Sergey Ivanovich Turbin (russian: Сергей Иванович Турбин; 1821–1884) was a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
and
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
.
Biography
Turbin, was a
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
graduate; later he joined the
Nikolyevskaya Academy to receive the military education and start the military career. He served in the Russian army as an
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...
officer, then moved to the General Staff office in
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 ...
, then, in the rank of a Colonel joined the infantry.
Travelling on his missions all across Russia provided Turbin with a bulk of material for his subsequent literary career. Highly acclaimed were his ''Notes of an Old Artillery Man'' published in 1857 by ''
Sovremennik
''Sovremennik'' ( rus, «Современник», p=səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk, a=Ru-современник.ogg, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in Saint Petersburg in 1836–1866. It came out f ...
'', as well as the accounts of his travels over
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...
(Saint Petersburgs's ''Vedomosti'', 1863-1865). A series of historical studies by Turbin were published by ''
Russkaya Starina'' in 1871-1873. Popular in the late 19th century were the theatre productions of Turbin's plays: ''Two Mothers-in-Law'' (Свекровь и теща, 1864), ''A Sprightly Lady'' (Бойкая барыня, 1864), ''A Pansioner at the Station'' (Пансионерка на станции, 1871), ''The Image of Nature'' (Картинка с натуры, 1864), ''A Hostess and a Guest'' (Хозяйка и постоялец, 1871), ''A Tamer Woman'' (Укротительница, 1871).
Described as an eccentric "atheist thinker, critical of
the Gospel
The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefit ...
," Turbin is considered to be the prototype of Forov, a character of
Nikolay Leskov's ''
At Daggers Drawn'' novel.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turbin, Sergey
1821 births
1884 deaths
Russian dramatists and playwrights
Russian male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire
19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire