Sentry & Other Stories

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was born on 16th February 1831 in Gorokhovo, Oryol Gubernia in the Russian Empire.

After a formal education at the Oryol Lyceum he joined, aged 16 in 1847, the Oryol criminal court office, later moving to Kiev, where he worked as a clerk, attended university lectures, and mixed with various student gatherings

In 1857 Leskov he went to work for the private trading company Scott & Wilkins owned by his aunt''s Scottish husband.

By the 1862 with the publication of his short story ‘The Extinguished Flame’ his literary career had begun. The novellas ‘Musk-Ox’ (1863) and ‘The Life of a Peasant Woman’ (1863) followed as did his first novel the following year ‘No Way Out’. A wide range of literature now followed. Some were later banned due to their satirical treatment of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the West Leskov remains uncelebrated compared to his more translated brethren. His writing style was very individual but beautifully captured the workings of Russian society.

Nikolai Leskov died on 5th March 1895, in St Petersburg. He was 64.