Unknown Dobrolyubov: Russia and Italy in the Life of the Litarary Critic

Many of the numerous works devoted to Nikolay Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov, a prominent Russian literary critic and journalist, regard him from a perspective similar to the one expressed in N. A. Nekrasov’s poem in the memory of N. A. Dobrolyubov. They view the critic as intellectual, ascetic, and dispassionate – an exemplar of a public figure. This poetic image has become strongly associated with Dobrolyubov’s personality, yet Dobrolyubov was much more than that: a witty satirizer, talented tra...