Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on 1 April 1809 in Sorochyntsi, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, and died on 4 March 1852 in Moscow. He is best known as a Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin, whose works are celebrated for their grotesque and proto-surrealist qualities. His early writing, such as the collection *Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka*, drew deeply on Ukrainian folklore and his upbringing, while later works like *The Government Inspector* and *Dead Souls* satirized political corruption in Russia. Gogol’s signature style employed defamiliarization—presenting ordinary things in strange ways to shift the reader’s perspective—as noted by critic Viktor Shklovsky. Among his most famous short stories are “The Nose,” “The Overcoat,” and “Diary of a Madman.” He also wrote the novel *Taras Bulba* and the play *Marriage*. Gogol enjoyed the patronage of Tsar Nicholas I, who admired his work. His influence on world literature is immense, acknowledged by writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Flannery O’Connor. In our catalog, Gogol is credited as a writer on 13 issues, primarily for Classics Illustrated adaptations spanning 1961 to 2014.