"My Most Influential and Friendly Teacher": D. V. Averkiev and F. M. Dostoevsky

The playwright, publicist and theater critic D. V. Averkiev began his literary career in the journal published by the brothers Mikhail and Fyodor Dostoevsky “Epokha” (1864–1865). The young employee considered F. M. Dostoevsky his principal teacher. On many issues, he shared the beliefs of the editor of the “Epokha,” and Dostoevsky, in turn, gave the publicist the opportunity to express those ideas that he himself did not have the time to embody. The article traces the polemic of Averkiev, which represents the editorial point of view of the “Epokha”, with the opinions of N. M. Kostomarov and D. I. Pisarev on the significance of the Battle of Kulikovo and Prince Dmitry Donskoy in the history of Russia. After the closure of the “Epokha” magazine, the relationship between Averkiev and Dostoevsky persisted. The writer praised Averkiev’s comedy about Frol Skabeev, anticipating its theatrical success. The publicist was a guarantor for the groom at the wedding of Dostoevsky and A. G. Snitkina, a witness to the triumph that followed the writer’s speech at the Pushkin celebrations in Moscow, and an administrator at Dostoevsky's funeral. Averkiev and his wife helped the writer’s widow in the work aimed at preserving his legacy. Averkiev’s artistic work created in the period after Dostoevsky’s death is imbued with a sense of love and deep respect for the memory of the great writer. In 1885–1886 following Dostoevsky, he published a monthly journal, “A Writer’s Diary”, which was doomed to failure and provoked mixed reactions from readers (reviews by S. A. Vengerov, P. M. Tret’yakov, and I. E. Repin are provided). The article analyzes the contents of the correspondence between Averkiev and Dostoevsky in 1877, for the first time Averkiev’s note to Dostoevsky asking for financial assistance dated 1863–1864 was published, and new documents were introduced into scientific circulation. Among them is a draft of a biographical sketch about Dostoevsky written by Averkiev for the second edition of the Complete Works of the writer (1885–1886), and letters from Averkiev to A. G. Dostoevskaya for 1884 and 1891.