Maria Semyonovna Zhukova (russian: link=no, Мари́я Семёновна Жу́кова, 1805 – April 26, 1855) was a Russian writer. After divorcing from her husband, she used writing to earn money. She wrote short stories, accounts of her travels, and even a novella.
Biography
Maria was born in 1805 in
Arzamas
Arzamas (russian: Арзама́с) is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Tyosha River (a tributary of the Oka), east of Moscow. Population:
History
Arzamas was founded in 1578 by Ivan the Terrible in the lands p ...
, where her father was a lawyer. They later moved to
Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901 ...
. Maria spent her early years in the provinces, where she gained a critical but affectionate appreciation of provincial ways. Her early education in languages and literature was most likely acquired while she was a companion to a daughter of the local nobility.
Maria was married at the age of 17 or 18 to a local landowner who served as a district judge. The marriage was unhappy. Maria's husband was originally wealthy, but lost his money gambling and going on sprees. They eventually separated, but only after Maria had given birth to her only son.
She moved to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
around 1830. Several years later she began writing to support herself and her child, and to pay off some of her husband's debts. Her first story appeared in 1837, and she published works regularly until her death.
Her first success came with the two-volume
story collection ''Evenings on the Karpovka'' (1838-1839). Her two-volume collection ''Tales'' (1840) was well-received, as was her ''Sketches of Southern France and Nice'' (1844). Some of Zhukova's stories are historical, and some are set abroad with non-Russian characters, a common feature of Russian fiction in the Romantic period.
Works
*''Evenings on the Karpovka'' (1838–1839). Short stories.
*''Sketches of Southern France and Nice'' (1844). Travel accounts.
*''A Summer Place on the Peterhof Road'' (1845). Novella.
References
Further reading
*''Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhukova, Mariya Semyonovna
1805 births
1855 deaths
Russian travel writers
Russian women short story writers
People from Arzamas
Women travel writers
19th-century women writers from the Russian Empire
19th-century writers from the Russian Empire
19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire