Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born, according to different data, March 31 or April 1, 1809. His childhood was spent in Ukraine in the village of Sorochintsy, Poltava province. He grew up in a large family, except for him, his parents had 5 more sons and 6 daughters, some of the children died as infants. When Nikolai was ten years old, he was sent to Poltava, where he studied sciences in a school, and then - at the local teacher Gavriil Sorochinsky. After classical training, the 16-year-old young man entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences (the city of Nizhyn, Chernigov region). During his studies, Gogol gravitated to creativity, willingly participated in all theatrical productions and improvised skits. His friends considered him to be a cheerful person with an excellent sense of humor.

Passion for literature

Even during his studies, the future literary classicist became interested in writing. Admiring the works of Pushkin, he began to compose elegies, feuilletons, poems, tried himself in prose and other genres. Creating works helped the young man to distract himself from mental torment, but he did not plan to become a writer. The young man dreamed of a military career.

In the winter of 1828 Gogol goes to the capital, to St. Petersburg, where he was disappointed. Unable to find a job, Gogol returned to literary work, but even here he failed. After several failed attempts, he decided to change the genre and wrote a mystical story "The Evening Before Ivan Kupal" (1830), which was liked by readers. It inspired the author for new works:

"The Night Before Christmas"

"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka"

"Dead Souls"

"Viy"

"The Inspector"

and many others.

Unfortunately, in addition to the craving for literary creativity, from his father Nikolai Vasilyevich inherited a psychological illness and fear of early death, which began to manifest themselves in the playwright since adolescence. In this regard, mystical legends are composed about the life of the classic, and the true cause of death is disputed to this day.