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 A.M.GORKY INSTITUTE OF WORLD LITERATURE
OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

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ISSN 2619-0311 (Print)
ISSN 2712-8512 (Online)

The First Soviet Dissertation on Dostoevsky and Its Author: Towards a Biography of Piotr Zheglov (1901–1941)

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  • Author: Petr A. Druzhinin
  • Information about the author:

    PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow, V.V. Vinogradov Institute of Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Volkonka St., 18/2, 119019 Moscow, Russia.

    https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3097-3375

    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • For citation:

    Druzhinin, P.A. “The First Soviet Dissertation on Dostoevsky and Its Author: Towards a Biography of Piotr Zheglov (1901–1941).” Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 3 (31), 2025, pp. 266–299. (In Russ.)

    https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2025-3-266-299
  • Received: 01 Apr. 2025
  • Approved after reviewing: 21 Apr. 2025
  • Published: 25 Sept. 2025
  • Issue: 2025 no. 3 (31)
  • Department: DOSTOEVSKY IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY
  • Pages: 266-299
  • DOI: Visit Website
  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/QECPYF
  • UDK: 821.161.1.0
  • BBK: 83.3(2Рос=Рус)
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • Keywords: Dostoevsky, Zheglov, Berliner, Dolinin, Piksanov, dissertation.
  • Abstract: The article publishes previously unknown materials about the literary scholar Piotr Zheglov, whose name is associated with the first dissertation on the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky defended in the USSR. Numerous archival sources make it possible to reconstruct the biography of this forgotten historian of Russian literature, who was born in Khabarovsk, participated in the Civil War, fought in the army of A.V. Kolchak, and in the early 1930s came to Leningrad to study Russian literature. After entering the graduate program of the Leningrad Institute of History, Philosophy, and Linguistics, Piotr Zheglov, under the supervision of Professor N.K. Piksanov, wrote a dissertation on “Dostoevsky’s Works of the 1840s,” which he defended in 1936. This article publishes the theses of that dissertation, A.S. Dolinin’s review of it, and the materials of the candidate’s defense. Special emphasis is placed on Zheglov’s most important scholarly achievement—his analysis of the literary views of the Petrashevsky Circle, based on N.S. Kirillov’s Dictionary, which had been banned by the censors. Particular attention is given to Zheglov’s scholarly contacts during the years of writing his dissertation, especially with another little-known researcher of Dostoevsky’s works, G.O. Berliner. In this connection, materials of literary criticism from the mid-1930s are presented, reflecting the diverse attitudes toward Dostoevsky and his creative legacy, which inevitably influenced Zheglov and his interpretation of Dostoevsky’s works. The article also outlines Zheglov’s further scholarly path, his interest in the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the writing of his doctoral dissertation, and his unsuccessful attempt to join the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The life of the literary scholar was cut short in 1941, when he was killed in the defense of Leningrad.

References

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