Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist and philosopher of the human condition

The writer, philosopher, and journalist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky produced novels, short stories, and essays.^[1] Dostoevsky's works, which examine the human condition within the political and spiritual turmoil of 19th-century Russia, have earned him a reputation as one of the foremost novelists in both Russian and global literature.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born

11 November 1821

Birthplace

Moscow, Russia

Died

9 February 1881

Place of death

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Resting place

Tikhvin Cemetery

Occupation

Writer
journalist
military engineer

Education

Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute

Movement

Realism, naturalism

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

His parents introduced him to a wide range of literature, including Russian writers, Gothic fiction, and romantic works.^[2] He joined the Petrashevsky Circle in 1846 and was arrested in 1849 for reading banned works.^[3][4][5] After his release in 1854, he was forced to serve in the Siberian Army Corps.^[6] In 1859 he was released from military service and granted permission to return to European Russia.^[7]

In Moscow, Dr. Mikhail Dostoevsky and Maria Dostoevskaya (née Nechayeva) had Fyodor as their second child.^[8] Growing up on the grounds of the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, a facility located in a lower-class Moscow district, Dostoevsky came into contact with impoverished patients while playing in the hospital gardens.^[8] The novel Poor Folk, finished in May 1845, was a commercial success upon its release.^[9] As punishment, Dostoevsky was sent to a katorga prison camp in Omsk, Siberia, where he spent four years at hard labor.^[10]

What the cited sources add

The Reik 1940 work "The Study on Dostoyevsky" is held by the International Psychoanalytic University Berlin and the University of Michigan.^[11]

References

Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Morson, Gary Saul, "Fyodor Dostoyevsky", 7 November 2024; Burt, "The Literary 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets of All Time", New York, NY : Facts on File, 2009, p. 51; Popova, "The Greatest Books of All Time, as Voted by 125 Famous Authors", The Atlantic, 2012-01-30 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kjetsaa 1989, p. 1–5; Frank 1979, p. 6–22; "Natural School (Натуральная школа)", Brief Literary Encyclopedia in 9 Volumes, 1968; Mochulsky 1967, p. 4; Breger 2008, p. 72 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mochulsky 1967, p. 4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Belinsky, Vissarion (1847). Letter to Gogol. Documents in Russian History, Seton Hall University. Retrieved 27 December 2017. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mochulsky 1967, p. 4; Frank 1987, p. 6–68; Kjetsaa 1989, p. 1–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frank 1988, p. 8–20; Sekirin 1997, p. 59 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sekirin 1997, p. 59; Frank 1987, p. 6–68; Kjetsaa 1989, p. 1–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bloom 2004, p. 9; Breger 2008, p. 72 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sekirin 1997, p. 59; Frank 1979, p. 6–22; Kjetsaa 1989, p. 1–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fyodor Dostoevsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frank 1987, p. 6–68; Kjetsaa 1989, p. 1–5; Sekirin 1997, p. 59 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Reik, Theodor (1940)."The Study on Dostoyevsky." In From Thirty Years with Freud, Farrar & Rinehart, pp. 158–176.. facts only, no text reused. archive.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Fyodor Dostoevsky (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.