Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin

MIKHAIL YEVGRAFOVICH SALTYKOV-SHCHEDRIN was a Russian satirical writer, publicist, journalist, and civil servant. His real surname was Saltykov; N. Shchedrin was his literary pseudonym. He was born in the village of Spasskoye (Spas-Ugol) in Tver Governorate. From 1836 to 1838 he studied at the Moscow Nobility Institute and from 1838 to 1844 at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. After graduating he entered service in the chancery of the Ministry of War. In 1848, after the publication of the novella A Complicated Affair, he was exiled to Vyatka, where he served in the governorate administration until the end of 1855. After returning to Saint Petersburg he served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs; he was Vice-Governor of Ryazan from 1858 to 1860 and Vice-Governor of Tver from 1860 to 1862. In 1864 he became chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber, was transferred to Tula in 1866 and to Ryazan in 1867 in the same capacity, and left government service permanently in 1868. From 1868 he was a co-editor and shareholder of the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, becoming its editor after the death of Nikolay Nekrasov in 1878 and remaining in that role until the journal was closed in 1884. His major works include Provincial Sketches, The History of a Town, The Golovlyov Family, his satirical fairy tales, and Poshekhonskaya Starina. He died in Saint Petersburg and was buried at Volkovo Cemetery.