Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is perhaps the most enigmatic figure in Russian literature. He left to posterity dozens of brilliant works and many mysteries associated with his entire life: from the date of birth to the circumstances surrounding the funeral.
Gogol's date of birth was a mystery even to his contemporaries. At first they said that he was born on March 19, 1809, then on March 20, 1810. Only after the death of Gogol was the metric published, from which it became clear that the date was indicated on March 20, 1809 (according to the new style - April 1).
While studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium, Gogol dreamed of devoting himself to social activities for the good of Russia. With these thoughts, he went to Petersburg and, like many enthusiastic young provincials, experienced a severe disappointment.
The pseudonyms of the young Gogol
At the beginning of his literary career, Nikolai Vasilievich also received a heavy blow to his pride. At the age of 20, he published his first book - the romantic poem "Ganz Kuchelgarten", published under the pseudonym V. Alov. The book was heavily criticized. As a result, the aspiring author bought and burned all the unsold copies. Until the end of his life, he never revealed the secret of his first pseudonym to anyone.
Gogol's first creative success was the Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, which made him famous. Funny and scary, based on a deep knowledge of folklore, stories were told on behalf of the beekeeper, whose name was Rudy Panko. The new pseudonym contained very transparent allusions to the personality of the writer: "ore" meant "red" by his hair color, and Panko was the name of his grandfather Panas.
Despite the resounding success, Gogol continued to write under pseudonyms: G. Yanov, P. Glechik, OOOO. This lasted until Belinsky in the press reproached him for his constant attempts to hide under false names. Then Nikolai Vasilyevich realized that there was no point in hiding further and began to publish under his own name.
Mysteries of the life and death of the writer
Throughout his life, Gogol was possessed by all kinds of phobias. He sincerely believed in prophecy and evil spirits, which was reflected in his early works. One of the writer's mysteries is connected with perhaps the most mystical of his works - the story "Viy". Gogol himself claimed that he conveyed the folk tradition in it, without changing anything in it. But researchers of his work to this day have not been able to find a single piece of folklore, even remotely reminiscent of "Viy".
In 1839, during a trip to Italy, Gogol contracted malaria. Subsequently, she became the cause of a severe mental disorder, which became the cause of the early death of the writer. On the night of February 12, 1852, Gogol burned his portfolio with the manuscripts it contained. For a long time it was believed that he burned the second volume of Dead Souls. However, later the manuscript (or at least part of it) was discovered. It is unlikely that it will ever be known what exactly was burned on that fateful night.
After that, the writer finally plunged into his phobias, the biggest of which was the fear that he would be buried alive. Apparently, therefore, after his death, which followed just 9 days after the burning of the manuscript, there were rumors that he was nevertheless buried alive.
