Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was born on 20 March 1809 in the village of Sorochyntsi. It was situated in Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire. Now this territory belongs to Ukraine. The ancestors of Gogol’s mother were Polish landowners. It is known that his father, Vasily Gogol-Yanovsky, composed poetry both in Russian and Ukrainian. He died when Nikolai was fifteen years old. The whole family spoke both Ukrainian and Russian. When Nikolai was a child he helped his uncle with various plays in his home theater.
From 1820 to 1828 Gogol studied at a school of higher art which was located in Nizhyn. At that time he started to write. Gogol did not have many friends at school and some of his classmates called him “mysterious dwarf”. At the same time two or three of his schoolmates became his close friends.
At an early age Gogol developed taciturn temperament which was expressed by distressing self-consciousness and infinite ambition. He additionally developed a faculty for mimicry. Consequently Gogol became an incomparable reader of his writings and had an idea to be an actor.
In 1828 he left the school and moved to St Petersburg. Gogol dreamt of being literary celebrity and brought with him a poem Hans Kuchelgarten. It was later published entitled “V. Alov”. Gogol sent his work to different magazines but most of them ridiculed it. Afterwards he bought all the magazines and destroyed them. After that Gogol swore that he’d never begin writing again.
From 1820 to 1828 Gogol studied at a school of higher art which was located in Nizhyn. At that time he started to write. Gogol did not have many friends at school and some of his classmates called him “mysterious dwarf”. At the same time two or three of his schoolmates became his close friends.
At an early age Gogol developed taciturn temperament which was expressed by distressing self-consciousness and infinite ambition. He additionally developed a faculty for mimicry. Consequently Gogol became an incomparable reader of his writings and had an idea to be an actor.
In 1828 he left the school and moved to St Petersburg. Gogol dreamt of being literary celebrity and brought with him a poem Hans Kuchelgarten. It was later published entitled “V. Alov”. Gogol sent his work to different magazines but most of them ridiculed it. Afterwards he bought all the magazines and destroyed them. After that Gogol swore that he’d never begin writing again.