author
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov
1826–1889
A sharp, fearless satirist, he turned the absurdities and cruelties of imperial Russia into fiction that still feels biting today. Writing under the name N. Shchedrin, he became one of the great comic critics of power, bureaucracy, and social hypocrisy.
1 Audiobook
A family of noblemen
by Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov
About the author
Born in 1826, he grew up in a noble family and later drew on the harshness of that world in his writing. He studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, entered government service, and spent part of his life working as a civil servant—experience that gave him a close view of officialdom and its absurdities.
He is best known as one of Russia’s great satirists. Publishing under the pen name N. Shchedrin, he wrote fiction that attacked corruption, cruelty, empty reform, and the self-importance of the ruling class. His best-known works include The History of a Town, The Golovlyov Family, and Poshekhon Antiquity.
His writing can be funny, dark, and unsettling all at once. That mix of comedy and moral anger is what keeps his work alive: behind the grotesque scenes and eccentric characters is a writer deeply alert to how institutions deform everyday life.