Nikolay Dobrolyubov
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Dobrolyubov was a prominent Russian literary critic and revolutionary thinker, born on January 24, 1836, in Nizhny Novgorod. Coming from a religious family, he initially pursued studies in theology but soon became disillusioned with his faith, leading him to engage with progressive ideas and influential writers. After the death of his mother and father, Dobrolyubov fully embraced his criticism of societal norms, notably through his role as an editor and contributor to the radical journal Sovremennik. His most notable essay, "Chto takoe oblomovshchina?" or "What Is Oblomovism?," critiques the complacency of the privileged classes in Russia and argues for the social responsibility of art. Throughout his career, Dobrolyubov championed the idea that literature should address political and social issues rather than exist for its own sake. Despite his promising talent and significant impact on Russian literature, he faced personal struggles, including a battle with illness that ultimately led to his untimely death on November 1, 1861. His work has been influential in shaping the Social Realism movement that characterized much of Russian literature in the twentieth century.
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Subject Terms
Nikolay Dobrolyubov
Critic
- Born: January 24, 1836
- Birthplace: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
- Died: November 30, 1861
- Place of death: St. Petersburg, Russia
Biography
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Dobrolyubov was born January 24, 1836, to Aleksandr Ivanovich Dobrolyubov and Zinaida Vasil’evna (Pokrovskaia) Dobrolyubova in Nizhny Novgorod, two hundred and fifty miles east of Moscow. His father was an archpriest of the Church of St. Nicholas, as was Zinaida’s father previously. Dobrolyubov, the first of eight children, idolized his mother and was her favorite. Taught at home by private tutors, his genius was evident, and in 1847 he attended a parochial school, graduating with honors. He attended the Nizhnii Novgorod seminary until 1853 and began writing poetry and collecting aspects of popular culture. He also recorded his opinions of everything he read in registers, compiling over four thousand reviews upon leaving the seminary. In 1853, he moved to St. Petersburg to further his religious studies at the prestigious St. Petersburg Theological Academy Central Pedagogical Institute. Dobrolyubov questioned his faith at this time and enrolled at the Pedagogical Institute, a teacher’s college, with the reluctant approval of his family.
The following year Dobrolyubov’s mother died during childbirth, and his father died shortly after from cholera. No longer concerned with his parents’ disapproval, he denounced his religion and began conversing with revolutionary writers and thinkers at the university. Toward the end of his stay at the university, Dobrolyubov began publishing a handwritten underground periodical called Rumors, which tackled campus authority and questioned the future of Russia and its youth. In 1854, his open criticism of Nikolai Ivanovich Grech was met with public outrage and he was put under house arrest at school and denied the gold medal he earned for being the top student in his graduating class in 1857. In 1856, Sovremennik, a leading journal, published “Sobesednik liubitelei Rossiiskogo slova” (the companion of lovers of the Russian world), under a pseudonym N. Laibov, which criticized Catherine the Great. Although controversial, the article gained Dobrolyubov much international attention, and ultimately employment at the radical Sovremennik.
Doborolyubov was quickly promoted to the editorial board and at age twenty-two directed the literary department. In 1859, Sovermennik published Svistok, which Dobrolyubov founded and contributed to. His contributions to both magazines offered harsh criticisms of Russian writers who he felt were not doing enough to explore and expose the government, even though they were granted more freedom to do so under Czar Alexander II. In 1859, his essay “Chto takoe oblomovshchina?” (“What Is Oblomovism?,” 1903) was published and considered his best work. Dobrolyubov parallels the wealthy and useless Oblomov to Russian artists and officials who do nothing with their power to improve the country, illustrating Dobrolyubov’s hatred of ’art for art’s sake’ and his belief that the arts must serve political and social purposes. “Temnoe tsartsvo” critiqued six Ostrovsky plays over three issues, examining the destruction of families and employees due to patriarchal greed rampant in the country.
In 1858, he was diagnosed with the tubercular infection scrofula. He died November 1, 1861, after fruitlessly traveling Europe seeking treatments. Dobrolyubov’s essays are directly linked to the Social Realism movement that dominated Russian literature in the twentieth century.