Nikolay Dobrolyubov

Nikolay Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov ( rus, Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Добролю́бов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ dəbrɐˈlʲubəf, a=Nikolay Alyeksandrovich Dobrolyubov.ru.vorb.oga; 5 February O._S._24_January.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 24 January">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 24 January1836 – 29 November [O. S. 17 November] 1861) was a Russian poet, literary critic, journalist, and prominent figure of the Russian revolutionary movement. He was a literary hero to both Karl Marx and Lenin.

Life

Dobrolyubov was born in Nizhny Novgorod where his father was a poor priest.

He was educated at a clerical primary school, then at a seminary from 1848 to 1853. He was considered a prodigy by his teachers in the seminary, and at home he spent most of his time in his father's library, reading books on science and art. By the age of thirteen, he was writing poetry and translating verses from Roman poets such as Horace. In 1853 he went to Saint Petersburg and entered the University. Following the deaths of both of his parents, in 1854, he assumed responsibility for his brothers and sisters. He worked as a tutor and translator in order to support his family and continue his studies. His heavy workload and the stress of his position had a negative effect on his health.Russian Literature, Peter Kropotkin, McClure Phillips, NY, 1905.

During his years at the University, he organized an underground democratic circle, issued a manuscript newspaper, and led the student's struggle against the reactionary University administration. His poems ''On the 50th Birthday of N. I. Grech'' (1854), and ''Ode on the Death of Nicholas I'' (1855), copies of which were distributed outside the University, showed his hostile attitude toward the autocracy.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc.

In 1856 he met the influential critic Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and the publisher Nikolay Nekrasov. He soon began publishing his works in Nekrasov's popular journal ''Sovremennik''. In 1857, after his graduation from the University, he joined the staff of ''Sovremennik'' as head of the critical department. Over the next four years, he produced several volumes of important critical essays. One of his best-known works was his essay ''What is Oblomovism?'', based on his analysis of the novel ''Oblomov'' by Ivan Goncharov.Anthology of Russian Literature, Part 2, Leo Weiner, G.P. Putnam's Sons, NY, 1903.

In May 1860, at the insistence of friends, he went abroad in an effort to treat incipient tuberculosis, which had been exacerbated by overwork. He lived in Germany, Switzerland, France, and for more than six months in Italy, where the national liberation movement, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, was taking place. The situation in Italy provided him with material for a series of articles.

He returned to Russia in July 1861. He died in November 1861, at the age of twenty-five, from acute tuberculosis. He was buried next to Vissarion Belinsky at Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

English translations

*''What is Oblomovism?'', from ''Anthology of Russian Literature'', Part 2, Page 272, Leo Weiner, G.P. Putnam's Sons, NY, 1903
from Archive.org
*
Selected Philosophical Essays
', Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1956.
*''Belinsky, Chernyshevsky & Dobrolyubov: Selected Criticism'', Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1976.

References

External links

*A poem by Dobrolyubov
Dobrolyubov Memorial Museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrolyubov, Nikolay
1836 births
1861 deaths
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
19th-century journalists from the Russian Empire
19th-century poets
19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire
Literary critics from the Russian Empire
Male writers from the Russian Empire
People from Nizhegorodsky Uyezd
Writers from Nizhny Novgorod
Russian male poets
Russian nihilists
Russian non-fiction writers
Russian male journalists
Tuberculosis deaths in Russia