Abstract
One of the best books by the Russian writer and symbolist Georgii Chulkov – i.e. the biographical novel The Life of Dostoevskii (1935-1936) – was rejected by Soviet censors for ideological reasons and remained for eighty years locked in the archives. It saw the light in 2015 thanks to the efforts of O.A. Bogdanova, who carried out the philological work needed for its publication. Georgii Chulkov’s text is the first full biography of Fedor Dostoevskii that is founded on solid scientific ground. It has outstanding artistic qualities and creates an ambiguous, multi-dimensional image of the great novelist, which is also fully consistent with the known facts of Dostoevskii’s life and activities. Chulkov’s book should occupy a prominent place among the vast biographical literature about Dostoevskii. The dramatic story of its writing and publication is one of the consequences of the changes that occurred in Russia during and after the 1917 revolution.
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