Gogol, Nikolai

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is one of the great Russian authors of the 19th century. He was born in the village of Sorochyntsi , Poltava province, Russian Empire (Ukraine), to a family of landowners. After finishing his education in Poltava and Nezhin with mediocre results he moved to St. Petersburg in the hope of becoming a poet or actor. He brought with him a collection of poems he had written while he was still at school, and he now paid to have them published under a pen name. It was a major disaster, and he burnt the remaining copies after receiving shattering reviews.