Valentina Dmitryeva
Encyclopedia
Valentina Iovovna Dmitryeva (May 10, 1859 – February 18, 1947) was a Russian
/Soviet writer, teacher, medical doctor and revolutionary.
, where her father was a serf
. He had been sent to an agricultural school by his master and was subsequently made the overseer of his master's estate. Her mother, Anna, came from a family of educated serfs. Dmitryeva's maternal grandfather had been trained as a doctor's assistant. Anna passed on her love of literature to Dmitryeva. After the Emancipation reform of 1861
the family was reduced to poverty and a transient existence.
As a girl, Dmitryeva read everything she could find, from borrowed books to discarded newspapers. She kept a diary, using scraps of paper and old envelopes. She maintained the diary from the age of 10 to 23, when it was confiscated in a police search. The family eventually went to live in the household of Dmitryeva's maternal grandfather. As a teenage girl in her grandfather's home, she was confined to the traditional role of girls in Russian society of the time, limiting her to household tasks such as sewing and cooking, while her brother was sent to study with the son of a rich landowner. She was able to study secretly using books given to her by her brother's tutor.
In 1873 she was admitted to the Tambov
Girl's Secondary School. She worked her way through school by doing tutoring jobs, and with the help of one of her teachers. She graduated in 1877. By the time of her graduation she had become radicalized, and was writing reviews of works by leading critical thinkers like Nikolay Mikhaylovsky, Gleb Uspensky
and Nikolay Dobrolyubov for her reading and discussion group in Tambov.
She entered the Women's Medical Courses in Saint Petersburg in 1878. This program owed its existence to the influence of the Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin
, who was an advocate of medical education for women. Dmitryeva spent almost as much time aiding revolutionary activists as she did on her studies, allowing her room to be used for storing illegal literature and as a safe house for wanted revolutionaries. Her connections, which included members of Narodnaya Volya
, led to her arrest in 1880, and a short term of imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress
. After the arrest and disappearance of most of her friends in the early 1880s, and finding herself in difficult financial circumstances, she turned increasingly to writing. She graduated from the Medical Courses in 1886, and studied obstetrics and gynaecology
in Moscow until 1887.
In 1887 she was arrested and imprisoned for participating in student demonstrations, and was later exiled to Tver
for four years with her sister, where she was under police surveillance. In 1892 she moved to Voronezh
with her husband, who had also served time in confinement for revolutionary activities.
She found work as a doctor during outbreaks of cholera
(1892–1893), and diphtheria
, typhus
and scarlet fever
in 1894. During her time treating these epidemics, she stood up to local authorities, demanding a decent salary, badly needed equipment and sober staff, which had been denied to her and other women doctors.
Dmitryeva became a full time writer in 1895. She and her husband lived in Voronezh until 1917, while making occasional trips to Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Europe. During the Russian Civil War
she fled to Sochi
after losing her mother and 3 brothers to cold and starvation. She nearly died of starvation herself, and lost her husband who died after being imprisoned by the Bolshevik
s. During the Soviet period she devoted her time to the cause of literacy, and to writing memoirs and children's stories. She died in Sochi
, in 1947.
. Her story Akhmetka's Wife (1881) attracted favorable attention from critics and praise from Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya
, an established woman writer. Dmitryeva's works treated a wide variety of settings and characters. Besides rural Russia, her stories cover Ukraine
, the Crimea
and the Caucasus
.
In the course of her literary career she met Maxim Gorky
, Leonid Andreyev
, Vikenty Veresayev
, and other well-known writers. Her works were published in the journals Russian Thought, The Herald of Europe
and Russian Wealth
. Her most popular work was the children's story A Boy and His Dog (1899) which went through more than twenty editions. She wrote an autobiography, The Way It Was, in 1930.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
/Soviet writer, teacher, medical doctor and revolutionary.
Early life
Dmitryeva was born in the village of Voronino, in Saratov GuberniaSaratov Oblast
Saratov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. Population: -Demographics:Population:...
, where her father was a serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
. He had been sent to an agricultural school by his master and was subsequently made the overseer of his master's estate. Her mother, Anna, came from a family of educated serfs. Dmitryeva's maternal grandfather had been trained as a doctor's assistant. Anna passed on her love of literature to Dmitryeva. After the Emancipation reform of 1861
Emancipation reform of 1861
The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms effected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. The reform, together with a related reform in 1861, amounted to the liquidation of serf dependence previously suffered by peasants of the Russian Empire...
the family was reduced to poverty and a transient existence.
As a girl, Dmitryeva read everything she could find, from borrowed books to discarded newspapers. She kept a diary, using scraps of paper and old envelopes. She maintained the diary from the age of 10 to 23, when it was confiscated in a police search. The family eventually went to live in the household of Dmitryeva's maternal grandfather. As a teenage girl in her grandfather's home, she was confined to the traditional role of girls in Russian society of the time, limiting her to household tasks such as sewing and cooking, while her brother was sent to study with the son of a rich landowner. She was able to study secretly using books given to her by her brother's tutor.
In 1873 she was admitted to the Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
Girl's Secondary School. She worked her way through school by doing tutoring jobs, and with the help of one of her teachers. She graduated in 1877. By the time of her graduation she had become radicalized, and was writing reviews of works by leading critical thinkers like Nikolay Mikhaylovsky, Gleb Uspensky
Gleb Uspensky
- Early life :Uspensky was born in the city of Tula, where his father was a government official. He attended the gymnasiums at Tula and Chernihiv, devoting much of his time to the reading of the Russian classics. He studied at the university of St. Petersburg for a short time in 1861, until it was...
and Nikolay Dobrolyubov for her reading and discussion group in Tambov.
Career
After graduating she took a job as a teacher in a village school, one of the few positions open to women, and published articles in the press about the poor state of public education. She was dismissed from her post after writing a critical letter to the authorities, and prohibited from teaching. Unable to teach, she decided to pursue a medical career.She entered the Women's Medical Courses in Saint Petersburg in 1878. This program owed its existence to the influence of the Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin
Dmitry Milyutin
Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin was Minister of War and the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia...
, who was an advocate of medical education for women. Dmitryeva spent almost as much time aiding revolutionary activists as she did on her studies, allowing her room to be used for storing illegal literature and as a safe house for wanted revolutionaries. Her connections, which included members of Narodnaya Volya
Narodnaya Volya
Narodnaya Volya was aRussian left-wing terrorist organization, best known for the successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. It created a centralized and well disguised organization in a time of diverse liberation movements in Russia...
, led to her arrest in 1880, and a short term of imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...
. After the arrest and disappearance of most of her friends in the early 1880s, and finding herself in difficult financial circumstances, she turned increasingly to writing. She graduated from the Medical Courses in 1886, and studied obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology are the two surgical–medical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs in their pregnant and non-pregnant state, respectively, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training programme...
in Moscow until 1887.
In 1887 she was arrested and imprisoned for participating in student demonstrations, and was later exiled to Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
for four years with her sister, where she was under police surveillance. In 1892 she moved to Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
with her husband, who had also served time in confinement for revolutionary activities.
She found work as a doctor during outbreaks of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
(1892–1893), and diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
, typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
and scarlet fever
Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
in 1894. During her time treating these epidemics, she stood up to local authorities, demanding a decent salary, badly needed equipment and sober staff, which had been denied to her and other women doctors.
Dmitryeva became a full time writer in 1895. She and her husband lived in Voronezh until 1917, while making occasional trips to Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Europe. During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
she fled to Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
after losing her mother and 3 brothers to cold and starvation. She nearly died of starvation herself, and lost her husband who died after being imprisoned by the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s. During the Soviet period she devoted her time to the cause of literacy, and to writing memoirs and children's stories. She died in Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, in 1947.
Literary work
Dmitryeva made her literary debut in 1877 as a writer of peasant stories at a time when educated Russians were eager to learn about peasants and rural life. Her first story To Seek Justice appeared in a newspaper in SaratovSaratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
. Her story Akhmetka's Wife (1881) attracted favorable attention from critics and praise from Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya
Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya
Nadezhda Dmitryevna Khvoshchinskaya , May 20, 1824 – June 8, 1889, was a Russian novelist, poet, literary critic and translator. Her married name was Zayonchkovskaya. She published much of her work under the pseudonym V. Krestovsky...
, an established woman writer. Dmitryeva's works treated a wide variety of settings and characters. Besides rural Russia, her stories cover Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and 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...
.
In the course of her literary career she met Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, Leonid Andreyev
Leonid Andreyev
Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer. He is one of the most talented and prolific representatives of the Silver Age period in Russian history...
, Vikenty Veresayev
Vikenty Veresayev
Vikenty Vikentyevich Veresaev , , was a Russian writer and medical doctor. His real last name was Smidovich.-Early life:...
, and other well-known writers. Her works were published in the journals Russian Thought, The Herald of Europe
Vestnik Evropy
Vestnik Evropy was the major liberal magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia; it lasted from 1866 to 1918....
and Russian Wealth
Russkoye Bogatstvo
Russkoye Bogatstvo was a monthly magazine published in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 1876 to mid-1918. In the early 1890s, it was an organ of the liberal Narodniks. Beginning in 1906, it became an organ of the Popular Socialists....
. Her most popular work was the children's story A Boy and His Dog (1899) which went through more than twenty editions. She wrote an autobiography, The Way It Was, in 1930.
English translations
- Love's Anvil: A Romance of Northern Russia, (Novel), Stanley Paul, London, 1921
- Hveska, The Doctor's Watchman, (Short story), from In the Depths: Russian Stories, Raduga Publishers, 1987.
- After the Great Hunger, from Anthology of Russian Women's Writing, 1777–1992, Catriona Kelly, Oxford University Press, 1994.