Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Shchedrin by Ivan Kramskoi | |
| Born | 27 January 1826 village Spas-Ugol, Kalyazin uyezd, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 10 May 1889 (aged 63) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Pen name | N. Shchedrin, Nikolai Shchedrin |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist, short story writer, playwright, civil administrator, magazine editor |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Period | 1847—1889 |
| Literary movement | Realism, natural school |
| Notable works | The History of a Town The Golovlyov Family Fables |
| Spouse | Elizaveta Boltova |
| Relatives | Saltykov family |
| Signature | |
 | |
Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin (Russian: Михаи́л Евгра́фович Салтыко́в-Щедри́н, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil jɪvˈɡrafəvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof ɕːɪˈdrʲin]; 27 January [O.S. 15 January] 1826 – 10 May [O.S. 28 April] 1889), born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during his lifetime by the pen name Nikolai Shchedrin (Russian: Николай Щедрин), was a major Russian writer and satirist of the 19th century. He spent most of his life working as a civil servant in various capacities. After the death of poet Nikolay Nekrasov, he acted as editor of a Russian literary magazine Otechestvenniye Zapiski until the Tsarist government banned it in 1884. In his works Saltykov mastered both stark realism and satirical grotesque merged with fantasy. His most famous works, the family chronicle novel The Golovlyov Family (1880) and the novel The History of a Town (1870), also translated as Foolsburg, became important works of 19th-century fiction, and Saltykov is regarded as a major figure of Russian literary Realism.