Iuliia Valerianovna Zhadovskaia
Iuliia Valerianovna Zhadovskaia was a notable Russian writer born on June 29, 1824, in Subbotina, Iaroslavl' province. She experienced early life challenges, including the loss of her mother, which led her to be raised by her grandmother and later by her aunt, a published poet. Zhadovskaia's literary career began in her teens, spurred by tutoring and support from her family, leading to her first publication at the age of seventeen. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, she actively contributed to various literary journals, gaining recognition for her poetry and fiction that often explored themes of love and social issues. Notably, her poetry was influenced by Russian folk music and was even set to music by renowned composers. Despite personal health challenges, including being born without a left arm, Zhadovskaia created complex female characters in her writing, such as in her novel "Zhenskaia istoriia," which portrays a doctor defying class norms. In 1862, she married and shifted her focus to family life, leading to a decline in her literary output. Zhadovskaia's work remains significant for its innovative exploration of Romanticism and realism, offering insights into women's experiences in 19th-century Russia.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Iuliia Valerianovna Zhadovskaia
Writer
- Born: June 29, 1824
- Birthplace: Subbotina, Iaroslavl', Russia
- Died: July 28, 1883
Biography
Iuliia Valerianovna Zhadovskaia was born in the village of Subbotina in the Iaroslavl’ province of Russia on June 29, 1824, to Valerian Nikandrovich Zhadovsky, a civil servant, and Aleksandra Ivanovna Zhadovskaia, née Gotovtseva. She and her sister, Klavdiia, and brother, the writer Pavel Valerianovich Zhadovsky, were sent to live with their grandmother in Panfilovo after their mother’s death. At the age of thirteen, Zhadovskaia moved to Kostroma to live with her aunt, Anna Ivanovna Gotovtseva-Kornilova, a poet published in the prominent journals of the 1820’s and 1830’s. Gotovtseva-Kornilova instructed her niece in French, geography, history, and literature before sending her to a private boarding school.
In 1840 Zhadovskaia’s father hired her a tutor, Petr Mironovich Perevlessky, and she returned to Iaroslavl’. Perevlessky encouraged Zhadovskaia’s early literary efforts. Shortly thereafter, her epistolary story “Pis’mo iz Iaroslavlia o poseshchenii gosudaria imperatora” (letter from Iaroslavl’ upon the visit of the emperor, 1841) was published in Moskvitanin (the Muscovite), followed by two of her poems, “Mnogo kapel’ svetlykh” (many bright droplets) and “Luchshii perl taitsia . . . “ (the best pearl remains hidden . . . ). When Zhadovskaia’s father forbade her marriage to Perevlessky for reasons of class, the young woman turned her attention to caring for her orphaned cousin, Nastas’ia Gotovtseva, whom she remained close to throughout her life.
Although far from the literary centers of Russia, Zhadovskaia was active in provincial writing circles and maintained correspondences with several important figures, including Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov, Karl Pavlovich Briullov, Aleksandr Vasil’evich Druzhinin, Leonid Nikolaevich Trefolev, Evdokiia Petrovna Rostopchina, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, Petr Andreevich Viazemsky, and Mikhail Pavlovich Vronchenko. During the 1840’s and 1850’s, Zhadovskaia’s writing appeared regularly in such journals as Biblioteka dlia chteniia (a reading library), Russkii vestnik (the Russian messenger), Syn otechestva (son of the fatherland), and Vremia (time).
Zhadovskaia’s first collection of verse, Stikhotvoreniia (poems, 1846), was well received. The poems, primarily love lyrics, often exhibit a spiritual longing for an improved world. Many incorporate devices common in Russian folk songs; indeed, a number of Zhadovskaia’s poems have been set to music, by such composers as Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and Sergei Vasil’evich Rachmaninov.
Zhadovskaia’s fiction, both short and long, provides readers with a wide range of female characters. As is the case in “Otryvki iz dnevnika molodoi zhenshchiny” (excerpts from the notebook of a young woman, 1848), Zhadovskaia’s heroines often use writing and illness to their advantage. Zhadovskaia herself was born without a left arm and suffered from weak vision. Her novel, Zhenskaia istoriia (a woman’s story), serialized in Vremia and published as a book in 1861, presents a strong heroine, a doctor who serves peasants and whose marriage disregards class constraints.
In 1862, Zhadovskaia married Karl Bogdanovich Seven, a widower and a doctor. Her time consumed by tutoring Seven’s children, she stopped writing. From 1873 until her death, Zhadovskaia lived in Tolstikova. She is best remembered as a writer whose work in both the spaces of Romanticism and realism proposed new topics of literary exploration.