Who was Ivan Turgenev?
Ivan Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator, and popularizer of Russian literature in the West. He was born in Oryol in 1818 and died near Paris in 1883.
Questions about Ivan Turgenev
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is Ivan Turgenev's most famous novel?
Ivan Turgenev's most famous and enduring novel is Fathers and Sons, published in 1862 and regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction. Its central character, Eugene Bazarov, was called the first Bolshevik in Russian literature.
How did Ivan Turgenev help end serfdom in Russia?
Ivan Turgenev's short story collection A Sportsman's Sketches, mostly published in 1852, is credited with influencing public opinion in favor of the abolition of serfdom in 1861. He drew the stories from his observations of peasant life around his mother's estate of Spasskoye.
Why was Ivan Turgenev imprisoned and exiled?
Ivan Turgenev was held responsible for the publication of his 1852 obituary of Nikolai Gogol after the Saint Petersburg censor had banned it. He was imprisoned for a month and then exiled to his country estate for nearly two years.
What was the relationship between Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy?
Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy had a strained friendship that led Tolstoy to challenge Turgenev to a duel in 1861 before apologizing. The two did not speak for 17 years but never broke family ties, and on his deathbed Turgenev pleaded with Tolstoy to return to literature.
How did Ivan Turgenev die?
Ivan Turgenev died on the 3rd of September 1883 of a spinal abscess, a complication of a metastatic liposarcoma, at his house in Bougival near Paris. His remains were taken to Russia and buried in Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Why did Ivan Turgenev live abroad for much of his life?
Ivan Turgenev lived mostly at Baden-Baden or Paris, often near the celebrated opera singer Pauline Viardot, with whom he had a lifelong affair. Hostile reaction to Fathers and Sons also prompted his decision to leave Russia.