Nikolai Semenovich Leskov: biography, facts, video. Brief biography of Leskov N.S. Creativity and interesting facts from the life of Leskov Nikolai Semenovich Leskov left-handed summary

Nikolai Leskov is a Russian writer, publicist and memoirist. In his works he paid great attention to the Russian people.

In the later period of his work, Leskov wrote a number of satirical stories, many of which were not censored. Nikolai Leskov was a deep psychologist, thanks to which he skillfully described the characters of his heroes.

Most of all, he is known for his famous work “Lefty”, which amazingly conveys the peculiarities of the Russian character.

So, in front of you short biography of Leskov.

Biography of Leskov

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was born on February 4, 1831 in the village of Gorokhov, Oryol province. His father, Semyon Dmitrievich, was the son of a priest. He also graduated from the seminary, but chose to work in the Oryol Criminal Chamber.

In the future, the stories of his seminarian father and priest grandfather will seriously affect the formation of the writer’s views.

Leskov's father was a very gifted investigator, capable of unraveling the most difficult case. Thanks to his merits, he was awarded the title of nobility.

The writer's mother, Maria Petrovna, came from a noble family.

In addition to Nikolai, four more children were born into the Leskov family.

Childhood and youth

When the future writer was barely 8 years old, his father had a serious quarrel with his leadership. This led to their family moving to the village of Panino. There they bought a house and began to lead a simple lifestyle.

Having reached a certain age, Leskov went to study at the Oryol gymnasium. An interesting fact is that the young man received low grades in almost all subjects.

After 5 years of study, he was given a certificate of completion of only 2 classes. Leskov's biographers suggest that the teachers were to blame for this, who treated their students harshly and often punished them physically.

After studying, Nikolai had to get a job. His father assigned him to the criminal chamber as a clerical servant.

In 1848, a tragedy occurred in Leskov’s biography. Their father died of cholera, leaving their family without support and a breadwinner.

The next year, at his own request, Leskov got a job in the treasury chamber in. At that time he lived with his uncle.

While at his new workplace, Nikolai Leskov became seriously interested in reading books. Soon he began attending the university as a volunteer.

Unlike most students, the young man listened carefully to the lecturers, greedily absorbing new knowledge.

During this period of his biography, he became seriously interested in icon painting, and also made acquaintance with various Old Believers and sectarians.

Then Leskov got a job at the Shcott and Wilkens company, which belonged to his relative.

He was often sent on business trips, and therefore he was able to visit different places. Later Nikolai Leskov would call this period of time the best in his biography.

Leskov's creativity

For the first time, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov wanted to put pen to paper while working at Schcott and Wilkens. Every day he had to meet different people and witness interesting situations.

Initially, he wrote articles on everyday social topics. For example, he exposed officials for illegal activities, after which criminal cases were opened against some of them.

When Leskov was 32 years old, he wrote the story “The Life of a Woman,” which was later published in a St. Petersburg magazine.

He then submitted several more stories, which were positively received by critics.

Inspired by his first success, he continued his writing career. Soon, very deep and serious essays “Warrior” and “Lady Macbeth” came out from Leskov’s pen. Mtsensk district».

An interesting fact is that Leskov not only skillfully conveyed the images of his heroes, but also decorated his works with intellectual humor. They often contained sarcasm and cleverly disguised parody.

Thanks to these techniques, Nikolai Leskov developed his own and unique literary style.

In 1867 Leskov tried himself as a playwright. He wrote many plays, many of which were staged in theaters. The play “The Spendthrift”, which tells about the life of a merchant, gained particular popularity.

Then Nikolai Leskov published several serious novels, including “Nowhere” and “On Knives.” In them he criticized various kinds of revolutionaries, as well as nihilists.

Soon his novels caused a wave of discontent from the power elite. The editors of many publications refused to publish his works in their magazines.

Leskov’s next work, which is now included in the compulsory school curriculum, was “Lefty.” In it, he described in vivid colors the masters of the weapons trade. Leskov managed to present the plot so well that they began to talk about him as an outstanding writer of our time.

In 1874, by decision of the Ministry of Public Education, Leskov was approved for the position of censor of new books. Thus, he had to determine which of the books had the right to be published and which did not. For his work, Nikolai Leskov received a very small salary.

During this period of his biography, he wrote the story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” which no publishing house wanted to publish.

The story was distinguished by the fact that many of its plots deliberately did not have a logical conclusion. Critics did not understand Leskov's idea and were very sarcastic about the story.

After this, Nikolai Leskov released a collection of stories, “The Righteous,” in which he described the fates of ordinary people who met along his way. However, these works were also negatively received by critics.

In the 80s, signs of religiosity began to clearly appear in his works. In particular, Nikolai Semenovich wrote about early Christianity.

At the later stage of his work, Leskov wrote works in which he denounced officials, military personnel and church leaders.

By this period creative biography include such works as “The Beast”, “Scarecrow”, “Stupid Artist” and others. In addition, Leskov managed to write a number of stories for children.

It is worth noting that he spoke of Leskov as “the most Russian of our writers,” and Turgenev (see) considered him one of his main teachers.

He spoke about Nikolai Leskov like this:

“As an artist of words, N. S. Leskov is fully worthy to stand next to such Russian creators as L. Tolstoy. Leskov's talent is not much inferior in strength and beauty to the talent of any of the named creators scripture about the Russian land, and in the breadth of his coverage of the phenomena of life, the depth of understanding of its everyday mysteries, and his subtle knowledge of the Great Russian language, he often exceeds his named predecessors and comrades.”

Personal life

In the biography of Nikolai Leskov there were 2 official marriages. His first wife was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Olga Smirnova, whom he married at the age of 22.

Over time, Olga began to have mental disorders. Later she even had to be sent to a clinic for treatment.

In this marriage, the writer had a girl, Vera, and a boy, Mitya, who died at an early age.

Left virtually without a wife, Leskov began cohabiting with Ekaterina Bubnova. In 1866, their son Andrei was born. After living in a civil marriage for 11 years, they decided to separate.

An interesting fact is that Nikolai Leskov was a convinced vegetarian throughout almost his entire biography. He was an ardent opponent of killing for food.

Moreover, in June 1892, in the newspaper “Novoye Vremya,” Leskov published an appeal entitled “On the need to publish a well-written, detailed cookbook for vegetarians in Russian.”

Death

Throughout his life, Leskov suffered from asthma attacks, which recent years began to progress.

He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

Shortly before his death, in 1889-1893, Leskov compiled and published A. S. Suvorin’s “Complete Works” in 12 volumes, which included mostly his artistic works.

For the first time, a truly complete (30-volume) collected works of the writer began to be published by the Terra publishing house in 1996 and continues to this day.

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Illustration by V. Britvin

After the end of the Vienna Council, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich decides to “travel around Europe and see wonders in different states.” The Don Cossack Platov, who is with him, is not surprised at the “curiosities”, because he knows: in Russia “his own is no worse.”

In the very last cabinet of curiosities, among the “nymphosoria” collected from all over the world, the sovereign buys a flea, which, although small, can “danse” dance. Soon Alexander “got melancholy from military affairs,” and he returned to his homeland, where he died. Nikolai Pavlovich, who ascended the throne, values ​​the flea, but, since he does not like to give in to foreigners, he sends Platov along with the flea to the Tula masters. Three Tula residents volunteer to support Platov “and with him all of Russia.” They go to venerate the icon of St. Nicholas, and then lock themselves in the house of the slanting Lefty, but even after finishing the work, they refuse to give Platov the “secret”, and he has to take Lefty to St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Pavlovich and his daughter Alexandra Timofeevna discover that the “abdominal machine” in the flea does not work. An angry Platov executes and scolds Lefty, but he does not admit to the damage and advises him to look at the flea through the most powerful “small scope”. But the attempt turns out to be unsuccessful, and Lefty orders “to put just one leg under a microscope in detail.” Having done this, the sovereign sees that the flea is “shod on horseshoes.” And Lefty adds that with a better “small scope” one could see that on every horseshoe the “master’s name” is displayed. And he himself forged carnations that were impossible to see.

Platov asks Levsha for forgiveness. The left-hander is washed in the “Tulyanovskie Baths”, shaved and “shaped”, as if he had some kind of “common rank”, and sent to take the flea as a gift to the British. On the road, Lefty eats nothing, “supporting” himself with wine alone, and sings Russian songs throughout Europe. When questioned by the British, he admits: “We have not gone deep into the sciences, and therefore the flea no longer dances, only those who are faithful to their fatherland.” Lefty refuses to stay in England, citing his parents and the Russian faith, which is “the most correct.” The English cannot seduce him with anything, then with an offer to marry, which Lefty rejects and speaks disapprovingly of the clothes and thinness of English women. In English factories, Lefty notices that the workers are well-fed, but most of all he is interested in the condition of the old guns.

Soon Lefty begins to feel sad and, despite the approaching storm, boards the ship and without looking away looks towards Russia. The ship goes out into the “Terraline Sea”, and Lefty makes a bet with the skipper who will outdrink whom. They drink until the Riga Dynaminde, and when the captain locks the disputants, they already see devils in the sea. In St. Petersburg, the Englishman is sent to the embassy house, and Lefty is sent to the quarter, where they demand his document, take away his gifts, and then take him in an open sleigh to the hospital, where “everyone of an unknown class is accepted to die.” The next day, the “Aglitsky” half-skipper swallows the “cutta-percha” pill and, after a short search, finds his Russian “comrade”. Lefty wants to say two words to the sovereign, and the Englishman goes to “Count Kleinmichel,” but the half-speaker doesn’t like his words about Lefty: “even though Ovechkin’s fur coat is a man’s soul.” The Englishman is sent to the Cossack Platov, who “has simple feelings.” But Platov finished his service, received “full population” and sent him to “Commandant Skobelev.” He sends a doctor from the clergy of Martyn-Solsky to Leftsha, but Leftsha is already “finished”, asks to tell the sovereign that the British don’t clean their guns with bricks, otherwise they are not suitable for shooting, and “with this fidelity” he crosses himself and dies. The doctor reports Lefty’s last words to Count Chernyshev, but he does not listen to Martyn-Solsky, because “in Russia there are generals for this,” and the guns continue to be cleaned with bricks. And if the emperor had heard the words of Lefty, then the Crimean War would have ended differently

Now these are already “things of bygone days,” but the legend cannot be forgotten, despite the “epic character” of the hero and the “fabulous character” of the legend. The name of Lefty, like many other geniuses, has been lost, but the folk myth about him accurately conveyed the spirit of the era. And although the machines do not condone “aristocratic prowess,” the workers themselves remember the past and their epic with a “human soul,” with pride and love.

Retold

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, the son of an impoverished nobleman from the Oryol province, was born on February 4, 1831. His childhood was spent first in the city of Orel, and then in the village of Panino, where the future writer had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with the life of ordinary people.

Childhood and youth

At the age of ten, Nikolai was sent to a gymnasium. Studying was difficult for him. As a result, in five years of study, Leskov managed to complete only two classes.

When Nikolai was sixteen years old, his father helped him get a job in the criminal office of the Oryol court. In the same year, Leskov loses not only his father, who died of cholera, but also all his property that was burned in a fire.

An uncle comes to the aid of the young man, who facilitated his transfer to Kyiv to the position of an official in the treasury chamber. The ancient city charmed the young man. He liked his landscapes; special character of the local residents. Therefore, even after a three-year period of work in his uncle’s company, which required him to travel frequently throughout Russia and Europe, he returned to Kyiv again upon completion of his career. It is 1860 that can be considered the very “starting point” in his writing. At first these were periodic magazine articles. And after moving to St. Petersburg, serious literary activity began in the newspaper “Northern Bee”.

Creative path

Thanks to his correspondent activities, Leskov managed to travel around the territory of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Western Ukraine. At this time, he carefully studies the life of the local population.

1863 was the year of the final return to Russia. Having rethought everything that he had to face during his years of wandering, Leskov tries to present his vision of the life of ordinary people in his first large-scale works, the novels “Nowhere”, “Outlooked”. His position differs from the views of many writers of that time: on the one hand, Leskov does not accept serfdom, and on the other, he does not understand the revolutionary method of overthrowing it.

Since the writer’s position ran counter to the ideas of the revolutionary democrats of that time, he was not particularly willing to be published. Only the editor-in-chief of Russian Messenger, Mikhail Katkov, went to the meeting and helped the writer. Moreover, cooperation with him was incredibly difficult for Leskov: Katkov constantly edited his works, practically radically changing their essence. If I disagreed, I simply didn’t print it. It got to the point that Leskov simply could not finish writing some of his works precisely because of disagreements with the editor of Russky Vestnik. This is what happened with the novel “A Seedy Family.” The only story that Katkov did not edit at all was “The Sealed Angel.”

Confession

Despite his rich literary creativity, Leskov went down in history as the creator of the famous story “Lefty”. It is based on the legend about the skill of the gunsmiths of that time. In the story, the scythe master Lefty managed to skillfully shoe a flea.

The writer’s last large-scale work was the story “The Hare Remise.” It was published in 1894. But since it was based on criticism of the political structure of Russia at that time, the story could only be published after the October Revolution of 1917.

The writer’s personal life was not entirely successful either. His first wife Olga Smirnova was ill mental disorder, and the first-born son died young. Life did not work out with his second wife Ekaterina Bubnova, with whom he separated after 12 years of marriage.

The writer died of asthma on February 21, 1895. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovskoye cemetery. And today, admirers of the writer’s talent can honor his memory at his grave.

Leskov Nikolay Semenovich- Russian writer-ethnographer was born on February 16 (old style - February 4), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, where his mother stayed with rich relatives, and his maternal grandmother also lived there. The Leskov family on the paternal side came from the clergy: Nikolai Leskov’s grandfather (Dmitry Leskov), his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were priests in the village of Leska, Oryol province. From the name of the village of Leski the family surname Leskov was formed. Nikolai Leskov's father, Semyon Dmitrievich (1789-1848), served as a noble assessor of the Oryol chamber of the criminal court, where he received the nobility. Mother, Marya Petrovna Alfereva (1813-1886), belonged to a noble family of the Oryol province.

In Gorokhov - in the house of the Strakhovs, Nikolai Leskov's maternal relatives - he lived until he was 8 years old. Nicholas had six cousins. Russian and German teachers and a French woman were taken for the children. Nicholas, gifted with greater abilities than his cousins ​​and more successful in his studies, was not liked and, at the request of the future writer, his grandmother wrote to his father asking him to take his son. Nikolai began to live with his parents in Orel - in a house on Third Noble Street. Soon the family moved to the Panino estate (Panin Khutor). Nikolai's father himself sowed, looked after the garden and the mill. At the age of ten, Nikolai was sent to study at the Oryol provincial gymnasium. After five years of study, the gifted and easy-to-learn Nikolai Leskov received a certificate instead of a certificate, since he refused to re-examine for the fourth grade. Further training became impossible. Nikolai’s father managed to assign him to the Oryol Criminal Chamber as one of the scribes.

At seventeen and a half years old, Leskov was appointed assistant to the chief of the Oryol Criminal Chamber. In the same year, 1848, Leskov’s father died and his relative, the husband of his maternal aunt, a famous professor at Kyiv University and practicing therapist S.P., volunteered to help in arranging Nikolai’s future fate. Alferyev (1816–1884). In 1849, Nikolai Leskov moved to Kyiv with him and was assigned to the Kyiv Treasury Chamber as an assistant to the head of the recruitment desk of the audit department.

Unexpectedly for his family, and despite advice to wait, Nikolai Leskov decides to get married. The chosen one was the daughter of a wealthy Kyiv businessman. Over the years, the difference in tastes and interests between the spouses became more and more evident. The relationship became especially complicated after the death of the Leskovs’ first-born, Mitya. In the early 1860s, Leskov's marriage actually broke up.

In 1853, Leskov was promoted to collegiate registrar, in the same year he was appointed to the post of mayor, and in 1856 Leskov was promoted to provincial secretary. In 1857, he began serving as an agent in the private company Shcott and Wilkins, headed by A.Ya. Schcott is an Englishman who married Leskov's aunt and managed the estates of Naryshkin and Count Perovsky. On their affairs, Leskov constantly made trips, which gave him a huge stock of observations. (“Russian Biographical Dictionary”, article by S. Vengerov “Leskov Nikolai Semenovich”) “Soon after the Crimean War, I became infected with the then fashionable heresy, for which I condemned myself more than once later, that is, I abandoned the government service that had begun quite successfully and went to serve in one from the newly formed trading companies at that time. The owners of the business where I got a job were English. They were still inexperienced people and spent the capital they brought here with the stupidest self-confidence. I was the only Russian among the Russians.” (from the memoirs of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov) The company conducted business throughout Russia and Leskov, as a representative of the company, had the opportunity to visit many cities at that time. Three years of wandering around Russia were the reason why Nikolai Leskov took up writing.

In 1860, his articles were published in Modern Medicine, Economic Index, and St. Petersburg Gazette. At the beginning of his literary activity (1860s), Nikolai Leskov published under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky; later he used such pseudonyms as Nikolai Gorokhov, Nikolai Ponukalov, V. Peresvetov, Protozanov, Freishits, priest. P. Kastorsky, Psalmist, Watch Lover, Man from the Crowd. In 1861 Nikolai Leskov moved to St. Petersburg. In April 1861, the first article “Essays on the distillery industry” was published in Otechestvennye zapiski. In May 1862, in the transformed newspaper "Northern Bee", which considered Leskov one of the most significant employees, under the pseudonym Stebnitsky, he published a sharp article about the fire in the Apraksin and Shchukin courtyards. The article blamed both the arsonists, whom popular rumor referred to as nihilistic rebels, and the government, which was unable to either put out the fire or catch the criminals. Rumor spread that Leskov connected the St. Petersburg fires with the revolutionary aspirations of students and, despite the writer’s public explanations, Leskov’s name became the subject of offensive suspicion. Having gone abroad, he began writing the novel Nowhere, in which he reflected the movement of the 1860s in a negative light. The first chapters of the novel were published in January 1864 in the “Library for Reading” and created unflattering fame for the author, so D.I. Pisarev wrote: “Is there now in Russia, besides Russky Vestnik, at least one magazine that would dare to print on its pages anything coming from the pen of Stebnitsky and signed with his name? Is there at least one honest writer in Russia who would be so careless and indifferent to his reputation that he would agree to work in a magazine that adorns itself with Stebnitsky’s stories and novels?” In the early 80s, Leskov was published in the Historical Bulletin, from the mid-80s he became an employee of Russian Thought and Week, in the 90s he was published in the Bulletin of Europe.

In 1874, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was appointed a member of the educational department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of Public Education; The main function of the department was “the review of books published for the people.” In 1877, thanks to positive feedback Empress Maria Alexandrovna about the novel “Soborians”, he was appointed a member of the educational department of the ministry state property. In 1880, Leskov left the Ministry of State Property, and in 1883 he was dismissed without a request from the Ministry of Public Education. He accepted the resignation, which gave him independence, with joy.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov died on March 5 (old style - February 21), 1895 in St. Petersburg, from another attack of asthma, which tormented him for the last five years of his life. Nikolai Leskov was buried at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.

• Biography

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov - born in 1835, and died in 1895.

The writer was born in the City of Orel. He had a large family; Leskov was the eldest of the children. After moving from the city to the village, love and respect for the Russian people began to form in Leskov. His family moved due to the tragic death of his father and the loss of all property in a fire.

It is unknown for what reasons, but studies were not easy for the young writer and he was barely hired, and then only thanks to his friends. Only in adolescence does Leskov begin to develop a creative view of many things.

His writing career begins with the publication of articles in various magazines. Things go uphill after Leskov moves to St. Petersburg. Already there he wrote many serious works, but there are different reviews about their content. Due to disagreements with revolutionary democrats and established views of that era, many publishing houses refuse to publish Leskov. But the writer does not give up and continues to work on stories.

Nikolai Semyonovich had two marriages, but both of them were unsuccessful. Officially, Leskov had three children - two from his first marriage (the eldest child died in infancy) and one from his second.

Leskov died of asthma, which actively developed in the last years of his life.

Interesting facts, 6th grade.

Biography of Nikolaev Leskov

The writer, in the future nicknamed “the most Russian of all Russians,” was born on February 4, 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol district. His mother was from an insolvent noble family, and his father was a former seminarian, but left the clergy and became an investigator, made a brilliant career and could have risen to the nobility, but a major quarrel with the management ruined all plans and he had to quit and move with his wife and five children from Orel to Panino. Upon reaching the age of ten, Leskov goes to study at the gymnasium, although not for long: after 2 years he leaves educational institution, having failed in training. In 1847 he entered service in the Criminal Chamber. A year later, the father contracts cholera and dies. Leskov asks to be transferred to Kyiv and, having received approval, moves.

Exactly 10 years later, Leskov leaves the service and goes to work for the agricultural trading company Schcott and Wilkens. Thanks to many work trips throughout the country, Leskov would later call his time working for the company the best period of his life. It was during this period that he began to write. In 1860, the trading house closed, and Leskov had to return to Kyiv. This time he is trying his hand at journalism. A few months later, he rushes to St. Petersburg, where his literary career begins.

In 1862, in one of his articles, Leskov demands that the authorities comment on rumors of arson in St. Petersburg, which brought upon himself accusations of denunciation and criticism of the authorities. His articles reached Alexander II himself. Since 1862 he has been published in the Northern Bee, and his essays begin to receive the first high marks from his contemporaries.

In 1864, he published his first novel “Nowhere” about the life of nihilists and the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”. In 1866, the story “Warrior” was published, coolly received by contemporaries, but highly appreciated by descendants.

In 1870, the novel “On Knives” was published, full of ridicule of nihilistic revolutionaries who, in the writer’s opinion, had merged with criminals. Leskov himself was dissatisfied with the work and received criticism from his contemporaries. Immediately after this, his work turns to the clergy and local nobility. In 1872, he published the novel “The Cathedral People,” which became the reason for the conflict between the writer and the Church.

In 1881, one of Leskov’s most successful and famous works was published - “The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea. In 1872, the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” was written, which was very coldly received by contemporaries and was not allowed for publication in publications. It is because of “The Wanderer” that the friendship with M.N. Katkov ends. - an influential critic, publicist and publisher.

At the end of the 1880s. gets closer to L.N. Tolstoy, which radically changes Leskov’s attitude towards the Church. The main works showing his hostility towards the clergy are the story “Midnight Office” and the essay “Popov’s leapfrog and parish whim.” After their publication, a scandal broke out, and the writer was fired from the Ministry of Public Education. Leskov again found himself isolated by his contemporaries.

In 1889, he began publishing a multi-volume collection, which was warmly received by the public. Quick sales helped the writer improve his financial affairs. But in the same year, the first heart attack occurred, the cause of which was probably the news of censorship sanctions against the collection. In the last years of his creative work, Leskov’s works became even more biting and cynical, which the public and publishers did not like. From 1890 he fell ill, suffering from suffocation for the next 5 years - until his death on March 5, 1895.