Leskov N.S. (1831-1895), writer

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LESKOV Nikolay Semenovich (1831-1895, St. Petersburg), writer, publicist, collegiate secretary (1874). Studied in Orlov Gymnasium (1841-46, didn't graduate). His works were published from 1860. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1861. A member of the Special Department of the Education Committee of Ministry for People's Education (1874-83). Worked as a proof-reader in various Petersburg magazines. Unexpectedly for the author, Leskov's article on May fires of 1862 had a strong resonance with the public. The Democratic criticism (D.I. Pisarev, V.A. Zaytsev, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin) declared Leskov a man of reactionary and conservative views. When the anti-nihilistic novel Nowhere (1864) was published, in which Leskov tried to show the historical lack of prospects for Russian revolutionary movements, this characteristic turned into a label. In 1872 Leskov made a trip to Valaam (Monk's Islands of Ladoga Lake. Travel Notes, 1873). The majority of Leskov's works of the 1870s are marked by the original narration style and righteous men subject (the novel-chronicle Old Priests, 1872; the story The Enchanted Wanderer, 1873, etc.). The depiction of Petersburg life reflects the general tendencies, typical of some of Lermontov's creative life: thus, the story Islanders (1866) focuses on specific corporative customs of Petersburg Germans of Vasilievsky Island; the cycle on righteous men includes the short story Cadets Monastery (1880), dedicated to the director of the Military School M.S. Persky; the short story Night-Birds (1891) gives a satirical portrait of Ioann Kronshtadtsky. In 1879-80 he lived in the house of Muruzi, in 1887-95 - at 50 Furshtatskaya Street (memorial plaque). Buried at Literatorskie Mostki.

References: Чуднова Л. Г. Лесков в Петербурге. Л., 1975; Лесков А. Н. Жизнь Николая Лескова по его личным семейным и несемейным записям и памятям: В 2 т. М., 1984.

I. E. Vasilyeva. Leskov Nikolay Semenovich
Persky Mikhail Stepanovich
Pisarev Dmitry Ivanovich
Saltykov-Shchedrin (real name Saltykov) Mikhail Evgrafovich
Sergiyev (Kronshtadsky) Ioann Ilyich, the Saint
Zaytsev Varfolomey Alexandrovich
Furshtatskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 50
Чуднова Л. Г. Лесков в Петербурге. Л., 1975
Лесков А. Н. Жизнь Николая Лескова по его личным, семейным и несемейным записям и памятям: В 2 т. М., 1984 Ministry of Public Education
Literatorskie (Literary) Mostki, the museum-necropolis