Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich, whose stories and novels are known and loved by many today, was born on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel, in an old noble family. Ivan was the second son of Turgenev Varvara Petrovna (nee Lutovinova) and Turgenev Sergey Nikolaevich.
Parents Turgenev
His father was in the service in the Elisavetgrad cavalry regiment. After his marriage, he retired with the rank of colonel. Sergey Nikolaevich belonged to an old noble family. His ancestors are believed to have been Tatars. Ivan Sergeyevich's mother was not as generous as her father, but she excelled him in wealth. Vast lands located in the Oryol province belonged to Varvara Petrovna. Sergei Nikolaevich stood out for his grace of manners and secular sophistication. He had a subtle soul, was beautiful. Motherâs temper was not like that. This woman lost her father early. She had to experience a terrible shock in her adolescence when her stepfather tried to seduce her. Barbara ran away from home. Ivanâs mother, who survived the humiliation and oppression, tried to use the power given to her by law and nature over her sons. This woman was distinguished by her willpower. She despotically loved her children, and with the serfs she was cruel, often punishing them with insignificant wrongdoing.
Case in Bern
In 1822, the Turgenevs went on a trip abroad. In Bern, a Swiss city, Ivan Sergeyevich nearly died. The fact is that the father put the boy on the railing of the fence, which surrounded a large pit with city bears, entertaining the public. Ivan fell off the railing. Sergey Nikolaevich at the last moment grabbed his son by the leg.
Acquaintance with graceful literature
The Turgenevs from a trip abroad returned to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, a maternal estate located ten miles from Mtsensk (Oryol province). Here, Ivan discovered literature: a courtyard man from serf mother read to the boy in an old-fashioned way, chantingly and measuredly, the poem "Rossiada" by Kheraskov. Cheraskov in solemn verses sang the battles for Kazan Tatars and Russians during the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. Many years later, Turgenev in his 1874 novel "Punin and Baburin" endowed one of the heroes of the work with love for Rossiada.
First love
The family of Ivan Sergeevich from the late 1820s to the first half of the 1830s was in Moscow. At the age of 15, Turgenev fell in love for the first time in his life. At this time, the family was at Engel's dacha. The neighbors were Princess Shakhovskaya with her daughter, Princess Catherine, who was 3 years older than Ivan Turgenev. First love seemed to Turgenev captivating, beautiful. He was reverent in front of the girl, was afraid to admit to the sweet and languid feeling that possessed him. However, the end of joys and torments, fears and hopes came suddenly: Ivan Sergeyevich accidentally found out that Catherine was the beloved of his father. Turgenev was in pain for a long time. He will present his love story for a young girl to the hero of the 1860 novel First Love. In this work, Catherine became the prototype of Princess Zinaida Zasekina.
Studying at the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the death of his father
Biography of Ivan Turgenev continues the period of study. Turgenev in September 1834 entered the Moscow University, at the Faculty of Literature. However, he was not happy with his studies at the university. He liked Pogorelsky, a teacher of mathematics, and Dubensky, who taught Russian. Most teachers and courses left the student Turgenev completely indifferent. And some teachers even caused obvious antipathy. This is especially true for Pobedonostsev, who tediously and longly talked about literature and was unable to advance further in his addictions than Lomonosov. After 5 years, Turgenev will continue his studies in Germany. About Moscow University, he will say: "He is full of fools."
Ivan Sergeevich studied in Moscow for only a year. Already in the summer of 1834 he moved to Petersburg. Here, his brother Nikolai was in military service. Ivan Turgenev continued to study at St. Petersburg University. His father died in October of the same year from a kidney stone disease, right in the hands of Ivan. With his wife, he had already lived apart by this time. Ivan Turgenev's father was amorous and quickly lost interest in his wife. Varvara Petrovna did not forgive him for betrayal and, exaggerating her own misfortunes and illnesses, made herself a victim of his heartlessness and irresponsibility.
A deep wound in Turgenevâs soul was left by his fatherâs death. He began to think about life and death, about the meaning of being. Turgenev at that time was attracted by powerful passions, vivid characters, throwing and struggles of the soul, expressed in an unusual, sublime language. He reveled in the poems of V. G. Benediktov and N. V. Kukolnik, the stories of A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Ivan Turgenev wrote in imitation of Byron (the author of Manfred) his dramatic poem called The Wall. After more than 30 years, he will say that this is a âcompletely ridiculous work.â
Composition of poems, republican ideas
Turgenev in the winter of 1834-1835 seriously ill. He had a weakness in his body, he could not eat and sleep. Having recovered, Ivan Sergeyevich has changed spiritually and physically. He became very long, and also lost interest in mathematics, which had attracted him before, and became more and more interested in elegant literature. Turgenev began to compose many verses, but still imitative and weak. At the same time, he became interested in republican ideas. He perceived serfdom in the country as a disgrace and the greatest injustice. In Turgenev, guilt for all the peasants strengthened, because his mother acted cruelly with them. And he vowed to do everything to ensure that in Russia there was no estate of "slaves."
Acquaintance with Pletnev and Pushkin, publication of the first poems
A third year student Turgenev met with P. A. Pletnev, a professor of Russian literature. This is a literary critic, poet, friend of A. S. Pushkin, to whom the novel "Eugene Onegin" is dedicated. At the beginning of 1837, at a literary evening with him, Ivan Sergeyevich also encountered Pushkin himself.
In 1838, in the journal Sovremennik (first and fourth issues), two of Turgenev's poems were published: Towards Venus of the Meditsina and Evening. Ivan Sergeevich and after that published poetry. The first samples of the pen that were printed did not bring him fame.
Continuing studies in Germany
In 1837, Turgenev graduated from St. Petersburg University (verbal department). He was not satisfied with his education, feeling the gaps in his knowledge. The standard of that time was considered German universities. And in the spring of 1838, Ivan Sergeyevich went to this country. He decided to graduate from the University of Berlin, where Hegel's philosophy was taught.
Abroad, Ivan Sergeyevich made friends with the thinker and poet N. V. Stankevich, and made friends with M. A. Bakunin, who later became a famous revolutionary. He conducted conversations on historical and philosophical topics with T. N. Granovsky, the future illustrious historian. Ivan Sergeevich became a staunch Westerner. Russia, in his opinion, should take an example from Europe, getting rid of uncivilization, laziness, ignorance.
Public service
Turgenev, returning to Russia in 1841, wanted to teach philosophy. However, his plans were not destined to materialize: the department, which he wanted to enter, was not restored. Ivan Sergeevich in June 1843 was enlisted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the service. At that time, the question of the liberation of the peasants was studied, so Turgenev was enthusiastic about the service. However, Ivan Sergeyevich did not serve long in the ministry: he quickly became disappointed in the usefulness of his work. He became burdened by the need to comply with all the instructions of the authorities. In April 1845, Ivan Sergeyevich resigned and was never in the public service ever again.
Turgenev becomes famous
Turgenev in the 1840s began to play the role of a secular lion in society: always well-groomed, neat, with the aristocratic manners. He wanted success and attention.
In April 1843, the poem "Parasha" by I. Turgenev was published. Its plot is the touching love of the landowner's daughter for a neighbor on the estate. The work is a kind of ironic echo of "Eugene Onegin." However, unlike Pushkin, in Turgenev's poem, everything ends happily with the marriage of heroes. Nevertheless, happiness is deceiving, doubtful - it is simply ordinary well-being.
The work was highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky, the most influential and famous critic of that time. Turgenev met with Druzhinin, Panaev, Nekrasov. Following Parasha, Ivan Sergeyevich wrote the following poems: in 1844, âConversation,â in 1845, âAndreiâ and âLandownerâ. Also, Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich created short stories and novels (in 1844 - âAndrei Kolosovâ, in 1846 - âThree portraitsâ and âBreterâ, in 1847 - âPetushkovâ). In addition, Turgenev wrote the comedy "Lack of Money" in 1846, and the drama "Carelessness" in 1843. He followed the principles of the ânatural schoolâ of writers, to which belonged Grigorovich, Nekrasov, Herzen, Goncharov. Writers belonging to this direction depicted "non-poetic" objects: everyday life of people, life, and primary attention was paid to the influence of circumstances and the environment on the fate and character of a person.
"Notes of the hunter"
In 1847, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev published the essay "The Pole and Kalinych", created under the impression of hunting trips in 1846 through the fields and forests of the Tula, Kaluga and Oryol provinces. Two heroes in it - Khor and Kalinych - are presented not just as Russian peasants. These are individuals with their own difficult inner world. On the pages of this work, as well as other essays by Ivan Sergeyevich, published by the book "Notes of the Hunter" in 1852, the peasants have their own voice, which differs from the manner of the narrator. The author recreated the manners and life of landlord and peasant Russia. His book was rated as a protest against serfdom. Society accepted her with enthusiasm.
Relationship with Pauline Viardot, the death of her mother
In October 1843, a young opera singer from France, Polina Viardot, arrived in St. Petersburg with a tour. She was greeted with enthusiasm. Ivan Turgenev was also delighted with her talent. He was captivated by this woman for his whole life. Ivan Sergeyevich followed her and her family to France (Viardot was married), accompanied Pauline on a tour of Europe. His life was now divided between France and Russia. Love of Ivan Turgenev passed the test of time - Ivan Sergeyevich was waiting for the first kiss for two years. And only in June 1849, Pauline became his lover.
Turgenev's mother was categorically against this connection. She refused to give him the funds received from income from estates. Their death was reconciled: Turgenev's mother was dying heavily, suffocating. She died in 1850 on November 16 in Moscow. Ivan was too late notified of her illness and did not have time to say goodbye to her.
Arrest and exile
In 1852, N.V. Gogol died. I.S. Turgenev wrote an obituary on this occasion. There were no reprehensible thoughts in him. However, it was not customary in the press to recall the duel that led to the death of Pushkin, and also to recall the death of Lermontov. On April 16 of the same year, Ivan Sergeevich was put under arrest for a month. Then he was exiled to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, not allowing him to leave the Oryol province. At the request of the exiled, after 1.5 years he was allowed to leave Spassky, but only in 1856 they were granted the right to go abroad.
New works
In the years of exile, Ivan Turgenev wrote new works. His books were becoming increasingly popular. In 1852, Ivan Sergeevich created the novel "The Inn". In the same year, Ivan Turgenev wrote "Mumu", one of his most famous works. In the period from the late 1840s to the mid-1850s, he created other novels: in 1850 - The Diary of an Extra Man, in 1853 - Two Friends, in 1854 - Correspondence and Lull , in 1856 - "Jacob Pasynkova". Their heroes are naive and exalted idealists who fail in their attempts to benefit society or find happiness in their personal lives. Criticism called them "superfluous people." Thus, the creator of a new type of hero was Ivan Turgenev. His books were interesting for their novelty and relevance of the problems.
Rudin
The fame acquired by the middle of the 1850s by Ivan Sergeyevich was strengthened by the novel "Rudin". The author wrote it in 1855 in seven weeks. Turgenev in his first novel made an attempt to recreate the type of ideologist and thinker, modern man. The main character is an âextra personâ who is depicted both in weakness and attractiveness at the same time. The writer, creating it, endowed his hero with the features of Bakunin.
Noble Nest and New Novels
In 1858, Turgenevâs second novel, The Noble Nest, appeared. His themes are the history of an old noble family; love of a nobleman, by the will of circumstances hopeless. Poetry of love, full of grace and subtlety, careful depiction of the experiences of the characters, the inspiration of nature - these are the distinctive features of Turgenev's style, perhaps most clearly expressed in the "Noble Nest". They are also characteristic of some stories, such as Faust in 1856, A Trip to Polesie (creation years 1853-1857), Asya and First Love (both works were written in 1860). The "Noble Nest" was welcomed. He was praised by many critics, in particular Annenkov, Pisarev, Grigoriev. However, Turgenevâs next novel was awaiting a completely different fate.
"The day before"
In 1860, Ivan Turgenev published the novel "The Eve". A summary of it is as follows. In the center of the work is Elena Stakhova. This heroine is a brave, decisive, faithfully loving girl. She fell in love with the revolutionary Insarov, a Bulgarian, who devoted his life to the liberation of his homeland from the power of the Turks. The history of their relationship ends, as usual with Ivan Sergeyevich, tragically. The revolutionary dies, and Elena, who becomes his wife, decides to continue the work of the deceased spouse. This is the plot of the new novel created by Ivan Turgenev. A summary of it, of course, we have described only in general terms.
Divergent assessments provoked this novel. Dobrolyubov, for example, in an instructive tone in his article reprimanded the author where he is wrong. Ivan Sergeevich was furious. Radical-democratic publications published texts with scandalous and malicious insinuations about the details of Turgenevâs personal life. The writer broke his relationship with Sovremennik, where he was published for many years. The young generation has ceased to see an idol in Ivan Sergeevich.
"Fathers and Sons"
In the period from 1860 to 1861, Ivan Turgenev wrote "Fathers and Sons", his new novel. It was published in the Russian Herald in 1862. Most readers and critics did not appreciate it.
âEnoughâ
In 1862-1864 created a miniature story "Enough" (published in 1864). She is imbued with the motives of disappointment in the values ââof life, including art and love, so dear to Turgenev. In the face of implacable and blind death, everything loses its meaning.
"Smoke"
Written in 1865-1867 the novel "Smoke" is also imbued with a gloomy mood. The work was published in 1867. In it, the author tried to recreate the picture of modern Russian society, the dominant ideological mood in it.
Nov
Turgenev's last novel appeared in the mid-1870s. In 1877, it was printed. Turgenev in it introduced the Narodnik revolutionaries who are trying to convey their ideas to the peasants. He evaluated their actions as a sacrificial feat. However, this is a feat of the doomed.
The last years of the life of I. S. Turgenev
Since the mid-1860s, Turgenev almost always lived abroad, only visiting in his homeland on short visits. He built himself a house in Baden-Baden, near the house of the Viardot family. In 1870, after the Franco-Prussian war, Polina and Ivan Sergeyevich left the city and settled in France.
In 1882, Turgenev fell ill with spinal cancer. The last months of his life were difficult, and death was difficult. The life of Ivan Turgenev ended on August 22, 1883. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, near the grave of Belinsky.
Ivan Turgenev, whose stories, novels and novels are included in the school curriculum and are known to many, is one of the greatest Russian writers of the 19th century.