Sergey Ivanovich Turbin (; 1821–1884) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Biography

Turbin, was a

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

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 consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

officer, then moved to the General Staff office in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

(Saint Petersburgs's ''Vedomosti'', 1863-1865). A series of historical studies by Turbin were published by ''

Russkaya Starina ''Russkaia Starina'' (, , ) was a Russian history journal published monthly in St. Petersburg by amateur historian Mikhail Semevsky and his successors between 1870 and 1916. Its authors included Ivan Zabelin, Dmitry Ilovaysky, Nikolai Karlovi ...

'' 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 benefi ...

," 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 Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire