Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the finest psychologists in world literature, was born in Moscow in 1821. Introduced to literature from the age of three, he was very close to his parents and nanny. His literary upbringing was influenced by Alena Frolovna, his nanny, who would read to him fairy tales, heroic sagas, and legends.As a student too, he was drawn to Romantic and Gothic fiction, especially the works of Sir Walter Scott, Nikolay Karamzin, Ann Radcliffe, Alexander Pushkin, and Friedrich Schiller among others. Unlike his contemporary writers, Dostoevsky was not born into the landed gentry.Therefore, his literary works foregrounded the lives of accidental families and of the insulted and the humiliated. His stories explored human psychology in the turbulent socio-political atmosphere of 19th-century Russia. His first novel, Poor Folk, was published in 1846 when he was 25.This gained him entry into St. Petersburg's literary circles. In 1849, he was arrested for being part of a literary group that discussed banned books of Tsarist Russia. His most acclaimed works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Notes from Underground (1864), his novella, is considered one of the earliest works of existentialist literature.
Fyodor Dostoevsky's final work, The Brothers Karamazov, is arguably one of the best novels ever written in any language. Set in 19th-century Russia, the novel was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. The story revolves around the murder of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov the father of the Karamazov brother's a debauched man who leads a hedonistic life and excels in the art of seducing women.A spiritual drama of sorts, the story of Fyodor and his three sons from different wives, embodies Dostoevsky's philosophy and delves into debates on morality, free will and God. Dostoevsky's hero Alyosha was named after his own son who died of epilepsy at the age of three in 1878.The qualities that Dostoevsky admired in his son are reflected in the eponymous character, created and developed as a cathartic process. Dostoevsky died less than four months after the publication of The Brothers Karamazov. Constance Garnett's English translation of the novel was released in 1912. It is believed that a copy of The Brothers Karamazov was found next to Leo Tolstoy's nightstand when he died.
