Mikhail Evgrafovich history of the creation of the surname. Basic motives of creativity

The biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin shows not just a talented writer, but also an organizer who wants to serve the country and be useful to it. He was valued in society not only as a creator, but also as an official who cared for the interests of the people. By the way, his real name- Saltykov, and his creative pseudonym is Shchedrin.

Education

The biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin begins from childhood spent on the Tver provincial estate of his father, an ancient nobleman located in the village of Spas-Ugol. The writer would later describe this period of his life in the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity,” published after his death.

The boy received his primary education at home - his father had his own plans for his son’s education. And at the age of ten he entered the Moscow Noble Institute. However, his talents and abilities far exceeded average level this institution, and two years later, as the best student, he was transferred “for state money” to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. In that educational institution Mikhail Evgrafovich became interested in poetry, but soon realized that writing poetry was not his path.

War Department official

Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work biography began in 1844. The young man enters the service as an assistant secretary in the office of the War Ministry. He is captivated by literary activity, to which he devotes much more mental energy than to bureaucratic work. The ideas of the French socialists and the influence of the views of George Sand are visible in his early works(stories “Entangled Affair” and “Contradictions”). The author sharply criticizes serfdom, which throws Russia back a century relative to Europe. The young man expresses a deep thought that human life in society should not be a lottery, it should be life, and for this we need a different social structure of this very life.

Link to Vyatka

It is natural that the biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin during the reign of despot Emperor Nicholas I could not be free from repression: public freedom-loving thoughts were not welcomed.

Exiled to Vyatka, he served in the provincial government. He devoted a lot of time and effort to his service. The career of an official was successful. Two years later he was appointed advisor to the provincial government. Thanks to frequent business trips and active insight into people's affairs, extensive observations of Russian reality are accumulated.

In 1855, the term of exile ended, and the promising official was transferred to his native Tver province to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for militia affairs. In fact, a different Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to his small homeland. The (short) biography of the returning writer-official contains one more touch - upon his arrival home, he got married. His wife was Elizaveta Apollonovna Boltova (the Vyatka vice-governor blessed his daughter for this marriage).

A new stage of creativity. "Provincial Sketches"

However, the most important thing is to find his own literary style: his regular publications in the Moscow magazine “Russian Messenger” were expected by the literary community. This is how the general reader became acquainted with the author’s “Provincial Sketches.” Saltykov-Shchedrin's stories presented the recipients with the pernicious atmosphere of outdated serfdom. The writer calls anti-democratic state institutions an “empire of facades.” He denounces officials as “guzzlers” and “mischievous people”, local nobles as “tyrants”; shows readers the world of bribes and behind-the-scenes intrigues...

At the same time, the writer understands the very soul of the people - the reader feels this in the stories “Arinushka”, “Christ is Risen!” Starting with the story “Introduction,” Saltykov-Shchedrin immerses recipients in the world of truthful artistic images. A short biography concerning creativity, at the turn of writing “Provincial Sketches”, he himself assessed it extremely succinctly. “Everything I wrote before was nonsense!” The Russian reader finally saw a vivid and truthful picture of the generalized provincial town of Krutoyarsk, the material for the image of which was collected by the author in Vyatka exile.

Cooperation with the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”

The next stage of the writer’s work began in 1868. Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich left public service and completely focused on literary activity.

He began to work closely with the Nekrasov magazine Otechestvennye zapiski. The writer publishes in this printed edition his collections of stories “Letters from the Province”, “Signs of the Times”, “Diary of a Provincial...”, “The History of a City”, “Pompadours and Pompadours” ( full list much longer).

The author’s talent, in our opinion, was most clearly demonstrated in the story “The History of a City,” full of sarcasm and subtle humor. Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin masterfully illustrates to the reader the history of his own collective image"dark kingdom" of the city of Foolov.

Before the eyes of the addressees passes a host of rulers of this city who were in power in XVIII-XIX centuries. Each of them manages to leave social problems without attention, while on their part compromising the city government. In particular, the mayor Brudasty Dementy Varlamovich ruled in such a way that he provoked the townspeople into unrest. Another of his colleagues, Pyotr Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, (former orderly of the all-powerful Potemkin) died of gluttony while touring the lands entrusted to him. The third, Vasilisk Semyonovich Wartkin, became famous for launching real fighting and destroyed several settlements.

Instead of a conclusion

The life of Saltykov-Shchedrin was not simple. A caring and active person, not only as a writer he diagnosed the diseases of society and demonstrated them in all their ugliness for viewing. Mikhail Evgrafovich, as a government official, fought to the best of his ability against the vices of government and society.

His health was undermined by a professional loss: The authorities closed the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, with which the writer had big personal creative plans. He died in 1889 and, according to his will, was buried next to Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who had passed away six years earlier. Their creative interaction during life is well known. In particular, Mikhail Evgrafovich was inspired to write the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” by Turgenev.

The writer Saltykov-Shchedrin is deeply revered by his descendants. Streets and libraries are named in his honor. On small homeland, in Tver, open memorial museums, numerous monuments and busts were also installed.

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Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin is a writer, one of the classics of Russian literature, and vice-governor.

Biography

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was born on January 27, 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, in the Kalyazinsky district of the Tver province. Now this is the Moscow region, Taldomsky district. Mikhail's family was very wealthy. Father, Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, served as a collegiate adviser. Mother, Olga Mikhailovna Zabelina, was the daughter of wealthy merchants.

Mikhail's initial education was at home: his parents assigned him a clever serf, the artist Pavel Sokolov. After this, the future writer was raised by a governess, a priest, a seminary student and an older sister. When Saltykov-Shchedrin turned 10, he entered the Moscow Noble Institute. Here he demonstrates great success in education (largely thanks to home education), and after two years he was sent to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

The period of study at Tsarskoye Selo and then at the Alexander Lyceum also became the period when Saltykov-Shchedrin’s creativity began. It is noteworthy that the poems he wrote at that time were characterized by teachers as “disapproving.” And this concerned not style, but content, because even then Mikhail began to show his tendency to ridicule the shortcomings of the world around him. These poems, combined with far from ideal behavior, forced Mikhail to graduate from the Alexander Lyceum in the second category. Although with his knowledge he could well have received the first rank.

In 1844, shortly after graduating from the Lyceum, Saltykov-Shchedrin entered service in the office of the War Ministry. He had to work there for two years before getting a full-time position. The government service does not interfere with the development of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s free-thinking ideas, and the reaction of the authorities to his works was not long in coming.

One of the writer’s first works was the story “A Confused Affair,” which ridiculed some of the practices of Russia at that time. In 1848, Saltykov-Shchedrin was sent to serve in Vyatka for this essay. Officially it was an official transfer, but in reality it was an exile away from the capital.

The life of the province was not easy and long for Mikhail Evgrafovich, and the writer did not really like to remember it later. However, he was treated very well by local society and was a welcome guest in every home. His reputation as an official was impeccable: he worked fairly and did not take bribes even from those who offered “offerings.” Observations of the life of the gray province provided rich material for future writings.

Only in 1855 Saltykov-Shchedrin received permission to leave Vyatka. Having said goodbye to his acquaintances, he happily goes to St. Petersburg. A year later, Mikhail Evgrafovich becomes an official special assignments under the Minister of Internal Affairs. Then the official is sent on inspection to the Tver and Vladimir provinces. During this trip, the official finds out that the province has many small and large shortcomings, and they are becoming more and more threatening.

In 1958 follows new round careers of Saltykov-Shchedrin. He is appointed Ryazan vice-governor, and two years later he is transferred to Tver to a similar position. The service takes a lot of time, but he is actively involved in creativity and begins to collaborate with several domestic magazines.

During this period, Saltykov-Shchedrin became more and more interested in literature. His works are published in the magazines “Moskovsky Vestnik”, “Russian Vestnik”, “Library for Reading”, “Sovremennik”.

In 1862, Saltykov-Shchedrin decided to say goodbye to public service. He resigns and moves to St. Petersburg. IN next year former official becomes full-time employee"Contemporary". This period turned out to be extremely fruitful. Reviews, articles, reviews about literary works. Saltykov-Shchedrin really wrote a lot, but could not be satisfied with the meager remuneration that the magazine provided for his work. We have to think again about returning to work. Editorial staff recalled that Saltykov-Shchedrin once caused a scandal by declaring that the work of a writer could only lead to starvation.

He actually became an official again in 1864 and was appointed chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber. Saltykov-Shchedrin then works in similar positions in Tula and Ryazan.

The writer’s thirst for literature did not leave him, and in 1868 he resigned again. A new period of creativity begins, during which some of the most famous works: “The History of One City”, “Poshekhon Antiquity”, “Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg” and others. “The History of a City” is the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity as a satirist.

Having become the editor-in-chief of Otechestvennye zapiski in 1877, Saltykov-Shchedrin simply amazes his employees with his enormous efficiency. Nothing could force him to give up work even for a while. It seemed that he was always working, without even stopping to sleep. At the same time, Saltykov-Shchedrin visits Western Europe and meets many famous contemporaries– Zola, Flaubert and others.

In the 1880s, the writer's satire was at the peak of its sharpness. The most topical works (“Mister Golovlevs”, “ Modern idyll", "Poshekhonsky stories") were written during this period.

The writer experiences the closure of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski in 1884 very painfully. After this, his health condition worsens, physical suffering is superimposed on moral shocks. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s publications are now published in Vestnik Evropy.

At this time, the writer feels worse and worse, his strength noticeably leaves him. He is often sick, but works hard on his works.

In May 1889, Saltykov-Shchedrin once again fell ill with a cold. The weakened body was unable to resist the disease. On May 10, 1889, Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin died. He bequeathed to bury himself next to I. S. Turgenev, which was carried out on May 14. The body of Saltykov-Shchedrin rests in the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The main achievements of Saltykov-Shchedrin

• Saltykov-Shchedrin managed to do an excellent job of exposing the vices of the society of his time. For two decades, his works, like a sponge, absorbed all the shortcomings of life. Russian Empire. In fact, these writings are historical documents, because the reliability of some of them is almost complete.
• The creative heritage of Saltykov-Shchedrin does not lose its relevance long years after the writer's death. The images of his satire were often used by Vladimir Lenin, and thanks to Turgenev’s active propaganda, his works are well known to Western readers.
• The prose of Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most valuable examples of world satire. The style of criticism, framed in a fairy tale, was used by the writer very actively and became a role model for many writers in the future. The tale, which is aimed at criticizing social imperfection, was used as literary device and before Saltykov-Shchedrin, but it was he who was able to make this technique classic.

Main dates of the biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin

• January 15, 1826 - birth in the village of Spas-Ugol.
• 1836 – 1838 – studied at the Noble Institute in Moscow.
• 1838 – transfer to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. For academic success, the student is transferred to study at state expense.
• 1841 - the beginning of poetic experiments. Publication of the poem "Lyre".
• 1844 – completion of studies at the Lyceum. Work in the office of the Military Department.
• 1847 – publication of the first story, “Contradictions”.
• 1848 – publication of the story “A Confused Affair”. Arrest and exile to Vyatka.
• 1848 - 1855 - work in Vyatka.
• 1855 - return to St. Petersburg. Work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Business trip to Tver and Vladimir provinces.
• 1856 - marriage to Elizaveta Apollonovna Boltina, daughter of the vice-governor of Vyatka. Beginning of publication of a series of stories from the satirical cycle “Provincial Sketches”. Public acceptance.
• 1858 - appointment to the post of Ryazan vice-governor.
• 1862 - return to St. Petersburg. Getting started with the Sovremennik magazine.
• 1864 - return to government service. Frequent changes of duty stations due to bold ridicule of the shortcomings of the bureaucracy.
• 1868 - resignation with the rank of full state councilor. Start of work on the staff of Otechestvennye Zapiski.
• 1869-1870 - publication of fairy tales " Wild landowner", "The story of how one man fed two generals", famous novel"The history of one city."
• 1872 - birth of son Konstantin.
• 1873 – birth of daughter Elizabeth.
• 1876 ​​– serious deterioration in health.
• 1880 - the novel “The Golovlevs” goes into print.
• 1884 – ban on the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.
• 1889 – publication of the novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” and a sharp deterioration in the writer’s health.
• May 10, 1889 – death of Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Interesting facts from the life of Saltykov-Shchedrin

• The word “softness” was coined by Saltykov-Shchedrin.
• The novel “Poshekhon Antiquity” is considered partly biographical.
• After his first attempts to create poems, Saltykov-Shchedrin abandoned poetry forever.
• The story “Contradictions” was called “idiotic stupidity” by Belinsky.
• Saltykov-Shchedrin sharply condemned the assassination of Alexander II.

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was born on January 27, 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province. The boy was born into an old noble family. Childhood years passed in family estate father. Having received good home education At the age of ten, Mikhail was admitted as a boarder to the Moscow Noble Institute, and in 1838 he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here, under the influence of the works of Belinsky, Herzen, Gogol, he begins to write poetry.

In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, Saltykov served as an official in the office of the War Ministry. “...Everywhere there is duty, everywhere there is coercion, everywhere there is boredom and lies...”, this is how he described bureaucratic Petersburg.

Mikhail Evgrafovich’s first stories “Contradictions”, “A Confused Affair” with their acute social issues attracted the attention of the authorities, frightened French revolution 1848. After this, the writer was sent to Vyatka, where he lived for eight years.

In 1850, he was appointed to the position of adviser to the provincial government of the city. This gave the writer the opportunity to observe the official world and peasant life.

Five years later, after the death of Nicholas I, Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to St. Petersburg and resumed literary work. In the next two years, the writer created “Provincial Sketches,” for which reading Russia named him Gogol’s heir.

Further, until 1868, with a short break, Saltykov was in public service in Ryazan, Tver, Penza, and Tula. The frequent change of duty stations is explained by conflicts with the heads of the provinces, at whom the writer “laughed” in grotesque pamphlets.

After a complaint from the Ryazan governor, Saltykov-Shchedrin was dismissed in 1868 with the rank of full state councilor. Then he moves to St. Petersburg and accepts Nikolai Nekrasov’s invitation to become co-editor of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski. Now the writer devotes himself entirely to literary activity.

In 1870, Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote “The History of a City,” the pinnacle of his satirical art. For the next five years, Mikhail Evgrafovich was treated abroad. In Paris he met with Turgenev, Flaubert, Zola. In the 1880s, Saltykov’s satire reaches its climax: “Modern idylls”; "Lord Golovlevs"; "Poshekhonsky stories." IN last years In his life, the writer created his masterpieces: “Fairy Tales”; "Little nothings of life"; "Poshekhonskaya antiquity."

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin died on May 10, 1889. According to his will, the writer was buried next to the grave of Ivan Turgenev at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Bibliography of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

Chronicles and novels

"Pompadours and pompadours" (1863-1873)
"Gentlemen Golovlevs" (1875-1880)
"The History of a City" (1869-1870)
“Poshekhon antiquity” (1887-1889)
"Asylum of Mon Repos" (1878-1879)

Fairy tales

"The Wild Landowner" (1869)
“The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” (1869)
"Conscience Lost" (1869)
"Toy People" (1880)
"Poor Wolf" (1883)
"The Wise Minnow" (1883)
"The Selfless Hare" (1883)
"The Tale of the Zealous Chief" (1883)
"Dried roach" (1884)
"Virtues and Vices" (1884)
"Crucian idealist" (1884)
"Bear in the Voivodeship" (1884)
"The Trickster Newsboy and the Gullible Reader" (1884)
"Eagle Patron" (1884)
"The Ram-Unremembered" (1885)
"Faithful Trezor" (1885)
"Fool" (1885)
"The Sane Hare" (1885)
"Kissel" (1885)
"Horse" (1885)
"Liberal" (1885)
"The Watchful Eye" (1885)
"Bogatyr" (1886; banned, published only in 1922)
"The Petitioning Raven" (1886)
"Idle Talk" (1886)
"Adventure with Kramolnikov" (1886)
"Christ's Night"
"Christmas tale"
"Neighbours"
"Village Fire"
"The Way-Dear"

Stories

"Anniversary"
"Kind Soul"
"Spoiled Children"
"Neighbours"
“Chizhikovo Mountain” (1884)

Books of essays

"In a mental hospital"
“Gentlemen of Tashkent” (1873)
"Lords of the Silent Ones"
"Provincial Sketches" (1856-1857)
“Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg” (1872)
"Abroad" (1880-1881)
"Letters to Auntie"
"Innocent Stories"
"Pompadours and pompadours" (1863-1874)
"Satires in Prose"
"Modern Idyll" (1877-1883)
"Well-Intentioned Speeches" (1872-1876)

Comedy

“The Death of Pazukhin” (1857, banned; staged 1893)
“Shadows” (1862-65, unfinished, staged 1914)

Memory of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

The following were named in honor of Mikhail Saltykov:

streets in:

Volgograd
Kramatorsk
Krivoy Rog
Lipetsk
Novosibirsk
Orle
Penza
Ryazan
Taldome
Tver
Tomsk
Tyumen
Khabarovsk
Yaroslavl
street and alley in Kaluga
lane in Shakhty

State public library them. Saltykova-Shchedrin (St. Petersburg)
Before the renaming, Saltykova-Shchedrina Street was in St. Petersburg

Memorial museums of Saltykov-Shchedrin exist in:

Kirov
Tver

Monuments to the writer were installed in:

Lebyazhye, monument to Saltykov Shchedrin
Lebyazhye village, Leningrad region
in the city of Tver on Tverskaya Square (opened on January 26, 1976 in connection with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth). Depicted seated in a carved chair, leaning his hands on a cane. Sculptor O.K. Komov, architect N.A. Kovalchuk. Mikhail Saltykov was the vice-governor of Tver from 1860 to 1862. The writer’s Tver impressions were reflected in “Satires in Prose” (1860-1862), “The History of a City” (1870), “The Golovlev Gentlemen” (1880) and other works.
the city of Taldom, Moscow region ((opened on August 6, 2016 in connection with the celebration of the 190th anniversary of his birth). Depicted sitting in a chair, in right hand- a sheet of paper with the quote “Don’t get bogged down in the details of the present, but cultivate the ideals of the future” (from “Poshekhon Antiquity”). Armchair - exact copy a real Saltykov chair, kept in the writer’s museum at the school in the village of Ermolino, Taldom district. The writer’s homeland, the village of Spas-Ugol, is located on the territory of the Taldom municipal district, the center of which is the city of Taldom. Sculptor D. A. Stretovich, architect A. A. Airapetov.

Busts of the writer are installed in:

Ryazan. The opening ceremony took place on April 11, 2008, in connection with the 150th anniversary of the appointment of Mikhail Saltykov to the post of vice-governor in Ryazan. The bust is installed in a public garden next to the house, which is currently a branch of the Ryazan regional library, and previously served as the residence of the Ryazan vice-governor. The author of the monument is Ivan Cherapkin, Honored Artist of Russia, professor at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after Surikov.
Kirov. The stone sculpture, authored by Kirov artist Maxim Naumov, is located on the wall of the building of the former Vyatka provincial government (Dinamovsky proezd, 4), where Mikhail Evgrafovich served as an official during his stay in Vyatka
village of Spas-Ugol, Taldomsky district, Moscow region
The “Saltykiada” project, conceived and born in Vyatka, dedicated to the 190th anniversary of the birth of M. E. Saltykov Shchedrin, uniting literature and art. It included: the procedure for open defense of diploma projects of students of the Department of Technology and Design of Vyatka State University, at which the ceremonial transfer of the symbol figurine was carried out All-Russian Prize M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin to the government Kirov region, as well as the ceremony of donating a sculptural image of the writer and a set collectible coins Kirov Regional Museum. The M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Prize was awarded to Evgeniy Grishkovets (September 14, 2015). Exhibition “M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Image of Time”, where the project of a sculptural monument to the writer was presented. Exhibition of works by Maxim Naumov “Saltykiada” in the Kirov Regional art museum named after the Vasnetsov brothers (March - April 2016). In October 2016, as part of the Saltykov Readings, a presentation of the multi-information album “Saltykiada” took place.
At the exhibition “Saltykiada. The story of one book”, held on March 16, 2017, 22 new graphic works cycle, as well as works from the collections of the Vyatka Art Museum.
Released in the USSR stamps, dedicated to Mikhail Saltykov.
Postal envelopes, including those with special cancellation marks, were issued in the USSR and Russia.

Saltykov-Shchedrin (pseudonym N. Shchedrin) Mikhail Evgrafovich (1826 1889), prose writer.

Born on January 15 (27 NS) in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, into an old noble family. His childhood years were spent on his father's family estate in "... the years... of the very height of serfdom", in one of the remote corners of "Poshekhonye". Observations of this life will subsequently be reflected in the writer’s books.

Having received a good education at home, Saltykov at the age of 10 was accepted as a boarder at the Moscow Noble Institute, where he spent two years, then in 1838 he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here he began to write poetry, having been greatly influenced by the articles of Belinsky and Herzen, and the works of Gogol.

In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, he served as an official in the office of the War Ministry. “...Everywhere there is duty, everywhere there is coercion, everywhere there is boredom and lies...” - this is the description he gave of bureaucratic Petersburg. Another life was more attractive to Saltykov: communication with writers, visiting Petrashevsky’s “Fridays,” where philosophers, scientists, writers, and military men gathered, united by anti-serfdom sentiments and the search for the ideals of a just society.

Saltykov’s first stories “Contradictions” (1847), “A Confused Affair” (1848), with their acute social problems, attracted the attention of the authorities, frightened by the French Revolution of 1848. The writer was exiled to Vyatka for “... a harmful way of thinking and a destructive desire to spread ideas that have already shaken the whole of Western Europe...". For eight years he lived in Vyatka, where in 1850 he was appointed to the position of adviser to the provincial government. This made it possible to often go on business trips and observe the bureaucratic world and peasant life. The impressions of these years will influence the satirical direction of the writer’s work.

At the end of 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, having received the right to “live wherever he wishes,” he returned to St. Petersburg and resumed his literary work. In 1856 1857, “Provincial Sketches” were written, published on behalf of the “court adviser N. Shchedrin,” who became known throughout reading Russia, which named him Gogol’s heir.

At this time, he married the 17-year-old daughter of the Vyatka vice-governor, E. Boltina. Saltykov sought to combine the work of a writer with public service. In 1856 1858 he was an official of special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where work on preparing the peasant reform was concentrated.

In 1858 1862 he served as vice-governor in Ryazan, then in Tver. I always tried to surround myself at my place of work with honest, young and educated people, firing bribe-takers and thieves.

During these years, stories and essays appeared (“Innocent Stories”, 1857㬻 “Satires in Prose”, 1859 62), as well as articles on the peasant question.

In 1862, the writer retired, moved to St. Petersburg and, at the invitation of Nekrasov, joined the editorial staff of the Sovremennik magazine, which at that time was experiencing enormous difficulties (Dobrolyubov died, Chernyshevsky was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress). Saltykov took on a huge amount of writing and editing work. But the main attention was paid to the monthly review "Nasha" public life", which became a monument to Russian journalism of the 1860s.

In 1864 Saltykov left the editorial office of Sovremennik. The reason was internal disagreements on the tactics of social struggle in the new conditions. He returned to government service.

In 1865 1868 he headed the State Chambers in Penza, Tula, Ryazan; observations of the life of these cities formed the basis of “Letters about the Province” (1869). The frequent change of duty stations is explained by conflicts with the heads of the provinces, at whom the writer “laughed” in grotesque pamphlets. After a complaint from the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was dismissed in 1868 with the rank of full state councilor. He moved to St. Petersburg, accepted N. Nekrasov’s invitation to become co-editor of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, where he worked in 1868 1884. Saltykov now completely switched to literary activity. In 1869 he wrote "The History of a City" - the pinnacle of his satirical art.

In 1875 1876 he was treated abroad, visited countries Western Europe V different years life. In Paris he met with Turgenev, Flaubert, Zola.

In the 1880s, Saltykov's satire reached its climax in its anger and grotesquery: "Modern Idyll" (1877 83); "Gentlemen Golovlevs" (1880); "Poshekhonsky stories" (1883㭐).

In 1884, the journal Otechestvennye zapiski was closed, after which Saltykov was forced to publish in the journal Vestnik Evropy.

In the last years of his life, the writer created his masterpieces: “Fairy Tales” (1882 86); "Little things in life" (1886 87); autobiographical novel "Poshekhon Antiquity" (1887 89).

A few days before his death, he wrote the first pages of a new work." Forgotten words", where he wanted to remind the "motley people" of the 1880s about the words they had lost: "conscience, fatherland, humanity... others are still there...".