Fjodor Dostojevski | Origin of Street Names

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881) was one of the most influential Russian writers in history, the founder of the psychological novel, a literary genius, and one of the greatest names in world literature of all time.

A descendant of an immigrant noble family whose roots led from Belarus, Dostoevsky was born in Moscow as the second of seven children of Mikhail Dostoevsky and Maria Fyodorovna.

In line with Russian tradition and the times in which he grew up, after completing his basic education, he was sent to St. Petersburg where he graduated from the Military Academy, although he never had ambitions for a military career.

On the contrary, from an early age, familiar with the great works of Pushkin, Gogol, Goethe, and other classics of his time, it could be said that the path of the great writer was paved since his childhood. Admiring Balzac, at the age of only 22, he translated the famous "Eugene Onegin" into Russian, and three years later, he published his first novel, "Poor Folk."

In his youthful enthusiasm, he flew with ideas of social liberalism, openly criticizing and working against the tsarist authorities, for which he was arrested. After several months in prison, he was sentenced to death by firing squad, but on the execution ground, in front of the firing squad, he was pardoned. Instead of execution, Dostoevsky was exiled to Siberia for five years of hard labor.

During his imprisonment, a significant turning point occurred in Fyodor Mikhailovich's beliefs. Returning to traditional Russian values and Christianity, he dedicated himself to writing, and in the following decades, his most famous works were created, which would forever place him among the greatest writers in the history of Russian and world literature. These include the novels "Humiliated and Insulted," "Notes from Underground," "Crime and Punishment," "The Gambler," "The Idiot," "Demons," "The Brothers Karamazov," and others.

Through the unique intertwining of everyday themes and ordinary life with universal questions (love and freedom, good and evil, spirituality, social justice...), in his novels, the greatest psychologist among writers, the melancholic and depressive Fyodor Dostoevsky, delved with his pen into the dark depths of the human mind and became an eternal inspiration to generations of future famous writers, critics, philosophers, and theologians.

It may be unknown to many that Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote his most significant novel, "Crime and Punishment," in order to pay off his gambling debts, and the same reason gave rise to the novel "The Gambler."

As is the case with most great writers, the fame and respect that Dostoevsky gained during his lifetime are nowhere near the recognition he enjoys today, nearly a century and a half after his death.

Fyodor Mikhailovich suffered from epilepsy throughout his life. This neurological disorder was the cause of his premature death at the age of 60 when he had a seizure and bled to death.

According to some sources, an incredible 100,000 people attended the funeral of the great writer in St. Petersburg, a farewell previously reserved only for deceased Russian tsars.

In honor of the greatest Russian writer, streets in many cities in Serbia today bear the name Fyodor Dostoevsky.