Alexander Levitov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Ivanovich Levitov , born August 1, 1835 – died January 16, 1877, was a Russian writer.
. He learned to read and write in a school for peasant children set up by his father in their home. Later he attended the Tambov Seminary.
He left the seminary before finishing his studies, traveled to Moscow, and then to St Petersburg, where he entered the Academy of Medicine and Surgery in 1855. In 1856 he was exiled to Shenkursk for taking part in political agitation. In Shenkursk he associated primarily with the lower classes, and began drinking. He composed his first short stories during this three year period of exile.
In the 1860s and 1870s Levitov's stories and sketches were published in the Russian magazines Russkaya Rech (Russian Speech), Moskovsky Vestnik (Moscow Herald), Sovremennik
(The Contemporary), Vremya
(Time, edited by Mikhail Dostoyevsky
), and Otechestvennye Zapiski
(Annals of the Fatherland). During this time he wandered through many of the towns and cities of Russia, drinking heavily, and living in poor conditions. His habits eventually led to serious illness.
Levitov died of Tuberculosis in a Moscow clinic in 1877. The funeral costs were paid for with money collected from students.
Biography
Levitov was born in the village of Dobroye, in Tambov Governorate, where his father was a sextonSexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
. He learned to read and write in a school for peasant children set up by his father in their home. Later he attended the Tambov Seminary.
He left the seminary before finishing his studies, traveled to Moscow, and then to St Petersburg, where he entered the Academy of Medicine and Surgery in 1855. In 1856 he was exiled to Shenkursk for taking part in political agitation. In Shenkursk he associated primarily with the lower classes, and began drinking. He composed his first short stories during this three year period of exile.
In the 1860s and 1870s Levitov's stories and sketches were published in the Russian magazines Russkaya Rech (Russian Speech), Moskovsky Vestnik (Moscow Herald), Sovremennik
Sovremennik
Sovremennik was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in St. Petersburg in 1836-1866. It came out four times a year in 1836-1843 and once a month after that...
(The Contemporary), Vremya
Vremya (magazine)
Vremya was a monthly magazine published by Fyodor Dostoyevsky under the editorship of his brother Mikhail Dostoyevsky, as Fyodor himself, due to his status as a former convict, was unable to be the official editor.-Publication history:...
(Time, edited by Mikhail Dostoyevsky
Mikhail Dostoyevsky
Mikhail Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky , , was a Russian short story writer, publisher, literary critic and an elder brother of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The two of them were only a year apart in age and spent childhood and youth together...
), and Otechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski was a Russian literary magazine published in St Petersburg on a monthly basis between 1818 and 1884. The journal served liberal-minded readers, known as the intelligentsia...
(Annals of the Fatherland). During this time he wandered through many of the towns and cities of Russia, drinking heavily, and living in poor conditions. His habits eventually led to serious illness.
Levitov died of Tuberculosis in a Moscow clinic in 1877. The funeral costs were paid for with money collected from students.
English translations
- Leatherhide the Cobbler, (story), from In the Depths, Raduga Publishers, 1987,
or from Anthology of Russian Literature, Part 2, Leo WienerLeo WienerLeo Wiener was an Americanhistorian, linguist, author and translator of Polish-Jewish origin. Wiener was born in Russia and spent the early part of his childhood there, before coming to the United States alone, with the purpose of creating a vegetarian commune in Belize...
, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1903. from Archive.org