Dostoyevsky museum in Moscow restored

Press, 9 May 1983, Page 20

Dostoyevsky museum in Moscow restored

From OLGA MARYNENKO, of Novosti

On October 30, 1821, in Moscow, the son named Fyodor was born to the family of medical officer Mikhail Dostoyevsky. The doctor’s flat in one of the wings of the Malinsky Hospital for the poor now houses a museum which recently has been reopened after three years of restoration.

Moscow restorers and experts of the Literary Museum which now incorporates the new memorial complex, have done scrupulous work to reconstruct exactly- the great writer’s surroundings in childhood and youth. The interior decoration of the flat, where the large family (the

parents and seven children) lived has been reconstructed as described in the memoirs of the writer’s younger brother, Andrei. An architect, he was a kind of chronicler and biographer of the family, collecting things, photographs, and portraits. For instance, thanks to his efforts, a copy of the portrait of his parents (the original burned in a fire) made in 1832 by the artist, Popov, has survived. Today, it can be seen

in the sitting room. Working at the exposition, the specialists of the Literary Museum not only strictly followed the description, but also made a thorough study of the life of the Moscow nobility and merchantry of that time to convey the flavour of the epoch exactly. In the dark, windowless nursery, one can' see to small trunks which served as beds for the brothers. On the table by the candlestick lie the tongs to snuff the candles. Those authentic details have a great value. However, the attention to the things that formed the outlook of the future writer is still more important. For instance, the children’s text-books can be seen on Fyodor’s little table in the drawing room (when preparing for the lessons, children sat at cardtables). The book, “The History of the Russian State,” by Karamzin, is opened at the chapter telling about the reign of Boris Godunov. The “troubled times” period aroused the interest of the writer throughout his life. A book-mark is put at the Book of Job in the “104 Sacred Histories of the Old and New Testaments.” “That was one of the first books that amazed me in my life. At that time I was still a baby,” Dostoyevsky wrote to his wife in 1875. The character of Job was delineated in “The Brothers Karamazov.”

“Fyodor preferred historical and serious books,” Andrei Dostoyevsky noted. “As for Mikhail, he liked poetry better. However, Pushkin’s poetry reconciled them and both Fyodor and Mikhail knew almost all of Pushkin’s poems by heart.” It is well-known what a great source of inspiration Pushkin was

for Dostoyevsky. In June, 1880, the writer gave his famous speech at the Pushkin festival in Moscow. In the small lecture-room of the museum one can see a portrait of Dostoyevsky made from the photograph which his wife thought the best one. The photograph was taken in Moscow, the same year. Among the surviving things that surrounded the writer in his childhood is a bookcase in the drawing room.

“In this room mother used to be occupied with something and father would be writing prescriptions into case records. If he was not busy he would read excerpts from books by Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Karamzin, and Pushkin aloud,” Andrei Dostoyevsky wrote. Dostoyevsky left home when he was 16. By that time he had not written anything. That is why the exposition is concluded by a blank sheet of paper with the writer’s autograph. Though the museum was reopened only a short while ago, it has already become very popular. Some 2000 people have visited it in one month alone. Among the guests of the museum are people ranging from schoolchildren to war veterans. Foreign guests and students studying in Moscow also come here often. As a rule, excursions finish with a story about or a lecture on the life and creative activity of the great writer. There is a monument to Dostoyevsky in the garden of the former Mariinsky Hospital, made in 1918 by the sculptor, Sergei Merkwrov. Looking at the monument, one recalls Gorky’s words about the writer: “Dostoyevsky is our tormented conscience.”