Nikolai Leskov

Nikolai Leskov
Portrait of Leskov by Valentin Serov, 1894
Portrait of Leskov by Valentin Serov, 1894
BornNikolai Semyonovich Leskov
(1831-02-16)16 February 1831
Gorokhovo, Oryol Gubernia, Russian Empire
Died5 March 1895(1895-03-05) (aged 64)
St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Pen nameM. Stebnitsky
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, skaz writer, journalist, playwright
LanguageRussian
NationalityRussian
Period1862–95
Literary movementRealism
Notable worksLady Macbeth of Mtsensk
The Cathedral Folk
The Enchanted Wanderer
"The Steel Flea"
SpouseOlga Vasilievna Smirnova (1831–1909)
PartnerEkaterina Bubnova (née Savitskaya)
ChildrenVera Leskova
Vera Bubnova-Leskova (adopted), Andrey
Varya Dolina (aka Varya Cook, adopted)
Signature

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; 16 February [O.S. 4 February] 1831 – 5 March [O.S. 21 February] 1895) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is credited with creating a comprehensive picture of contemporary Russian society using mostly short literary forms.[1] His major works include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1865) (which was later made into an opera by Shostakovich), The Cathedral Folk (1872), The Enchanted Wanderer (1873), and "The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea" (1881).[2]

Leskov received his formal education at the Oryol Lyceum. In 1847 Leskov joined the Oryol criminal court office, later transferring to Kiev, where he worked as a clerk, attended university lectures, mixed with local people, and took part in various student circles. In 1857 Leskov quit his job as a clerk and went to work for the private trading company Scott & Wilkins owned by Alexander Scott, his aunt's Scottish husband.

His literary career began in the early 1860s with the publication of his short story The Extinguished Flame (1862), and his novellas Musk-Ox (May 1863) and The Life of a Peasant Woman (September, 1863). His first novel No Way Out was published under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky in 1864. From the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s Leskov published a wide range of works, including journalism, sketches, short stories, and novels. Leskov's major works, many of which continue to be published in modern versions, were written during this time. A number of his later works were banned because of their satirical treatment of the Russian Orthodox Church and its functionaries. Leskov died on 5 March 1895, aged 64, and was interred in the Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg, in the section reserved for literary figures.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference viduyetskaya was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ D. S. Mirsky; Francis James Whitfield (1999). Leskov. A history of Russian literature from its beginnings to 1900. ISBN 9780810116795. Retrieved 10 October 2011.