Editing Fyodor Dostoevsky (section)

== Youth (1836–1843) ==

On 27 February 1837 Dostoevsky's mother died of [[tuberculosis]]. The previous May, Dostoevsky’s parents sent him and his elder brother [[Mikhail Dostoevsky|Mikhail]] (the two eldest Dostoevsky children) to Saint Petersburg to attend the [[Military Engineering-Technical University|Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute (later renamed the Military Engineering-Technical University)]], forcing the brothers to abandon their academic studies for military careers. Dostoevsky entered the academy in January 1838, but only with the help of family members. Mikhail was refused admission on health grounds and was sent to an academy in [[Reval]] (now [[Tallinn]], Estonia).{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=17–23}}{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=69–90}}

Dostoevsky disliked the academy, primarily because of his lack of interest in science, mathematics, and military engineering and his preference for drawing and architecture. As his friend [[Konstantin Trutovsky]] once said, "There was no student in the entire institution with less of a military bearing than F.M. Dostoevsky. He moved clumsily and jerkily; his uniform hung awkwardly on him; and his [[knapsack]], [[shako]] and rifle all looked like some sort of fetter he had been forced to wear for a time and which lay heavily on him."{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|p=2}} Dostoevsky's character and interests made him an outsider among his 120 classmates: he showed bravery and a strong sense of justice, protected newcomers, aligned himself with teachers, criticised corruption among officers, and helped poor farmers. Although he was solitary and inhabited his own literary world, he was respected by his classmates. His reclusiveness and interest in religion earned him the nickname "Monk [[Photius]]".{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=24–7}}{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=69–111}}

Signs of Dostoevsky's [[epilepsy]] may have first appeared at 17 years old on learning of the death of his father on 16 June 1839,{{sfnp|Sekirin|1997|p=59}} although the reports of a [[Epileptic seizure|seizure]] originated from accounts written by his daughter (later expanded by [[Sigmund Freud]]<ref>Reik, Theodor (1940). [https://archive.org/stream/Reik_1940_From_Thirty_Years_with_Freud#page/n175/mode/2up "The Study on Dostoyevsky."] In ''From Thirty Years with Freud'', Farrar & Rhinehart, Inc., pp. 158–76.</ref>) which are now considered to be unreliable. His father's official cause of death was an [[apoplectic]] stroke, but a neighbour, Pavel Khotiaintsev, accused the father's serfs of murder. Had the serfs been found guilty and sent to [[Siberia]], Khotiaintsev would have been in a position to buy the vacated land. The serfs were acquitted in a trial in [[Tula Oblast|Tula]], but Dostoevsky's brother Mikhail perpetuated the story.{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|p=109}} After his father's death, Dostoevsky continued his studies, passed his exams and obtained the rank of engineer cadet, entitling him to live away from the academy. He visited Mikhail in Reval (Tallinn) and frequently attended concerts, operas, plays and ballets. During this time, two of his friends introduced him to gambling.{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=31–36}}{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=69–111}}

On 12 August 1843 Dostoevsky took a job as a lieutenant engineer and lived with Adolph Totleben in an apartment owned by Dr. Rizenkampf, a friend of Mikhail. Rizenkampf characterised him as "no less good-natured and no less courteous than his brother, but when not in a good mood he often looked at everything through dark glasses, became vexed, forgot good manners, and sometimes was carried away to the point of abusiveness and loss of self-awareness".{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=114–15}} Dostoevsky's first completed literary work, a translation of [[Honoré de Balzac]]'s novel ''[[Eugénie Grandet]]'', was published in June and July 1843 in the 6th and 7th volumes of the journal ''Repertoire and Pantheon'',{{sfnp|Breger|2008|p=104}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Grossman |first=Leonid |date=2011 |script-title=ru:Достоевский |language=ru |trans-title=Dostoevsky  |publisher=[[AST (publisher)|AST]] |page=536}}</ref> followed by several other translations. None were successful, and his financial difficulties led him to write a novel.{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=36–37}}{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=69–111}}