18 Facts About Gleb Uspensky

Gleb Ivanovich Uspensky was a Russian writer and a prominent figure of the Narodnik movement.

Gleb Uspensky was born in Tula, the son of Ivan Yakovlevich Uspensky, a senior official in the local government Office of State Property, and Nadezhda Glebovna Uspenskaya.

Gleb Uspensky was named after his grandfather on his mother's side, Gleb Fomich Sokolov who served as the head of the Office of State Property in Tula and Kaluga.

Gleb Uspensky received his early education in the homes of his parents and grandfather.

In 1853 Gleb entered the Tula gymnasium where he excelled, "his name never leaving the so-called 'golden desk' there", according to a fellow student's memoirs.

Gleb Uspensky travelled back to Chernigov and succeeded in getting a grant of 400 rubles in assistance.

In 1863 Gleb Uspensky joined the staff of the Moskovskiye Vedomosti newspaper as a proofreader.

In 1868 Gleb Uspensky joined Alexander Uvarov's Moscow office as a courier.

Gleb Uspensky continued to contribute to this magazine up until its closure in 1884, working with Nikolai Nekrasov and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin.

In May 1871 Gleb Uspensky embarked upon a trip along Oka and Volga rivers which resulted in two books of traveller' sketches.

In 1875 Gleb Uspensky went to Paris again where he met Ivan Turgenev.

In 1881 Gleb Uspensky bought a house in Syabrintsy, Novgorod Governorate, to spend there the rest of his literary life.

In early 1887 Gleb Uspensky made a trip through Bulgaria; parts of the resulting "Impressions of a Danube Trip".

Gleb Uspensky began suffering from mental illness in the mid-1890s, and was unable to continue his literary work.

Gleb Uspensky tried to substitute him as the head of the Internal affairs section in Russkaya Mysl, but the progressing illness made this impossible.

The famine in Povolzhje horrified Gleb Uspensky and prompted him to start what he called "the story of people's devastation" but his health was deteriorating too fast.

In 1894 Gleb Uspensky made another trip out of Kolmovo, now to attend to the student's assembly in the Dvoryanskoe Sobranye hall.

Gleb Uspensky's works had a considerable influence on Russian literature and society, and were praised by many of his fellow writers, including Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky and Leon Trotsky.