''A Decayed Family'' () is an unfinished novel by

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...

, subtitled "The Family Chronicles of Princes Protazanov" (Семейная хроника князей Протозановых). Parts one and two of it were first published in the

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

Nos. 7,8 and 10 of ''

The Russian Messenger The ''Russian Messenger'' or ''Russian Herald'' (, Pre-reform Russian: Русскій Вѣстникъ) has been the title of three magazines published in Russia during the 19th century and early 20th century. ''Russian Messenger'' period I and ...

'' as part of a trilogy which also included '' Old Years in Plodomasovo'' (1869) and ''

The Cathedral Clergy ''The Cathedral Folk'' (), also translated as ''The Cathedral Clergy'', is a novel by Nikolai Leskov, a series of "romantic chronicles" (as the author called them) of the fictional town of Stargorod. It is his only full-length novel translated int ...

'' (1872).

History

The publication of the novel has led to Leskov's severing all ties with ''The Russian Messenger''. The main issue was the magazine's editor-in-chief

Mikhail Katkov Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism, an important figure in the creation of a fee ...

's disagreement with the author's position as regards Russian

dvoryanstvo The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

. At the time of the publication Katkov (while praising the novel's artistic qualities) told the members of the magazine's stuff: "We've made a mistake, this is not our man, has nothing to do with us, is departure isnot something to be pitied." Outraged by editorial cuts, Leskov decided against starting upon the third part of the novel, leaving it unfinished. Leskov himself rated ''A Decayed Family'' higher than ''The Cathedral Clergy'' and ''

The Sealed Angel ''The Sealed Angel'' () is a story by Nikolai Leskov, written in 1872 and first published in the No.1, January 1873 issue of '' The Russian Messenger''. The story concerns a group of Old Believers whose revered icon of an angel is confiscated by ...

'', referring to it as his "most mature work".N. Leskov's letter to A. Suvorin, 2 March 1889. The publication in the magazine of parts 1 and 2 received high praise from

Ivan Aksakov Ivan Sergeyevich Aksakov (; , village Nadezhdino, Belebeyevsky Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate – , Moscow) was a Russian littérateur and notable Slavophile. Biography Aksakov was born in the village of Nadezhdino (then Orenburg Governorate, no ...

and

Nikolay Pirogov Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (Russian: Николай Иванович Пирогов; – ) was a Russian scientist, medical doctor, pedagogue, public figure, and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1847), one of the most wi ...

. In 1875 ''A Decayed Family'' came out as a separate edition. "Here its second part is presented in my own version, not that of Katkov," Leskov wrote in a letter to Ivan Aksakov on March 23, 1875. As ''The Complete Leskov'' started to be published by

Alexey Suvorin Aleksei Sergeyevich Suvorin (; , Korshevo, Voronezh Governorate – , Tsarskoye Selo) was a Russian newspaper and book publisher and journalist whose publishing empire wielded considerable influence during the last decades of the Russian Emp ...

's publishing house, ''A Decayed Family'' was included into the Volume 6, which also featured Leskov's most radical anti-clerical essays and stories. On July 16, 1889, Leskov received the news that the whole issue of Volume 6 had been arrested by the police, which led to his first major heart attack. In July 1890 Volume 6 came out in the alternative version, ''A Decayed Family'' included.

References

External links

Захудалый род
by Nikolai Leskov. The original Russian text. {{DEFAULTSORT:Decayed Family, A Novels by Nikolai Leskov 1874 Russian novels Works originally published in The Russian Messenger