FYODOR MIKHAILOVITCH DOSTOEVSKY was born at Moscow on October 30, 1821, the son of a military surgeon. He was educated in his native city and at the School of Military Engineering at St. Petersburg, from which he graduated in 1843 with the grade of sublieutenant. The attraction of literature led him to give up the career that lay open to him, and he entered instead upon a long struggle with poverty. 1
His first book, "Poor Folks" (1846), though obviously influenced by Gogol, was recognized by the critics as the work of an original genius, and he became a regular contributor to a monthly…
