GONCHAROF, Ivan Alek sandrovitch, Russian novelist: b. 18 June 1812, at Simbirsk, on the Volga River; d. Saint Petersburg, 27 Sept. 1891. His father was a member of the merchant class, but died at an early age, leaving the three-year-old boy•in the charge of his mother, a woman of unusual character and ability. He was at first educated at home especially under the direction of his godfather, a former seafaring man who had re tired from service and was an inmate of Gon chanfirs household, where his general culture. his sense of humor and his inexhaustible fund of anecdotes and reminiscences of travel in all parts of the world made him the central figure in the best society of the prosperous provincial capital. The boy was in due time entered at a boarding-school attended by the sons of wealthy landed proprietors, and the principal teacher, a priest of a different type from the usual country clergyman, who had graduated from the Theological Seminary of Kazin, was a man of culture and breeding and was married to a French lady who taught her native lan guage to the students. The school possessed an excellent library of Russian and foreign masterpieces—history, fiction, poetry and books of travel — some of which Gonchared not only read but even learned by heart. At the age of 12 he was sent to Moscow where his passion for reading was still further stimulated and he made great progress in French, English and German. In 1831 he entered the Moscow University in the department of philology. Here he came under the influence of an unusually able corps of professors whose lectures on his tory, literature, archmology and art appealed to his best ability and confirmed him in his love for all that was lofty and beautiful. After fin
ishing the full course he returned to his home for some months and then proceeded to Saint Petersburg where he entered the service of the Ministry of Finance as interpreter. He became acquainted with the brilliant circle of novelists, poets and journalists, the two Maikof brothers, Nekrisof, Byelinsky, Paniyef. He was thus drawn to literature and wrote his first novel 'An Ordinary Story' (Obuiknovinnya Is tOriya), the first part of which appeared in The Contemporary (Sovremennik) in 1847. He was already planning a new work and even went so far as to print some chapters of it under the title, (Oblomors Dream, but in 1852 he ac cepted an offer from the Ministry of the Mar ine to accompany Admiral Putyitin as his sec retary on a trip around the world with the aim of concluding a treaty with Japan. The re sult of this experience was given to the public in 1856 and 1857 in two large volumes entitled 'Frigate Pallada.' During his journey he worked desultorily on 'OblomoP and after his return he went to Carlsbad and finished it in about a month and a half. It was printed in 1858 and 1859 in the Annals of the Fatherland and immediately created an immense sensation, the hero of the story being recognized as a very distinctive Russian type. His official du ties and his social diversions largely interfered with his literary activities and he waited 10 years before he published his next and final masterpiece of fiction, 'The Precipice' (or 'The Abyss' — Obruif) which came out in the Eu ropean Messenger (liyestnik Yevrdpui) and in book-form in 1870. His collected works also comprise critical articles and translations.