Mykola (Nikolai) Gogol (1809–1852) was a Ukrainian writer, playwright, and publicist, a classic of Russian literature and one of the most prominent representatives of the “Ukrainian school.” His works not only shaped the Russian literary tradition but also had a profound influence on Ukrainian culture and folklore. Odesa became an important stage in Gogol’s life, where he worked on the second volume of Dead Souls and found both spiritual and material support.
Early YearsMykola Vasylovych Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1), 1809, in the village of Velyki Sorochyntsi in Poltava province, into a Ukrainian Cossack family, the Gogol-Yanovskys. According to family tradition, his grandfather Panas Gogol-Yanovsky came from a noble family, and among Gogol’s ancestors were well-known Cossacks, including Ostap Gogol, Hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine. Gogol began his education at the Poltava district school and later studied at the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, where he debuted on stage as an actor and theatre director. He studied ancient Ukrainian history, folk traditions, and oral culture, which would later become central to his literary work.
Literary CareerIn 1828, Gogol arrived in Saint Petersburg with dreams of a literary career. His first poem, Hans Küchelgarten, appeared in 1829, along with the story BASAVRYUK, or The Night Before Ivan Kupala, the first of the cycle Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.
In his collections Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka and Mirgorod, Gogol painted vivid pictures of Ukrainian life. He carefully recreated customs, rituals, and everyday scenes, while his characters spoke in language rich with regional expressions, making his works bright and authentic even to foreign readers.
These Ukrainian stories are filled with warmth, humor, and vibrant life. They feature passionate, self-sacrificing heroes who love their land and people. By contrast, his Russian-themed works, such as The Overcoat, convey a completely different tone—sharply critical, ironic, and satirical, exposing bureaucracy, hypocrisy, and cruelty.
Thus, Gogol’s oeuvre contains two artistic worlds: in his Ukrainian stories reign love, kindness, and devotion, whereas in his Russian works characters often embody selfishness, indifference, and moral emptiness. Although dark and eerie moments appear in his Ukrainian tales—such as the novella Viy—the Russian works present a reality distorted by moral decay, reflecting the atmosphere of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century.
By late 1833, Gogol sought a professorship in history at Kyiv University, supported by historian and folklorist Mykhailo Maksymovych. In 1835, he briefly held a teaching position at the Imperial University in Saint Petersburg but soon left academia. From the late 1830s onward, his creative development became linked to drama.
A milestone was his social comedy The Government Inspector (The Inspector General, 1836).
Shortly after the premiere, Gogol left for an extended stay in Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
In Italy, he wrote the first volume of his epic novel Dead Souls, published in 1842.
Gogol in OdesaMykola Gogol visited Odesa several times, and the city became an important chapter in his creative life.
His first visit came in 1848, but he was met with an unexpected obstacle: the city was struck by a cholera outbreak. Gogol was forced to spend at least two weeks in quarantine on the territory of what is now Shevchenko Park. Although he remained in the city for some time, fear of infection prompted him to leave.
His second stay was far longer—from October 1850 to March 1851. News of his visit was noted in the local press.
During this stay, he lived in the so-called “Gogol House,” the estate of Andriy Troshchynsky, his maternal cousin, who had supported him financially for most of his adult life.
Initially, Gogol planned to obtain a passport and travel to warmer climates, particularly Italy, but various circumstances kept him in Odesa for nearly five months. One of the main reasons was the city’s mild winter. In his letters he wrote: “I am living in Odesa for now, thank God, and as far as pleasant pastimes go, there is no reason to complain.”
In Odesa, he devoted himself to writing: he worked on the second volume of Dead Souls, found quiet corners in friends’ houses to write, and visited the home of Princess Varvara Repnina, where young people sang Ukrainian folk songs under his direction. The city allowed him to combine creative work with peace and solitude, far from noise and social obligations.
Later Years and LegacyThe last years of Gogol’s life were marked by spiritual turmoil and a dramatic search for truth.
He left Odesa on March 27, 1851, never to return. Less than a year later, on February 21 (March 4), 1852, he died in Moscow, after burning the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls.
Gogol’s works left a lasting mark on both Russian and Ukrainian literature, while his Ukrainian motifs became an integral part of the cultural memory of both nations.
In Odesa, Nadezhdinskaya Street was renamed in his honor in 1902.