Short Stories, Novellas, and Prose Pieces

Author: Ivan S. Turgenev

Ivan Turgenev was born on October 28 (November 9 in the new calendar), 1818, in the city of Oryol. His father, Sergey Nikolaevich, served in the Yelisavetgrad Regiment stationed in Oryol and retired with the rank of colonel. His mother was Varvara Petrovna, née Lutovinova. Ivan Sergeyevich was the middle of three sons. The youngest brother died in early childhood, and the eldest lived in Moscow. Turgenev lost his father at the age of seventeen, but his mother lived until she was seventy and passed away in 1850. In 1822, the Turgenev family traveled abroad, visiting, among other places, Switzerland. During one visit, the four-year-old Ivan almost fell into the famous bear pit in Bern and would likely have paid a heavy price for his carelessness had his father not immediately pulled him out. After returning home, the family lived for a long time on their estate in the Mtsensk district of Oryol province. There, Turgenev began to study under tutors of various nationalities, none of whom were Russian. Among the first Russian books he read was "Rossiada" by Kheraskov. He owed his introduction to this book to one of his mother's serfs, who was very fond of poetry. In 1828, Ivan Turgenev moved to Moscow with his parents, and in 1834, he entered Moscow University, where he completed his studies with a "candidate" thesis. In 1838, he traveled abroad and was nearly killed in a fire on the steamship "Nikolai I" near Travemünde. In Berlin, Turgenev attended lectures on history, Latin and Greek languages, and Hegel's philosophy.