Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (1826-1889) was a notable Russian writer and satirist, recognized for his sharp critique of society during a time of significant transformation in Russia. Born into a noble family in Spas-Ugol, he faced a troubled childhood that drove him to literature, particularly the moral teachings of the Bible. His literary journey began at a young age, leading him to study in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he initially pursued a career in civil service. Saltykov's writings often clashed with government censorship, resulting in periods of exile that influenced his perspective on bureaucracy and authority.
His most significant works include "The History of a Town" and "The Golovlev Family," both of which demonstrate his biting satire and moral scrutiny of the corruption and hypocrisy prevalent in czarist Russia. Saltykov employed creative narrative techniques, such as allegories and mock fairy tales, to navigate the constraints imposed by censors while addressing the societal issues of his time. Despite his critical acclaim during his lifetime, Saltykov's legacy has diminished over the years, partly due to the historical context of his works and the challenges of translating his subtle irony. Today, he is remembered as a master of satire who used literary innovation to reflect on human flaws and societal failings.
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Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov
Satirist
- Born: January 15, 1826
- Birthplace: Spas-Ugol, Russia
- Died: April 28, 1889
Biography
Mikhail Evgrafovic Saltykov was born on January 15, 1826, at his family’s estate in Spas-Ugol, Russia, a day’s journey south of Moscow. He was a melancholy child whose parents quarreled constantly. Saltykov found refuge in books, particularly his father’s Bible, which first taught him Christianity’s moral imperative. At ten, he was enrolled in the Moscow Institute (appropriate for the nobility) and two years later continued his studies at the lyceum in St. Petersburg, where he wrote poetry and translated contemporary Romantic literature, principally the work of Lord Byron. Following graduation, Saltykov secured the first of numerous government positions, initially working as clerk in the Ministry of War, which afforded him time to write.
His first published work, a short story, ran afoul of government censors (a problem that Saltykov faced throughout his career) and resulted in Saltykov accepting exile to the distant town of Viatka (now Kirov), where for eight years he worked as a minor bureaucrat. Although he wrote nothing while he was there, he gathered observations about civil servants that ultimately appeared in his first work after his return to St. Petersburg, a bruising satire titled Gubernskie ocherki which he published under the pseudonym N. Shchedrin.
Over the next dozen years, Saltykov advanced through progressively more prestigious administrative positions. Despite his interest in writing, Saltykov needed the income afforded by his civil service work, but in 1868 he finally resigned his government job to assume an editorial position on one of Moscow’s leading radical journals. He maintained this job until the censors shut down the journal in 1884, a year often cited as the close of Saltykov’s most productive period. In that time, Saltykov completed not only more than a dozen titles but also his two signature works: Istoriaa odnogo goroda (1870; The History of a Town, 1980) and Gospoda Golovlevy (1880; The Gollovlev Family, 1916). Drawing on the moral certainty grounded in his deep admiration for the Bible, Saltykov scrutinized contemporary events with the relentless eye of a satirist, skewering the abundant evidence of corruption and hypocrisy he found in the czarist authorities, as well as the liberal reformers, and exposing the greed and incompetence of his era with the over-the-top bluntness of a latter-day Jonathan Swift. Always mindful of powerful government censors, Saltykov developed creative strategies for exposing topical issues indirectly, including mock fairy tales, faux diaries, and allegorical fables.
Long struggling with poor health and uncertain income, Saltykov continued to write, compelled by what he viewed as the deterioration of Russian society as the great reform era of the mid-nineteenth century left only disillusionment. At his death on April 28, 1889, he was widely hailed as a preeminent figure in national letters. Saltykov has since slipped into obscurity, in part because his works are so bound to their era and in part because his keen sense of understated irony eludes translation. He is remembered now as a master satirist who invoked subtle narrative strategies to attack with moral clarity the considerable failings and hypocrisies of his—and any—era.