Evgenia Tur
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Evgenia Tur (russian: link=no, Евге́ния Тур; 24 August 1815 – 27 March 1892) was a
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
writer, critic, journalist and publisher. Her birth name was Elizaveta Vasilyevna Sukhovo-Kobylina. Her full married name was Countess Elizaveta Vasilyevna Salias De Tournemire. The novelist
Evgeny Salias De Tournemire Count Evgeny Andreyevich Salias de Tournemire (russian: Евгений Андреевич Салиас-де-Турнемир, 25 April 1840 – 18 December 1908) was a Russian writer, best known for his adventure novels based upon various epi ...
was her son. The playwright Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin was her brother. Her sister,
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, was a painter of some note.


Early years

Elizaveta was born in Moscow into a noble family. Her father was Vasily Sukhovo-Kobylin (1782–1873), a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, and Marshal of the Nobility for the Podolsk district, Moscow province. Her mother was Maria Ivanovna Sukhovo-Kobylina, née Shepeleva (1789–1862). Elizaveta received a good education at home. Her teachers were various professors from Moscow University. As a young woman she had a romantic relationship with a man of lower social status named Nikolay Ivanovich Nadezhdin. They wanted to get married but Elizaveta's parents sharply opposed her marriage, seeing Nikolay as being unworthy of their daughter's hand. Elizaveta and Nikolay wanted to get married secretly, but their plan failed. Elizaveta was soon taken abroad by her parents. In 1838, in France, Elizaveta married Count Andrey Salias de Tournemire, a nobleman from a very old French family, dating back to the year 1264. Soon the young countess and her husband returned to Russia and settled in Moscow. In 1846, Andrey was expelled from Russia for participating in a duel. He went alone, virtually abandoning his wife and three children.


Literary career

After the departure of her husband, Elizaveta began to lead an emancipated life. She became interested in literature, and arranged a literary salon that was considered one of the best in Moscow at that time. The salon was frequented by many popular writers and literary figures including
Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
, Alexander Levitov, Vasily Sleptsov,
Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique w ...
,
Konstantin Leontiev Konstantin Nikolayevich Leontiev, monastic name: Clement (russian: Константи́н Никола́евич Лео́нтьев; January 25, 1831 in Kudinovo, Kaluga Governorate – November 24, 1891 in Sergiyev Posad) was a conservative tsa ...
,
Nikolay Ogarev Nikolay Platonovich Ogarev (Ogaryov; ; – ) was a Russian poet, historian and political activist. He was deeply critical of the limitations of the Emancipation reform of 1861 claiming that the serfs were not free but had simply exchanged one f ...
and others. She soon took up the pen herself. Her first work of fiction was published in '' The Contemporary'', under the pen name Evgenia Tur. Her debut was a great success. Her novel was favorably reviewed by
Aleksandr Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original ...
, who welcomed the birth of "a new and original talent". He acknowledged that the novel was well written and that the characters for the most part were skillfully drawn and true to reality, but pointed to the only drawback that he saw- the redundancy of long descriptions and arguments. The following year she published another novel ''The Niece'' (also in ''The Contemporary'') which was greeted enthusiastically by readers and critics. Ivan Turgenev wrote that she had exited great hopes in the literary world and that her talent and abilities were able to withstand rigorous assessment. In the next few years, Elizaveta published many new works, including ''Duty'' and ''Two Sisters'' (1851), ''Vicious Circle'' (1854), ''Old Lady'' (1856), ''At the Turn'' (1857), and ''Flower Girl'' (1859).


Critical and journalistic activities

In 1856, Elizaveta became the head of the fictional department of ''
The Russian Messenger The ''Russian Messenger'' or ''Russian Herald'' (russian: Ру́сский ве́стник ''Russkiy Vestnik'', Pre-reform Russian: Русскій Вѣстникъ ''Russkiy Vestnik'') has been the title of three notable magazines published in ...
''. In this magazine, starting in 1857, she began to publish critical articles and periodicals devoted to the life and work of foreign writers. She worked for the ''Russian Messenger'' for almost 4 years before leaving in 1860 because of controversy with the editor. The critic
Dmitry Pisarev Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarevrussian: Дми́трий Ива́нович Пи́сарев ( – ) was a Russian literary critic and philosopher who was a central figure of Russian nihilism. He is noted as a forerunner of Nietzschean philosophy and ...
, at this time period, stated that the ''Russian Messenger'' "didn't respect the intellectual independence of its employees." In 1861 she established her own journal '' Russian Speech'' (the magazine, however, lasted only 13 months) in which she published several critical articles on such writers as
Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya Nadezhda Dmitryevna Khvoshchinskaya (russian: Надежда Дмитриевна Хвощинская; May 20, 1821Stroganova, E. N. “K 200-letiiu Nadezhdy Dmitrievny Khvoshchinskoi: O date rozhdeniia pisatel’nitsy.” ''Kul’tura i tekst'' ...
and
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
. It was clear to her even at this early date that Dostoyevsky possessed great talent. She also published critical articles in the journals '' Reader's Library'', ''
Notes of the Fatherland ''Otechestvennye Zapiski'' ( rus, Отечественные записки, p=ɐˈtʲetɕɪstvʲɪnːɨjɪ zɐˈpʲiskʲɪ, variously translated as "Annals of the Fatherland", "Patriotic Notes", "Notes of the Fatherland", etc.) was a Russian lite ...
'' and the newspaper ''
Northern Bee ''Northern Bee'' (russian: Северная пчела) was a semi-official Russian political and literary newspaper published in St. Petersburg from 1825 to 1864. It was an unofficial organ of Section Three (the Third Section of His Imperial Maj ...
''. Of literary-historical interest is her critical essay on Ivan Turgenev's novel '' Fathers and Sons'' published in ''Northern Bee''. Although she had been friends with Turgenev, and had celebrated his writing, she responded to ''Fathers and Sons'' with scorn and indignation. It was her view that the young people of Russia were much better and stronger than Turgenev had portrayed them. In her opinion, he had embodied the good exceptions of the old generation in the fathers, and the ugliest exceptions of the young generation in the sons.


Later years

In 1861 Elizaveta's life underwent considerable change. Her son Evgeny was involved in the prevalent student unrest of the time. Elizaveta, albeit of moderate-liberal positions, made no secret of her sympathy for young people. She was also deeply concerned with relations between Poland and Russia, and was strongly influenced by the ideas of Polish Professor Henryk Wyziński (1834 - 1879), who often attended her salon. During this time, she was placed under secret police surveillance. In early 1862 she was forced to leave for France where she lived in Paris for several years. Here she developed close ties to the Polish aristocracy, and became interested in issues of religion, especially Catholicism, which largely determined the evolution of her work. After leaving Russia, she wrote mainly novels and stories for children and youth: ''Catacombs'' (1866), ''Crystal Heart'' (1873), ''The Shalonski Family'' (1879), ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' (1882), ''The Sacred History of the Old Testament'' (1888) and other books are very popular and frequently reprinted in modern Russia. She spent her last years living in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, where she died in March 1892.


English translations

*''The Shalonski Family'', (novel), Remington and Co, London, 1882
from Google Books
*''Antonina'', (novel), Northwestern University Press, 1996.A history of Russian women's writing, 1820-1992 - Page 75 Catriona Kelly - 1994 In her recent comparative analysis of Evgeniya Tur's 'Antonina' and Turgenev's 'The Unhappy Woman' .. .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tur, Evgenia 1815 births 1892 deaths Women writers from the Russian Empire Russian women novelists Russian women short story writers Russian children's writers Russian critics Journalists from the Russian Empire Russian women journalists Russian publishers (people) Writers from Moscow Russian nobility French countesses Russian women children's writers Russian women critics 19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century journalists from the Russian Empire 19th-century novelists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian women writers 19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian short story writers