Turgenev I.S. (1818-1883), writer

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TURGENEV Ivan Sergeevich (1818-1883), writer, associate of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1860). In 1834 he transferred from the University of Moscow to the Philological Department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Petersburg University (graduated from it in 1837). He came to St. Petersburg occasionally; in 1843 he spent some time serving at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 1852 he was put into prison "at the Second Admiralteyskaya Chast" for his publishing a obituary entitled Letter from St. Petersburg on the death of N.V. Gogol. The works of Turgenev were rarely set in St. Petersburg; among the exceptions his plays The Poor Gentleman (subtitled Extracts from the Life of a Young Noble in St. Petersburg, 1846) and The Family Charge (1857), some chapters of Virgin Soil novel etc. can be mentioned. However, regular visits to the capital were essential for Turgenev, who was acquainted with all educated Russia; the same way they played a significant part in the cultural life of St. Petersburg. In the 1840-70s Turgenev took an active part in the work of V.G. Belinsky's circle, contributed to the Sovremennik journal which he changed for the Vestnik Evropy journal in the last years of his life, and participated in the foundation and work of the Literary Fund (its trustee from 1859). The production of his comedy A Month in the Country put on the stage of Alexandrinsky Theatre in 1879 was the beginning of his popularity as a playwright. When he came to St. Petersburg, he usually stayed in the centre, not far from Nevsky Prospect. Altogether, 17 of his St. Petersburg addresses are known; there is a memorial plaque on the house at 13 Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street where Turgenev lived in 1858-60. He died at Bougival, near Paris. He was buried at Literatorskie Mostki. His sumptuous funeral became a city wide event. In 1923 his name was attached to the former Pokrovskaya Square. The monument to Turgenev was placed on Manezhnaya Square in 2001 (sculptors Ya. Neiman and V. Sveshnikov, architect G.Chelbogashev).

References: Бялый Г. А. Тургенев в Петербурге. Л., 1970.

A. B. Muratov. Belinsky Vissarion Grigorievich
Chelbogashev Gennady Karlovich
Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich
Neiman Yan Yanovich
Sveshnikov Valentin Dmitrievich
Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich
Bolshaya Konyushennaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 13
Turgeneva Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Бялый Г. А. Тургенев в Петербурге. Л., 1970 Russian Academy of Sciences
Sovremennik (Contemporary), journal
Vestnik Evropy (The Herald of Europe), 1866-1918
Literary Fund
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Literatorskie (Literary) Mostki, the museum-necropolis
1883