Today, Sergei took us on a Dostoevsky tour. We saw a lot of places mentioned in his books, as well as some important places in Dostoevsky’s life. And here’s a little Dostoevsky tidbit from his personal life:
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| In this House, in 1867, lived Fyodor Mihaelovich Dostoevsky |
Dostoevsky was the second of seven children, so when he grew older, he renounced his claim to the estate and had to make his own living. According to our guide, Dostoevsky’s faith was very important to him, so after Dostoevsky’s brother died, he chose to take on all the debt and take care of his brother’s family. However, he was also struggling with a gambling addiction, so this, coupled with all the new dependants, put Dostoevsky in a tough financial position. As a result, he made a deal with a publisher. The deal was that Dostoevsky had to publish a book in about a month, but if he couldn’t, the publisher would have free and unlimited access to all of Dostoevsky’s future works. In other words, if he didn’t finish in time, he was ruined. He was running out of time (his epilepsy interrupted his work) so someone suggested that he hire someone to write for him. He ended up hiring Anna Grigorevna Snitkina and they finished in time. However, when it came time to turn the manuscript in, the publisher was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, Anna took the manuscript to the police and got a stamp to prove it was finished in time (Russians love those stamps). When the publisher showed up a week later claiming he never received the manuscript, Dostoevsky was able to prove that he had tried finding the publisher, and thus, he was saved from financial ruin. And the best part is, Dostoevsky ended up marrying Anna. What a Russian romance! Saved by a stamp…
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