N. Leskov and his attitude to the creative output and personality of H. Heine

In the 1860s, Heinrich Heine was one of the most famous foreign writers in Russia. He was also of interest to N. Leskov, whose prose fiction and collection of letters repeatedly harked back to the motifs and images found in the German poet’s body of work, as shown in this article by a whole range of examples. Worthy of special attention is Leskov’s mention of Heine’s name in his novel No Way Out. It implicitly brings up the issue vigorously discussed in criticism — the German poet’s spiritual conversion in his twilight years. What makes this article relevant is that neither this topic nor Leskov’s overall attitude to Heine have been specifically studied yet. Furthermore, commentators tend to attach no importance to the scene explored in this article.