50 RUSSIAN TEXTS 31 Ivan Turgenev
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IVAN Sergeevich Turgenev is one of the most beloved Russian writers, whose books are widely known in Russia and abroad.
Turgenev's father, an officer, was from an old noble family, and his mother was from a family of wealthy landowners. Turgenev spent his childhood on the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo estate near the city of Oryol. This estate forever remained a symbol of his homeland for Turgenev, the most precious and beloved place on earth. It now houses a museum of the writer. Turgenev received an excellent education at home; by the age of fourteen, he already spoke three European languages fluently and was familiar with the best works of Russian and European literature.
In 1827, the family moved to Moscow, and in 1833, Turgenev entered university, where he graduated with a degree in philosophy. To continue his education, Turgenev went to Germany and attended lectures on classical philology, philosophy, and history at the University of Berlin. While still a student, Turgenev began writing. Literature soon became his life's work.
In 1843, a significant event occurred in Turgenev's life. He met the French singer Pauline Viardot, who had come to St. Petersburg on tour, and fell in love with her. This love changed his entire life. Pauline Viardot was married, but Turgenev could not part with her for the rest of his life. In 1847, he followed her to Europe, to France. From that moment on, Turgenev always lived in the home of the Viardot family. He visited Russia only briefly, but he loved it dearly and never lost touch with it.
Turgenev knew and understood Russia well, its problems, and the lives of its various social strata. He loved Russian nature, the countryside, and the Russian people. Turgenev's first book, "A Sportsman's Sketches," brought him widespread fame.
Turgenev wrote many wonderful short stories and novels. His short stories include:
"Asya," "First Love," "Spring Torrents," and others. His novels include: "On the Eve,"
"A Nest of the Gentry," "Fathers and Sons," and others. Read them; they are very interesting! These books are about loneliness, about love, about a person's right to happiness, about a person's personal destiny and the historical destiny of Russia, about a person's love of life, about beauty, and about the desire for happiness and freedom. Turgenev created a unique and beautiful image of the Russian woman—the "Turgenev woman"—strong and weak at the same time, intelligent, tender, faithful, and loving.
In 1879, Turgenev returned to Russia for the last time from France, where he had lived for many years and where the Viardot family had become his family. A warm welcome awaited him in Russia. For European writers, Turgenev at this time became the leading representative of Russian literature and Russian realism.
The gravely ill Turgenev spent the last years of his life in France. His last work was "Poems in Prose." It was his farewell to life, his homeland, and art; it was his faith in the great future of his country.
Turgenev died in 1583 at the age of sixty-five.
I. Answer the questions.
1. What can you say about Turgenev's childhood?
2. What education did Ivan Turgenev receive? 3. Why did Ivan Sergeevich spend most of his life abroad?
4. Which book made Turgenev famous?
5. What works by this writer can you name?
6. What did Turgenev write about in his works?
7. How was the writer received in Russia on his last visit from France?
II. Do you understand the expression "Turgenev's woman"?
III. Recreate situations in which the following phrases are used: symbol of the homeland, home education, life's work, wide fame, personal destiny, passionate encounter.
IV. Are you familiar with the name Ivan Turgenev? Have you read any of his works in translation?