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Questions about Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

Short answers, pulled from the story.

When was Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin born and where?

Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov was born on the 27th of January 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol. He entered the world as one of eight children within a large Russian noble family.

What major work did Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin publish in 1870?

In 1870 The History of a Town came out as a grotesque politically risky novel relating the tragicomic history of fictitious Foolsville. This vague caricature upon the Russian Empire featured a sequence of monstrous rulers tormenting their hapless vassals.

Who is Porfiry Little Judas Golovlyov in Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin's works?

Central to this work stood Porfiry Little Judas Golovlyov whose nickname became synonymous with mindless hypocrisy and self-destructive egotism. This character led to moral degradation and disintegration of personality through constant exercise of unctuous meaningless humbug.

Why did Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin write A Brief History of Russia?

There were no decent history textbooks available so he decided to write one himself titled A Brief History of Russia while stationed in exile. He got carried away by the idea of radically improving education quality for young women and girls during that time.

When did Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin die and what happened to his journal Otechestvennye Zapiski?

The demise of Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1884 dealt Saltykov a heavy blow claiming the possibility to talk with readers had been taken away from him. His last works appeared in Vestnik Evropy and Russkye Vedomosti among them Fairy Tales for Children of a Fair Age before his death.