Sergei Nikolaevich Terpigorev
Sergei Nikolaevich Terpigorev was a notable Russian writer born on May 12, 1841, in the Tambov province. He came from a landowning family, which deeply influenced his literary perspectives on provincial life and social issues. Terpigorev began his literary career at a young age, publishing his first work in a newspaper while still a student. Although he initially enrolled in law at St. Petersburg University, his studies were disrupted by student protests, leading him to withdraw after just one year. Instead of pursuing a legal career, he became involved in journalism, writing exposés and humorous sketches reflective of local society.
His literary breakthrough came with the publication of his sketches in prominent journals, notably in the 1880s when he released the popular collection “Oskudenie,” which humorously critiqued the landed gentry. Later, he shifted focus to the urban poor, addressing social injustices and gaining recognition as a significant voice for social change in his writing. Terpigorev's work illustrates the struggles of both peasants and the urban underclass during a transformative period in Russian society, highlighting the tensions between different social classes. His contributions to literature and journalism remain an important part of the discourse on social issues in 19th-century Russia.
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Sergei Nikolaevich Terpigorev
- Born: May 12, 1841
- Birthplace: Tambov, Russia
- Died: June 13, 1895
- Place of death: Novaia Derevnia, near St. Petersburg, Russia
Biography
Sergei Nikolaevich Terpigorev was born in Russia’s Tambov province on May 12, 1841, to Nikolai Nikolaevich Terpigorev, a landowner, and Varvara Ivanovna Terpigoreva, née Rakhmaninovna. Terpigorev’s early exposure to provincial gentry and serfdom informed his later writing. Educated at home and at the Tambov boarding school, Terpigorev wrote his first ocherk, or sketch, while still in school. It was published as “Cherstvaia dolia” (a hard lot) in the newspaper Russkii mir (the Russian world) in 1861.
Although interested in literature and history, Terpigorev—at the suggestion of his uncle Fedor Ivanovich Rakhmaninov, a censor—entered St. Petersburg University in 1860 as a law student. He was only a student for one year, however; student protests resulted in the university’s closing for a year. When the university reopened, Terpigorev refused to study under the administration’s outdated regulations and withdrew. He spent another year in St. Petersburg publishing exposés of Tambov scandals for Gudok (the whistle), Russkii mir’s satirical supplement. Before moving back to his family estate in 1862, Terpigorev’s short story “Iz zapisok neudavshegosia chinovnika” (from the notes of an unsuccessful civil servant) was accepted by Russkoe slovo (the Russian word).
In Tambov, Terpigorev wrote humorous and satirical sketches of local happenings; these appeared regularly in the newspaper Golos (the voice). Terpigorev returned to St. Petersburg in 1867, contributing articles to Golos and a series of sketches to the daily Birzhevye vedomosti (stock exchange news). After the appearance of two stories in the important monthly journal Otechestvennye zapiski (notes of the fatherland) in 1869 and 1870, Terpigorev published little for a decade. He worked instead as a horse trader and a firewood supplier, and was also involved in a business that initiated commercial electricity use.
In 1880, eleven of his sketches appeared monthly in Otechestvennye zapiski. Titled Oskudenie: Ocherki, zametki i razmyshelniia tambovskogo pomeshchika (impoverishment: the sketches, notes, and reflections of a Tambov landowner), the clever and sarcastic sketches were immensely popular. Terpigorev collected them as Oskudenie (impoverishment) in 1881; the book’s success led to a second run the following year. Other stories were published in leading journals and newspapers during the early 1880’s.
At this time, Terpigorev established a small estate in Novaia Derevnia, just outside of St. Petersburg. He also contributed stories, articles, and sketches to the newspapers Istoricheskii vestnik (historical messenger), Peterburgskaiai gazeta (Petersburg gazette), Poriadok (order), and Novoe vremia (new times). A second collection of stories about landowners was published as Potrevozhennye teni (phantoms disturbed) in 1888-1890.
Late in his life, Terpigorev turned to the urban underclass as the subject of his stories. At a time when readers were most receptive to social change, Terpigorev—both as an investigative journalist and as a writer of short fiction—succeeded in drawing attention to the malfeasance of the landed gentry and to the injustices faced by peasants and the urban poor.