Nizhyn State University named after N.V. Gogol.

The idea of ​​opening a higher educational institution on the left bank has long worried the leading people of Ukraine. Both Ivan Mazepa and Kirill Razumovsky wanted to do this. A project was even developed for the construction of a university in Baturyn. But the death of Empress Elizabeth prevented these plans from being realized. Only at the beginning of the 19th century a university was opened in Ukraine in Kharkov, the Higher Volyn Gymnasium in Kremenets, the Kiev Gymnasium, and the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa. The Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences also stands in this row.

The history of the Nizhyn gymnasium is connected with the name of Prince Alexander Bezborodko, chancellor of Catherine II, and his brother, Count Ilya Bezborodko. It was the nephew of the Bezborodko brothers, Viktor Kochubey, who was a very influential figure at the court of Alexander l, who recommended building a university in Nizhyn. “Little Russia does not have universities, and Nizhyn is a very good place for this noble purpose.” The Bezborodko brothers donated more than 600 thousand rubles for the construction of this educational institution - a colossal amount for those times. The Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences opened on September 4, 1820, and the famous scientist Vasily Kukolnik became its first director.

Nizhyn Legal Lyceum.

Nezhinsky Legal Lyceum of Prince A.A. Bezborodko, a higher educational institution in the city of Nezhin, opened in memory of the Chancellor of the Russian Empire, His Serene Highness Prince A.A. Bezborodko. Existed under different names from 1820 to 1875. Subsequently - Nizhyn Historical and Philological Institute of Prince A.A. Bezborodko, now Nezhin State University named after N.V. Gogol.

Gymnasium of Higher Sciences (1820 – 1832).

The highest rescript on the founding of the gymnasium was signed by Emperor Alexander on April 19 (May 1), 1820.

The period of study at the gymnasium was 9 years and was divided into categories of three classes in each. Graduates of the gymnasium, depending on their academic success, had the right to the rank of 12-14 grades according to the “Table of Ranks”.

The following students studied at the gymnasium of higher sciences: N.V. Gogol (1821 – 1828), N.V. Puppeteer (1821 – 1829), N.Ya. Prokopovich, A.S. Danilevsky, E.P. Comb (1825 – 1831), A.S. Afanasyev - Chuzhbinsky (1829 - 1835), N.I. Miklukha.

Nizhyn Physics and Mathematics Lyceum (1832 – 1840).

According to the new charter, approved on October 7 (19), 1832, the gymnasium was renamed the physics and mathematics lyceum. At the same time, the gymnasium classes were closed and only the three highest ones were left. The staff of the Lyceum consisted of 6 professors who taught mathematics and applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, technology, Russian literature, natural history, Russian history with statistics, two lecturers on French and German literature and a law teacher who taught the Law of God.

Nizhyn Legal Lyceum (1840 – 1875).

By the highest decree of Emperor Nicholas of April 24 (May 6), 1840, the lyceum changed the profile of its work. From now on, the main goal of the lyceum became “the dissemination of thorough information regarding domestic legislation,” that is, teaching the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. At this time, I.A. taught at the lyceum. Maksimovich, the author of several works that are still used in our time by historians of jurisprudence. He taught courses in criminal and police law.

A gymnasium was reopened at the lyceum. According to the highest approved opinion of the State Council of November 20 (December 2), 1874, the Nizhyn Legal Lyceum was transformed into the Historical and Philological Institute of Prince A.A. Bezborodko. The transformation was carried out the following year, 1875.

How the Nezhin Historical and Philological Institute of Prince A.A. Bezborodko former lyceum existed until 1919. In 1919, on its basis, the Scientific and Pedagogical Institute was created, which was later renamed the Institute of Public Education, and from 1934 to the Nizhyn Pedagogical Institute (in 1939, named after N.V. Gogol). In 2004, it was transformed into the Nizhyn State University named after N. IN. Gogol.

Only noblemen were admitted to the Nizhyn Lyceum; they studied there for nine years. Graduates of the gymnasium-lyceum, as well as those who graduated from the university, were exempt from examinations for higher ranks. The lyceum was under the authority of the trustee of the Kharkov district (the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum reported directly to the Minister of Public Education), but it was maintained at the expense of the founders.

In the charter approved by Alexander I, it was written: “The administration of the gymnasium is of four types: 1) moral, 2) educational, 3) economic, 4) police.” The police approach to moral education, as a rule, gives rise to a very trivial product - rods. They were also used within the walls of the Nezhin gymnasium. Flogged and “Nikosha” by Gogol-Yanovsky, sent by his father to the lyceum in 1821 after he graduated from the Poltava povet (district) school. Nestor Kukolnik, who studied with Gogol in Nizhyn, recalled that during the flogging Gogol screamed shrilly. “He pretended so skillfully,” wrote the Puppeteer, “that we were all convinced of his insanity.”

However, the first director of the institution, Ivan Semenovich Orlay, very rarely and extremely reluctantly resorted to such educational measures. As the same Kukolnik testified, he “even fell ill while signing the verdict.” In general, Orlai was a wonderful person in the full sense of the word. A native of Hungary, he found a second home in Russia and gave it his talents and knowledge. At the age of 19, he was already a professor, attended lectures in Vienna and Lvov, at the University of Konigsberg, where philosophy was read “from Kant’s notebooks.” At one time he was even a government surgeon under Paul I, took part in the War of 1812 and operated on the wounded. When Orlai became director in Nizhyn, he had the titles of both Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy. A passionate admirer of Horace's language, he invited his students to his place, treated them to lunch and talked with them in Latin at the table. At the Lyceum, Orlai sought to introduce the methods of Pestalozzi, a very popular teacher in Europe at that time, the main one in whose system was the need to establish mutual understanding between students and teachers. When selecting teachers, Orlai, with some exceptions, found, first of all, educated, thoughtful people capable of instilling in their students the values ​​of European culture. Many of the Nezhin teachers (among them were Russians, Greeks, Hungarians, French, Italians, Swiss) had two higher educations, and many of them had graduated from university at one time, knew several languages ​​and were encyclopedic educated. Just such teachers were the junior professor of German literature Fyodor Ivanovich Singer and the professor of French literature Ivan Yakovlevich Landrazhin, who not only knew their subject perfectly, but also gave their students books to read from their personal libraries, hosted them at home, where literary and scientific interviews took place , read French and German classics in the original, translated Schiller, German romantics, and even Voltaire himself. Among the outstanding Nizhyn teachers are Kazimir Varfolomeevich Shapalinsky, who equally brilliantly knew mathematics and Russian literature, and professor of botany Nikita Fedorovich Solovyov.

An extract from the “Conference Journal” of the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences speaks about Orlai’s management style: “Mr. Director expressed his desire that each of those present at the meetings regarding the management of the gymnasium would express their thoughts freely and freely, even if it happened against any measures proposed by Mr. Director himself, and whose judgments turn out to be the most thorough, are recorded in a paragraph of the journal under his name.” lyceum gymnasium university

Perhaps the greatest wealth of the gymnasium was the library, which was started by the honorary trustee Count A.G. Kushelev-Bezborodko, great-nephew of A.A. Bezborodko. He tried to rely on the experience of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (which he himself graduated from). The count donated two and a half thousand volumes to the gymnasium. These were mostly translated and historical books.

It was not for nothing that history was so loved in the gymnasium - it was the influence of the era. Representatives of the educated strata of society were impressed by the publication of eleven volumes of “History of the Russian State” by Karamzin (they also stood on the shelves of the Lyceum library) and novels by Walter Scott. High school students even formed a historical society, where they independently translated works of foreign languages ​​and compiled a body of world history based on compilations and independent research.

Pupil “Nikosha” also studied in such an environment. He often had a hard time, especially in the early years. There was everything here: ridicule (often evil) from classmates, difficulties in studying, especially in learning languages, and clashes with teachers (some of them openly persecuted Gogol). True, Gogol himself was not diligent and, moreover, had a difficult character. But here his great talent was formed: During his years of study, Gogol created his first literary works: the poetic ballad “Two Fishes”, the tragedy “Robbers”, “The Slavic Tale”, “The Tverdislavich Brothers”, the idyll “Ganz Kückelgarten”, as well as “ Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools.” Gogol's closest lifelong friends were his fellow students A.S. Danilevsky and N.Ya. Prokopovich. In the last years of his studies in Nizhyn, the future writer took an active part in the life of the gymnasium: he published handwritten journals, acted as a librarian, and played on the stage of the gymnasium theater, which appeared with Orlai’s permission in 1824. The opening of the theater created some kind of festive whirlwind, which also swirled around “Nikosha”. Gogol was accepted into the group and was offered the role of Creon in V. Ozerov’s tragedy “Oedipus in Athens.” In general, it is clear why Gogol got it: Creon was ugly, proud and lonely.

By the way, all the troubles of the Nizhyn Lyceum began with the theater. Or rather, it became the formal reason for the emergence of these troubles. In May 1825, a professor of natural law, Nikolai Grigorievich Belousov, appeared at the gymnasium. At the age of 15, he graduated from the Kiev Theological Academy, then entered Kharkov University, which was considered the best educational institution in Ukraine (Kharkov was then called the Ukrainian Athens). The philosophy faculty at the university was especially strong, where from 1804 to 1816 Professor Johann Schad, recommended in Kharkov by Goethe and Schiller. Two certificates issued to Belousov upon graduation testified that he “with excellent success” studied at the ethical and philological department of the Faculty of Philosophy and at the Faculty of Law.

Vasily Afanasyevich [Gogol, father of N.V. Gogol. - Note], having learned about the opening in Nizhyn at the beginning of 1821 of a new educational institution - the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, Prince. Bezborodko, “immediately began making inquiries. According to the information received, the Nizhyn gymnasium seemed to be a reputable and serious educational institution [in comparison with the Poltava povet school. - Note], in which, as stated, “all the sciences that are taught in universities will be taught,” and those who graduate will receive the same certificates and benefits as students.”

In the spring of 1821, eleven-year-old Gogol was taken to Nizhyn, and on May 1, after an entrance exam, he was admitted to the gymnasium

The Gymnasium of Higher Sciences of Prince Bezborodko in Nizhyn was established “for the special benefit of educating the children of poor and disadvantaged nobles of the Little Russian Territory and preparing them for public service.” The Nizhyn gymnasium was the only higher educational institution for most of the left bank of Ukraine, but it did not provide any specific specialty, preparing personnel for local officials from the nobility. Studying at the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences lasted nine years and was divided into three courses over three years - lower, middle and higher. The last, highest course was equivalent to a lyceum, or university, and had two departments - philosophical and legal.

In the system of gymnasium teaching, philosophical, legal and humanitarian disciplines occupied the main place. Professor of Russian literature P. Nikolsky, the author of the then widespread theory of literature, “rhetoric,” read the history of literature from a classicist position. He did not recognize Pushkin and was hostile to new phenomena in literature. “In general, our scientific and literary education was done, one might say, self-taught,” recalled one of the former students. - Literature professor Nikolsky had no idea about ancient and Western literatures. In Russian literature he admired Kheraskov and Sumarokov; Ozerov, Batyushkov and Zhukovsky were dissatisfied with the classics, and the language and thoughts of Pushkin were trivial, recognizing, however, some harmony in his poems... Naughty comrades in the 5th and 6th grades, obliged to pay weekly tribute to poems, used to rewrite them from magazines and almanacs, short poems by Pushkin, Yazykov, book. Vyazemsky was introduced to the professor as one of their own, knowing well that he was not involved in modern literature at all. The professor solemnly subjected these poems to strict criticism, expressing regret that the verse was smooth and of little use...”

The program for literature and rhetoric for the 6th grade for 1827 indicates a number of authors of the Middle Ages, antiquity and Russian of the 18th century

This program gives an idea of ​​the range of knowledge that Gogol took from the gymnasium: “In the sixth grade, one should study aesthetics or analyze elegant rhetoricians, such as: Demosthenes, Cicero, Muret, Bossuet, Fletier, Massillon, Bourdalou, Feofan Prokopovich, Eminence Yavorsky, Gideon , Plato, Anastasius and others; analysis of writers such as: Jerusalem, Fenelon, Thomas, Carancioli, Bem, Tatishchev, Emin, Karamzin and others; and, finally, an analysis of elegant poets, such as: Homer, Horace, Virgil, Ovid, Petrarch, Camoens, Tass, Milton, Boileau, Racine, Pope, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Kheraskov, Derzhavin, Zhukovsky and others; but without further speculation, speculation and speculation.” How characteristic is this instruction about the study of aesthetics and literature “without further speculation,” expressing the protective direction that government authorities tried to give to science. After all, ancient “rhetoricians” and church preachers occupied the main place in the study of aesthetics and eloquence. In the “analysis” of literary works, Russian literature is represented by a very limited circle of writers: it is characteristic that almost all satirical literature of the 18th century was excluded from the program - Fonvizin, Novikov, Krylov, not to mention Radishchev. New Western Literature was also not represented in school teaching. Gymnasium students themselves supplemented with reading the range of knowledge that they received from school teaching.

Gogol negatively assessed the gymnasium under its first director, Orlai.

But after Orlay left at the end of 1826, when the direction of gymnasium life was determined by a group of advanced professors led by inspector N. G. Belousov, Gogol’s attitude towards the gymnasium changed. It is this period that he calls the happiest period in the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences: “...we don’t have a director,” Gogol informs his mother in a letter dated November 16, 1826, “and it is desirable that we don’t have one at all. Our boarding house is now at the best level of education... which Orlai could never achieve; and the reason for all this is our current inspector; we owe our happiness to him; the table, the attire, the interior decoration of the rooms, the routine, now you won’t find all this anywhere except in our establishment. Advise everyone to bring their children here: in all of Russia they will not find anything better.”

The Nizhyn gymnasium did not receive the significance in Gogol’s life that the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum had for Pushkin, nevertheless its role in the formation of the views of the young Gogol was very significant. Along with the shadow sides, routinism and scholasticism of school teaching, new, advanced trends penetrated into the gymnasium, which had a beneficial effect on the development of the future writer. And in the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences there were people who stood at the level of the progressive views of their time. From the end of 1826, the duties of the director were performed by the professor of mathematics and natural sciences Shapolinsky for more than two years. According to one of the students of the lyceum, P. Redkin, a circle was grouped around Shapolinsky and Belousov, to which belonged “noble, intelligent and knowledgeable people” - Landrazhin, Singer, Soloviev, who enjoyed “love and popularity among students.” In the opposite camp were reactionary professors led by Bilevich.

The students of the gymnasium were also divided into two camps: a privileged group of wealthy nobles and children of less wealthy parents.

The rich “aristocrats” among the schoolchildren did not favor Gogol. The school nickname - “mysterious Karla”, according to A. Danilevsky, was given to Gogol because he kept himself apart from the aristocratic group of schoolchildren. Not only the awareness of his unequal position among privileged students, but also constant inner depth, the desire for a previously set lofty goal separated the young man from his gymnasium comrades. In a letter to his uncle Pyotr Kosyarovsky dated October 3, 1827, Gogol admits: “Distrustful of anyone, secretive, I did not trust my secret thoughts to anyone, I did not do anything that could reveal the depths of my soul.” The young man had a hard time with the death of his father, who died in April 1825, having lost in him his “most faithful friend,” his “all precious” “heart” (letter to his mother dated April 23, 1825). With the death of his father, the family's financial difficulties increased even more, and Gogol, throughout his entire stay at the gymnasium, constantly felt the need for money, even for the most insignificant and necessary expenses.

[Stepanov N. L. Gogol. - M.: Young Guard, 1961. - 432 p. - (Life of wonderful people).]

Nizhyn Gymnasium

Now, after the death of his younger brother, even greater hopes were placed on Nikolai. He had to get an excellent education at all costs! A classical gymnasium, founded by Prince Bezborodko, opened in Nizhyn just at this time. With the help of Troshchinsky, Nikolai Gogol was identified in Nizhyn as one of the pupils under state care, which freed parents from paying tuition and boarding fees. In the spring of 1821, his father brought Nikolai to the gymnasium, where the boy immediately did not like it. But the holidays were just around the corner, so it was possible to be patient. His future comrade V.I. Lyubich-Romanovich described his arrival as follows: “He was not only wrapped in various scrolls, fur coats and blankets, but simply sealed. When they began to expose him, they could not get to the bottom of the frail, extremely ugly boy disfigured by scrofula for a long time.” Yes, it is only in literature textbooks that geniuses are born immediately in the form of bronze monuments! And in life they sometimes even get scrofula and are ugly, scared and unsociable.

Gogol didn’t really want to study. For example, before a math test, we’ll go up to mom and say that somehow my throat hurts and that everything’s not right. And why should things have been different in the 19th century? So the future classic tried to evade school: “When I arrived in Nizhyn, the next day my chest began to hurt. At night my chest hurt so much that I could not breathe freely. In the morning it felt better, but my chest still hurt, and therefore I was afraid that something bad would happen, and besides, I was very sad being apart from you.” But his parents showed firmness, because they could not give him a good education at home, and in the same year another girl was born in the family - Anna.

But the daily routine at the Nizhyn gymnasium was such that it was really time to run away. We got up at half past five in the morning. We washed ourselves and went to church in formation to serve a prayer service before classes. Then hurry to the dining room to drink tea and go to classes - from nine to five o'clock in the evening. There was lunch, of course. Dinner at eight, and at nine, after evening prayer, please turn off the lights and bye-bye. In the warm season, you could still spend time in the park, but where can you go in winter? And when should I teach my lessons? And there were a lot of subjects: the Law of God, literature, Russian, Latin (for which Gogol had zeros and ones - he read books under his desk!), Greek, German, French, physics, mathematics, political disciplines, geography, history, military art, drawing, dancing.

Gogol the Gymnasium Student (portrait of an unknown artist from the 1820s)

Nikolai Gogol was also not noticed in exemplary behavior, just read the cool magazine: “December 13 (such and such Yanovsky stood in the corner for bad words; December 19, Prokopovich and Yanovsky for laziness without lunch and in the corner until they learned their lessons. On the same date, Yanovsky for stubbornness and laziness especially - without tea. December 20 (such and such) and Yanovsky - for bread and water during lunch. On the same date, N. Yanovsky, for the fact that he studied during priest class with toys, was without tea.”

At first, his comrades did not like him and even called him “the mysterious dwarf.” He was unsociable, but amazingly observant and sharp-tongued, amazingly imitating other people’s manners and features, so that he could drive anyone, teachers and classmates alike: “You know, Ritter, I’ve been watching you for a long time and noticed that you don’t have human , and bull's eyes." And so every day. The question is, who will like this?

When Nikolai Gogol was sixteen years old, a terrible tragedy occurred in the family. His father, who had been ill for a long time, left for treatment, but never returned home. The mother was pregnant at that time, her despair knew no bounds. So the school bully and unsociable remained the only man in the family, and also the eldest of the children. After his father's death, his younger sister Olga was born. And there were also the elders Maria, Anna and Elizabeth, mother and grandmother! He grieved for his father, supported his mother, now felt responsible for everything and, probably, was a little proud. Now in his letters Nikolai Gogol tried to delve into all the details of farming. However, where to go, I still had to ask for pocket money.

Over time, real friends began to appear in the gymnasium, and all of them eventually became, if not famous, then quite famous people - Alexander Danilevsky, Nestor Kukolnik (later the author of patriotic tragedies), Evgeniy Grebenka (a poet who wrote in Ukrainian), Konstantin Basili ( diplomat and author of books about Turkey and Greece), Nikolai Prokopovich (teacher and poet), Vasily Lyubich-Romanovsky (poet, historian and translator). It is no coincidence that all of them, as adults, took up literature. Firstly, in the gymnasium they established something like a library, where Nikolai Gogol was the librarian. He meticulously made sure that the books were not smeared or damaged, forcing him to wear special finger pads when reading! And this is not surprising, because these books were bought by friends themselves with their own meager funds. Well, what kind of money does a high school student have? Literature lessons were terrible, and Gogol took pleasure in imitating P. I. Nikolsky, who taught this subject, for whom worthwhile literature ended, as usual, a hundred years ago. He didn’t even want to hear about Pushkin and Batyushkov. Therefore, “Gypsy”, “Eugene Onegin” and “Poltava” were copied by hand into a notebook. The friends themselves also wrote poems and read them to each other. Once Gogol tried his hand at prose. This is the ball "The Tverdovich Brothers, a Slavic Tale." But his friends tore this attempt to smithereens and came to the conclusion that this was clearly not his path. Poetry is a completely different matter! Do you understand now why he started with “Hans Kuchelgarten”? So the first prose opus was sent to the stove without regret.

The company also published handwritten magazines “Star”, “Dawn of the North”, “Meteor of Literature” and even “Dung of Parnassus”. Nikolai Gogol could do everything in such magazines from poetry and prose to illustrations. One of these magazines was even material evidence at the height of the scandal with the dismissal of one of the liberal teachers from the gymnasium, which had already become a lyceum. This, they say, is what freethinking can lead to!

And then everyone became interested in the theater, and they themselves asked the director of the lyceum to organize it. Parents helped with costumes and other necessary theatrical things. Gogol played so well that his friends were sure that he would go on stage. He played Prostakova in “The Minor” in such a way that those who saw him in this role assured that even the actors of the imperial theaters were very far from him.

However, the schoolchildren were growing up, and the time was approaching when it was time to leave Nizhyn. Gogol did not see a point of application for himself in his native places; St. Petersburg beckoned him. Some of his good friends had already tried their hand at the distant northern capital; things may not have worked out brilliantly for them, but it was still St. Petersburg. Its brilliance at such a distance seemed particularly irresistible, and its difficulties insignificant. The career of an official seemed to Gogol to be a sublime service to the fatherland: “I will test my strength to carry out important, noble work: for the benefit of the fatherland, for the happiness of citizens, for the good of the lives of others, and hitherto indecisive, not confident (and rightly so) in myself, I flare up with the fire of proud self-awareness , and my soul seems to see this unearthly angel, firmly and adamantly pointing everything towards the direction of the greedy search... In a year I will enter public service.”

Well, we will go to St. Petersburg for our hero!

At the Nizhyn gymnasium

According to the recollections of his fellow students, Gogol appears to us as a beautiful blond boy, in the dense greenery of the garden of the Nizhyn gymnasium, near the waters of a river overgrown with reeds, over which seagulls fly, arousing in him dreams of his homeland. He is the favorite of his comrades, who were attracted to him by his inexhaustible playfulness, but among them only a few, and the best in morality and ability, he chooses as companions for his childish adventures, walks and favorite conversations, and these few only enjoyed him to some extent. trust. He hid a lot from them, apparently for no reason, or clothed them in a mysterious veil of jokes. His speech was distinguished by words of little use, ancient and mocking; but in his mouth everything took on such original forms that one could not help but admire it. He processed everything in the crucible of humor. His words were so apt that his comrades were afraid to enter into a sarcastic competition with him. Gogol loved his comrades in general, and to such an extent the companions of his first years were closely connected with that time, about which he later exclaimed from the depths of his soul: “Oh, my youth! Oh, my freshness!” that even his school enemies, if only he had them, were dear to him until the end of his life. He does not speak of any of them with coldness or hostility, and the fate of each interested him to the highest degree.

He treated his comrades sarcastically, loved to laugh and gave nicknames. For a long time he himself seemed like an ordinary boy.<…>But before the end of the course, Professor Belousov noticed and began to distinguish him, whom he, in turn, greatly respected and loved.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

Gogol's former mentors certified him as a modest and “good-natured” boy; but this applies only to the nobility of his nature, which shunned everything base and insidious. He, indeed, did no harm to anyone, did not bristle against anyone with the cruel side of his soul; He didn't have any bad habits. But one should not imagine him as what is called a “quiet little lamb.” Small, evil, childish pranks were in his spirit, and what he tells in “Dead Souls” about the hussar was copied from life.

Alexander Semenovich Danilevsky:

In Nizhyn his comrades loved him, but they called him the mysterious dwarf.

Gogol constantly looked askance at us, kept aloof, always looked with a frown. Our ridicule of Gogol was even worse because he behaved like some kind of democrat among us, the children of aristocrats, rarely washed his face and hands in the morning of every day, and always walked around in dirty linen and soiled clothes. In his trouser pockets he always had a significant supply of all kinds of sweets - sweets and gingerbread. And from time to time, taking it out from there, he chewed it without ceasing, even in class, during classes. To do this, he usually hid somewhere in a corner, away from everyone, and there he would eat his delicacy. In order to occupy a place in the class where no one would see him, he came into the classroom first or last and, sitting in the back rows, also left the class so as not to be ridiculed.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.From a letter from M.P. Balabina on November 7, 1838, from Rome:

When I was at school and a young man, I was very proud; I desperately wanted to know what others were saying and thinking about me. It seemed to me that everything that was said to me was not what they thought about me. I deliberately tried to start a quarrel with my friend, and he, naturally, in his hearts expressed to me everything that was bad in me. That was all I needed; I was already completely satisfied when I learned everything about myself.

Alexander Semenovich Danilevsky:

In everyday life, the pupils amused themselves with pranks invented by Gogol and other playful boys. So, for example, one day Gogol, imitating the physics teacher Shapalinsky, caught his eye, for which the latter, very angry, grabbed him and shook him by the shoulders for a long time. Sevryugin, the singing teacher, noticing that Gogol was sometimes out of tune and was not able to sing in time with his comrades, put the violin to his very ear, calling him a wood grouse, which, of course, aroused general merriment.<…>

Gogol did not have any favorite games.

Vasily Ignatievich Lyubich-Romanovich:

Among Gogol's oddities were many of his original views on everything that society recognized as law for itself. Gogol ignored this, calling it an unworthy task, from which it was necessary to flee and rid oneself as an enemy with the sword of thought. In church, for example, Gogol never was baptized in front of the images of St. our fathers and did not bow before the altar, but listened to the prayers with attention, sometimes even repeating them in a chant, as if serving a separate liturgy for himself. He condemned the sextons for their nasal singing, slurred reading of the psalter, and for the patter of the Lenten service. He also did not approve of degrees and gradations in the church and pushed the peasant forward, saying: “You need God more than others, go closer to him!” Often he turned to a man in church with the question: “Do you have money for a candle?” - He immediately took a coin out of his pocket and gave it to the peasant, saying: “Go ahead, light a candle for whoever you want, and light it yourself; it’s better than anyone else will bet for you.” Gogol triumphed that his goal had been achieved, and the man approached the altar, ahead of all the uniforms standing in front of the pulpit. All he needed was for the man to rub his zipun against the shiny uniforms and stain them with his pollen.

One day, Gogol, dissatisfied with the singing of the sextons, went into the choir and began to sing along with mass, clearly pronouncing the words of the prayers, but the priest, who heard a voice unfamiliar to him, looked out from the altar and, seeing Gogol, ordered him to leave. This offended Gogol terribly, and he stopped going to church. Noticing his absence at mass, the priest lectured him and said that if he continued to not attend the temple of God, he would impose penance on him. But Gogol was not afraid of this and still did not go to mass. He also did not want to perform penance in church in the presence of all those praying and constantly called himself sick. For this, he was given a one in his “behavior”, and he laughed at it in the following words: “It’s good that it’s not a two; A one can at least be mistaken for an ace, but a two will remain a two.”

In general, Gogol was distinguished by all sorts of oddities, even in words. In fact, he sometimes outdid himself. Often forgetting that he was a man, Gogol would sometimes scream like a goat while walking around his room, sometimes crow like a rooster in the middle of the night, sometimes grunt like a pig, hiding somewhere in a dark corner. And when they asked him why he imitated the cries of animals, he answered that “I prefer to be alone in the company of pigs than among people.” He had such a denial of the exchange of thoughts between people. So, he did not like us, the children of aristocrats, being himself a democrat.<… >

The torture at school for Gogol lasted throughout the entire time he remained in Nezhin. Thanks to his sloppiness, we were all disdainful to shake hands with him when we met in class. And he himself, noticing this, did not seek a kind greeting from us, always trying not to notice any of us. He was always alone. In the end, we even stopped picking up those books in the library that he held in his hands, for fear of becoming infected with some kind of evil spirits.<…>

Thus, Gogol's life at school was, in essence, hell for him. On the one hand, he was burdened by his “farm origins” as a man of the same palace, on the other hand, by his physical ugliness. And we laughed at everything, and denied in him any talent and desire for education, for science. Gogol understood our attitude towards him as a sign of the metropolitan arrogance of the children of aristocrats, and therefore he himself did not want to know us. He sought rapprochement only with people equal to himself, for example: with his “uncle”, servants in general and with market traders in the Nezhin market in particular. This rapprochement with ordinary people obviously gave him a kind of pleasure in life and evoked a poetic mood. So, at least, we noticed this by the fact that, after each such new acquaintance, he locked himself in his room for a long time and wrote down his impressions on paper.

If only you would send me some money, because my treasury is completely depleted. One of my friends bought a knife for eight rubles; I asked him to let me look; and I forgot to give it to him now, but put it in my box; but a minute later he looked in the box, and he was no longer there. Now he says that I should give him eight rubles now, otherwise he will take all my things and complain to the tutors, and they will punish me with all severity. Forgive me for this. I will never take other people’s things in advance, and when I ask in advance, I will give them back now and with all caution. And I ask you, please send me money, even ten rubles; then I will give him eight rubles, and leave two rubles for letters. I also ask you to send me a sheepskin coat, because they don’t give me a government-issued sheepskin coat or an overcoat, but only in uniforms, despite the cold. And if you had sent at least two vests. Here we are given one vest each.

N. Yu. Artynov

At the gymnasium, Gogol was remarkable only because he had a very pointed beard, and perhaps also because he constantly went to Magerki. Magerki is a suburb of Nezhin. Gogol had many peasant acquaintances there. When one of them had a wedding or something else, or when there was simply a weather-related holiday, Gogol was certainly there. Gogol’s studies were not at all remarkable. From the professor of Russian literature Nikolsky I constantly received a C grade. His writings on literature were full of grammatical errors. Gogol was especially bad at languages. At that time, our language classes comprised three special departments, independent from other classes, which students of all courses took as they progressed. Gogol completed the gymnasium course, but did not reach the third department in languages. In general, Gogol was the most ordinary mediocrity, and it never occurred to any of us that he could subsequently become famous in the field of Russian literature.

Nestor Vasilievich Kukolnik(1809–1868), writer, Gogol’s schoolmate:

At Iv. Semenovich Orlay (the director of the gymnasium) had a tiny estate in the Poltava province, in the Mirgorod district, with only six souls. This estate was located in the vicinity of the village of Gogol-Yanovsky’s mother. By the way, I note that in the gymnasium Gogol, both among his comrades and on the official lists, was not called Gogol, but simply Yanovsky. Once, already in St. Petersburg, one of my comrades asked Gogol in front of me: “Why did you change your last name?” - “I didn’t think so.” - “But you are Yanovsky.” - “And Gogol too.” - “What does gogol mean?” “Drake,” Gogol answered dryly and turned the conversation to another matter. I remembered both Gogol and Ivan Semenovich’s tiny estate for a funny circumstance. Ivan Semyonovich did not complain if students left classes during lectures and walked along the corridors, and Gogol loved these walks, and therefore it is no wonder that he often bumped into the director, but he always got out of trouble dry and always with the same trick. Seeing Ivan Semenovich from afar, Gogol did not hide, walked straight towards him, bowed and reported: “Your Excellency! I just received a letter from my mother. She instructed me to pay your Excellency my most zealous bow and convey that everything is going very well on your estate.” - “Thank you sincerely! If you write to mother, don’t forget to bow and thank me for me.” This was Ivan Semenovich’s usual answer, and Gogol continued his walk through the corridors with impunity.

Grigory Petrovich Danilevsky:

A passionate admirer of everything lofty and elegant, while at school he carefully copied for himself on the best paper, with drawings of his own invention, the poems that were published at that time: “Gypsies”, “Poltava”, “The Robber Brothers” and chapters of “Eugene Onegin” "

Maria Ivanovna Gogol:

When a new book comes out, promising by title, Nikosha is ready to order it from foreign lands - which is what he did, while in Nizhyn, from the money he begged from me for a dress: then he admitted to me that when he reads about the new book, he trembles , how to discharge her as soon as possible - and for this he received a reprimand from me. I call this hunt a passion; although it is not shameful, like a card game, it can also ruin... The man who was with him in Nezhin (the uncle’s family) told me in confidence that his master does not know how to save money and offends himself, saying that when I give he gives him money on holidays for candy, which he is a big hunter for, then when he doesn’t have time to buy yet and he meets a poor person, he tries to evade me and give him his money, thinking that I haven’t seen it, but I always I keep an eye on him, and when other children eat treats, I ask him: why doesn’t he eat? – then he answers me that he has already eaten; but he deceives me, an old man, and concludes; Don’t give him money, it will be lost for nothing.

Alexander Semenovich Danilevsky:

At school, Gogol showed little prominence, except towards the end, when he was our editor of the Lyceum magazine. At first he wrote poetry and thought that poetry was his calling. We subscribed to magazines and almanacs with him and Prokopovich. He always took care of sending money on time. The three of us got together and read Pushkin’s Onegin, which was then published in chapters. Gogol already admired Pushkin then. It was still smuggling at that time; for our literature professor Nikolsky, even Derzhavin was a new person. Gogol copied Nikolsky perfectly.

Konstantin Mikhailovich Basili(1809–1884), Gogol’s schoolmate, 1844–1853. – Consul General of the Russian Embassy in Syria and Palestine:

Literature professor Nikolsky had no idea about ancient or Western literatures. In Russian literature he admired Kheraskov and Sumarokov; I found Ozerov, Batyushkov and Zhukovsky not quite classical, and Pushkin’s language and thoughts trivial, recognizing, however, a certain harmony in his poems. Naughty comrades in the fifth and sixth grades, obliged to pay a weekly tribute to poems, used to copy small poems from magazines and almanacs by Pushkin, Yazykov, Prince. Vyazemsky was introduced to the professor as one of their own, knowing well that he was not involved in modern literature at all. The professor solemnly subjected these poems to strict criticism, expressed regret that the verse was smooth and of little use: “An ode is not an ode,” he said, “an elegy is not an elegy, but the devil knows what”; then he began to correct it. I remember that Pushkin’s “Demon” was translated and remade in our professor’s style, to the indescribable joy of the whole class. Nikolsky’s contempt for new literature and the resulting ignorance in this area extended to the point that one day he got into a very funny mess, having signed, after many blots, on what was given to him by Grebenka, later a famous writer, instead of his own - Kozlov’s poem “Evening Bells” : “Pretty little.” Another time, similarly deceived, he approved the description of spring from Eugene Onegin, not suspecting that the poem was written by Pushkin, whom he deeply despised.

Vasily Ignatievich Lyubich-Romanovich:

Prof. N.P. Nikolsky forced his students to compose: this was his weakness - and not only to compose something in prose, but even in poetry. During one lesson, Gogol gives him a poem by Pushkin - it seems, “The Prophet”. Nikolsky read it, winced and, as was his habit, began to redo it. When the professor completely mutilated Pushkin’s verse and returned it to the imaginary author with the suggestion that it was a shame to write so poorly, Gogol could not stand it and said: “But these are not my poems.” - “And whose?” - “Pushkin. I slipped them to you on purpose, because there’s no way I could please you with anything, and you even remade it.” - “Well, what do you understand! - the professor exclaimed. – But can’t Pushkin write illiterately? Here's clear proof for you. Take a look at who did it better.”

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

A fellow student and friend of Gogol’s childhood and early youth, N. Ya. Prokopovich, retained the memory of how Gogol, while still in one of the first classes of the gymnasium, read to him by heart his poetic ballad “Two Fishes.” In it, under two fish, he depicted the fate of himself and his (deceased) brother - very touchingly, as Prokopovich remembers his impression at that time.

Finally, a legend has been preserved about another of Gogol’s student works, the tragedy “The Robbers,” written in iambic pentameter.

Gerasim Ivanovich Vysotsky, Gogol’s schoolmate:

Gogol first expressed the desire to write poetry on the occasion of his attacks on comrade Borozdin, whom he persecuted with ridicule for cutting his hair low and nicknamed Rasstriga Spiridon. In the evening, on Borozdin’s name day, December 12, Gogol displayed in the gymnasium a banner of his own creation with the image of a devil shearing a dervish, and with the following acrostic:

This is a wicked way of life,

The scarecrow of all dervishes.

Monk of the Shrew Monastery,

Undressed, who committed sin.

And for this crime

He got this title.

Oh, reader! Have patience

Seal the initial words in your mouth.

Following this, Gogol wrote a satire on the inhabitants of the city of Nezhin under the title: “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” and depicted in it typical faces of different classes. To do this, he took several solemn occasions in which one or another class most showed its characteristic features, and on these occasions he divided his work into the following sections: “1) Consecration of a church in a Greek cemetery; 2) Election to the Greek magistrate; 3) All-Eating Fair; 4) Lunch with the leader (nobility) P***; 5) Dissolution and congress of students." I had an autographed copy of this rather extensive work; but Gogol, while still in the gymnasium, wrote it out of me from St. Petersburg under the pretext that he had lost the original and never returned it.

My first experiments, the first exercises in essays, which I acquired the skill for during my recent stay at school, were almost all of a lyrical and serious nature. Neither I myself, nor my comrades, who also practiced writing with me, thought that I would have to be a comic and satirical writer, although, despite my naturally melancholic character, I often found myself wanting to joke and even bother others with my jokes , although in my earliest judgments about people I found the ability to notice those features that escape the attention of other people, both large and small and funny. They said that I can not only imitate, but guess a person, that is, guess what he should say in such and such cases, retaining the very nature and manner of his thoughts and speeches. But all this was not transferred to paper, and I did not even think about what I would eventually do with it.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

Not limiting himself to his first successes in poetry, Gogol wanted to be a journalist, and this title cost him a lot of work. It was necessary to write articles myself in almost all departments, then rewrite them and, most importantly, make a wrapper like a printed one. Gogol worked hard to give his publication the appearance of a printed book, and sat up nights, painting the title page, which bore the name of the magazine: “Star”. All this was done on the sly from his comrades, who should not have known the contents of the book until after it left the editorial office. Finally, on the first of the month, the book was published. The publisher sometimes took the trouble to read his own and other people's articles aloud. Everyone listened and admired. By the way, “Zvezda” contained Gogol’s story “The Tverdislavich Brothers” (imitation of stories that appeared in almanacs of that time) and various of his poems. All this was written in the so-called “high style”, because of which all the editor’s employees fought. Gogol was a comedian during his apprenticeship only in practice: in literature he considered the comic element too low. But his journal has a comic origin. There was one student in the gymnasium with an extraordinary passion for poetry and the absence of any talent - in a word, little Tredyakovsky. Gogol collected his poems, gave them the title “Almanac” and published them under the title: “Parnassian Manure”. From this joke he went on to seriously imitate magazines and worked very diligently on the wrappers for six months or more.

Vasily Ignatievich Lyubich-Romanovich:

Our comrade P.G. Redkin had a room with prof. Belousova. On Saturday evenings, some of his friends would gather and write poems. Regular visitors were Gogol, Kukolnik, Konstantin Basili, Prokopovich, Grebenka, myself and others. There was a reading of our works, a critical analysis of them and decisions as to whether they were suitable for publication in the handwritten journal “Dung of Parnassus” that we published, or whether, for the benefit of the author, they should be solemnly destroyed. Some of Gogol's poems, in a friendly adaptation by Prokopovich, were published in this magazine, which Gogol always enjoyed immensely. Gogol's first prose work was written in the gymnasium and read publicly at Redkin's evening. It was called “The Tverdoslavich Brothers, a Slavic Tale.” Our circle destroyed it mercilessly and decided to immediately destroy it. Gogol did not resist or object. He quite calmly tore his manuscript into small pieces and threw it into the heated oven. “Practice in poetry,” Basili then advised him in a friendly manner, “but don’t write in prose: it turns out very stupid for you.” You’re not going to be a fiction writer, that’s obvious now.” But without Prokopovich’s friendly support, Gogol’s poems would have been unusable, since he could never cope with meter, with harmony, and chasing rhymes, he always disfigured the meaning of his creations so much that even the always reserved Prokopovich was horrified.

In 1825, 26, 27, our literary circle began to publish its own magazines and almanacs, handwritten, of course. Together with Gogol, my best friend, although things were not without quarrels and fights, because both were passionate, we published a monthly magazine of fifty and sixty pages in yellow wrapper with vignettes of our product, with all the pretensions of a sensible literary review. It had fiction departments, analyzes of the best contemporary works of Russian literature, and local criticism, in which Gogol mainly ridiculed our teachers under fictitious names. Nestor Kukolnik also published his own magazine, in which he published the first experiments of his dramatic works. On Sundays, our circle of 15–20 older people would gather, and our works would be read, and there would be talk and debate.

Vasily Ignatievich Lyubich-Romanovich:

Gogol may have worked on other things at school along with us, but he gave up on his colloquial speech. And it would happen that he would say such a word that the whole class would laugh out loud at him. One day this was pointed out to him by one of our teachers, but Gogol answered him: “How will you prove that I speak incorrectly in my own way?”

Alexander Semenovich Danilevsky:

Life in the boarding house was relaxed: the children enjoyed good accommodations, great freedom and could even organize pleasures together, of which, of course, the theater was in the foreground. In spring and autumn, they had at their disposal an extensive lyceum garden, in which they spent most of their extracurricular time. Given the limited demands from students at that time, they had to spend a lot of idle hours, and the actual preparation for classes often took place in their garden, under the charming sky of Ukraine. Some of the students even managed to take with them the necessary written material, in the form of pencils and paper, to think about and partially sketch out their compositions somewhere in the garden on a tree.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

Returning one day after the holidays to the gymnasium, Gogol brought a comedy in the Little Russian language, which was played at Troshchinsky’s home theater, and became a theater director and actor. Blackboards served as backstage, and the lack of costumes was supplemented by the imagination of the artists and the public. From that time on, theater became the passion of Gogol and his comrades, so that, after preliminary experiments, the students formed and arranged backstage and costumes for themselves, copying, of course, at Gogol’s direction, the theater in which his father worked: no one had seen another. Gogol not only directed the carpenters, but also painted the scenery himself.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

Students donated whatever they could for the theater wardrobe. By the way, someone donated a pair of rusty and broken pistols, remarkable for the following occasion.

Send me canvases and other materials for the theater. Our first play will be “Oedipus in Athens,” a tragedy by Ozerov.<…>So, if you can send and make as many costumes as possible, even just one, it would be better if there were more; also at least some money. Just do me a favor and do not refuse me this request. Each of us has already donated what we could, but I have yet to do so. I will let you know how I play my role.

I inform you that I study well, at least as much as my strength allows.<…>I think, dearest father, if they saw me, they would definitely say that I have changed, both in morality and success.

Konstantin Mikhailovich Basili:

Theatrical performances were given during holidays. Gogol and Romanovich and I painted the scenery ourselves. One of the recreational halls (we called them museums) provided all the amenities for setting up a theater. The spectators, in addition to our mentors, were neighboring landowners and military personnel of the division located in Nizhyn. Among them I remember the generals: Dibich (field marshal’s brother), Stolypin, Emmanuel. Everyone was delighted with our performances, which enlivened the deathly provincial town and provided some entertainment to its casual society. We played Ozerov’s tragedies “Oedipus” and “Fingal”, vaudeville, some Little Russian play composed at the same time by Gogol, from which the audience burst out laughing. But the most successful thing for us was von Wisin’s comedy “The Minor.” I saw this play both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I always retained the conviction that not a single actress succeeded in the role of Prostakova as well as the then sixteen-year-old Gogol played this role. No less successfully, then fifteen-year-old Nestor Kukolnik, thin and long, played Minor, and Danilevsky played Sophia. Thanks to my extraordinary memory at that time, I got the longest roles - Starodum, Oedipa and others.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

Once, just before the performance of “The Minor,” Gogol somehow offended one of his comrades, Basili, with his joke. He flared up and refused to play; and he played the role of Starodum. Well, how can we start the show without Starodum? Gogol pretended to lose his temper; in terrible revenge, he challenged his comrade to a duel and handed him theater pistols without hammers. Basili laughed and began to play. The administration of the gymnasium took advantage of this passion to encourage students to study the French language, and introduced French plays into the repertoire of the Gogol Theater. It was then that Gogol had to become acquainted with the French language. Russian plays, however, were not produced, and legend says that Gogol was especially distinguished in the role of old women. The theater, founded by Gogol in the gymnasium, finally flourished to the point that city residents also came to its performances.

Nestor Vasilievich Kukolnik:

We were given the duty, every time we had performances, to perform a French or German play without fail and first of all. Gogol was also supposed to participate in one of the foreign plays. He chose German. I offered him a role of twenty verses, which began with the words: “O mein Vater!”, Then there was an account of some incident. The whole story ended with the words: “nach Prag!” Gogol suffered, studied the role diligently, mastered it, learned it, knew it at three rehearsals, during the performance itself he came out cheerfully and said: “Oh mein Vater!” - he faltered, blushed, but immediately gathered his strength, raised his voice, and said with special pathos: “nach Prag!” – He waved his hand and left. And the listeners, who for the most part did not know either the play or the German language, were completely satisfied with the performance of the role. But in Russian plays Gogol was truly inimitable, especially in Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor”, ​​in the role of Mrs. Prostakova; I played Mitrofanushka. Of the Russian plays, I also remember the performance of “Eccentrics”, Knyazhnin’s comedy, “Trouble” by Pisarev (the main role is Gogol); from French - “Medecin malgre lui” and “Avare” by Moliere. We were going to play "Fingal"; the roles were handed out; Even rehearsals began in parts. The role of Starn was assigned to Gogol, Fingal to me, Moina to Gintovt, but now I don’t remember what upset this performance and our entire home theater.

Timofey Grigorievich Pashchenko:

On the small stage of the second lyceum museum, lyceum students sometimes liked to perform comic and dramatic plays on holidays. Gogol and Prokopovich - close friends with each other - took special care of this and organized performances. The lyceum students themselves played ready-made plays and composed them. Gogol and Prokopovich were the main authors and performers of the plays. Gogol loved mainly comic plays and took the roles of old people, and Prokopovich - tragic ones. One day they composed a play about Little Russian life, in which Gogol undertook to play the silent role of a decrepit old Little Russian man. We learned the roles and did several rehearsals. The evening of the performance arrived, to which many relatives of the lyceum students and strangers gathered. The play consisted of two acts; the first act went well, but Gogol did not appear in it, but should have appeared in the second. The public did not yet know Gogol, but we knew him well and were looking forward to his appearance on stage. In the second act, a simple Little Russian hut and several naked trees are presented on stage; in the distance there is a river and yellowed reeds. There is a bench near the hut; there is no one on stage.

Here comes a decrepit old man in a simple jacket, a sheepskin cap and greased boots. Leaning on a stick, he can barely move, cacklingly reaches the bench and sits down. Sits shaking, cackling, giggling and coughing; and finally he giggled and coughed with such a suffocating and hoarse old man’s cough, with an unexpected addition, that the entire audience roared and burst into uncontrollable laughter... And the old man calmly rose from the bench and trudged off the stage, killing everyone with laughter...

From that evening on, the public recognized and became interested in Gogol as a wonderful comedian. Another time, Gogol took on the role of an old uncle - a terrible miser. Gogol practiced in this role for more than a month, and the main task for him was to get his nose to meet his chin... He sat for hours in front of the mirror and adjusted his nose to his chin, until he finally achieved what he wanted... He played the satirical role of the miser uncle excellently , filled the audience with laughter and gave them great pleasure. We all thought then that Gogol would go on stage, because he had enormous stage talent and all the data for acting on stage: facial expressions, make-up, variable voice and complete transformation in the roles he played. It seems that Gogol would have eclipsed even the famous comedians if he had appeared on stage.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.From a letter to G.I. Vysotsky on March 19, 1827, from Nezhin:

We're having fun at the boarding house now. All kinds of pleasures, amusements, and activities are provided to us, and this is what we do to our inspector. I don’t know if it’s possible to adequately praise this rare person. He treats us all just like his friends, and stands up for us against the claims of our conference and the school professors. And I admit, if not for him, I would not have had the patience to complete the course here - now, at least, I can firmly withstand this cruel torture, these fourteen months. We had a great time at Maslenaya. We had a theater for four days in a row; Everyone played superbly. All the former visitors, experienced people, said that not a single provincial theater had been able to see such a wonderful performance. The scenery (four changes) was made masterfully and even magnificently. The beautiful landscape on the curtain completed the charm. The lighting of the hall was brilliant. The music also stood out; There were ten of us, but they pleasantly replaced a large orchestra and were arranged on the weekend, in a loud place. We played four overtures by Rossini, two by Mozart, one by Weber, one by Sevryugin (lyceum singing teacher - comp.) and others. The plays we presented were the following: “The Minor,” op. Fonvizin, “The Unsuccessful Conciliator,” a comedy by Y. Knyazhnin, “Coastal Law” by Kotzebue and in addition another French one, Op. Florian, and we haven’t had enough yet: we are preparing a few more plays for the Bright Holiday. These activities, however, entertained me a lot, and I almost forgot everything sad. But for how long? Lent came, and with it a murderous melancholy. There was absolutely no news, nothing interesting happened at all.

Panteleimon Alexandrovich Kulish:

We also know Gogol as the custodian of books that he subscribed to as a general fund. The savings were small, but it was not difficult to buy all the magazines and books of that time with little money, no matter how many of them came out. The most important role was played by “Northern Flowers”, published by Baron Delvig; then came the separately published works of Pushkin and Zhukovsky, followed by some magazines. Books were given out by the librarian to be read one by one. The person who received a book to read had to, in the presence of the librarian, sit decorously on a bench in the classroom, in the place indicated to him, and not get up from his seat until he returned the books. This is not enough: the librarian personally wrapped the thumb and forefinger of each reader in pieces of paper and then only entrusted him with the book. Gogol treasured books like jewels and especially loved miniature editions. A passion for them developed in him so much that, not loving and not knowing mathematics, he subscribed to Perevoshchikov’s “Mathematical Encyclopedia” with his own money, just for the fact that it was published in sixteenths of a page.

N. Yu. Artynov:

Gogol loved reading books and especially loved the books themselves. I can’t remember one oddity of Gogol’s librarianship without laughing. We had our own student library, we copied out works by Pushkin, “Moscow Telegraph” and so on. So we elected Gogol as librarian: he was a boarder, lived in the building, it was more convenient for him, no one else agreed, but he expressed full readiness; so they agreed that he should look after the books. He really loved the cleanliness of books and came up with such an intricate means to preserve it. He makes a bunch of bundles out of paper, in the form of thimbles, and invites students to put these tips on their fingers so that when reading and leafing through books they do not get their fingers dirty. The students, of course, did not follow this advice; they laughed, and that was all. Such was this Gogol.

Course completion certificate

Nikolai Gogol-Yanovsky, the son of collegiate assessor Vasily Afanasyevich, who entered the gymnasium of higher sciences on May 1, 1821. Bezborodko, completed a full course of study there in June 1828, with very good behavior, with the following successes in science:

in the law of God with very good,

in moral philosophy with very good,

in logic with very good,

in Russian literature with very good,

in rights:

Roman with very good,

in Russian civil s very good,

in criminal case very good,

in the state economy with very good,

in pure mathematics with affordable,

in physics and the beginnings of chemistry with good,

in natural history with excellent,

in technology, in military sciences with very good,

in general and Russian geography good,

in universal history very good,

in languages:

Latin with good,

in German with excellent,

in French with very good,

in Greek ( no mark), –

and upon final testing by the conference of the gymnasium, he was awarded the title of student and the Minister approved the right to the rank of the 14th class, upon entry into the civil service, with his exemption from testing for promotion to higher ranks, and upon entry into military service after six months, in the lower ranks, for the rank of officer, at least in the regiment in which he would be accepted, at that time there was no vacancy. As evidence of this, this certificate was given to him, Gogol-Yanovsky, from the conference of the gymnasium of higher sciences, Prince. Bezborodko, duly signed and accompanied by an official seal. Nezhin. 1829 January 25 days.

Apart from inexperienced teachers of science, apart from great negligence, etc., languages ​​are not taught here at all.<…>. If I know anything, I owe it entirely to myself.<…>. I had no other guides than myself; Is it possible to improve yourself, without the help of others? But there is still a lot of time ahead for me, I have strength and effort. My labors, although I have now doubled them, are not at all burdensome to me; on the contrary, they serve me nothing other than entertainment<…>. I have experienced more grief and need than you think. I always deliberately tried, when I was at home, to show absent-mindedness, willfulness, etc., so that you would think that I had not wiped myself enough, that I had not been pressed down enough by evil. But hardly anyone has endured so much ingratitude, stupid injustices, ridiculous claims, cold contempt, and so on. I endured everything without reproaches, without grumbling, no one heard my complaints, I even always praised those responsible for my grief. True, I am considered a mystery to everyone; no one has completely solved me. You consider me capricious, some kind of obnoxious pedant who thinks that he is smarter than everyone else, that he was created in a different way from people. Would you believe that I internally laughed at myself along with you. Here I am called the humble one, the ideal of meekness and patience. In one place I am the most quiet, modest, courteous, in another - gloomy, thoughtful, uncouth, etc., in a third - talkative and extremely annoying. Some are smart, others are stupid... Only from my real career will you learn my real character...

From the book Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov author Trofimov Zhores Alexandrovich

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Nizhyn is one of the oldest cities of Kievan Rus. It is located in the northern part of Ukraine. From Kyiv to Nizhyn - 126 kilometers, from Chernigov - 83. For us, Nizhyn boys, the name of Nikolai Gogol is not an empty sound and an abstract image. His distant presence in our city constantly reminds us of itself.

When I was six or seven years old, I first noticed a memorial plaque on the building of the Nizhyn Pedagogical Institute (now a university): “Gogol studied here from May 1821 to June 1828.” Initially, in the time of Gogol, this monumental, majestic structure was called the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences and was equated to a university. In all of Russia at that time, among the district towns, only Nezhin could boast that a higher educational institution of this level successfully operated there.

The world's first monument to Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was unveiled in Nizhyn on September 4, 1881. The opening of the monument was preceded by a broad popular movement to raise funds for its construction. It couldn’t be otherwise: the people of Nezhin always honored the memory of Gogol, were proud that he lived, studied and worked in our city for seven years. The author of the magnificent monument was the famous sculptor, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Zabila, who himself was from Nezhin. The casting of the monument was carried out in the Northern capital. An important fact: the central street of Nizhyn is not named after Lenin, not Marx, “from time immemorial” Nezhin residents have called it Gogolevskaya! Its name was not changed either by the Bolshevik revolution or the ominous years of Stalinism. I don’t know if there is a similar example anywhere else in the “ruins” of the former Union?

Little Kolya was only seven years old when his parents brought him to provincial Nizhyn from the family estate of the Gogol-Yankovskys. Young Gogol comprehended science without much zeal. He didn’t pass the rear, but he wasn’t in the front row either. If he studied the subjects of the humanities easily, the exact sciences were not given to him at all. According to the four-point grading system, for example, in differential and integral equations he received an annual grade - count, and a two in conic sections (section of geometry). But he had no equal in the Law of God and legal philosophy. Upon completion of his studies, Nikolai received the lowest fourteenth class rank, which could be assigned to a high school graduate.

At an early age, especially while studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium, young Gogol showed character traits, preferences and little oddities, which became more and more expressive as he grew older. For example, Gogol had a passion for needlework. I knitted scarves, cut out dresses for my sisters, wove belts, and sewed scarves for myself for the summer. The writer loved miniature editions. Not loving and not knowing mathematics, he ordered himself a mathematical encyclopedia only because it was published in sixteenths of a page. Gogol loved to cook and treat his friends to dumplings and dumplings. One of his favorite drinks is goat's milk, which he brewed in a special way by adding rum. He called this concoction gogol-mogol and often laughing, said: “Gogol loves gogol-mogol!” Gogol was very afraid of thunderstorms. According to contemporaries, the bad weather had a bad effect on his weak nerves. He was extremely shy. As soon as a stranger appeared in the company, Gogol disappeared from the room. Gogol always had sweets in his pockets. Living in a hotel, he never allowed the servants to take away the sugar served with tea, he collected it, hid it, and then gnawed pieces while working or talking.

Gogol, like other high school students, showed a special interest in history. Some of his early sketches reflected pages of the distant past. The poem "Battle of Kalka" is an excerpt from his poem: "Russia under the yoke of the Tatars." Nikolai carefully rewrote the poem, decorated it with drawings and sent it to his mother in Vasilyevka. For one of the issues of the almanac "Meteor of Literature" Gogol prepared the story "The Tverdislavich Brothers." It was written in a romantic style and dedicated to the ancient Slavs. However, the circle of high school students, where it was read, tore it to smithereens. Gogol, without regret, decided to destroy it.

“Practice in poetry,” Basili (the literature teacher) advised him in a friendly manner, “but don’t write in prose: your results are very senseless. Indeed, Gogol's first works were not taken seriously by his comrades. But Gogol does not give up. At some point, he is fascinated by topics related to the life of ordinary people. The life of Nezhin, its inhabitants, with whom he was well acquainted, gave him the opportunity to colorfully, in satirical shades, depict the inhabitants of the city. Already at this time, the gift of a satirist manifested itself in him.

Fellow student G.S. Shaposhnikov emphasized in his memoirs: “His cheerful and funny stories, his jokes, always witty and sharp, without which he could not live, were so comical that even now I cannot remember them without laughing and satisfaction." Within the walls of the Gymnasium, from his early satirical works, acrostics (riddles for intelligence) about the high school student F. Borozdin, epigrams “It’s inappropriate for a scoffer,” “Gitzel-face of a pig,” and others were created.

Several plots are also connected with Gogol’s stay in Nizhyn, which later, with the light hand of the writer, turned into famous literary masterpieces. Once on the outskirts of the city - Magerkah - he recorded folk songs and legends from the words of local residents. Here the future classic heard a terrible story, which formed the basis of his famous story “Viy”. He was told that once upon a time, a local gentleman, either a centurion or a colonel, had a beautiful daughter who died. Her body was laid in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, and a young seminarian was assigned to read the prayers over her. At night he stopped reading and went to the open coffin. Either he wanted to look at the deceased beauty, or to remove an expensive ring from her finger. Suddenly the lady rose from the coffin, and the unfortunate guy died on the spot from a broken heart. Perhaps the lady fell into a lethargic sleep, or maybe, the devil knows, she really was a witch...

Particularly popular among high school students and the city’s intelligentsia was the satirical story: “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools,” which told about the life of the city, including the Greek colony. In one of its sections, Gogol talks about the participation of the Greeks in the illumination of the church at the Trinity Cemetery. The Greeks gathered for the important event were represented by various social groups: poor and rich, intellectuals and working people. Each of them sought to be as close as possible to the center of events without caring at all about their fellow tribesmen or taking into account their interests.

As a result, a conflict arose, which escalated into swearing and then into a brawl. The scenes in the cemetery described by Gogol were so colorful, and the images of Greek merchants and other participants in this action were satirically expressive that they could not be perceived without laughing. The Greeks, the wealthy merchants, and the authoritative people of the city were ridiculed. “Dark clouds” gathered over the young writer. The indignant deputation of Greeks, having collected gifts, turned to the director of the Gymnasium, I.S. Orlai, with a request to hand over the unlucky author to them. The director did not accept the offering, but promised to sort it out with the author of the story.

Called “on the carpet,” young Gogol could not disobey Orlai and was forced to destroy the satire. The second copy of the story, which was in the possession of one of Gogol’s friends, was lost. For this reason, Gogol’s interesting and action-packed early story was never able to find its wide readership, and it was not included in the number of his selected works.

While studying in Nezhin, Gogol does not forget to turn to the romantic genre from time to time. In March 1829, in the magazine "Son of the Fatherland" No. 12, he published the poem "Italy" without a signature. In May of the same year, he submitted his story “Hanz Küchelgarten” to the censor and received permission to publish it. The work appeared as a separate book under the pseudonym V. Alov. The date on the title page was 1827, Gogol's last year of study at the gymnasium. Nikolai had high hopes for his “Gantz”..., but even here he failed. In the St. Petersburg bookstores where it was sold, the young writer’s work was gathering dust on the shelves.

Summing up the results of the Nizhyn period of Nikolai Gogol’s life, we can conclude: despite the obvious failures in his early work, the writer’s fate occasionally presented him with moments of real happiness, albeit for a short time, but he could feel like a mature writer! Young Gogol boldly walked along the thorny amateur road, groped and tried to realize his most secret plans, tried himself in various literary genres. The aspiring writer Gogol laid the foundations of his skill, developed the natural talent of a word painter... The Nezhin period played an extremely important role in the development of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol as a world-famous writer.

Photo: entrance to the building of the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in the city of Nizhyn (now a pedagogical university).