Leskov Nikolai Semenovich (M. Stebnitskiy)

at the beginning of his literary activity known under the pseudonym M. Stebnitskiy. Born Feb. 4, 1831, died Feb. 21, 1895, Mr.. His father, the son of a priest at the service of his aristocratic assessor Orel House Criminal Court received a knighthood. Mother belonged to a noble family. He grew up in a wealthy house of one of his uncles on the maternal side, he studied at the school Orel, . but his father's death and the terrible fires Orel 40-ies, . which killed all the small domain Leskov, . not give him an opportunity to finish the course, 17 years old, he entered the bureaucratic servant in Orel criminal division,
. Turning to the service in Kiev of the Exchequer, he supplemented the reading of the shortcomings of their education. As Secretary recruiting office, he often went to the counties, and it laid the foundation for that knowledge of national life, which puts him, along with the Melnikov Crypt, led by our writers, ethnographers. In 1857, Mr.. moved to a private service to his relative Shkottu, estate manager Naryshkin and Count Perovsky. Their cases Leskov constantly traveled, gave him a wealth of observations, images, types, tags of words and phrases. Placing in 1860. bravery several articles in the "Modern Medicine", "Economic index", "Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti, Leskov moved to St. Petersburg (1861) and wholly given to the literature. His closest friends were at that time, two fiery political agitator - Journalist Arthur Benny and died in the fortress official Nichiporenko. Leskov joined the reconstituted Northern Bee, "which at that time was in charge of a circle of Arthur Benny, and began gaining a reputation as an ardent champions of progress. In the summer of 1862. occurred in St. Petersburg fires, which caused the terrible excitement among the people. Dashed speculation that the perpetrators of fires - students. Leskov wrote in The Northern Bee "article in which he demanded that the police or formally presented evidence that the students set fire to, or officially denied as absurd rumors. The most read story very few people, but quickly spread the rumor that Leskov connects St. Petersburg fires with the revolutionary aspirations of students. Vain Leskov and verbally, in print and fought with a completely wrong interpretation of his article: the legend to create a solid, and the name of Leskov became the subject of insulting suspicion. This gratuitous insult has made a tremendous impression on Leskov and made him a sharp turn in the opposite direction, a certain direction, as he himself repeatedly said, never was one of the properties of its skeptical nature. Went abroad, he had devised a novel, in which the movement of 60-ies in a large part of it should be reflected not in a good. In January 1864. in the "Library for Reading" came the beginning of the novel: "Nowhere", the author has created a large, but far from unflattering reputation. Leskov was proclaimed the worst of the reactionaries; saw in the novel is not just an attack on new ideas, but simply a denunciation. Pisarev put on Leskov such questions: "Will there be now in Russia, . except Russian Messenger, . at least one journal, . who would dare to publish on its pages something emerges from the pen of Stebnitskiy and signed his name? Is there in Russia at least one honest writer, . be so careless and indifferent to their reputation, . that agree to work in the journal, . adorning themselves novels Stebnitskiy? "In this regard, the novel had a lot of unfair,
. The real wine Leskov was only, . that in the third part of "Nowhere", he, . succumbing to bitterness against the extreme circles, . plays the most active role in its history with the St. Petersburg fires, . put in a distorted form of a modest attempt to VA,
. SLEPTSOVA arrange mutual home several literary workers and toilers. Flats jokingly nicknamed "Znamenskaia commune", . Leskov and made her a phalanx, . What if some of them bred at the scene of "socialists", . under the banner of women's preaching self-reliance, . doing a different infamy with inexperienced girls,
. Sleptsov, under the name Beloyartseva, was depicted as transparent, that does not know him and some others had no opportunity. However, now, when compared to "nowhere" with later novels as the most protivonigilisticheskimi Leskov, and other writers, it is difficult to understand the dimensions of resentment caused by them. "Nowhere" - the work is not exclusively "retrograde". One of the main characters - Rainer - openly called himself a socialist, a leading political agitation and dying as chief of the Polish povstanskogo detachment, not only is not subject to copyright censure, but is surrounded by a halo of nobility. His face shows Benny. The same aura of "true" desire for a new basis of life, in contrast to the feigned democracy Beloyartsevyh and K б°, and is surrounded by a heroine of the novel - Lisa Bakhareva. In the person of another of his favorite hero, Dr. Rosanova, Leskov displays a sort of liberal sanity, hating extremes, but he stood for everything that is good in the new requirements to civil marriage, including. Finally, . common sense and the title of the novel the author expressed the idea very pessimistic and little movement of favorable 60-ies, . but, . however, . and completely negative with respect to the old system of life: and the old, . and a new defective, . people like Reiner and Lisa Bakhareva must die, . he has nowhere to go,
. Inexorably-severe and largely unjust sentence, . pronounced upon Leskov for his attempt to take a negative attitude to some aspects of motion of 60-ies, . aroused in him all the bitterness and finally stripped of his artistic tranquility,
. The fact that he now began to write about "nihilists" and about "cosmic time in Russia," much more harmful to his own reputation as an artist, than those against whom he raged. Its climax this anti-artistic caricature reached in the great novel: "At daggers drawn", the very extensive and very bad product Leskov, written melodramatic tabloid-style, with incredible intrigue. Subsequently he Leskov, . always ready to talk about the "Nowhere", . avoid talking about "at loggerheads", . where representatives of the "nihilistic" movement are: arsonist Kishensky, . connecting in his face radical journalist, . usurer and a spy, assassin, . robber and Gordon poisoner, . between business seducing young girls, murderer and thief Vislenev, . relaxed maniac, . writing in radical publications,
. Some of these main characters are grouped a number of minor figures and activist "nihilism", ignorant and arrogant, foraged debauchery, denunciations and blackmail. "At Daggers Drawn" ( "Russian Messenger, 1870 - 71) - a kind of crisis that culminated in Leskov's settling of accounts with the movement of 60-ies. In "Stargorod chronicle of life of the clergy:" Soboryane "(1872), the nihilists still appear in a very unattractive manner, but still not so terrible as in" at loggerheads "and then disappear from the nihilists of works of Leskov. There comes a second, better half of Leskov, almost free from the malice of the day. A major success that befell the "Cathedral Folk, poured solace to the soul of the writer, and opened his eyes to his real calling - the ability to find the bright colors of a very gray area, at first glance, regulations and layers of Russian life. One after another, there are excellent stories: "The Sealed Angel" (1873), . The Enchanted Wanderer "(1873), . "At World's End" (1876), . "No mortal Bighead" (1880), . amounted to "Collected Works" Leskov particular that (II), . under the general title: "Righteous",
. Relation to Leskov's behalf in the late 70-ies so changed, that "liberal" newspaper "News" has published his "Trifles bishop's life" (1878), had a resounding success, but aroused the extreme displeasure among the clergy. Since early 80-ies Leskov completely leaves the Russian Messenger, and most wrote in a neutral "Historical Messenger, . from the mid 80-ies became a zealous member of Russian Thought "and" Week ", . in 90 years appears in the pages of The Messenger of Europe ", . with the story "The Allnighter", . deride uzkoklerikalnoe svyatoshestvo,
. Accordingly, such a reconciliation with the "liberals" have changed significantly Leskov's attitude to the "conservative", and is even reflected in the performance of his career. In 1874,. He was appointed a member of the scientific committee of the Training Division of the Ministry of Education. In 1877, Mr.. late Empress Maria Alexandrovna, reading "Cathedral Folk", spoke about them with great praise in his conversation with Count P.A. Valuev, then Minister of State Property, on the same day Valuev appointed Leskov member of the Training Division of his ministry. At this office successes Leskov and ended. In 1880, Mr.. Leskov was forced to leave the Ministry of State Property, and in 1883. He was summarily dismissed a petition from the Ministry of Education. Leskov gladly accepted the resignation, seeing it as confirmation of its independence. This was especially dear to him because he was partly influenced by Leo Tolstoy, is almost exclusively devoted himself to the interests and issues of religious and moral, some of which actually went all my life. He and the people of ancient piety "depicted, . and split with fashionable "70-ies, . with Lord Redstock headed, . devoted a number of articles and stories, . and in "Soboryanah" gave the most remarkable in Russian literature the image of grief and joys of the Russian clergy,
. But it was the development of domestic, partly idealize (Soboryane "), partly sly and sarcastic (" Trifles of the bishop's life "). In the 80 years Leskov leaves the spiritual life and wrote the tale of the era of the first centuries of Christianity. Some of these works - shifting the "Prologue" - just never saw the light, appeared in the press "buffoon Pamfalon", "Askalonsky villain," "Mountain" and other. Written in the style of Flaubert's legends, these stories shine with realism, so unusual in our works of this kind, but they are not simple, guileless faith, felt a kind of reticence, some internal skepticism. A sober mind, strange mysticism and ecstasy, never gave Leskov carried away entirely. Consistent with this was twofold and Leskov's literary position in the last 12 - 15 years of his life. Old friends regarded him suspiciously, the new - with caution. Despite the big name, he was alone, did not constitute a literary center. Criticism little they worked. That did not stop, however, the major success of his complete works. Giving of Leskov's very high, approaching some of their parties to Ostrovsky, Pisemsky and Dostoevsky. Most striking in Leskov what Turgenev called "fiction". None of the Russian writer is no such inexhaustible riches fable. Leskov is the story, takes only 5 - 6 sheets, but the plot of which could fill many volumes. This is particularly "The Enchanted Wanderer", where at each step of an interesting new situation and new paint. With the exception of the great novels ( "Nowhere" and "at loggerheads"), the least successful in artistic terms, Leskov wrote wonderfully concise, almost completely eliminating any kind of ballast. Colorful and original language Leskov not free from artificial. The main drawback of Leskov - lack of sense of proportion, in many works, he is not so much a serious artist, as entertaining anekdotistom. Of the articles caused his death, the most valuable memories A. Perez (collected in the book "Against the flow. NS. Leskov, St. Petersburg., 1904). Larger critical articles about Leskov - MA. Protopopov "sick Talent" ( "Critical Essays"), п?.п?. Skabichevskys (op. I). A. Volyn, in his book "The Kingdom Karamazov" (1901). Other articles are listed in Vengerov's "Sources", Volume IV; Vladislavlev "Russian Writers". Bibliographic list of works of Leskov made in a special booklet PV. Bykov (St. Petersburg, 1889). Works of Leskov's a lot of time out separate editions, the complete collection of his works published by the author of 10 volumes, in 1889 - 1895, respectively, 2 nd edition of Marx, with a foreword by RI. Sementkovsky, published in 1897. (given as an annex to Niva 1902 and 1903 years). S. Vengerov.