The estate where Gogol spent his childhood years. Biography

N.V. Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1, n.s.) 1809 in the town of Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province. The future writer spent his childhood on the small estate of his father Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky - Vasilievka. The boy's impressionable, nervous nature was formed in an atmosphere of home comfort, deep religiosity, grandmother's fairy tales, and the poetic and vibrant nature of Ukraine. Childhood impressions shaped Gogol's love for literature and theater. His father was the creator of several Ukrainian comedies.

Gogol studied first at the Poltava School, and then in 1821 he entered the newly opened gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. In it, along with people of conservative views, there was a group of young professors, encyclopedically educated and radically minded. Natural law professor N. G. Belousov had a great influence on the lyceum students. Following in his lectures the ideas of educational and classical German philosophy, he developed the concept of “innate” rights of people and their equality. As a result, in 1827, a “case of freethinking” arose in the Nizhyn gymnasium, which ended with the removal of disgraced professors (Belousov, Shapalinsky, Singer, Landrazhin) from office. Gogol was one of Belousov’s favorite students, he often visited his home, used his books, and carefully recorded his lectures.

Gogol's passion was the theater. The lyceum students organized regular theatrical performances. Gogol was the soul of this theater, staged plays, enthusiastically painted scenery and brilliantly played roles, mainly comic ones. From the gymnasium, Gogol brought with him an ardent commitment to educational ideas, a love of literature and art, and a romantic mood. The world of romantic art (Russian and foreign) determined the attitude of young Gogol. Subsequently, he recalled these years as follows: “The summer of poetry... German poetry carried me far into the distance, and I liked its complete distance from life and significance. And then I looked much more contemptuously at everything ordinary and everyday.” Gogol poetizes the state of enthusiasm, spiritual burning, “boil of feelings.” He sees a decrease in the intensity of spiritual impulses as a threat to the death of the soul. Romantic in its genesis, the idea of a beautiful “living soul” will forever remain central in Gogol’s worldview. Life seemed to young Gogol a heroic feat in the name of humanity, “for the happiness of citizens.” “To be in the world and not signify your existence - that was terrible for me.” “Having gone over in his mind” all possible positions, Gogol, apparently under the influence of Belousov’s lectures, dwells on justice and in this field dreams of fighting “injustice” as “the greatest misfortune in the world.” In Gogol’s youthful statements, it is important to note the absolute irreconcilability of evil, the romantic maximalism of the ideal.

The great Russian prose writer, playwright, critic, poet and publicist Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol made a huge contribution to Russian literature and journalism, enriching it with many immortal works, some of which are incredibly relevant today. However, as you know, we all come from childhood, therefore, in order to understand the origins of his work, first of all you need to find out where Gogol was born, who his parents were and what early impressions influenced the formation of his worldview.

Where were the Yanovskys from?

Gogol's biographers report that the writer's ancestors were hereditary priests and had nothing to do with the nobility. It is also known that his great-grandfather, Afanasy Demyanovich, settled near Poltava and took the surname Yanovsky, after the name of the area where he built a house. A few years later, when receiving a charter of nobility, he added another one to his surname - Gogol, in order to thus confirm (or, as some researchers believe, fabricate) his relationship with a famous person - Colonel Eustathius Gogol, who was in the service of King John the Third Sobieski. Thus, the writer’s ancestors moved to Little Russia from Poland somewhere in the second half of the eighteenth century. To be fair, it must be said that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol himself mistakenly believed that the Yanovsky surname was invented by the Poles. That is why in 1821 he simply discarded it. At that time, his father was no longer alive, so there was no one to prevent such free use of the family name.

Where was N.V. Gogol born?

The future great Russian writer was born on March 20, 1809 in the village of Sorochintsy, which at that time was located in Poltava. Today this settlement is called Velikie Sorochintsy and is part of the Mirgorod region of Ukraine. At the time of Gogol’s birth, it was known for its famous fair, which attracted people from almost all corners of Little Russia and even from Poland and the central provinces of Russia. Thus, the small homeland of the future great writer was a fairly famous shopping center, where life was in full swing.

The house where Gogol was born

During the Great Patriotic War, many buildings in Velikiye Sorochintsy, as well as throughout the entire territory, were destroyed. Unfortunately, a similar fate befell the very place where Gogol was born - the house of Dr. M. Trokhimovsky, where in 1929 a museum dedicated to his childhood was organized. In the post-war period, a lot of work was done to search for things and documents related to the childhood of the great writer. It was successful, and six years later, on the site of the destroyed house where Gogol was born, a new building was built to house the literary and memorial museum. Today it is considered one of the main attractions of Velikie Sorochintsi, and there visitors can see the writer’s personal belongings, his portrait by Repin and some rare first editions of books. Having visited the village where Gogol was born (photo below), you can also see the magnificent Church of the Transfiguration. This majestic temple, built at the beginning of the eighteenth century in the Ukrainian Baroque style, is notable for the fact that it was there that the writer was baptized in 1809.

early years

At the time of his birth, Gogol’s parents lived on their own estate Vasilyevka, or Yanovshchina, located near the village of Dikanka. In total, the collegiate assessor Vasily Gogol-Yanovsky and the noblewoman Maria Kosyarovskaya had twelve children, most of whom died in infancy. The future great writer himself was the third child and the eldest of those who survived to adulthood. The Gogol-Yanovsky children grew up in an atmosphere of village life along with their peers from peasant families. However, at the same time, the writer’s parents were frequent guests at neighboring estates, and Vasily Gogol-Yanovsky even for some time directed the home theater of his distant relative D. P. Troshchinsky, a retired member of the State Council. Thus, his children were not deprived of cultural entertainment and were exposed to art and literature from a young age.

Where did Gogol spend his adolescence?

When the boy was ten years old, he was sent to Poltava to one of the local teachers, who began preparing the future writer for admission to the Nizhyn gymnasium. If Velikiye Sorochintsy is the village where Gogol was born, the city of Nizhyn is the place where he spent his teenage years. At the same time, he never forgot about the Great Sorochintsi, as he spent all his holidays there, carefreely indulging in fun in the company of sisters and peasant children.

Studying at the gymnasium

The institution where Gogol's parents sent him for further education was opened in 1820. Its full name sounded like Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Education there lasted nine years, and only children of Little Russian nobles could become students. Graduates of the Nizhyn gymnasium, depending on the exam results, received the rank of twelfth or thirteenth grade according to the “Table of Ranks”. This meant that the certificates issued by this educational institution were valued on a par with university diplomas, and their holders were freed from the need to pass additional exams for promotion to higher ranks.

Judging by the surviving documents, high school student Nikolai Gogol-Yanovsky was not a diligent student, and he managed to pass exams only thanks to his excellent memory, which became In addition, the memories of some teachers and classmates of the future writer were preserved, indicating that he had difficulty learning foreign languages languages, as well as Latin and Greek, but Russian literature and drawing were his most favorite disciplines.

while studying at the gymnasium

The question of who influenced the formation of views on the life and character of the future writer is no less important than information about where Gogol was born. In particular, already in adulthood, he recalled how, while studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium, together with a group of comrades, he was enthusiastically engaged in self-education. Among the writer’s classmates one can note Gerasim Vysotsky, Alexander Danilevsky, with whom Gogol was friends until the end of his life, as well as Nestor Kukolnik. The friends got into the habit of subscribing to literary almanacs, and also publishing their own handwritten gymnasium magazine once a month. Moreover, Gogol himself often published his first poems in it and even wrote a historical story and poem for it. In addition, the satire he wrote about Nezhin was very popular among high school students.

Last years of study at the gymnasium

When Gogol was only fifteen years old, he lost his father, which became an irreparable loss for him. Thus, already at such a young age he remained the only male in the family (four brothers died in infancy, and another one, Ivan, died in 1819). Despite this, the writer’s mother continued to donate her meager funds so that her beloved son could graduate from high school, since she considered him a genius and believed in his success. In fairness, it must be said that Nikolai took care of her and her sisters until the end of his life and even refused the inheritance in order to give them a decent dowry.

As for the aspirations that the young man had in the last years of his studies at the gymnasium, he dreamed of public service, and viewed literature more as a kind of hobby. Meanwhile, the place in which Gogol was born played a very important role in his future career and contributed to his high-profile debut in the Northern capital.

Trip to St. Petersburg

Having left the place where he was born, Gogol set off to conquer St. Petersburg. There he was not received with open arms. At first, Nikolai wanted to try his hand at acting, but the artistic environment rejected the self-confident provincial. As for the civil service, it seemed boring and meaningless to him. However, very soon the young man noticed that Little Russia and everything connected with it were extremely interesting to the St. Petersburg elite, and they listened with pleasure to works of Little Russian folklore. Thus, everything that came from the places where Gogol was born was received, as they say, by the city on the Neva with a bang! Therefore, it is not surprising that the aspiring writer in almost every letter to his mother asked her to tell about some details of local life or send him ancient legends that the mother could hear from her peasants or wanderers making pilgrimages to holy places.

Now you know what to say if you are asked: “Name the place where You can also give some details of his biography regarding childhood and adolescence. And to plunge into the atmosphere of Little Russia, you should visit the village of Velikie Sorochintsy and the city of Mirgorod. Then you will see with your own eyes the famous fair and puddle, which the writer admired, calling it one of a kind.It still exists today and even has its own embankment!

In this publication we will consider the most important things from the biography of N.V. Gogol: his childhood and youth, literary path, theater, last years of life.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852) – writer, playwright, classic of Russian literature, critic, publicist. He is primarily known for his works: the mystical story “Viy”, the poem “Dead Souls”, the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, the story “Taras Bulba”.

Nikolai was born into the family of a landowner in the village of Sorochintsy on March 20 (April 1), 1809. The family was large - Nikolai eventually had 11 brothers and sisters, but he himself was the third child. Training began at the Poltava School, after which it continued at the Nizhyn Gymnasium, where the future great Russian writer devoted his time to justice. It is worth noting that Nikolai was only strong in drawing and Russian literature, but did not work out with other subjects. He also tried himself in prose - the works turned out unsuccessful. Now it is perhaps difficult to imagine.

At the age of 19, Nikolai Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to find himself. He worked as an official, but Nikolai was drawn to creativity - he tried to become an actor in the local theater, and continued to try himself in literature. Gogol's theater was not doing very well, and the government service did not satisfy all of Nikolai's needs. Then he made up his mind - he decided to continue to engage exclusively in literature, to develop his skills and talent.

The first work of Nikolai Vasilyevich that was published was “Basavryuk”. Later this story was revised and received the title “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala.” It was she who became the starting point for Nikolai Gogol as a writer. This was Nikolai's first success in literature.

Gogol very often described Ukraine in his works: in “May Night”, “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Taras Bulba”, etc. And this is not surprising, because Nikolai was born on the territory of modern Ukraine.

In 1831, Nikolai Gogol began to communicate with representatives of the literary circles of Pushkin and Zhukovsky. And this had a positive impact on his writing career.

Nikolai Vasilyevich’s interest in theater never faded, because his father was a famous playwright and storyteller. Gogol decided to return to the theater, but as a playwright, not an actor. His famous work “The Inspector General” was written specifically for the theater in 1835, and a year later it was staged for the first time. However, the audience did not appreciate the production and responded negatively to it, which is why Gogol decided to leave Russia.

Nikolai Vasilyevich visited Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy. It was in Rome that he decided to work on the poem “Dead Souls,” the basis of which he came up with back in St. Petersburg. After completing work on the poem, Gogol returned to his homeland and published his first volume.

While working on the second volume, Gogol was overcome by a spiritual crisis, which the writer never coped with. On February 11, 1852, Nikolai Vasilyevich burned all his work on the second volume of “Dead Souls,” thereby burying the poem as a continuation, and 10 days later he himself died.

To the question of how Gogol spent his childhood asked by the author Oksana boyarina the best answer is

Answer from Yergey Seletkov[newbie]
sadly

Answer from Scratch[newbie]
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on April 1, 1809 in the town of Bolshiye Sorochintsy, Poltava province. The future writer spent his childhood in Ukraine in the village of Vasilievka. His father, Vasily Afanasyevich, was an educated man, but did not have the means to give his son a comprehensive education at home. Nikolai Vasilyevich had neither foreign tutors nor educated Russian teachers. The boy was taught all the sciences by a seminarian.

In addition to Nikolai, there were eleven more children in the family. There were six boys and six girls in total. The first two boys were stillborn. Gogol was the third child. The fourth son was Ivan (1810-1819), who died early. Then a daughter, Maria (1811-1844), was born. All middle children also died in infancy. The last born were daughters Anna (1821-1893), Elizaveta (1823-1864) and Olga (1825-1907).

Life in the village before school and after, during the holidays, went on in the fullest atmosphere of Ukrainian life, both lordly and peasant. Subsequently, these impressions formed the basis of Gogol’s Little Russian stories and served as the reason for his historical and ethnographic interests; Later, from St. Petersburg, Gogol constantly turned to his mother when he needed new everyday details for his stories. The inclinations of religiosity and mysticism, which by the end of his life took possession of Gogol’s entire being, are attributed to the influence of his mother.

At the age of ten, Gogol was taken to Poltava to one of the local teachers to prepare for the gymnasium; then he entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn (from May 1821 to June 1828). Gogol was not a diligent student, but had an excellent memory, prepared for exams in a few days and moved from class to class; he was very weak in languages and made progress only in drawing and Russian literature.

Apparently, the gymnasium itself, which was not very well organized in the first years of its existence, was partly to blame for the poor teaching; for example, history was taught by rote learning; literature teacher Nikolsky extolled the importance of Russian literature of the 18th century and did not approve of the contemporary poetry of Pushkin and Zhukovsky, which, however, only increased the interest of schoolchildren in romantic literature. Moral education lessons were supplemented with the rod. Gogol got it too.

The shortcomings of the school were made up for by self-education in a circle of comrades, where there were people who shared literary interests with Gogol (Gerasim Vysotsky, who apparently had considerable influence on him at that time; Alexander Danilevsky, who remained his friend for life, as did Nikolai Prokopovich; Nestor Kukolnik, with whom, however, Gogol never agreed)...

Answer from become numb[active]
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on April 1, 1809 in the town of Bolshiye Sorochintsy, Poltava province. The future writer spent his childhood in Ukraine in the village of Vasilievka. His father, Vasily Afanasyevich, was an educated man, but did not have the means to give his son a comprehensive education at home. Nikolai Vasilyevich had neither foreign tutors nor educated Russian teachers. The boy was taught all the sciences by a seminarian.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol Childhood and youth

From childhood, Gogol remembered his mother’s stories. The boy was greatly impressed by the stories about the ladder that angels lower from heaven, giving their hand to the soul of the deceased. The image of the staircase will then pass through all of Gogol’s thoughts about the participation and calling of man to spiritual improvement.

During his studies, Gogol discovered his talent for drawing and literary abilities. He began to publish a handwritten magazine, containing his stories, poems, the historical story “The Tverdislavich Brothers”, and the satirical essay “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools.” But Gogol’s first literary experiments have not reached us. In 1824, the gymnasium authorities allowed students to open their own theater. Gogol enthusiastically devoted himself to this endeavor. He was especially successful in the roles of old men and old women, and once he captivated the audience with his masterful performance of the role of Prostakova in Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor.”

In 1826, Gogol began his collecting work. He writes down Ukrainian folk songs, proverbs and sayings, folk legends, descriptions of village rituals, excerpts from the works of Ukrainian writers, extracts from the works of ancient Western European travelers to Russia. This includes an extensive “Little Russian lexicon” of materials for a dictionary of the Ukrainian language.

After graduating from high school in June 1828, in December Gogol went to St. Petersburg with the hope of starting a professional career. At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the department of state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From April 1830 to March 1831, N.V. Gogol served in the department of appanages as an assistant to the chief, under the command of the famous idyllic poet V.I. Panaev. His stay in the offices caused Gogol deep disappointment, but it became rich material for future works.