"The great artistic genius". The Presidential Library's collection portrays Nikolai Gogol

"He showed us a way forward. It is the great contribution of Gogol to the Russian society with the marvellous creations of his genius..." stated the speech delivered at the ceremony in the writer's memory in April 1902.

The Presidential Library promotes a variety of materials from the extensive digital collection Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852), which is devoted to the great writer. It includes rare lifetime editions of Gogol's works, research of his oeuvre and biography, literary criticism and archival documents of the XIX century, portraits and illustrations.

Nikolai Gogol was born on April 1 (March 20, by the old style) 1809, in the Sorochintsy village, Poltava Province. Dmitry Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky, the famous literary critic and linguist, honorary member of the Saint-Petersburg and Russian Academies of Sciences, distinguished in his book Gogol (1907) the milestones of the writer's biography: "Until the age of ten, he studied at home (in the village)... In 1820, the Prince Bezborodko Lyceum with gymnasium was opened in Nizhyn. Gogol entered it in 1821. In 1828, he graduated from the Lyceum (course of gymnasium and higher sciences), which gave him no serious knowledge".

In January 1829, the Saint-Petersburg period of Gogol's life began, which lasted until his travelling abroad in June 1836. "During these seven years", says Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky, "Gogol managed to write almost all of his works and acquire the glory of a first-class writer. <...> Pushkin immediately appreciated Gogol's talent. He fell in love with him as a new prospect for Russian literature, as its future glory. He and Zhukovsky... invited Gogol to the house of A. O. Rosett... where an intimate circle of writers and the flower of an intellectual society gathered. <…> It was a real school for Gogol. And it was the best; happiest period of his life when the development of his genius talent improved much and his fame grew quickly... <...> The performance of The Government Inspector (April 10, 1836) brought Gogol both great triumph and despair. <…>

It was the end of the Petersburg period of Gogol's life and career and the beginning of the first foreign period, which lasted, with breaks, until 1841, when Gogol came to Russia to publish the first part of Dead Souls. <…>. The appearance of the Dead Souls was an event of paramount importance. <...> Meanwhile, when Gogol ruled in the minds and souls of the best Russian people (1842-1847), something bad was happening inside of the great writer. Gloomy moods arose there with the evident features of hypochondria and misanthropy".

This brief biography hides the formation of a creative genius, the search for unique style in literature, painful spiritual and philosophical and moral aspirations.

"The work of the writer is such a riddle that it is hardly possible to solve. Such complicated and rich nature as Gogol is one of the most difficult puzzles", said teacher Alexander Alfyorov in his public lecture Features of Gogol's Oeuvre and the Significance of His Poetry for Russian Identity (1908 ).

Researchers have different keys to this puzzle. Writer and critic Panteleimon Kulish in the publication Notes on the Life of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol... (1856) tries to find the origins of his art: "...The circumstances of the poet's childhood and the first impressions that he received from nature and people around, fostered the future development of his talent, giving him fresh, lively, colourful images".

Many talked about Gogol's amazing power of observation. For example, the writer Alexandra Annenskaya in the biographical essay Nikolai Gogol. His Life and Literary Activities (1891) noted that "...he could keep watch over everyone around him, noticing the hidden soul aspirations and secret motives. Often an accidental anecdote, sometimes uninteresting story of some visitor, gave rise to the soul images, which grew into perfect poetic works".

Perhaps it is the origin of the special Gogol's realism, described in the book Characteristics of Nikolai Gogol's Oeuvre (1902) by the teacher Georgy Dorofeev: "Read any passage from Gogol's poetic works, and you will feel as if you have been a witness of the described incident, have seen and been aware of the characters, portrayed by Gogol".

At the same time, Alexander Alfyorov gives the opposite idea: "...The ability to break away from reality, go away with dreams and immerse into the world of images is a major feature of this famous realist of our times".

The writer and critic Konstantin Arsenyev, in his publication The Significance of Gogol for His Successors (1902), highlighted the diversity and importance of Gogol's art: "Lyrical inspirations and epic peace, fantasy and observation, pessimism and optimism, the desire for personal improvement and elimination of public evil - all of these features were consolidated by the great "initiator". He understood that there is neither too weak nor too great for literature, that this sphere does not know and should not know limits".

Attempts to solve the mystery of Nikolai Gogol are summed up by Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky: "For contemporaries who knew Gogol intimately, this man was a mystery. He remains a mystery to us as well. Only one is completely clear and not subject to controversy: Gogol is the great artistic genius, whose name is among the greatest names in world literature".