Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev, (1818-83). Russian novelist. His first prose work, A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852), was a major success and was followed by a series of novels including Fathers and Sons (1862). His criticisms of Russian country life, including the institution of serfdom, were not well received by the authorities and led to imprisonment and house arrest in 1852-53. From 1856 he lived abroad, mainly in Paris. His plays include the psychological drama A Month in the Country (1855). Turgenev’s writing reflects his own complex attitude towards Russia, halfway between the reactionary notions of the tsar and the revolutionary ideals of the younger generation. This may explain why his novels were never fully appreciated in Russia.
