Every student has been familiar with the name of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol since childhood: the works of the great writer have long been included in the course of compulsory reading books. Gogol’s novels have been translated into dozens of languages and are also popular abroad: literary critics are still trying to analyze the lines in the author’s books.
Gogol’s stories and stories are of particular interest because of his mysterious personality - the writer’s life and death are shrouded in many secrets and legends. Contemporaries later said that the supernatural, to which Nikolai Vasilievich was so gravitated, seemed to always be on his heels. We found the 10 most interesting facts from the life of Gogol, which will help to understand his nature and biography more fully.
10. The Gogol family had 12 children
Despite the oppressive feeling of loneliness that slipped through the writer's works, Gogol’s house was always crowded. His mother gave birth to 12 children - Nikolai Vasilievich became the third oldest child. Unfortunately, most of his brothers and sisters were destined to die - the eldest two children were born dead, the middle children died still small, not having crossed the line and 10 years.
The author’s three younger sisters lived the longest — they always communicated closely with each other. After their parents died, the writer abandoned his portion of the inheritance in favor of relatives.
9. He was fond of sewing and knitting
The writer has always been a versatile person, and literature was not his only passion. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, Gogol was called a fashionable “dandy”: he dressed beautifully and tastefully, paying great attention to accessories, especially neck scarves. At the same time, he didn’t even need to visit the tailor - the writer himself knew how to sew and knit. Both the sisters in childhood and friends at the already adult age forced him to do needlework - the author was not shy about his hobby and even gave friends some of the things done. So, many of his sisters dresses are sewn by him.
8. He was afraid of thunder and lightning
Nervousness and superstition were inherent in the writer, and sometimes he brought himself to a state of panic fear with an irrational attitude to reality. So, Gogol was very afraid of thunder and lightning. The author also had difficulty communicating - strangers scared him, so if such a person appeared in the company, Nikolai Vasilyevich hastily retreated.
7. His mother was married at the age of 14
From the memoirs of contemporaries of the author, it becomes clear that Gogol's mother was an incredibly beautiful woman. Maria Ivanovna was married at the age of 14 to a man twice as old, and already at 34, she was widowed. The loss of most of the 12 children born could not but affect the psyche of the woman - she was withdrawn into herself, carried away by mysticism. She gave these inclinations to her son. So, the writer recalled the mother’s stories about the Last Judgment, which made a lasting impression on him.
Their kinship can be called very strong - it was her mother who helped Gogol collect interesting information about the customs and traditions of the Ukrainian people. Maria Ivanovna always closely followed the work of her son and rejoiced at his successes.
6. He collected books of small sizes
Nikolai Vasilievich had a special passion for his collection - herobbed books of small, even tiny sizes. Even “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” he had in his pocket version. Moreover, the content of the publications was not fundamentally important to him. For example, the writer always hated numbers and exact sciences, but specially ordered for himself the production of a miniature mathematical reference book measuring 7 by 10 centimeters.
After the death of Gogol, his collection was often exhibited in museums.
5. He was unhappy with his nose
In reality, Gogol was very different from his portraits - the author was always dissatisfied with his appearance and urged artists to distort reality somewhat. Special the writer did not like the size of the nose, which seemed huge to him. It is no coincidence that this part of the body became the hero of the story "Nose". In the paintings, the author asked artists to make their nose smaller, because of this the whole image of the face of Nikolai Vasilyevich changed.
4. Pushkin gave him a pug
The friendship of the writers Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol is well known to everyone, but few know that the great the poet decided to give a pet to Nikolai Vasilievichso that he does not get bored. For these purposes, Pushkin acquired a pug puppy and presented it to his colleague. Gogol gave the dog the nickname Josie and became very attached to her. Over time, when the writer’s mind was often clouded by disorders, the author could forget about the pet and not feed Josie for weeks. As a result, the dog died, which even more adversely affected the psyche of its owner.
Sometimes the dog allegedly appeared to him in dreams and told him that he was a priest of the magic cult. After that, members of various sects began to gather in Gogol’s apartment.
3. After death, his condition was estimated at 43 rubles
Toward the end of his life, Nikolai Gogol was converted, he even made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The writer's material condition was also reflected in his fascination with religion - he handed out money received as fees for publishing books to those in need, and he actually lived like a beggar.
Police officers who came to describe the property of the author after his death, appreciated the writer’s worn clothing at 43 rubles. Gogol had nothing more at home.
2. Burned the 2nd volume of Dead Souls
The most famous story about a writer is his burning of the second volume of Dead Souls. More recently, literary scholars have speculated whether the author deliberately threw the book into the fireplace or whether it happened by accident. Indeed, at that time the work was almost written - it is known that in it remained a place of the whole order for 10 chapters.
Some critics even wondered if there was a second volume at all. But the rough drafts proved that Nikolai Vasilievich really described the continuation of Chichikov’s travels. The most likely version remains the one according to which Gogol himself burned the manuscript, succumbing to emotions. At that time, the writer was depressed due to the death of his friend’s wife and he was afraid of death. Moreover, in his youth he already burned books - that’s how he destroyed the poem “Ganz Küchelgarten”, which was criticized in the press: for this he needed to buy out all the circulation that went on sale.
1. Dessert "Gogol-Mughal" has nothing to do with it
Story of how Nikolay Vasilievich invented the dessert “Gogol-mogul” is one of the most common misconceptions. In fact, the first to prepare the drink was a certain Gogel, who served as a singer in the church. The man was looking for ways to improve the sound of his voice - they were going to fire him, as the timbre had changed, but he had to feed his family. Then he mixed a raw egg with slices of bread, salt and shook.
After many years, the countess from Mogilev decided to slightly change the recipe, removing bread and salt from it and adding honey there. In this form, it has reached our days.