Russia and the whole world are celebrating these days the 200th anniversary of the birth of the popular writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. He is the creator of world hits, such as “Crime and Punishment”, “The Idiot”, “Karamazov Brothers”. Countless readings, plays, exhibitions, scientific conferences and new literary translations in Dostoevsky’s homeland, Russia. “Dostoevsky is still needed today for modern man to return to his true self,” says literary scholar Pavel Fokin on the occasion of the great writer’s 200th birthday today.
In his works, Dostoevsky listened to human abysses. He was born on November 11, 1821 in Moscow as the son of a doctor from a family of fallen aristocrats. He experienced illness, gambling addiction, fear of death and financial hardship. At a young age he was sentenced to death for his relations with the Tsar’s leftist opponents.
The shock caused epilepsy, the sentence was commuted to exile in Siberia. Like almost everyone else, Dostoevsky found words to describe extreme mental states. Psychologists believe that the assessments and descriptions of his characters were great.
Characters left in the history of literature
Famous are the characters he created, such as the student Raskolnikov who was eaten by remorse after the murder of an old woman in Crime and Punishment or the naive Prince Miskin in Idiot.
Dostoevsky represented the new in Russia. He traveled to the West, experienced upheavals in Europe, and stayed in Germany, Berlin, Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden. He spent most of his time in Dresden. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also spent some time in Dresden, inaugurated a monument to Dostoevsky in 2006.
Dostoevsky lived for two years in “Florence of the Elbe”, where Liuba’s daughter was born. Dostoevsky has always remained a conservative Russian Orthodox despite his Western influences. According to Russian expert Pavel Fokin, the Russian writer was often concerned with Russia’s relations with the West.
Up to date even today
Dostoevsky’s issues are still very relevant, even in times like the pandemic, “since humanity is in mortal danger.”
According to many literary critics, Dostoevsky τα’s novels are among the best in world literature.
The author, however, was not appreciated in the atheistic Soviet Union for a long time. Literary critics did not appreciate his black humor. Many experts today believe, however, that Dostoevsky was more influential in world literature than his contemporaries Leon Tolstoy (“War and Peace”) and Ivan Turgenev (“Fathers and Sons”).
A museum is being inaugurated in Moscow today, in which Dostoevsky spent his childhood, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is an honorary guest. The most visited Dostoevsky Museum is his last home in St. Petersburg, where the Russian author wrote his greatest works and died in 1881.
DW – Ulf Mounter / Maria Rigoutsou
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