5 JUN 2024 · Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born on October 30th, 1821 in Moscow, Russia. His father Mikhail Dostoevsky was a retired military surgeon who managed an estate in Tula province. His mother María Fiódorovna Necháyeva was the second wife of Mikhail. Fyodor had seven siblings although only three, including himself, survived into adulthood. As a child, Fyodor was witness to many horrific experiences on his father's estate such as serfs being punished and abused which may have contributed to his later beliefs on social reform and interest in human suffering. When Fyodor was 15 years old, both his mother and father died within a three year span. This left Fyodor and his siblings as orphans being cared for by a distant relative. Fyodor was sent to study at the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute in St.Petersburg. While attending school, he became obsessed with literature and would later pursue a career in writing. His earliest literary influences included Shakespeare, Schiller, Pushkin, and Hoffmann. Dostoevsky graduated as a military engineer but decided to focus on writing instead of that career field. His first published work was a Russian translation of Honoré de Balzac's novel "Eugenie Grandet" in 1844. That same year he resigned from the army to fully devote himself to being a writer. He completed his first novella "Poor Folk" in 1845 which was critically praised by many including renowned critic Vissarion Belinsky who declared Dostoevsky as the next big name in Russian literature after the death of Nikolai Gogol. However, Dostoevsky's next story "The Double" was poorly received and he struggled to gain acceptance in literary circles once again. Around this time, Dostoevsky began regularly attending meetings of the "Petrashevsky Circle", a group focused on banned political and literary topics. In 1849, Dostoevsky and some other group members were arrested for subversion, interrogated for months, and then condemned to death by firing squad. At the very last moment as the orders were being given, the execution was stopped and the group learned this was only a cruel trick orchestrated by Tsar Nicholas I. Instead their death sentences were commuted to four years of prison labor in Siberia followed by compulsory military service. This traumatic mock execution followed by imprisonment was a pivotal point in Dostoevsky's life. His experiences shaped his conservative political and social views going forward as well as providing inspiration for many of his literary characters and situations focused on murder, punishment, and seeking redemption. While imprisoned in an Omsk stockade in Siberia known for its horrific conditions, Dostoevsky faced abuse from guards, near starvation at times, physical ailments, and mental anguish. However, he maintained focus through reading the Bible, classic literature, and Russian history. He would utilize this harrowing and lonely experience in many of his acclaimed novels such as "Crime and Punishment", "The House of the Dead", and "The Brothers Karamazov". By 1854, Dostoevsky had completed his prison sentence and compulsory military service. Rather than returning to European Russia, he remained in Siberia and married a widow named María Dmítrievna Isáyeva who he had become acquainted with over the past few years. She helped dictate his letters and other writings while his vision was impaired from illness. His first post-prison work published was the memoir "Notes from the House of the Dead" about his Siberian imprisonment. In 1859, Dostoevsky returned to St.Petersburg with his wife and stepson. There he founded two magazines which published serialized novels and his own work including popular story "The Insulted and Injured". The magazines struggled financially though and were forced to fold. In 1862, Dostoevsky’s wife María died from tuberculosis which devastated him emotionally. The following year his brother Mikhail died causing more heartbreak. During the mid 1860s, Dostoevsky had to focus most of his time and energy on gambling to earn enough income to ward off creditors and care for his family members which was a constant source of stress. Despite these obligations and losses, Dostoevsky published important novels “Notes from Underground” in 1864 and “Crime and Punishment” in 1866. The latter would become one of his most renowned works worldwide. The psychological crime story of Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor former student in St.Petersburg who kills a pawnbroker, became a sensation. The profound and complex nature of the characters, relationships, moral dilemmas, mental anguish, and search for redemption resonated with readers. The financial success of “Crime and Punishment” provided relief to Dostoevsky who remained burdened by debts and the deaths of more family members including his stepson and brother over the next few years. In 1867, Dostoevsky married for the second time to a stenographer named Anna Grigóryevna Snítkina who had helped him on recent writing projects. She would be a source of love and support as well as serve as his secretary, business manager, researcher, and nurse at times over the rest of his life. Their marriage also marked a turning point towards reduced stress and wandering for Dostoevsky who finally had a stable home life again. He and Anna had four children together although their son Alexey died at just three years old which was heartbreaking for the family. Over the next decade, Dostoevsky produced some of his most acclaimed novels solidifying his status as one of Russia’s greatest writers. First was “The Idiot” in 1869, focused on a Christ-like epileptic figure named Prince Myshkin and human morality. Next was “Demons” in 1871, influenced by a political murder Dostoevsky observed and reflecting on humanity’s flaws and aggressions. And then “The House of the Dead” in 1862, recounting his harrowing Siberian prison experience through an autobiographical lens. Dostoevsky’s crowning life work was his final novel “The Brothers Karamazov”, published in serial installments over 1879-1880. The profound literary masterpiece focuses on a Russian family of a widowed father and his three sons along with an illegitimate fourth son. Their complex relationships, clashing personalities and beliefs, moral struggles, and search for meaning in a world with human suffering and a supposedly loving God have connected with generations of readers. Themes of faith, doubt, free will, justice, family, love, and redemption reached their peak in this monumental novel which is considered one of the greatest literary achievements of all time. In his final years, Dostoevsky traveled across Europe mainly for research, gambling, and escaping creditors as he worked furiously on “The Brothers Karamazov” and other projects. By 1880, he had become quite famous in his home country for his penetrating psychological works. Despite battles with health problems and debt, he and Anna enjoyed attending operas and social gatherings among St.Petersburg’s literary circles in his free time. On January 28th, 1881, Dostoevsky attended a literary reading at the palace of nobility where he received multiple standing ovations from adoring fans. A month later on February 9th, he died suddenly from a lung hemorrhage associated with his emphysema at the age of 59. His death was deeply mourned across Russia for the loss of a brilliant literary mind. The funeral procession stretched for miles through St.Petersburg where he was laid to rest. Dostoevsky left behind an incredible literary legacy including many novels, novellas, memoirs, pamphlets, books, and other writings that had a profound impact on global literature, philosophy, psychology, religious thought, politics, and more fields. Through layered characters facing moral dilemmas or psychologically extreme states, he explored the deepest realms of human nature and existence with nuance and wisdom. Over a century after his death, millions of readers across the world continue to find meaning and inspiration in his complex stories that probe humanity’s purpose, morality, suffering, search for truth, free will, and relationship with God.