Lidia Veselitskaya
Encyclopedia
Lidia Ivanovna Veselitskaya , born March 17, 1857 – died February 23, 1936, was a Russian writer who used the pseudonym V. Mikulich.
. She was educated at a women's college, where she studied teaching. She married a Russian Army
officer soon after graduating. Her first literary efforts were simple tales for young people. In 1880 she met and spoke with the great writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
She published her first novel Mimi's Marriage in the journal The Herald of Europe
in 1883. Leo Tolstoy
, who liked the book, said that "The author must be a man, as no woman would be so frank in writing of her own sex." She attained the height of her popularity with the publication in 1891 of Mimi at the Springs, set in the Caucasus
. The last novel in the series, Mimi Poisons Herself appeared in 1893.
She produced a considerable body of works including novellas, short stories, translations, and literary memoirs. Her autobiographical book Meetings with Writers, published in 1929, tells of her friendships with some of Russia's greatest literary figures, such as Leo Tolstoy, Vsevolod Garshin
, and Nikolai Leskov
.
She spent her last years living in the town of Pushkin
, where she taught music.
Biography
Veselitskaya was born in 1857 at the family estate in YegoryevskYegoryevsk
Yegoryevsk is a town and the administrative center of Yegoryevsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Guslitsa River southeast of Moscow. Population: 68,000 ; 56,000 ; 29,700 . It is known since 1462 as the village of Vysokoye...
. She was educated at a women's college, where she studied teaching. She married a Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
officer soon after graduating. Her first literary efforts were simple tales for young people. In 1880 she met and spoke with the great writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
She published her first novel Mimi's Marriage in the journal The Herald of Europe
Vestnik Evropy
Vestnik Evropy was the major liberal magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia; it lasted from 1866 to 1918....
in 1883. Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, who liked the book, said that "The author must be a man, as no woman would be so frank in writing of her own sex." She attained the height of her popularity with the publication in 1891 of Mimi at the Springs, set in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. The last novel in the series, Mimi Poisons Herself appeared in 1893.
She produced a considerable body of works including novellas, short stories, translations, and literary memoirs. Her autobiographical book Meetings with Writers, published in 1929, tells of her friendships with some of Russia's greatest literary figures, such as Leo Tolstoy, Vsevolod Garshin
Vsevolod Garshin
Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin ; was a Russian author of short stories.- Life :When Garshin was seven years old, he witnessed his father commit suicide.During the Russo-Turkish War, Garshin,...
, and Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was a Russian journalist, novelist and short story writer, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is...
.
She spent her last years living in the town of Pushkin
Pushkin (town)
Pushkin is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its train station, Detskoye Selo, is directly connected by railway to the Vitebsky Rail Terminal of the city...
, where she taught music.
English Translations
- Mimi's Marriage, (Novel), T. Fisher Unwin LTD, London, 1915. from Archive.org
Sources
- Introduction to Mimi's Marriage, C. Hagberg Wright, LL.D., T. Fisher Unwin LTD, London, 1915.
- Handbook of Russian Literature, Victor Terras, Yale University Press 1990.
- Article on Veselitskaya from Lib.ru.