Dostoevsky Day in St. Petersburg reveals Russian writers

This year marks the 150th anniversary of "Crime and Punishment", written in 1865. That is why a young Rodion Raskolnikov was once again prowling Nevsky Prospect.

Citizens had a chance to see the protagonist of this legendary novel with his horrific stare and bloodied hands and axe on Saturday. It was a chance to visit the city where the action of the novel unfolds and to see its characters in the living flesh.

St. Petersburg inspired not only Dostoevsky, but also Nikolai Gogol. He lived in St. Petersburg as well and dedicated a collection of three stories to the city, one of which is called “The Nose.”

We meet the main character (or his body part) on the street. According to the plot of Gogol’s story, the hero wakes up one morning without… his nose. At the same time, the detached nose walks around the city wearing full-dress uniform three ranks higher than its owner’s, rides in a carriage and goes to pray in Kazan Cathedral.

Alexander Pushkin, the Moscow-born poet spent much of his life in Russia’s Northern capital, where likewise he drew inspiration. 'The Bronze Horseman: A Petersburg Tale' is a narrative poem about the famous equestrian monument to Peter the Great. It is a deliberation about the history of the city, which was founded on marshland, and is full of thoughts about the impersonal governmental machine and the cruel elements, which are totally oblivious to the plight of the individual.

Every year, Dostoyevsky Day is celebrated in St. Petersburg on the first Saturday in July. This weekend RBTH’s photographers joined the celebration, which was full of people walking the streets, watching theatre performances, and participating in seminars and themed tours… and encountered writers and characters from many novels, poems and tales written here in St. Petersburg.

Dostoyevsky Day does not coincide with the great writer’s birth. "Dostoyevsky was born in November, when it is cold. He died in January when, again, it is cold. Early July is when the most ‘Petersburg-esque’ of all his novels—Crime and Punishment—begins," says the organizer of the festival, Vera Biron. Biron is the assistant director of the FMD Dostoevsky Theatre.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was born and spent his childhood in Moscow, but in 1837 became a St. Petersburg resident. In the years to come, he would live at almost 20 different addresses in St. Petersburg and the city would become the protagonist of his works. To see RBTH 'Guide to Fyodor Dostoevsky's St. Petersburg', follow the link.