Dismissal from Service (Resignation of M. A. Dostoevsky According to Archival Documents of 1837)

The least amount of documentary evidence has been preserved about the early period of F. M. Dostoevsky’s life. Three documents discovered in the Russian state historical archive related to the 1837 resignation of Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky, the writer’s father, are published and examined in the article. These are the report of the Moscow Board of Trustees to Nicholas I, the report of the chief doctor of the Mariinsky hospital for the poor A. A. Richter and the service record of M. A. Dostoevsky. The last document that provides important information about the official career of the writer’s father, is provided in full for the first time in the Appendix to the article. The authors of preceding publications about the childhood and youth of F. M. Dostoevsky only referenced the service record of M. A. Dostoevsky or quoted the previously published passages. These documents contain the information about the size of the pension due to retired physician Dostoevsky, his service characteristics, and a list of his awards. The article raises one of the most debated questions, namely, the date of birth of the writer’s father. Together, the documents on the resignation of M. A. Dostoevsky reveal new facts and clarify those already known from his 1830s biography, and therefore elucidate the circumstances of the great Russian writer’s youth.