Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a journalist, literary critic and novelist, whose works, especially the novel Chto delat'? [What Is to Be Done?, 1863], had a significant impact on 1860s Russian culture and society, and also influenced generations of revolutionaries in the Soviet era.
Chernyshevsky was born in Saratov on the Volga, Russia, on July 12, 1828 and was the only child of Gavril Ivanovich Chernyshevsky and Evgeniia Yegorovna (née Golubeva) to survive early childhood. Gavril was an Orthodox priest, who entered the seminary in 1803. He was originally from Chernyshovo, a village further up the Volga, but moved to Saratov in 1818 to take up a position at the church of St …
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Citation: Ambrose, Kathryn. "Nikolai Chernyshevsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 May 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11796, accessed 23 November 2024.]