Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Biography

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on the 30th of October in 1821. His father was a retired military surgeon. Dostoyevsky went to engineering school in St. Petersburg academy in Moscow. He left the academy in 1843 with the rank of lieutenant (Carr 7). He went on after his father died to persue a literary career. His mentors in litature are as follows: Gogol, Puskin, Balzac, and Hoffman. In 1847 he became a member of the revolutionary reunions. Here Dostoyevsky and his collegues would discuss litature and ecomonic issues. This was forbidden by law and in 1849 he was arrested and thrown in jail (Berdyaev 18). While in confinement he wrote A Little Hero. He was sentenced to four years in Siberia and enforced military service in the ranks for life. He wrote about his experiences in Recollections of a Dead House. He was finally released from exile. Dostoyevsky was enlightened after spending time with Russia's worst criminals. This lead him to write Crime and Punishment. He settled down in 1865 in St.Petersburg and became sucessful as a journalist. His succession fell short due to his severe problem with gambling. He took flight from Russia because he could not pay his debts and landed in Germany and Italy. During this time of his life he was plagued with epileptic seizures. This would only inspire him to work harder. He finally returned home in the seventies and was director of The Russian World. His final time was spent in St. Petersburg where he died on Febuary 9, 1881.

Major Works

• Notes from Underground (1864)
• Crime and Punishment (1866)
• The Idiot (1868)
• The Possessed (1871)
• The Brothers Karamazov (1880)

Works Cited

Berdyaev, Nicholas. Dostoyevsky. Colorado: Meridian Hill, 1957.

Carr, Edward. Dostoyevsky (1821-1881):A New Biography. Australia: Allen and Unwin, 1931.