Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov
Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov was a notable Russian writer and revolutionary born in 1829 in Orenburg. Coming from a family with a complex background, including a serf grandfather and a mother who was a Kyrgyz princess, Mikhailov faced personal challenges, including near-blindness. He pursued education at the University of St. Petersburg and began publishing poetry and journalistic works, eventually producing his successful novel, *Pereletnye ptitsy: Roman*. His literary career was marked by his involvement in social issues, particularly women's rights, and he became closely associated with the Shelgunov family, which significantly influenced his political views.
Mikhailov's activism led to his arrest in 1861 for distributing revolutionary literature, resulting in a harsh sentence of hard labor. Despite his brother's efforts to lessen his punishment, he remained imprisoned, where he ultimately succumbed to illness in 1865. Mikhailov's works, particularly *Pereletnye ptitsy*, are recognized for their character studies and reflections on Russian provincial life, though he faded into relative obscurity after his death, with only sporadic recognition in subsequent years. His legacy is often overshadowed by the government's efforts to suppress his writings and discussions about him.
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Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov
Writer
- Born: 1829
- Birthplace: Orenburg, in the Urals of Russia
- Died: 1865
Biography
Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov was born in 1829 in Orenburg, in the Urals of Russia. His grandfather had been a serf who had gained his freedom; his father, a bureaucrat, married a Kyrgyz princess and ended up as a court counselor. The family moved to Iletskaia Zashchita in Orenburg province. The children were home- schooled, Mikhail having to overcome near-blindness, which was partially alleviated by an operation. His mother died in 1841 and his father in 1845. The next year, he enrolled at the University of St. Petersburg as an auditor rather than as a full-time undergraduate student.
Mikhailov had already had several poems published by then. He continued to write and translate poetry through 1848. This and some journalistic writing were published in such literary magazines as Literaturnaia gazeta. However, he was unable to support himself financially, so took a post in that year in Nizhnii Novgorod, still managing to write and publish a good deal. He also wrote his first prose work, Pereletnye ptitsy: Roman, at this time. The novel proved so successful he felt able to resign his post and return to full-time writing in St. Petersburg in 1852.
In the winter of 1855, Mikhailov met the Shelgunovs. Nikolai Vasil’evich Shelgunov was a writer and the two became close friends, Mikhailov becoming part of their household. In fact, the wife, Liudmilla Shelgunova, became his mistress and bore his child. Because of his support of women’s rights, Nikolai allowed the situation to continue, with the trio traveling through Western Europe and the two men working on writing and distributing revolutionary literature. Mikhailov’s political consciousness was formed from experiences of the Urals, many meetings in Paris with leading feminists and socialists, and of the slum conditions he saw in Britain.
In 1859, Mikhailov returned to St. Petersburg, then travelled to London again in 1861, returning with a revolutionary pamphlet for distribution. This led to his arrest and trial by the authorities. He was sentenced to six years of hard labor. Although his brother managed to get the labor commuted, he had to stay in prison, later to be joined by the Shelgunovs. The government forbade his books or even any discussion of him. Mikhailov died in 1865 in a prison camp of a kidney infection. Such was the ban that he became almost immediately forgotten, and has only received sporadic attention since.
Probably his best known fiction is Pereletnye ptitsy, the first novel to be written about the Russian provincial theater. His novels and short stories tend to consist of character studies and “types” in the realistic mode. He also wrote a prison memoir, Zapiski.