Nadezhda Stepanovna Sokhanskaia
Nadezhda Stepanovna Sokhanskaia was a notable Russian author, born on February 17, 1823, in the Khar'kov area of southern Russia. Despite her family's modest means, she received a stipend for education at a government boarding school and later returned to her family's estate in Makarovka, where she dedicated herself to writing. Sokhanskaia is best known for her fiction, but her literary contributions also include autobiographical works, critical essays, and ethnographical studies. Influenced by her mother's knowledge of folk songs and her aunt's storytelling, she developed a deep appreciation for the culture of "Little Russia," which became a significant theme in her writing.
Starting her literary career with the publication of her first story in 1844, Sokhanskaia gained recognition in the mid-19th century for her characterizations and understanding of provincial dialects. She formed a mentorship with the editor Petr Pletnev, which greatly influenced her work, including her autobiography. Throughout her life, she actively participated in her community, contributing to education for illiterate peasants. In recent years, her legacy has been reassessed, highlighting her essential role as a pioneer among Russian women writers and her efforts to document the language and traditions of Russia's provinces.
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Subject Terms
Nadezhda Stepanovna Sokhanskaia
Fiction and Nonfiction Writer and Playwright
- Born: February 17, 1823
- Birthplace: Khar'kov, southern Russia
- Died: December 3, 1884
Biography
Best known for her fiction, the provincial author and deeply religious woman Nadezhda Stepanovna Sokhanskaia also wrote autobiography, critical and ethnographical essays, and was a voluminous correspondent. Sokhanskaia was likely born on February 17, 1823, in the Khar’kov area of southern Russia, to Stepan Pavlovich Sokhansky and Varvara Grigor’evna Lokhvitskaia. Although Sokhanskaia’s family was poor, she was able to receive a stipend to attend a government boarding school in Khar’kov from 1834 to 1840. Upon graduation, Sokhanskaia returned to Makarovka, her family’s remote estate, where she lived and wrote until death.
Her mother’s familiarity with Russian folk songs and her aunt’s storytelling abilities both instilled in Sokhanskaia a love of “Little Russia” (the provinces) and provided her with inspiration and material for her own writing. In 1844, Sokhanskaia’s first story, “Maior Smagin” (Major Smagin), was published in Syn otechestva (son of the fatherland). When another story, “Grafinia D.” (Countess D.), was turned down by Sovremennik (the contemporary), the journal’s editor, Petr Aleksandrovich Pletnev, sent Sokhanskaia an encouraging letter, thus beginning a correspondence which lasted until 1865.
Pletnev accepted Sokhanskaia’s request to be her mentor. One of the results of this epistolary relationship was Sokhanskaia’s autobiography, essentially an exercise in style. Written during 1847 and 1848 but not published until 1896, the work provides a glimpse into provincial girlhood.
Sokhanskaia’s fiction did not draw much attention until 1856, when part of “Gaika” (the linchpin) appeared in Panteon. Subsequently, the editors at other journals solicited contributions from Sokhanskaia. Although only published by Russkii vestnik (the Russian messenger) in excerpted form (much to Sokhanskaia’s chagrin), “Posle obeda v gostiakh” (an after-dinner visit, 1858) was heralded as an important story. Critics, particularly those involved in the Slavophile movement, praised Sokhanskaia for her characterizations and for her understanding of provincial Russian dialect and folk songs.
The year 1860 was a productive one for Sokhanskaia: She worked on a group of historical studies commissioned by Otechestvennye zapiski (notes of the fatherland), completed “Gaika,” and published two collections of songs she had been collecting and transcribing—Neskol’ko russkikh pesen’ (zapisannykh v Staro-oskol’skom uezde, Kurskoi gubernii) (some Russian Songs [Transcribed in Staro-skol’skii district, Kursk province]) and Ostatki boiarskikh pesen’ (fragments of Boyar songs). Sokhanskaia left Makarovka in 1862, when she traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Here, she met many of the writers with whom she had corresponded.
The following year, her collection Povesti (stories) was published. When it was reviewed negatively (for times had changed and the revolutionary democrats wanted a literature that demanded social and political action), Sokhanskaia began to write articles for the weekly newspaper Den’ (day). In addition to writing, Sokhanskaia was an active member of her agricultural community and helped to found schools for Khar’kov’s illiterate peasants. At the end of the twentieth century, Sokhanskaia received some attention for her role as a Russian woman writer. Perhaps most remarkable was her success in documenting, both in her fiction and in her nonfiction, the language and traditions of the Russian provinces.