Vsevolod Vladimirovich Krestovsky (; February 23, 1840 – January 30, 1895) was a Russian writer who worked in the

city mysteries City mysteries are a 19th-century genre of popular novel, in which characters explore the secret underworlds of cities and uncover corruption and exploitation.Knight, Stephen. ''The Mysteries of the Cities : Urban Crime Fiction in the Nineteenth ...

genre.

Biography

Krestovsky came from an old family of Polish gentry (''szlachta'') with roots in nowadays Ukraine. In 1857 he enrolled in the Historico-Philological faculty of St Petersburg University. At the university he became friends with the radical critic

Dmitry Pisarev Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev ( – ) was a Russian literary critic and philosopher who was a central figure of Russian nihilism. He is noted as a forerunner of Nietzschean philosophy, and for the impact his advocacy of liberation movements and natu ...

, and wrote for the magazine ''Russian Word''. After his short association with the radical camp, he joined a group of moderate slavophiles which included

Apollon Maykov Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (, , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian poet, best known for his lyric verse showcasing images of Russian villages, nature, and history. His love for ancient Greece and Rome, which he studied for much of his ...

Lev Mei Lev Aleksandrovich Mei or Mey (; ) was a Russian dramatist and poet. Biography Mei was born on 13/25 February 1822, in Moscow. His father was a German officer who was wounded in the Battle of Borodino and died young. His mother was Russian. Mei c ...

and others, and began publishing his works in ''

Notes of the Fatherland ''Otechestvennye Zapiski'' ( rus, Отечественные записки, p=ɐˈtʲetɕɪstvʲɪnːɨjɪ zɐˈpʲiskʲɪ, variously translated as "Annals of the Fatherland", "Patriotic Notes", "Notes of the Fatherland", etc.) was a Russian lit ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

''. In 1860 he left the university to become a professional writer. His novel ''The Slums of Saint Petersburg'' (1864), a product of many hours of personal observation, gained him considerable popularity. In 1863 he traveled to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

to take notes for his novel ''The Flock of Panurge'' (1869), about the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

. In 1874 he wrote another novel, ''The Force'', on the same subject. Both novels were

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

in nature. In the 1880s Krestovsky became frankly and openly

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in his political and social views. His blatantly anti-Semitic trilogy ''The Jews are Coming'' was published between 1888 and 1892. He died in Warsaw in 1895.

English translations

*''Knights of Industry'', from Mystery Tales, The Continental Classics, Volume 17, Harper and Brothers, NY and London, 1909
from Archive.org

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krestovsky, Vsevolod 1840 births 1895 deaths People from Kyiv Oblast People from Tarashchansky Uyezd Novelists from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Russian male dramatists and playwrights Russian male short story writers Slavophiles Russian nationalists 19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg State University alumni