Ivan Goncharov

Nora Malone (Independent Scholar - North America)
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Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov (1812-1891) stands out as an anomaly in the Golden Age of Russian literature. Unlike many of his famous contemporaries, such as Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy, he was not a member of the landed gentry, was not devoted to romantic ideals, and did not promote liberal social change. If it were not for his literary works, and his novel

Oblomov

in particular, Goncharov’s life would have very few interesting facets. Like Oblomov, his famous protagonist, Goncharov was more comfortable adhering to the status quo than pursuing change, setting him apart from his contemporaries and many of the intellectual movements of his time.

Goncharov was born in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk) in 1812. Located nearly 100 kilometers from Moscow in the Volga valley, this picturesque,

2397 words

Citation: Malone, Nora. "Ivan Goncharov". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1797, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1797 Ivan Goncharov 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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