Editing Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin (section)

====''Provincial Sketches''====
[[File:Saltykov in 1850s.jpg|thumb|Saltykov-Shchedrin in 1850s]]
In 1855 Tzar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] died and the climate in the country instantly changed. In November 1855 Saltykov received the permission to leave Vyatka, the new governor Lanskoy rumoured to be the major assisting force behind this.<ref name="kriv"/> In January 1856 the writer returned to Saint Petersburg and in February was assigned to the Interior Ministry. By this time many of the stories and essays that would be known as ''Provincial Sketches'' have been written, a series of narratives about the fictitious town of Krutogorsk, shown as a symbol of Russian serfdom. [[Ivan Turgenev]] who happened to read them first was unimpressed and, following his advice (and bearing in mind still fierce censorship) [[Nikolai Nekrasov]] refused to publish the work in ''Sovremennik''. In August 1856 [[Mikhail Katkov]]’s ''[[The Russian Messenger]]'' started publishing ''Provincial Sketches'', signed N.Shchedrin. The book, charged with anti-serfdom pathos and full of scathing criticism of provincial bureaucracy became instant success and made Saltykov famous. Many critics and colleagues called him the heir to [[Nikolai Gogol]]. "I’m in awe... Oh immortal Gogol, you must now be a happy man now to see such a genius emerging as your follower," [[Taras Shevchenko]] wrote in his diary.<ref>Shevchenko, T.G. The Selected Works in 5 Volumes. Moscow, 1956. Vol.5 P. 120</ref> In 1857 ''Sovremennik'' at last reacted: both Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky rather belatedly praised Saltykov, characteristically, imparting to his work what it's never had: "aiming at the undermining the Empire's foundations."<ref name="dic_1990"/>

In 1857 ''The Russian Messenger'' published ''Pazukhin's Death'', a play which was quite in tune with ''Provincial Sketches''. The production of it was banned with characteristic verdict of censors: "Characters presented there are set to prove our society lies in the state of total moral devastation." Another of Saltykov's plays, ''Shadows'' (1862–1865), about careerism and immorality of bureaucracy, has been discovered in archives and published only in 1914, when it was premiered on stage too.<ref>{{cite web | author = Livshits, Lev| url = http://www.levlivshits.org/index.php/works/vopreki-vremeni/teni/55-teni-vvedenie.html|title = Shadows. Foreword| publisher = www.levlivshits.org| access-date = 2012-03-01}}</ref>

Contrary to left radicals' attempt to draw Saltykov closer to their camp, "undermining the Empire's foundations" was not his aim at all and on his return to Saint Petersburg he was soon promoted to administrative posts of considerable importance. His belief was that "all honest men should help the government in defeating serfdom apologist still clinging to their rights." Huge literary success has never made him think of retiring from work in the government. Partly reasons for his return to the state service were practical. In 1856 Saltykov married Elizaveta Boltina, daughter of a Vyatka vice-governor and found, on the one hand, his mother's financial support curtailed, on the other, his own needs rose sharply. Up until 1858 Saltykov continued working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then after making a report on the condition of the Russian [[police]], he was appointed deputy governor of [[Ryazan]] where later he received the nickname "the vice-[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]]".<ref name="gorychkina"/> On April 15, 1858,  Saltykov arrived to Ryazan very informally, in an ordinary road carriage, which amazed the local 'society' for whom he'd been known already as ''Provincial Sketches''{{'}} author. He settled in a small house, often visited people and received guests. Saltykov's primary goal was to teach local minor officials elementary grammar and he spent many late evenings proof-reading and re-writing their incongruous reports.<ref name="kriv"/> In 1862 Saltykov was transferred to Tver where he often performed governor's functions. Here Saltykov proved to be a zealous promoter of the [[Emancipation reform of 1861|1861 reforms]]. He personally sued several landowners accusing them of cruel treatment of peasants.<ref name="kriv"/>

All the while his literary activities continued. In 1860-1862 he wrote and published (mostly, in ''Vremya'' magazine) numerous sketches and short stories, some later included into ''Innocent Stories'' (1857–1863) which demonstrated what [[Maxim Gorky]] later called a "talent for talking politics through domesticities" and ''Satires In Prose'' (1859–1862) where for the first time the author seemed to be quite vexed with the apathy of the oppressed.<ref name="gorychkina"/> "One is hardly to be expected to engage oneself in self-development when one's only thought revolves around just one wish: not to die of hunger," he later explained.<ref>{{cite web| author = Saltykov-Shchedrin, М.Е. | url = http://az.lib.ru/s/saltykow_m_e/text_0017.shtml|title = Satires in Prose| publisher = az.lib.ru| access-date = 2012-03-01}}</ref> Many of Saltykov's articles on agrarian reforms were also written in those three years, mostly in ''Moskovskye Vedomosty'', where his major opponent was journalist Vladimir Rzhevsky.<ref name="kriv"/>