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Nikolai Gogol Facts & Worksheets

Nikolai Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer who contributed to Russian literature through his magnificently crafted dramas, novels, and short stories.

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Nikolai Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer who contributed to Russian literature through his magnificently crafted dramas, novels, and short stories. He was also one of the major proponents of the natural school of Russian literary realism.

See the fact file below for more information on the Nikolai Gogol or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Nikolai Gogol worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Years

  • Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 31, 1809, in Sorochyntsi, Poltava Governorate, Ukraine, and was raised by a Polish mother and a Ukrainian father who also wrote plays.
  • His father died when he was 15, so it was his uncle who influenced him on watching Ukrainian-language plays at a very young age.
  • In the 1820’s, Gogol studied higher art in Nizhyn Pedagogical University, where he learned to paint and play the violin. He also joined plays both as a decorator and an actor and was especially successful in comic roles.
  • He also experimented with various literature genres, writing elegiacs, tragedies, historic poetry, and prose. He wrote the satire Something About Nizhyn, also known as There’s No Law for Fools, which didn’t survive for future generations.
  • However, at the time Gogol did not consider writing as a serious occupation and continued to pursue a career in the state service, particularly law.
  • After graduating from University in June, 1828, he set off for St. Petersburg. However, he did not manage to get a job, and his literary attempts were also unsuccessful. In disappointment, he went abroad but soon returned. In November, 1829, he accepted a job in the Department of State Property and Public Buildings of the Ministry of Domestic Affairs.
  • The paperwork greatly frustrated Gogol; however, the job provided plenty of material for his future literary works depicting the lives of officials and the functioning of the wheels of state.

Literary Career

  • In 1830 in the Native Notes magazine, Gogol’s first novella appeared under the title Basavryuk, but was later reworked into the novella Night Before Ivan Kupala Day.
  • In December, a chapter from his historic novel The Hetman was printed in Anton Delvig’s almanac The Northern Flowers.
  • With his works published, he became close with the literary figures of the time, like Anton Delvig, Vasily Zhukovsky, and Alexander Pushkin, whose friendship was key for the development of young Gogol’s social position and literary talent.
  • Pushkin then introduced him to his circles, which were often visited by the likes of Ivan Krylov, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Vladimir Odoevsky and the artist Bryullov, who gave him ideas for his future works.
  • Gogol soon received acclaim for his Evenings At a Farm Near Dikanka, The Sorochino Fair, The May Night and other works.
  • In 1833, Gogol decided to take on scientific and pedagogic work. In 1834, he was appointed assistant professor of the World History Department of St. Petersburg University. He left a year later and dedicated himself fully to literature.
  • In 1835, the Mirgorod novella collection came out, including Old World Landlords, Taras Bulba, Viy, and others, along with the collection Arabesques depicting life in St. Petersburg.
  • The novel, The Greatcoat, was his most significant work while in St. Petersburg. Gogol read the rough drafts to Pushkin in 1836 and finished the novel in 1842.
  • While working on novels, Gogol also tried his hand at playwriting. He considered theater a great power that had played a considerable part in social development. In 1835, he wrote The Government Inspector, which in 1836 was staged in Moscow. The play is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia.
  • Soon after the staging of The Government Inspector, Gogol left Russia and settled in Switzerland. He later moved to Paris where he continued work on The Dead Souls he had begun in Russia. In March, 1837, he moved to Rome and visited Russia from 1839 to 1840 where he read parts of the first volume. In 1841, back again in Rome, he finished writing it.
  • Gogol returned to Russia in October, 1841. With the help of critic Vissarion Belinsky in 1842, Gogol, printed the first volume and called it a “deeply intellectual, social and historic work.”
  • The work on the second volume coincided with Gogol’s deep spiritual crisis and mainly reflected his doubt on literature, putting him on the edge of denouncing his previous creations.
  • In 1847, he published Chosen Excerpts from Friends’ Correspondence, which Belinsky criticized, denouncing his ideas as reactionary.
  • Gogol spent the winter in Naples, preparing for a pilgrimage by sea to Jerusalem in January, 1848.

Later Years and Death

  • After his pilgrimage, Gogol returned to Russia permanently and spent most of his time visiting Moscow, St. Petersburg, and his native Ukraine.
  • From 1849 until 1850, Gogol worked on finishing the second volume of The Dead Souls and planned his return to Moscow in March, 1851. He completed the second volume on January 1, 1852. However, he was again faced with doubts in his success as a writer. On February 7, he confessed and received communion. Five days later, on the night of February 12, he burned the just finished manuscript for The Dead Souls.
  • On the morning of March 4, 1852, Gogol died in his apartment in Moscow. His burial was attended by a great many people.
  • In 1931, his remains were reburied in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Nikolai Gogol Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Nikolai Gogol across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Nikolai Gogol worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Nikolai Gogol who was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer who contributed to Russian literature through his magnificently crafted dramas, novels, and short stories. He was also one of the major proponents of the natural school of Russian literary realism.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Authors Online
  • In Gogol’s Time
  • According to Nikolai
  • Library Hunt
  • Judge by the Cover
  • Dead Soul Searching
  • Torn Pages
  • Googling Gogol
  • Gogol-Mogol
  • Gogol All the Way

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