The roots of Russian literature may be traced to the Middle Ages, with so many great Russian novelists. During this era, works had been composed in Old East Slavic or Old Russian. Russian literature was at its peak within the 19th century. During this era, among the undeniable masterworks of world literature had been produced in Russia. Alexander Pushkin is extensively thought to be the founding father of modern Russian literature.
Though he’s most well-known for his poetry, he additionally wrote a number of novels together with Eugene Onegin. Nikolai Gogol is thought to be the first great Russian novelist.
Great Russian Novelists
Then got here Ivan Turgenev, who mastered each quick tale and novel. The second half of the 19th century noticed two towering figures of Russian literature: Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy.
Regarded among the many biggest novelists of all time, the 2 grew to become internationally famous and took Russian literature to new heights.
The finest recognized Russian novelists of the 20th century embody Boris Pasternak, Vladimir Nabokov, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Here are the 10 great Russian novelists and their finest recognized works.
1. Leo Tolstoy
Lifespan: September 9, 1828 – November 20, 1910
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, one of the great Russian novelists, was born in a prominent family of old Russian the Aristocracy. His first novel, Childhood, was printed in 1852. After serving within the military through the Crimean War, Tolstoy transformed from a privileged society creator to a non-violent and spiritual anarchist.
The most well-known works of Tolstoy are his novels War and Peace (1867) and Anna Karenina (1877), which are generally thought to be among the many best novels ever written.
His fiction consists of dozens of quick tales and several other novellas together with The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), thought to be among the finest examples of a novella. Apart from his work as a writer, Tolstoy additionally achieved fame as an ethical and religious trainer.
His concepts on nonviolent resistance had a profound effect on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. A grasp of sensible fiction, Leo Tolstoy is thought to be one of many biggest authors of all time.
He obtained nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature each year from 1902 to 1906. That he by no means received is a serious controversy. Leo Tolstoy is undoubtedly probably the most well-known Russian novelist.
Famous Novels:-
War and Peace (1867)
Anna Karenina (1877)
The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886)
2. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Lifespan: November 11, 1821 – February 9, 1881
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a part of a noble family of Russian Orthodox Christians. As a younger youngster, he was uncovered to heroic sagas, fairy tales, and legends by his nanny.
As he grew up, his parents uncovered him to a large range of literature. Dostoevsky himself studies that his creativeness was introduced alive by nightly readings by his parents.
After graduating from the Academy of Military Engineering in St. Petersburg, Dostoevsky took a job as a lieutenant engineer. However, he was unsuited for this occupation and shortly took up writing.
As quickly as his first novel Poor Folk was printed in 1846, Dostoevsky was hailed because of the great new expertise of Russian literature by probably the most influential critic of his day, Vissarion Belinsky.
Dostoevsky went on to put in writing 12 novels, Four novellas, 16 quick tales, and quite a few different works. His literature explores human psychology within the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of 19th century Russia.
Fyodor Dostoevsky is regarded by critics as one of many best novelists who ever lived. Moreover, he’s thought-about as one of many biggest psychologists within the history of literature.
Literary modernism, existentialism, and varied faculties of psychology, theology, and literary criticism have been profoundly formed by his concepts.
Famous Novels:-
Crime and Punishment (1866)
The Brothers Karamazov (1880)
Demons (1872)
3. Maxim Gorky
Lifespan: March 28, 1868 – June 18, 1936
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, primarily often known as Maxim Gorky, lost his father at the age of 5. His mom remarried and he was raised by his maternal grandparents.
His grandfather handled him harshly and ship him out to earn a residing at the age of 8. Maximovich was continuously overwhelmed by his employers and was typically hungry and sick-clothed.
The bitterness of those early experiences later led him to decide on the phrase gorky (“bitter”) as his pseudonym. Maximovich traveled on foot throughout the Russian Empire for 5 years, which led him to experience life in Russia firsthand. These experiences would later be mirrored in his writings.
The first printed work of Gorky, Essays and Stories (1898), loved a sensational success. The following year his novel Foma Gordeyev established him as a serious novelist.
The most well-known novel of Gorky was Mother (1906), regarded within the Soviet Union as a classic of “socialist realism.” Maxim Gorky was additionally a political activist who opposed the Tsarist regime and took half in revolutionary activities for a time.
As a writer, Gorky was a five-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Many regard him as the best Russian author of the 20th century.
Famous Novels:-
Mother (1906)
Foma Gordeyev (1899)
The Life of a Useless Man (1908)
4. Boris Pasternak
Lifespan: February 10, 1890 – May 30, 1960
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, one of the great russian novelists, was born in an inventive Jewish family in Moscow. His father was an artwork professor and a well-known artist whereas his mom was a live performance pianist.
As his father was a portraitist, a number of main personalities had been frequent visitors at his dwelling together with novelist Leo Tolstoy, poet Rainer Maria Rilke and composer Sergey Rachmaninoff.
After initially planning to be a musician, Pasternak determined that his true calling was literature. With the publication of his assortment of poetry, My Sister Life, he gained a spot as a top graded poet amongst his Russian contemporaries.
Though Pasternak was primarily well-known as a poet in Russia, within the west he gained fame along with his novel Doctor Zhivago. The novel was refused publication in Russia attributable to its rejection of socialist realism.
The manuscript was then smuggled to Milan and printed in 1957. Doctor Zhivago grew to become a prompt sensation all through the non-Communist world. However, although it was a global finest vendor, it was circulated solely in secrecy and translation in his personal land.
It additionally helped Pasternak get the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, an award he refused attributable to stress within the Soviet Union. His descendants accepted the prize in 1988 and since 2003, Doctor Zhivago has been a part of the primary Russian college curriculum.
Famous Novels:-
Doctor Zhivago (1957)
5. Vladimir Nabokov
Lifespan: April 22, 1899 – July 2, 1977
Also recognized by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, one of the great russian novelists, was born in a rich family in Russian the Aristocracy. After the Russian Revolution, his family was pressured to flee from Saint Petersburg.
While in England, Nabokov enrolled in Trinity College of the University of Cambridge. His family moved to Berlin in 1920 and he joined them two years later after finishing his research at Cambridge.
In Berlin, Nabokov grew to become a considerably acknowledged author. However, he needed to help himself by instructing languages and giving tennis and boxing classes.
In May 1940, the Nabokovs fled the advancing German troops and settled in Manhattan, United States. Vladimir wrote Lolita whereas touring within the western United States. Lolita rapidly attained a traditional standing and was tailored into a movie by Stanley Kubrick in 1962.
After the great financial success of Lolita, Nabokov returned to Europe and devoted himself to writing. It is to be famous that before Lolita, no e-book he wrote in Russian or English produced more than a couple of hundred {dollars}.
Apart from Lolita, his 1962 novel Pale Fire is thought to be among the finest works of the 20th century. Both these novels rank within the Modern Library 100 Best Novels checklist with Lolita occupying the 4th and Pale Fire the 53rd spot.
Famous Novels:-
Lolita (1955)
Pale Fire (1962)
Pnin (1957)
6. Mikhail Bulgakov
Lifespan: May 15, 1891 – March 10, 1940
Son of a priest, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, one of the great russian novelists, graduated from the Medical Department of Kyiv University in 1916. However, after a quick interval, he gave up his profession in medication to pursue writing.
A mix of realism and humor, the literary works of Bulgakov grew to become in style. However, the authorities discovered them unacceptably attributable to their criticism of Soviet tradition and conventions.
Bulgakov needed to face this subject for a lot of his life and several other of his works had been banned by the Russian authorities.
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was an admirer of Bulgakov and he went on to say {that a} author of his high quality was above “party words” like “left” and “right”. It was Stalin’s favor that protected Bulgakov from arrests and execution. Nonetheless, he couldn’t get a lot of his writing printed.
The Master and Margarita, printed posthumously, is probably the most well-known novel of Bulgakov and it’s thought to be one of many masterpieces of the 20th century. Bulgakov continues to get pleasure from reputation and his work is praised for its humor and penetrating satire.
Famous Novels:-
The Master and Margarita (1966)
Heart of a Dog (1968)
The White Guard (1925)
7. Alexander Pushkin
Lifespan: June 6, 1799 – February 10, 1837
Born in Russian the Aristocracy, Pushkin, one of the great russian novelists, printed his first poem when he was 15 and by the point, he graduated his expertise was already widely known inside the Russian literary scene. Due to his controversial works just like the poem “Ode to Liberty”, he was exiled by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
Upon meeting with Tsar Nicholas I, Pushkin was capable of getting hold of his launch from exile however he was stored underneath surveillance and the tsar retained strict control of every little thing Pushkin printed. Pushkin married Natalia Goncharova, one of the talked-about beauties of Moscow.
Rumors of an affair between his spouse and French navy officer Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d’Anthès led to a duel between the 2 through which Pushkin was fatally wounded on the age of simply 37.
Alexander Pushkin is extensively thought to be the best Russian poet and the founding father of modern Russian literature. As a novelist, he wrote a number of great works probably the most well-known of which is his novel in verse, Eugene Onegin.
Famous Novels:-
Eugene Onegin (1833)
The Captain’s Daughter (1436)
Dubrovsky (1841)
8. Ivan Turgenev
Lifespan: November 9, 1818 – September 3, 1883
Born in Russian aristocracy, Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, one of the great russian novelists, grew to become fluent in French, German, and English at a younger age. After learning at the University of Moscow and the University of Saint Petersburg, he studied at the University of Berlin from 1838 to 1841.
Impressed with German society, he believed that Russia would enhance if it included concepts from the Age of Enlightenment. As an author, Turgenev first got here to prominence along with his assortment of quick tales titled A Sportsman’s Sketches. Fathers and Sons, his most well-known and enduring novel, was printed in 1862.
Focusing on the connection between the older technology and the youth, it went on to develop into one of the acclaimed Russian novels of the 19th century.
Ivan Turgenev was the first Russian author to be extensively celebrated within the West and as such, he performed a key function in popularizing Russian literature exterior his nation.
However, he was hated by the radicals in addition to Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky for his devoted Westernism. The work of Turgenev is distinguished from his more well-known contemporaries by its refined lack of hyperbole and its steadiness.
Famous Novels:-
Fathers and Sons (1862)
Rudin (1856)
On the Eve (1860)
9. Nikolai Gogol
Lifespan: April 1, 1809 – March 4, 1852
A member of the petty gentry, Nikolai Gogol spent the first nineteen years of his life in Ukraine, which was then a part of the Russian Empire. At the age of 22, his assortment of quick tales, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, was printed.
His writing captivated the Russian literary world with his real folks’ taste and liveliness alongside his sense of the macabre, one of the great russian novelists.
Though not his first, the storied assortment was his breakthrough work. It was a direct success making Gogol well-known in a single day. The most well-known work of Gogol, Dead Souls, was printed in 1842.
The novel is extensively thought to be an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. Although Gogol meant it to be a part of a trilogy, he suffered a creative decline in his later years and couldn’t end its second half to his satisfaction.
Gogol had a singular fashion of writing which has been in comparison with the “ostranenie” approach, which makes people view widespread issues in a weird and unfamiliar method to know them deeply.
Nikolai Gogol had an enormous effect on Russian and world literature, which has been acknowledged by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Franz Kafka, amongst others.
Famous Novels:-
Dead Souls (1842)
Taras Bulba (1835)
10. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Lifespan: December 11, 1918 – August 3, 2008
Born right into a family of Cossack intellectuals, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn lost his father before he was born and was thus primarily raised by his mom and his aunt. Solzhenitsyn studied arithmetic and physics at Rostov State University.
At the identical time, he took correspondence programs in literature at Moscow State University. He fought through the Second World War however throughout his service he started doubting the ethical foundations of the Soviet regime. In a letter to a buddy, he criticized the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
This led to his being arrested in 1945 and he needed to spend eight years in prisons and labor camps. Solzhenitsyn grew to become an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and Communism. This led to his shedding his Soviet citizenship in 1974.
He moved along with his family to the United States in 1976, the place he continued to put in writing. Shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, his citizenship was restored. He returned to Russia in 1994 and stayed there until his demise in 2008.
The most well-known work of Solzhenitsyn is The Gulag Archipelago, which “amounted to a head-on challenge to the Soviet state”. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 and he stays among the finest recognized Russian novelists. Learn more about Jean-Michel-Basquiat-facts.
Famous Novels:-
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)
Cancer Ward (1968)
In the First Circle (1968)
More Interesting Articles
- 28 Letesenbet Gidey Interesting Profile, Biography Facts
- 26 Louise Gluck Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know
- Muhammed Ali Ansary – M A Ansary Montu Contributions & Facts
- 28 Florence Nightingale Facts – How She Changed the World
- 24 Interesting Facts about Malcolm X – How He Uplifted Himself
- 26 Laura Ingalls Wilder Facts – How She Faced Challenges
- 31 Interesting Facts about Stephen King – Secrets of Success
- 30 Fun Facts about Mother Teresa – What Did She Say before Died
- 24 Jean Michel Basquiat Facts – Why He Died So Young
- 27 Interesting Facts about Elon Musk – Secrets of Success
- 50 Joe Biden Fun Facts – The 46th US President
- 23 Surprising Catherine the Great Facts – Rise and Fall
- 48 Interesting Facts About Leonardo da Vinci
russian novelists
russian novelists famous
russian novelist dostoevsky
19th century russian novelists
russian born novelist
nabokov russian novels
