~Fyodor Dostoyevsky~

Karl DehmeltAP English 12

2/20/14

Early Life

• Parents: Lithuanian Noble Family• Non-optimal conditions• Born November 11th, 1821• 2nd of 8 children• Strict upbringing, nightly readings• Read heroic sagas by his nanny• Profoundly religious• 5 feet, 3 inches tall

Adolescence

• Mother died of tuberculosis in 1837• Starts attending an engineering

institute• Reclusive and interested in religion• Father died in 1839• Epilepsy first reported• Extremely moody• “Dark Glasses”

Early Career

• Poor Folk - 1844• First “social” Russian novel• The Double – negative reviews• Joins a social reform group• Russian Government fears revolution• “Conspirators” are caught• December 1849 – firing squad

incident

Siberian Exile

• Exiled to Siberia for five years• Hard labor• Read nothing but the New Testament• Generally respected, but xenophobic• Notes from the House of the Dead• Released in 1854• Married Maria Dmitrievna in 1857• No works published until 1860

Crime and Punishment

• Visited Western Europe in 1863• First marriage tapers off• January and February 1866• The Russian Messenger: 500 new

subscribers• Marries his secretary• Gambling Problem• Last part appeared in December 1866

Last Decade (1871 – 1881)

• Takes a five year honeymoon• 1871 – more financial trouble!• Health beginning to decline• Notes of the Fatherland• Relationship between father and son• Begins experiencing shortness of

breath

Last Years

• Slavic Benevolent Society• Delivers an amazing speech in

Moscow• June 8th, 1880• January 25th, 1881, pulmonary

hemorrhage• Has two more hemorrhages• Died on January 26th, 1881

Relation to the Novel

• Deeply religious man• Dostoyevsky’s ideas regarding

society• Years in Siberia• Formative years• Numerous liaisons• Extremely philosophical

“Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and devil are fighting there, and the battlefield

is the heart of man.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

~Works Cited~• "Dostoevsky’s Religion - Steven Cassedy." Dostoevsky’s Religion - Steven Cassedy. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=7648>. • "The Ethical Beliefs of Dostoevsky." People. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

<http://people.opposingviews.com/ethical-beliefs-dostoevsky-3781.html>. • "Fyodor Dostoevsky - Biography." Fyodor Dostoevsky. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.egs.edu/library/fyodor-dostoevsky/biography/>. • "Fyodor Dostoevsky Biography." Fyodor Dostoevsky Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb.

2014. <http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/dostoevskybio.html>. • "Fyodor Dostoevsky (Dostoyevsky) | Biography | Author of Crime and Punishment."

Fyodor Dostoevsky (Dostoyevsky) | Biography | Author of Crime and Punishment. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/biography.php>.

• "Grace in the Arts: Dostoevsky and His Theology." Grace in the Arts: Dostoevsky and His Theology. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. <http://www.faithalone.org/journal/1997ii/Townsend.html>.