Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky is a renowned Russian novelist and short-story writer who had a profound influence in the literary world. One of the founding fathers of the philosophical movement (known as existentialism), Dostoevsky's works explored human psychology within the often turbulent political and social realities of 19th century Russia.

Dostoyevsky's best known novels include The Idiot, Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. Influenced by events in his own life (see timeline below), many of these great works focus heavily on notions of suffering and despair. They explore man's sinful soul and show that suffering has a purifying effect upon the individual.

Apart from his gift for understanding human psychology, Dostoevsky was also well known for his use of symbolism. Unlike contemporaries like Tolstoy, whose characters are realistic, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's characters are generally more symbolic of the ideas they represent. For this reason, Dostoyevsky is also cited as one of the forerunners of Literary Symbolism.

Fyodor Dostoevsky Timeline

1821 - Fyodor Dostoevsky was born on the 11th of November
- born to Mikhail, a doctor at the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor and Maria Dostoevsky, daughter of a merchant family
1830 - Dostoevsky has his first epileptic seizure
1837 - mother dies and he enters Military Engineering Academy in St. Petersburg
1839 - father is killed, apparently murdered by his own serfs
1841 - writes his first two dramas Mary Stuart and Boris Godunov (now lost)

in the same year Dostoevsky passes his exams and obtains a commission

1842 - Dostoevsky is promoted to lieutenant
1843 - first work is published: a translation of Balzac's Eugénie Grandet
1844 - resigns his Commission in the army

begins writing (and finishes) Poor Folk

1845 - Poor Folk is published to great critical acclaim

starts work on The Double and Mr. Prokharchin

1846 - The Double: A Petersburg Poem is published

today considered one of Dostoevsky's finest pieces of psychological fiction, it is initially received negatively by literary critics

1847 - starts writing for the St. Petersburg Gazette

while working as a reporter, he also finds time to write The Jealous Husband, The Landlady, and A Christmas Tree Party and a Wedding

1848 - Dostoevsky writes A Weak Heart, The Honest Thief, and White Nights
1849 - Dostoevsky is arrested and imprisoned

a member of the Petrashevsky Circle (a socialist group of thinkers with revolutionary tendencies), he and the other members of the group are taken out to be executed by firing squad
at the last minute, his sentence is commuted to four years hard labour in Siberia, followed by five years military service in exile
writes the children's story A Little Hero while in prison in St. Petersburg

1850 - arrives at the prison in Omsk, Siberia
1854 - released from prison in March

forced to enroll as a private in the Seventh Line Battalion at Semipalatinsk (present day Kazakhstan)
through his friendship with Baron Vrangel, Dostoevsky meets his future wife, Maria Isaeva

1857 - marries widowed Maria Isaeva
1859 - after nearly ten years in exile, Dostoevsky's returns to St. Petersburg

The Village of Stepanchikovo and Uncle's Dream are published

1861 - two works published: The House of the Dead and The Insulted and Injured
1862 - Dostoevsky travels abroad, visiting countries like England and France

In London he meets the father of Russian socialism, Alexander Herzen

1863 - Dostoevsky's magazine Vremya (Time) is banned by authorities

decides to travel abroad once again, where he meets Apollinaria Suslova, the model for the "proud women" found in his future novels

1864 - Dostoevsky's faces a number of misfortunes, writes Notes from Underground

new business venture (journal entitled Epokha) ends in failure
his wife Maria Isaeva dies
brother Mikhail (business partner in failed magazine) dies
heavily in debt and in a desperate state of despair, Dostoevsky writes Notes from Underground

1865 - publishes the first part of The Crocodile under the name A.Y. Poretsky
1866 - Crime and Punishment is published

Dostoevsky also hastily writes The Gambler in order to meet debt obligations (many of which were incurred through his own gambling addiction)

1867 - marries the young Anna Snitkina and moves abroad

he and Anna (who worked as his stenographer while writing The Gambler), move abroad to escape their creditors - they settle in Dresden

1868 - birth and death of infant daughter, writes The Idiot

with Dostoevsky's continued gambling, poor financial state, and death five month old daughter, he and Anna move briefly to Italy where writes The Idiot

1869 - daughter Lyubov is born in Dresden
1870 - homesick Dostoyevsky writes The Possessed and The Eternal Husband
1871 - family returns to Russia, son is born
- Dostoevsky gives up gambling, moves back to St. Petersburg
- In July of the same year, son Fyodor is born
1873 - becomes editor of The Citizen
1874 - resigns from The Citizen and writes A Raw Youth
1875 - second son Aleksey is born
1866 - Dostoevsky launches a monthly journal called A Writer's Diary

composed of short stories, sketches, and articles, A Gentle Creature and The Peasant Marey are published in the journal

1877 - Dostoevsky writes and publishes The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
1880 - The Brothers Karamazov is published in its entirety
1881 - Fyodor Dostoevsky dies on the 9th of February

plagued by epilepsy since a young boy, the cause of death was a burst blood vessel in his lungs, aggravated by an epileptic seizure

Fyodor Dostoevsky Facts

Russian Name: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский

Date of Birth: November 11, 1821

Place of Birth: Moscow, Russian Empire

Date of Death: February 9, 1881

Place of Death: Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

Famous as: Writer, Novelist