A g a f o n o v a M a r i n a 1 1 a

 Ukrainian-born Russian author and-dramatist is deemed by many as the Father of Russia's Golden Age of Realism.  Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was born on his parents' estate in Sorochintsi, Ukraine, on 31 March, He was the first son to Vasili and Maria Gogol. Though his real surname was Ianovskii, his grandfather had claimed his noble Cossack ancestors' name Gogol. Nikolai's younger brother Ivan died when Nikolai was ten, thus profoundly affecting his character, always in search of his next best friend.

 Young Nikolai attended the Poltava boarding school, and then went on to Nezhin high school from 1821 to 1828, where he wrote for the school's literary journal and participated in theatrical productions. With a certificate attesting to his right to 'the rank of the 14th class' he moved to St. Petersburg in 1829 teaching history at the Patriotic Institute and tutoring from ]At this time he ventured to publish, at his own expense, his epic narrative poem «Hanz Kuechelgarten", the result of his reading German Romantics. It was not well-received.

 After plans to enter into the civil service, Gogol decided he would try to make a name for himself in literature instead.  Gogol met the great Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin in 1831 who would become a great friend and influence until his death in 1837.

Gogol turned to writing full-time when his position as lecturer in World History at the University of St. Petersburg ( ) failed. It was at this time that he published his collection of short stories «Mirgorod» (1835), containing «Taras Bulba», « Old World Landowners», the comical satire «The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich» and «Viy».

 «Dead Souls» was published in 1842, a satirisation of serfdom, seen by many as the first 'modern' Russian novel and a call for reform and freedom for serfs, much to Gogol's chagrin.

 He was a deeply sensitive man, tormented throughout his life with moral and religious issues. As he go older, the criticism of his writing from his peers increasingly drained his spirit. Turning to religion, Gogol made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Upon return, greatly depressed and under the influence of the religions fanatical priest, Father Konstantinovskii, Gogol subjected himself to a fatal course of fasting and died on the 4th of March, 1852, at the age of forty- two. He is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.