Troubles, Pyotr Nikitich Turgenev was executed at the Execution Ground in Moscow for denouncing False Dmitry I; great-grandfather Alexey Romanovich Turgenev was a participant in the Russian-Turkish war under Anna Ioannovna.

Until the age of 9, Ivan Turgenev lived on the hereditary estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, 10 km from Mtsensk, Oryol province. In 1827, the Turgenevs, in order to give their children an education, settled in Moscow, buying a house on Samotek.

The first romantic interest of young Turgenev was falling in love with the daughter of Princess Shakhovskaya, Ekaterina. The estates of their parents in the Moscow region bordered, they often exchanged visits. He is 14, she is 18. In letters to her son, V.P. Turgenev called E.L. Shakhovskaya a “poet” and a “villain,” since Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev himself, his son’s happy rival, could not resist the charms of the young princess. The episode was revived much later, in 1860, in the story “First Love.”

After his parents went abroad, Ivan Sergeevich first studied at the Weidenhammer boarding school, then at the boarding school of the director of the Lazarevsky Institute, Krause. In 1833, 15-year-old Turgenev entered the literature department of Moscow University. Herzen and Belinsky studied here at that time. A year later, after Ivan’s older brother joined the Guards Artillery, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and Ivan Turgenev then moved to the Faculty of Philosophy at St. Petersburg University. Timofey Granovsky became his friend.

Group portrait of Russian writers - members of the editorial board 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, 1856

At that time, Turgenev saw himself in the poetic field. In 1834 he wrote the dramatic poem “Steno” and several lyric poems. The young author showed these samples of writing to his teacher, professor of Russian literature P. A. Pletnev. Pletnev called the poem a weak imitation of Byron, but noted that the author “has something.” By 1837, he had already written about a hundred small poems. At the beginning of 1837, an unexpected and short meeting took place with A.S. Pushkin. In the first issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1838, which after Pushkin’s death was published under the editorship of P. A. Pletnev, Turgenev’s poem “Evening” was published with the caption “- - -v”, which is the author’s debut.

In 1836, Turgenev graduated from the course with the degree of a full student. Dreaming of scientific activity, the following year he again took the final exam, received a candidate's degree, and in 1838 he went to Germany. During the trip, a fire broke out on the ship, and the passengers miraculously managed to escape. Turgenev, who feared for his life, asked one of the sailors to save him and promised him a reward from his rich mother if he managed to fulfill his request. Other passengers testified that the young man plaintively exclaimed: “To die so young!”, while pushing women and children away from the lifeboats. Fortunately, the shore was not far.

Once on the shore, the young man was ashamed of his cowardice. Rumors of his cowardice permeated society and became the subject of ridicule. The event played a certain negative role in the subsequent life of the author and was described by Turgenev himself in the short story “Fire at Sea.” Having settled in Berlin, Ivan took up his studies. While listening to lectures at the university on the history of Roman and Greek literature, at home he studied the grammar of ancient Greek and Latin. Here he became close to Stankevich. In 1839 he returned to Russia, but already in 1840 he went abroad again, visiting Germany, Italy and Austria. Impressed by his meeting with a girl in Frankfurt am Main, Turgenev later wrote the story “Spring Waters”.

Henri Troyat, “Ivan Turgenev” “My whole life is permeated with the feminine principle. Neither a book nor anything else can replace a woman for me... How can I explain this? I believe that only love causes such a flowering of the whole being that nothing else can give. And what do you think? Listen, in my youth I had a mistress - a miller's wife from the outskirts of St. Petersburg. I met her when I went hunting. She was very pretty - blonde with radiant eyes, the kind we see quite often. She didn't want to accept anything from me. And one day she said: “You should give me a gift!” - "What do you want?" - “Bring me soap!” I brought her soap. She took it and disappeared. She returned flushed and said, holding out her fragrant hands to me: “Kiss my hands as you kiss them to the ladies in St. Petersburg drawing rooms!” I threw myself on my knees in front of her... There is no moment in my life that could compare with this!” (Edmond Goncourt. "Diary", March 2, 1872.)

Turgenev's story at dinner at Flaubert's

In 1841, Ivan returned to Lutovinovo. He became interested in the seamstress Dunyasha, who in 1842 gave birth to his daughter Pelageya (Polina). Dunyasha was married off, leaving her daughter in an ambiguous position.

At the beginning of 1842, Ivan Turgenev submitted a request to Moscow University for admission to the exam for the degree of Master of Philosophy. At the same time he began his literary activity.

The largest printed work of this time was the poem “Parasha”, written in 1843. Not hoping for positive criticism, he took the copy to V. G. Belinsky at Lopatin’s house, leaving the manuscript with the critic’s servant. Belinsky praised Parasha, publishing a positive review in Otechestvennye zapiski two months later. From that moment their acquaintance began, which over time grew into a strong friendship.

In the fall of 1843, Turgenev first saw Pauline Viardot on the stage of the opera house, when the great singer came on tour to St. Petersburg. Then, while hunting, he met Polina’s husband, the director of the Italian Theater in Paris, a famous critic and art critic, Louis Viardot, and on November 1, 1843, he was introduced to Polina herself. Among the mass of fans, she did not particularly single out Turgenev, who was better known as an avid hunter rather than a writer. And when her tour ended, Turgenev, together with the Viardot family, left for Paris against the will of his mother, without money and still unknown to Europe. In November 1845, he returned to Russia, and in January 1847, having learned about Viardot’s tour in Germany, he left the country again: he went to Berlin, then to London, Paris, a tour of France and again to St. Petersburg.

In 1846 he took part in updating Sovremennik. Nekrasov is his best friend. With Belinsky he travels abroad in 1847 and in 1848 lives in Paris, where he witnesses revolutionary events. He becomes close to Herzen and falls in love with Ogarev's wife Tuchkova. In 1850-1852 he lived either in Russia or abroad. Most of the “Notes of a Hunter” were created by the writer in Germany.

Pauline Viardot

Without an official marriage, Turgenev lived in the Viardot family. Polina Viardot raised Turgenev's illegitimate daughter. Several meetings with Gogol and Fet date back to this time.

In 1846, the stories “Breter” and “Three Portraits” were published. Later he wrote such works as “The Freeloader” (1848), “The Bachelor” (1849), “Provincial Woman”, “A Month in the Village”, “Quiet” (1854), “Yakov Pasynkov” (1855), “Breakfast at the Leader’s "(1856), etc. He wrote "Mumu" in 1852, while in exile in Spassky-Lutovinovo because of the obituary on the death of Gogol, which, despite the ban, he published in Moscow.

In 1852, a collection of Turgenev’s short stories was published under the general title “Notes of a Hunter,” which was released in Paris in 1854. After the death of Nicholas I, four major 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 next two are in the “Russian Bulletin” by M. N. Katkov.

In 1860, Sovremennik published an article by N. A. Dobrolyubov, “When will the real day come?”, in which the novel “On the Eve” and Turgenev’s work in general were rather harshly criticized. Turgenev gave Nekrasov an ultimatum: either he, Turgenev, or Dobrolyubov. The choice fell on Dobrolyubov, who later became one of the prototypes for the image of Bazarov in the novel “Fathers and Sons.” After this, Turgenev left Sovremennik and stopped communicating with Nekrasov.

Turgenev gravitates towards the circle of Westernized writers who profess the principles of “pure art”, opposing the tendentious creativity of the common revolutionaries: P. V. Annenkov, V. P. Botkin, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin. For a short time, Leo Tolstoy, who lived for some time in Turgenev’s apartment, also joined this circle. 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 on the Stepanovo estate, a serious quarrel occurred between the two writers, barely which did not end in a duel and spoiled the relationship between the writers for 17 long years.

"Poems in Prose". Bulletin of Europe, 1882, December. From the editorial introduction it is clear that this is a magazine title, not an author's one.

From the beginning of the 1860s, Turgenev settled in Baden-Baden. The writer actively participates in the cultural life of Western Europe, making acquaintances with the greatest writers of Germany, France and England, promoting Russian literature abroad and introducing Russian readers to the best works of contemporary Western authors. Among his acquaintances or correspondents are Friedrich Bodenstedt, Thackeray, Dickens, Henry James, George Sand, Victor Hugo, Saint-Beuve, Hippolyte Taine, Prosper Mérimée, Ernest Renan, Théophile Gautier, Edmond Goncourt, Emile Zola, Anatole France, Guy de Maupassant , Alphonse Daudet, Gustave Flaubert. In 1874, the famous bachelor dinners of the five began in the Parisian restaurants of Riche or Pellet: Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet, Zola and Turgenev.

I. S. Turgenev is an honorary doctor of the University of Oxford. 1879

I. S. Turgenev acts as a consultant and editor for foreign translators of Russian writers; he himself writes prefaces and notes to translations of Russian writers into European languages, as well as to Russian translations of works by famous European writers. He translates 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 the Russian reader and the works of Pushkin for the French reader. For some time, Turgenev became the most famous and most widely read Russian author in Europe. In 1878, at the international literary congress in Paris, the writer was elected vice-president; in 1879 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

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

Despite living abroad, all of Turgenev’s thoughts were still connected with Russia. He writes the novel “Smoke” (1867), which caused a lot of controversy in Russian society. According to the author, everyone criticized the novel: “both red and white, and above, and below, and from the side - especially from the side.” The fruit of his intense thoughts in the 1870s was the largest in volume of Turgenev’s novels, Nov (1877).

Turgenev was friends with the Milyutin brothers (fellow Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of War), A.V. Golovnin (Minister of Education), M.H. Reitern (Minister of Finance).

At the end of his life, Turgenev decides to reconcile with Leo Tolstoy; he explains the significance of modern Russian literature, including Tolstoy’s work, to the Western reader. In 1880, the writer took part in Pushkin celebrations dedicated to the opening of the first monument to the poet in Moscow, organized by the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. The writer died in Bougival near Paris on August 22 (September 3), 1883 from myxosarcoma. Turgenev's body was, according to his wishes, brought to St. Petersburg and buried in the Volkov cemetery in front of a large crowd of people.

Family

Turgenev's daughter Polina was raised in the family of Polina Viardot, and in adulthood she no longer spoke Russian. She married manufacturer Gaston Brewer, who soon went bankrupt, after which Polina, with the assistance of her father, hid from her husband in Switzerland. Since Turgenev's heir was Polina Viardot, after his death his daughter found herself in a difficult financial situation. She died in 1918 from cancer. Polina's children, Georges-Albert and Jeanne, had no descendants.

Memory

Tombstone bust of Turgenev at Volkovskoye Cemetery

Named after Turgenev:

Toponymy

• Streets and Turgenev Square in many cities of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia.
• Moscow metro station "Turgenevskaya"

Public institutions

• Oryol State Academic Theater.
• Library-reading room named after I. S. Turgenev in Moscow.
• Museum of I. S. Turgenev (“Mumu’s house”) - (Moscow, Ostozhenka St., 37, building 7).
• Turgenev School of Russian Language and Russian Culture (Turin, Italy).
• State Literary Museum named after I. S. Turgenev (Oryol).
• Museum-reserve "Spasskoye-Lutovinovo" estate of I. S. Turgenev (Oryol region).
• Street and museum "Turgenev's Dacha" in Bougival.
• Russian Public Library named after I. S. Turgenev (Paris).

Monuments

In honor of I. S. Turgenev, monuments were erected in the following cities:

• Moscow (in Bobrov Lane).
• St. Petersburg (On Italianskaya Street).
• Eagle:
  • Monument in Orel.
  • Bust of Turgenev on the "Noble Nest".

• Ivan Turgenev is one of the main characters in Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy.
• F. M. Dostoevsky in his novel “Demons” portrays Turgenev as the character of “The Great Writer Karmazinov” - a loud, petty, practically mediocre writer who considers himself a genius and is holed up abroad.
• Ivan Turgenev had one of the largest brains of any person who ever lived, whose brain has been weighed:

His head immediately spoke of a very great development of mental abilities; and when, after the death of I. S. Turgenev, Paul Ber and Paul Reclus (surgeon) weighed his brain, they found that it was so much heavier than the heaviest known brain, namely Cuvier, that they did not believe their scales and took out new ones, to test yourself.

• After the death of his mother in 1850, the collegiate secretary I. S. Turgenev inherited 1925 souls of serfs.
• Chancellor of the German Empire Clovis Hohenlohe (1894-1900) called Ivan Turgenev the best candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Russia. He wrote about Turgenev: “Today I spoke with the smartest man in Russia.”

Born in the city of Orel on November 9 (October 28, old style) 1818 into a noble family. Father, Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev (1793-1834), was a retired cuirassier colonel. Mother, Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (before Lutovinov’s marriage) (1787-1850), came from a wealthy noble family. Until the age of 9 Ivan Turgenev lived in the hereditary estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, 10 km from Mtsensk, Oryol province. In 1827 Turgenevs, in order to give their children an education, they settled in Moscow, in a house bought on Samotyok. After the parents went abroad, Ivan Sergeevich first he studied at the Weidenhammer boarding school, then at the boarding school of the director of the Lazarevsky Institute, Krause. In 1833, a 15-year-old Turgenev entered the literature department of Moscow University. Where they studied at that time Herzen and Belinsky. A year later, after Ivan's older brother joined the Guards Artillery, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and Ivan Turgenev At the same time he moved to the Faculty of Philosophy at St. Petersburg University. Timofey Granovsky became his friend. In 1834 he wrote the dramatic poem “The Wall” and several lyrical poems. The young author showed these samples of writing to his teacher, professor of Russian literature P. A. Pletnev. Pletnev called the poem a weak imitation of Byron, but noted that the author “has something.” By 1837, he had already written about a hundred small poems. At the beginning of 1837, an unexpected and short meeting took place with A.S. Pushkin. In the first issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1838, which after his death Pushkin published under the editorship of P. A. Pletnev, with the signature “- - -въ” the poem was printed Turgenev“Evening”, which is the author’s debut. In 1836 Turgenev graduated from the course with the degree of a valid student. Dreaming of scientific activity, the following year he again took the final exam, received a candidate's degree, and in 1838 he went to Germany. During the trip, a fire broke out on the ship, and the passengers miraculously managed to escape. Fearing for his life Turgenev asked one of the sailors to save him and promised him a reward from his rich mother if he managed to fulfill his request. Other passengers testified that the young man plaintively exclaimed: “To die so young!”, while pushing women and children away from the lifeboats. Fortunately, the shore was not far away. Once on the shore, the young man was ashamed of his cowardice. Rumors of his cowardice permeated society and became the subject of ridicule. The event played a certain negative role in the subsequent life of the author and was described by Turgenev in the short story "Fire at Sea". Having settled in Berlin, Ivan took up his studies. While listening to lectures at the university on the history of Roman and Greek literature, at home he studied the grammar of ancient Greek and Latin. Here he became close to Stankevich. In 1839 he returned to Russia, but already in 1840 he again left for Germany, Italy, and Austria. Impressed by meeting a girl in Frankfurt am Main Turgenev later the story “Spring Waters” was written. In 1841 Ivan returned to Lutovinovo. He became interested in the seamstress Dunyasha, who in 1842 gave birth to his daughter Pelageya (Polina). Dunyasha was married off, her daughter was left in an ambiguous position. At the beginning of 1842 Ivan Turgenev submitted a request to Moscow University for admission to the exam for the degree of Master of Philosophy. At the same time, he began his literary activity. The largest published work of this time was the poem “Parasha,” written in 1843. Not hoping for positive criticism, he took the copy to V. G. Belinsky at Lopatin’s house, leaving the manuscript with the critic’s servant. Belinsky praised Parasha, publishing a positive review in Otechestvennye zapiski two months later. From that moment their acquaintance began, which over time grew into a strong friendship. In the autumn of 1843 Turgenev I first saw Polina Viardot on the stage of the opera house when the great singer came on tour to St. Petersburg. Then, while hunting, he met Polina’s husband, the director of the Italian Theater in Paris, a famous critic and art critic, Louis Viardot, and on November 1, 1843, he was introduced to Polina herself. Among the mass of fans, she didn’t particularly stand out Turgenev, better known as an avid hunter rather than a writer. And when her tour ended, Turgenev Together with the Viardot family, he left for Paris against his mother’s will, without money and still unknown to Europe. In November 1845, he returned to Russia, and in January 1847, having learned about Viardot’s tour in Germany, he left the country again: he went to Berlin, then to London, Paris, a tour of France and again to St. Petersburg. In 1846 participates in the update of Sovremennik. Nekrasov- his best friend. With Belinsky he travels abroad in 1847 and in 1848 lives in Paris, where he witnesses revolutionary events. He becomes close to Herzen and falls in love with Ogarev's wife Tuchkova. In 1850-1852 he lived either in Russia or abroad. Most of the “Notes of a Hunter” were created by the writer in Germany. Without having an official marriage, Turgenev lived in the Viardot family. Pauline Viardot raised an illegitimate daughter Turgenev. Several meetings with Gogol And Fet In 1846, the stories “Breter” and “Three Portraits” were published. Later he wrote such works as “The Freeloader” (1848), “The Bachelor” (1849), “Provincial Woman”, “A Month in the Village”, “Quiet” (1854), “Yakov Pasynkov” (1855), “Breakfast at the Leader’s "(1856), etc. He wrote "Mumu" in 1852, while in exile in Spassky-Lutovinovo due to an obituary for his death Gogol, which, despite the ban, was published in Moscow. In 1852, a collection of short stories was published Turgenev under the general title “Notes of a Hunter,” which was published in Paris in 1854. After the death of Nicholas I, four major 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 next two are in the “Russian Bulletin” by M. N. Katkov. In 1860, an article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “When will the real day come?” was published in Sovremennik, in which the novel “On the Eve” and Turgenev’s work in general were rather harshly criticized . Turgenev put Nekrasov ultimatum: or he, Turgenev, or Dobrolyubov. The choice fell on Dobrolyubova, which later became one of the prototypes for the image of Bazarov in the novel “Fathers and Sons”. After that Turgenev left Sovremennik and stopped communicating with Nekrasov.Turgenev gravitates towards the circle of Westernized writers who profess the principles of “pure art”, opposing the tendentious creativity of the common revolutionaries: P. V. Annenkov, V. P. Botkin, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin. For a short time Leo Tolstoy, who lived in the apartment for some time, also joined this circle Turgenev. After marriage Tolstoy on S. A. Bers Turgenev found in Tolstoy a close relative, however, even before the wedding, in May 1861, when both prose writers were visiting A. A. Fet on the Stepanovo estate, a serious quarrel occurred between the two writers, which almost ended in a duel and spoiled the relationship between the writers for many 17 years. From the early 1860s Turgenev settles in Baden-Baden. The writer actively participates in the cultural life of Western Europe, making acquaintances with the greatest writers of Germany, France and England, promoting Russian literature abroad and introducing Russian readers to the best works of contemporary Western authors. Among his acquaintances or correspondents are Friedrich Bodenstedt, Thackeray, Dickens, Henry James, George Sand, Victor Hugo, Saint-Beuve, Hippolyte Taine, Prosper Mérimée, Ernest Renan, Théophile Gautier, Edmond Goncourt, Emile Zola, Anatole France, Guy de Maupassant , Alphonse Daudet, Gustave Flaubert. In 1874, the famous bachelor dinners of the five began in the Parisian restaurants of Riche or Pellet: Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet, Zola and Turgenev. I. S. Turgenev acts as a consultant and editor for foreign translators of Russian writers, he himself writes prefaces and notes to translations of Russian writers into European languages, as well as to Russian translations of works of famous European writers. He translates 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 the Russian reader and Pushkin's works for the French reader. For some time Turgenev becomes the most famous and most read Russian author in Europe. In 1878, at the international literary congress in Paris, the writer was elected vice-president; in 1879 he was an honorary doctor of Oxford University. Despite living abroad, all thoughts Turgenev were still connected with Russia. He writes the novel “Smoke” (1867), which caused a lot of controversy in Russian society. According to the author, everyone criticized the novel: “both red and white, and above, and below, and from the side - especially from the side.” The fruit of his intense thoughts in the 1870s was the largest in volume of Turgenev’s novels, Nov (1877). Turgenev was friends with the Milyutin brothers (fellow Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of War), A.V. Golovnin (Minister of Education), M.H. Reitern (Minister of Finance). At the end of his life Turgenev decides to reconcile with Leo Tolstoy, he explains the significance of modern Russian literature, including creativity Tolstoy, to the Western reader. In 1880, the writer took part in Pushkin celebrations dedicated to the opening of the first monument to the poet in Moscow, organized by the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. The writer died in Bougival near Paris on August 22 (September 3), 1883 from myxosarcoma. Turgenev's body was, according to his wishes, brought to St. Petersburg and buried in the Volkov cemetery in front of a large crowd of people.

Works

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a famous Russian prose writer, poet, classic of world literature, playwright, critic, memoirist and translator. He is the author of many outstanding works. The fate of this great writer will be discussed in this article.

Early childhood

Turgenev's biography (brief in our review, but very rich in reality) began in 1818. The future writer was born on November 9 in the city of Orel. His dad, Sergei Nikolaevich, was a combat officer in a cuirassier regiment, but retired soon after Ivan’s birth. The boy’s mother, Varvara Petrovna, was a representative of a wealthy noble family. It was on the family estate of this powerful woman - Spasskoye-Lutovinovo - that the first years of Ivan’s life passed. Despite her difficult, unbending disposition, Varvara Petrovna was a very enlightened and educated person. She managed to instill in her children (in the family, besides Ivan, his older brother Nikolai was raised) a love of science and Russian literature.

Education

The future writer received his primary education at home. So that it could continue in a dignified manner, the Turgenev family moved to Moscow. Here Turgenev’s biography (short) took a new turn: the boy’s parents went abroad, and he was kept in various boarding houses. First he lived and was brought up in Weidenhammer's establishment, then in Krause's. At the age of fifteen (in 1833), Ivan entered Moscow State University at the Faculty of Literature. After the eldest son Nikolai joined the Guards cavalry, the Turgenev family moved to St. Petersburg. Here the future writer became a student at a local university and began studying philosophy. In 1837, Ivan graduated from this educational institution.

Trying out the pen and further education

For many, Turgenev’s work is associated with writing prose works. However, Ivan Sergeevich initially planned to become a poet. In 1934, he wrote several lyrical works, including the poem “The Wall,” which was appreciated by his mentor, P. A. Pletnev. Over the next three years, the young writer has already composed about a hundred poems. In 1838, several of his works (“To the Venus of Medicine,” “Evening”) were published in the famous Sovremennik. The young poet felt an inclination towards scientific activity and in 1838 went to Germany to continue his education at the University of Berlin. Here he studied Roman and Greek literature. Ivan Sergeevich quickly became imbued with the Western European way of life. A year later, the writer returned to Russia briefly, but already in 1840 he left his homeland again and lived in Italy, Austria and Germany. Turgenev returned to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo in 1841, and a year later he turned to Moscow State University with a request to allow him to take the exam for a master's degree in philosophy. This was denied to him.

Pauline Viardot

Ivan Sergeevich managed to obtain a scientific degree at St. Petersburg University, but by that time he had already lost interest in this type of activity. In search of a worthy career in life, in 1843 the writer entered the service of the ministerial office, but his ambitious aspirations quickly faded away. In 1843, the writer published the poem “Parasha,” which impressed V. G. Belinsky. Success inspired Ivan Sergeevich, and he decided to devote his life to creativity. In the same year, Turgenev’s (brief) biography was marked by another fateful event: the writer met the outstanding French singer Pauline Viardot. Having seen the beauty at the St. Petersburg Opera House, Ivan Sergeevich decided to meet her. At first, the girl did not pay attention to the little-known writer, but Turgenev was so amazed by the singer’s charm that he followed the Viardot family to Paris. For many years he accompanied Polina on her foreign tours, despite the obvious disapproval of his relatives.

Creativity flourishes

In 1946, Ivan Sergeevich actively took part in updating the Sovremennik magazine. He meets Nekrasov, and he becomes his best friend. For two years (1950-1952), the writer was torn between abroad and Russia. During this period, Turgenev's creativity began to gain serious momentum. The series of stories “Notes of a Hunter” was almost entirely written in Germany and made the writer famous throughout the world. In the next decade, the classic author created a number of outstanding prose works: “The Noble Nest”, “Rudin”, “Fathers and Sons”, “On the Eve”. During the same period, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev quarreled with Nekrasov. Their controversy over the novel “On the Eve” ended in a complete break. The writer leaves Sovremennik and goes abroad.

Abroad

Turgenev's life abroad began in Baden-Baden. Here Ivan Sergeevich found himself in the very center of Western European cultural life. He began to maintain relationships with many world literary celebrities: Hugo, Dickens, Maupassant, France, Thackeray and others. The writer actively promoted Russian culture abroad. For example, in 1874 in Paris, Ivan Sergeevich, together with Daudet, Flaubert, Goncourt and Zola, organized the now famous “bachelor dinners at five” in the capital’s restaurants. Turgenev's characterization during this period was very flattering: he turned into the most popular, famous and read Russian writer in Europe. In 1878, Ivan Sergeevich was elected vice-president of the International Literary Congress in Paris. Since 1877, the writer has been an honorary doctor of Oxford University.

Creativity of recent years

Turgenev's biography - short but vivid - indicates that the long years spent abroad did not alienate the writer from Russian life and its pressing problems. He still writes a lot about his homeland. So, in 1867, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the novel “Smoke,” which caused a large-scale public outcry in Russia. In 1877, the writer composed the novel “New,” which became the result of his creative reflections in the 1870s.

Demise

For the first time, a serious illness that interrupted the writer’s life made itself felt in 1882. Despite severe physical suffering, Ivan Sergeevich continued to create. A few months before his death, the first part of the book “Poems in Prose” was published. The great writer died in 1883, on September 3, in the suburbs of Paris. Relatives carried out the will of Ivan Sergeevich and transported his body to his homeland. The classic was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkov cemetery. He was accompanied on his last journey by numerous admirers.

This is the biography of Turgenev (short). This man devoted his entire life to his favorite work and forever remained in the memory of posterity as an outstanding writer and famous public figure.

Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich, whose stories, tales and novels are known and loved by many today, was born on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel, into an old noble family. Ivan was the second son of Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (née Lutovinova) and Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev.

Turgenev's parents

His father served in the Elisavetgrad cavalry regiment. After his marriage, he retired with the rank of colonel. Sergei Nikolaevich belonged to an old noble family. His ancestors are believed to have been Tatars. Ivan Sergeevich’s mother was not as well-born as his father, but she surpassed him in wealth. The vast lands located in belonged to Varvara Petrovna. Sergei Nikolaevich stood out for his elegance of manners and secular sophistication. He had a subtle soul and was handsome. The mother's character was not like that. This woman lost her father early. She had to experience a terrible shock in adolescence, when her stepfather tried to seduce her. Varvara ran away from home. Ivan's mother, who experienced humiliation and oppression, tried to take advantage of the power given to her by law and nature over her sons. This woman was distinguished by her willpower. She loved her children despotically, and was cruel to the serfs, often punishing them with flogging for minor offenses.

Case in Bern

In 1822, the Turgenevs went on a trip abroad. In Bern, a Swiss city, Ivan Sergeevich almost died. The fact is that the father put the boy on the railing of the fence that surrounded a large pit with city bears entertaining the public. Ivan fell off the railing. Sergei Nikolaevich grabbed his son by the leg at the last moment.

Introduction to fine literature

The Turgenevs returned from their trip abroad to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, their mother’s estate, located ten miles from Mtsensk (Oryol province). Here Ivan discovered literature for himself: one of the servants from his mother’s serfs read the poem “Rossiada” by Kheraskov to the boy in the old manner, in a chanting and measured manner. Kheraskov in solemn verses sang the battles for Kazan of the Tatars and Russians during the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. Many years later, Turgenev, in his 1874 story “Punin and Baburin,” endowed one of the heroes of the work with a love for the Rossiade.

First love

The family of Ivan Sergeevich was in Moscow from the late 1820s to the first half of the 1830s. At the age of 15, Turgenev fell in love for the first time in his life. At this time, the family was at the Engel dacha. They were neighbors with their daughter, Princess Catherine, who was 3 years older than Ivan Turgenev. First love seemed captivating and beautiful to Turgenev. He was in awe of the girl, afraid to admit the sweet and languid feeling that had taken possession of him. However, the end to joys and torments, fears and hopes came suddenly: Ivan Sergeevich accidentally learned that Catherine was his father’s beloved. Turgenev was haunted by pain for a long time. He will give his love story for a young girl to the hero of the 1860 story “First Love.” In this work, Catherine became the prototype of Princess Zinaida Zasekina.

Studying at universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, death of father

The biography of Ivan Turgenev continues with a period of study. In September 1834, Turgenev entered Moscow University, the Faculty of Literature. However, he was not happy with his studies at the university. He liked Pogorelsky, a mathematics teacher, and Dubensky, who taught Russian. Most teachers and courses left student Turgenev completely indifferent. And some teachers even caused obvious antipathy. This especially applies to Pobedonostsev, who talked tediously and for a long time about literature and was unable to advance in his passions further than Lomonosov. After 5 years, Turgenev will continue his studies in Germany. About Moscow University he will say: “It is full of fools.”

Ivan Sergeevich studied in Moscow for only a year. Already in the summer of 1834 he moved to St. Petersburg. Here his brother Nikolai served in military service. Ivan Turgenev continued to study at His father died in October of the same year from kidney stones, right in Ivan’s arms. By this time he was already living apart from his wife. Ivan Turgenev's father was amorous and quickly lost interest in his wife. Varvara Petrovna did not forgive him for his betrayal and, exaggerating her own misfortunes and illnesses, presented herself as a victim of his heartlessness and irresponsibility.

Turgenev left a deep wound in his soul. He began to think about life and death, about the meaning of existence. Turgenev at this time was attracted by powerful passions, bright characters, tossing and struggling of the soul, expressed in an unusual, sublime language. He reveled in the poems of V. G. Benediktov and N. V. Kukolnik, and the stories of A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Ivan Turgenev wrote, in imitation of Byron (the author of "Manfred"), his dramatic poem called "The Wall". More than 30 years later, he will say that this is “a completely ridiculous work.”

Writing poetry, republican ideas

Turgenev in the winter of 1834-1835. seriously ill. He had weakness in his body and could not eat or sleep. Having recovered, Ivan Sergeevich changed greatly spiritually and physically. He became very stretched out, and also lost interest in mathematics, which had attracted him before, and began to become more and more interested in fine literature. Turgenev began to compose many poems, but still imitative and weak. At the same time, he became interested in republican ideas. He felt the serfdom that existed in the country as a shame and the greatest injustice. Turgenev’s feeling of guilt towards all the peasants strengthened, because his mother treated them cruelly. And he vowed to himself to do everything to ensure that there would be no class of “slaves” in Russia.

Meeting Pletnev and Pushkin, publication of the first poems

Student Turgenev in his third year met P. A. Pletnev, a professor of Russian literature. This is a literary critic, poet, friend of A. S. Pushkin, to whom the novel “Eugene Onegin” is dedicated. At the beginning of 1837, at a literary evening with him, Ivan Sergeevich encountered Pushkin himself.

In 1838, two poems by Turgenev were published in the Sovremennik magazine (first and fourth issues): “To the Venus of Medicine” and “Evening.” Ivan Sergeevich published poems after that. The first samples of the pen that were printed did not bring him fame.

Continuing your studies in Germany

In 1837, Turgenev graduated from St. Petersburg University (literature department). He was not satisfied with the education he received, feeling gaps in his knowledge. German universities were considered the standard of that time. And so in the spring of 1838, Ivan Sergeevich went to this country. He decided to graduate from the University of Berlin, where Hegel's philosophy was taught.

Abroad, Ivan Sergeevich became friends with the thinker and poet N.V. Stankevich, and also became friends with M.A. Bakunin, who later became a famous revolutionary. He held conversations on historical and philosophical topics with T. N. Granovsky, the future famous historian. Ivan Sergeevich became a convinced Westerner. Russia, in his opinion, should follow the example of Europe, getting rid of lack of culture, laziness, and ignorance.

Civil service

Turgenev, returning to Russia in 1841, wanted to teach philosophy. However, his plans were not destined to come true: the department to which he wanted to enter was not restored. Ivan Sergeevich was enlisted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in June 1843. At that time, the issue of liberating the peasants was being studied, so Turgenev reacted to the service with enthusiasm. However, Ivan Sergeevich did not serve long in the ministry: he quickly became disillusioned with the usefulness of his work. He began to feel burdened by the need to follow all the instructions of his superiors. In April 1845, Ivan Sergeevich retired and was never again in public service.

Turgenev becomes famous

Turgenev in the 1840s began to play the role of a socialite in society: always well-groomed, neat, with the manners of an aristocrat. He wanted success and attention.

In 1843, in April, the poem “Parasha” by I. S. Turgenev was published. Its plot is the touching love of a landowner’s daughter for a neighbor on the estate. The work is a kind of ironic echo of Eugene Onegin. However, unlike Pushkin, in Turgenev’s poem everything ends happily with the marriage of the heroes. Nevertheless, happiness is deceptive, doubtful - it is just ordinary well-being.

The work was highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky, the most influential and famous critic of that time. Turgenev met Druzhinin, Panaev, Nekrasov. Following "Parasha" Ivan Sergeevich wrote the following poems: in 1844 - "Conversation", in 1845 - "Andrey" and "Landowner". Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich also created short stories and tales (in 1844 - “Andrei Kolosov”, in 1846 - “Three Portraits” and “Breter”, in 1847 - “Petushkov”). In addition, Turgenev wrote the comedy "Lack of Money" in 1846, and the drama "Carelessness" in 1843. He followed the principles of the “natural school” of writers, to which Grigorovich, Nekrasov, Herzen, and Goncharov belonged. Writers belonging to this trend depicted “non-poetic” subjects: people’s everyday life, everyday life, and paid primary attention to the influence of circumstances and environment on a person’s fate and character.

"Notes of a Hunter"

In 1847, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev published the essay “Khor and Kalinich,” created under the impression of hunting trips in 1846 through the fields and forests of the Tula, Kaluga and Oryol provinces. The two heroes in it - Khor and Kalinich - are presented not just as Russian peasants. These are individuals with their own complex inner world. On the pages of this work, as well as other essays by Ivan Sergeevich, published in the book “Notes of a Hunter” in 1852, the peasants have their own voice, different from the manner of the narrator. The author recreated the customs and life of landowners and peasants in Russia. His book was assessed as a protest against serfdom. Society received her with enthusiasm.

Relationship with Pauline Viardot, death of mother

In 1843, a young opera singer from France, Pauline Viardot, arrived on tour. She was greeted enthusiastically. Ivan Turgenev was also delighted with her talent. He was captivated by this woman for his entire life. Ivan Sergeevich followed her and her family to France (Viardot was married) and accompanied Polina on a tour of Europe. His life was now divided between France and Russia. Ivan Turgenev's love has stood the test of time - Ivan Sergeevich waited two years for his first kiss. And only in June 1849 Polina became his lover.

Turgenev's mother was categorically against this connection. She refused to give him the funds received from the income from the estates. Their death reconciled: Turgenev’s mother was dying hard, suffocating. She died in 1850 on November 16 in Moscow. Ivan was informed of her illness too late and did not have time to say goodbye to her.

Arrest and exile

In 1852, N.V. Gogol died. I. S. Turgenev wrote an obituary on this occasion. There were no reprehensible thoughts in it. However, it was not customary in the press to recall the duel that led to and also to recall the death of Lermontov. On April 16 of the same year, Ivan Sergeevich was put under arrest for a month. Then he was exiled to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, without being allowed to leave the Oryol province. At the request of the exile, after 1.5 years he was allowed to leave Spassky, but only in 1856 was he given the right to go abroad.

New works

During the years of exile, Ivan Turgenev wrote new works. His books became increasingly popular. In 1852, Ivan Sergeevich created the story "The Inn". In the same year, Ivan Turgenev wrote “Mumu,” one of his most famous works. In the period from the late 1840s to the mid-1850s, he created other stories: in 1850 - "The Diary of an Extra Man", in 1853 - "Two Friends", in 1854 - "Correspondence" and "Quiet" , in 1856 - “Yakov Pasynkova”. Their heroes are naive and lofty idealists who fail in their attempts to benefit society or find happiness in their personal lives. Criticism called them "superfluous people." Thus, the creator of a new type of hero was Ivan Turgenev. His books were interesting for their novelty and relevance of issues.

"Rudin"

The fame acquired by Ivan Sergeevich by the mid-1850s was strengthened by the novel "Rudin". The author wrote it in 1855 in seven weeks. Turgenev, in his first novel, attempted to recreate the type of ideologist and thinker, modern man. The main character is an “extra person” who is depicted as both weak and attractive at the same time. The writer, creating him, endowed his hero with the features of Bakunin.

"The Noble Nest" and new novels

In 1858, Turgenev’s second novel, “The Noble Nest,” appeared. Its themes are the history of an old noble family; the love of a nobleman, hopeless due to circumstances. Poetry of love, full of grace and subtlety, careful depiction of the characters’ experiences, spiritualization of nature - these are the distinctive features of Turgenev’s style, perhaps most clearly expressed in “The Noble Nest.” They are also characteristic of some stories, such as “Faust” of 1856, “A Trip to Polesie” (years of creation - 1853-1857), “Asya” and “First Love” (both works written in 1860). "The Nobles' Nest" was received kindly. He was praised by many critics, in particular Annenkov, Pisarev, Grigoriev. However, a completely different fate awaited Turgenev's next novel.

"The day before"

In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev published the novel “On the Eve”. Its summary is as follows. In the center of the work is Elena Stakhova. This heroine is a brave, determined, devotedly loving girl. She fell in love with the revolutionary Insarov, a Bulgarian who dedicated his life to liberating his homeland from the power of the Turks. The story of their relationship ends, as usual with Ivan Sergeevich, tragically. The revolutionary dies, and Elena, who became his wife, decides to continue the work of her late husband. This is the plot of the new novel created by Ivan Turgenev. Of course, we described its brief content only in general terms.

This novel caused conflicting assessments. Dobrolyubov, for example, in an instructive tone in his article reprimanded the author where he was wrong. Ivan Sergeevich became furious. Radical democratic publications published texts with scandalous and malicious allusions to the details of Turgenev’s personal life. The writer broke off relations with Sovremennik, where he published for many years. The younger generation stopped seeing Ivan Sergeevich as an idol.

"Fathers and Sons"

In the period from 1860 to 1861, Ivan Turgenev wrote “Fathers and Sons,” his new novel. It was published in the Russian Bulletin in 1862. Most readers and critics did not appreciate it.

"Enough"

In 1862-1864. a miniature story “Enough” was created (published in 1864). It is imbued with motives of disappointment in the values ​​of life, including art and love, so dear to Turgenev. In the face of inexorable and blind death, everything loses its meaning.

"Smoke"

Written in 1865-1867. The novel "Smoke" is also imbued with a gloomy mood. The work was published in 1867. In it, the author tried to recreate the picture of modern Russian society and the ideological sentiments that prevailed in it.

"Nove"

Turgenev's last novel appeared in the mid-1870s. It was published in 1877. Turgenev presented in it the populist revolutionaries who are trying to convey their ideas to the peasants. He assessed their actions as a sacrificial feat. However, this is a feat of the doomed.

The last years of the life of I. S. Turgenev

Since the mid-1860s, Turgenev lived abroad almost constantly, visiting his homeland only on short visits. He built himself a house in Baden-Baden, near the house of the Viardot family. In 1870, after the Franco-Prussian War, Polina and Ivan Sergeevich left the city and settled in France.

In 1882, Turgenev fell ill with spinal cancer. The last months of his life were difficult, and his death was also difficult. The life of Ivan Turgenev was cut short on August 22, 1883. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, near Belinsky’s grave.

Ivan Turgenev, whose stories, tales and novels are included in the school curriculum and are known to many, is one of the greatest Russian writers of the 19th century.