Dostoevski Dies

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist whose psychologically penetrating fiction explored faith, doubt, suffering, and moral freedom. He died in St. Petersburg in 1881, shortly after completing his final masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov.

His major novels included Crime and Punishment, which traces a poor student's murder of a pawnbroker and his subsequent tormented conscience, and The Idiot, centered on a guileless prince whose Christlike innocence collides with a corrupt and grasping society. He also wrote Notes from Underground, Demons, The Gambler, and an autobiographical account of his years of Siberian imprisonment.

Dostoevsky's early involvement with a radical circle led to arrest, a mock execution, and years of penal servitude that deeply shaped his worldview. His searching examination of human psychology and the problem of evil exerted a lasting influence on modern literature, philosophy, and theology.