He was told it could be managed, but not cured. In August 1879 he was diagnosed with early-stage pulmonary emphysema. However, Dostoyevsky's health continued to decline, and in March 1877 he had four epileptic seizures. Only payment in cash was accepted and the bookshop was the family apartment. In 1873 ‘Demons’ was published by the "Dostoyevsky Publishing Company". Other works followed but a different approach helped immensely. In Saint Petersburg that September he promised his editor he would deliver ‘The Gambler’, a novella on gambling addiction, by November, although work had yet to begin. His writings on these prison experiences, ‘The House of the Dead’ were published in 1861. The Tsar commuted the sentence to four years of exile with hard labour in Siberia. Arrests took place in late April 1849 and its members sentenced to death by firing squad. The Petrashevsky Circle was then denounced and Dostoyevsky accused of reading and distributing banned works. When that dissolved he joined the Petrashevsky Circle, which proposed social reforms. With debts mounting he joined the utopian socialist Betekov circle, which helped him to survive. However, ‘The Double’ received bad reviews and he now had more frequent seizures. Dostoyevsky now became immersed in socialism. His next novel, ‘The Double’, appeared in January 1846. The result was ‘Poor Folk’, published in 1846, and a commercial success. He believed his financial difficulties could be overcome by writing his own novel. However, he continued his studies, passed his exams and obtained the rank of engineer cadet.ĭostoyevsky's first completed work was a translation of Honoré de Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet, published in 1843. His father died on 16th June 1839 and perhaps triggered Dostoyevsky’s epilepsy. Dostoyevsky disliked the academy, his interests were drawing and architecture.
Dostoyevsky's mother died of tuberculosis.ĭostoyevsky and his brother were now enrolled at the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute, their academic studies abandoned for military careers. His imagination, he later recalled, was brought to life by his parents’ nightly readings. His immersion in literature was wide and varied. At four his mother used the Bible to teach him to read and write. At age three, it was heroic sagas, fairy tales and legends.
He was introduced to literature very early. Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born on 11th November 1821.