Leskov, Nikolai Semenovich (1831-1895)

Russian writer. Leskov was one of the greatest masters of the Russian language, introducing many dialect and provincial forms into literary usage. Many of his works deal with religious life in provincial Russia; for example, Soboriane/Cathedral Folk 1872. His powerful tale of sexual passion, ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’ 1865, was made into an opera by Dmitry Shostakovich.

A political nonconformist, Leskov attacked the radicals in his novel Nekuda/No Way Out 1864, yet he came to be regarded with suspicion by conservatives because of his sharp exposure of bureaucracy in the Orthodox Church. Leskov was sympathetic to Protestantism and became a follower of the novelist Leo Tolstoy's philosophy.

Among his stories are ‘Ocharovannyi strannik/The Enchanted Wanderer’ 1873 and ‘Zapechatlennyi angel/The Sealed Angel’ 1873.