To mark his jubilee, and to recognise his contribution to the development of Russian literature, popular search engine Google has renamed the page of its Russian domain to ‘Gogol’ with a nose attached to it.

The jubilee is celebrated all over Russia in many forms. Some cities have organized expositions, while others, such as Omsk in central Russia, will witness a theatre festival, the highlights of which will be the staging of Gogol’s plays.

Celebrations will also take place in Ukraine – the author’s historic homeland – which, however, was not the language he used for writing his masterpieces.

Gogol’s works have become the inspiration for countless films, plays and spin-off works. Although it may seem that everything has already been said on the subject, viewers and readers are still looking for hidden themes in Gogol’s works.

Even Paris has planned a ‘Gogol week’ which will take place in its local UNESCO headquarters. It will begin with a display of Ukrainian artist Sergey Yakutovich’s works, that are based on Gogol’s writings.

Early life

Nikolay Gogol was born in Sorochintsi, Ukraine, and grew up on his parents' country estate. His real surname was Yanovskii, but the writer's grandfather had taken the name 'Gogol' to claim a noble Cossack ancestry.

Gogol's father was an educated and gifted man, who wrote plays, poems, and sketches in Ukrainian.

In 1828 Gogol, then an aspiring writer, settled in St. Petersburg, with a certificate attesting his right to 'the rank of the 14th class'. To support himself, Gogol worked minor governmental jobs and wrote occasionally for periodicals.

Between the years 1831 and 1834 Gogol taught history at the Patriotic Institute and worked as a private tutor.

In 1831 he met Aleksandr Pushkin, who greatly influenced his choice of literary material. Their friendship lasted until the poet’s untimely death.

After failing as an assistant lecturer of world history at the University of St. Petersburg, Gogol became a full-time writer.

It was then that his prose expanded on his distinctive qualities: an imaginative prowess, agile linguistic playfulness, and an insightful exposure of the defects of human character.

His breakthrough work was ‘Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka’ which showed his skill in mixing the fantastic with the macabre, and at the same saying something very essential about the Russian character.

It was Gogol too who was the first to publish an extended historic comparison between Moscow and Petersburg, saying "Russia needs Moscow; Petersburg needs Russia."

"I am destined by the mysterious powers to walk hand in hand with my strange heroes," wrote Gogol once, "viewing life in all its immensity as it rushes past me, viewing it through laughter seen by the world and tears unseen and unknown by it."

It was in Rome that Gogol wrote his major work, ‘Dead Souls’. "The prophet finds no honor in his homeland," the writer explained. He claimed that the story was suggested by Pushkin in a conversation in 1835.

Apart from short visits to Russia, Gogol was abroad for twelve years. The first edition of Gogol's collected works was published in 1842. It made him one of the most popular Russian writers.

Buried alive?

In his later life Gogol came under the influence of fanatical priest Father Matvey Konstantinovskii. With his religious convictions at odds with his sexuality, Gogol became deeply depressed, subsequently burning sequels for Dead Souls – the reason for which he blamed on the Devil.

Gogol, in an attempt to expel any evil spirit within him refused food and various remedies were employed to make him eat: spirits were poured over his head; hot loaves applied to his person; bleeding, and leeches attached to his nose. After ten days of starving himself he died on the verge of madness on March 4, 1852.

Rumours persist that he was buried alive, because he was found lying face down in the earth.

Anna Bogdanova, RT