Events
Birth of Fyodor Dostoevsky in MoscowFirst novel (Poor Folk) was published.
Dostoevsky was 25 at this time.'Crime and Punishment' published.'The idiot' published'Demons' published'The Brothers Karamazov' publishedDostoevsky's mother passes away.
He was age 15 at the time.Dostoevsky resigns from his
Engineering career and begins
writing 'Poor Folk'.This novel gained him entry into St.
Petersburg's literary circlesAmong the members were writers,
teachers, students, minor government
officials,
and army officers. While differing
in political views, most of them were
opponents of the tsarist autocracy
and Russian serfdom.Among those connected to the
circle were the writers Dostoyevsky
and Saltykov-Shchedrin, and the
poets Aleksey Pleshcheyev,
Apollon Maikov, and Taras
Shevchenko.Begins boarding school
in Moscow with his older
brother Mikhail.Dostoevsky left school to enter
the Nikolayev Military Engineering
Institute.Father murdered by his
own serfs at his estate
Chermashnya in the
province of Tula.Writes for St Petersburg Gazette. Publishes
“A Novel in Nine Letters” as well as several
short stories including “A Weak Heart”,
“Polzunkov”, “The Landlady”,
“The Honest Thief”, and “White Nights”.
Starts visiting the Petrashevsky Circle.
Moves to Voznesenskii prospekt 8/23
where he would live for 2 years.Works on unfinished novel,
“Netochka Nezvanova” but
is arrested for alleged political
crimes along with other
Petrashevsky Circle members.
Writes the children’s story
“A Little Hero” while imprisoned
for 8 months in the Alexis
Ravelin of St. Petersburg’s
Petropavlovsk Fortress.22 December, 1849.
Dostevsky is taken, along with
twenty others, to Semyonovsky
Square to be executed by a
firing squad but due to a
last-second reprieve the
sentence is commuted to an 8
year term of penal servitude in
Siberia (later reduced to 4
years hard labour by Nicholas I).Is married to the
29 year old, widowed
Marya Dmitrievna Isaeva.Marya Dmitrievna Isaeva and Fyodor
Dostoesvky are permitted to take up
residence in European Russia.Promoted
to
lieutenant
but still
forbidden
to
leave
SiberiaReturns to St Petersburg after ten years’ exile.Publishes Uncle’s DreamBecomes editor of Vremya (“Time”),
a literary journal (though officially
his brother Mikhail was editor,
as Dostoevsky was under police
supervision due to his status as a
convict)Publishes “The Insulted and Injured”
and “The House of the Dead“.Dostoevsky makes his first trip
abroad, visiting several western
European countries, including
England, France and Switzerland.
Beginning of liaison with Apollinaria
(Polina) Suslova. visiting countries
like England and France In London
he meets the father of Russian
socialism, Alexander Herzen.Dostoevsky’s journal “Time”
is banned by the authorities
(ostensibly due to an article
on the Polish uprising by
Strakhov).Dostoevsky is elected secretary
of the Society for Aid to Needy
Writers and Scholars (aka the
Literary Fund).Dostoevsky and brother Mikhail
plan to launch a new monthly to
be called Pravda (“Truth”), but
the authorities consider the name
too provocative, the new journal
is entitled Epokha (“Epoch”): it
lasts only a year and ends in
failure.Dostoevsky's wife Marya, and
brother Mikhail die.Dostoevsky resigns his secretariat
of the Literary Fund to avoid
appearance of undue influence,
when he himself must apply to it
for financial aid.Lonely, in despair, still writing,
Dostoevsky leaves Russia to
escape his debts, and goes to
Wiesbaden. Gambles and loses.Epoch ceases.Apollinaria Suslova declines marriage proposal.'The Gambler' published.Marries Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina,
age 19, whom he had hired as a
stenographer while working on
'The Gambler'.First child Sofiya born but dies only
months later.
They move briefly to Italy.Daughter Lyubov born in Dresden.
The family in great poverty.Returns to Russia, stops gambling.Son Fyodor born in St Petersburg.The Devils is published serially.Becomes editor of The Citizen but
resigns a year later. Starts writing
Diary of a Writer, a monthly column.Imprisoned once again, this
time for violation of
censorship regulations.Launches and becomes sole editor
of a new monthly periodical a
monthly journal called A Writer’s
Diary composed of short stories,
sketches, and articles.
“The Peasant Marey” “A Gentle
Creature” are published in the
journal.Second son, Alexei dies at age 3.Delivers famous speech
on Pushkin in Moscow
to enormous crowds and
wide acclaim.Dies in St. Petersburg on January 28
at the age of 59 due to a lung
haemorrhage (burst blood vessel in
his lungs aggravated by an epileptic
seizure). Buried in Alexander
Nevsky Monastery cemetery.Periods
Dostoevsky
graduates from
the Nikolayev
Military
Engineering
Institute as
lieutenant and
works as a
draughtsman in St.
Petersburg Army
Engineering Corps.
He enjoys a brief
period with a
lavish lifestyle
working as an
engineer, and also
translating books
to earn extra
money.Released from prison, but was forced to enrol as a private (military exile in Siberia) in the Seventh Line Battalion at
Semipalatinsk (in Kazakhstan). Meets his future wife through friendship with Baron Vrangel.Between 1859 and 1861, publishes the serialized novella, “Village of
Stepanchikovo”; it is not well received, and one critic proclaims Dostoevsky
to be finished as a writer.The couple leave for western Europe, remaining abroad for four years. They
live in Geneva, then Florence, Vienna, Prague, and finally Dresden.
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