Editing Nikolai Gogol (section)

==Death==

Exaggerated [[ascetic]] practices undermined his health and he became deeply depressed. On the night of 24 February 1852, he burned some of his manuscripts, which contained most of the second part of ''Dead Souls''. He explained this as a mistake, a practical joke played on him by the [[Satan|Devil]].{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Soon thereafter, he took to bed, refused all food, and died in great pain nine days later.

Gogol was mourned in the Saint Tatiana church at the Moscow University before his burial and then buried at the [[Danilov Monastery]], close to his fellow [[Slavophile]] [[Aleksey Khomyakov]]. His grave was marked by a large stone (Golgotha), topped by a Russian Orthodox cross.<ref>[http://www.newsru.com/cinema/29dec2009/gogole.html Могиле Гоголя вернули первозданный вид: на нее поставили "Голгофу" с могилы Булгакова и восстановили крест.]{{in lang|ru}}</ref>
[[Image:Николај Гогољ, Гробље Новодевичје.jpg|thumb|right|Gogol's grave at the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]], as it looked in 1952–2009]]
[[File:Post-2009 gravesite of Nikolai Gogol in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.jpg|thumb|The original design of the gravesite was restored in 2009. Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.]]

In 1931, with Russia now ruled by communists, Moscow authorities decided to demolish the monastery and had Gogol's remains transferred to the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]].<ref name=pass>{{cite news|title=Novodevichy Cemetery|url=http://www.passportmagazine.ru/article/1099/|access-date=12 September 2013|work=Passport Magazine|date=April 2008}}</ref> His body was discovered lying face down, which gave rise to the conspiracy theory that Gogol had been buried alive. The authorities moved the Golgotha stone to the new gravesite, but removed the cross; in 1952, the Soviets replaced the stone with a bust of Gogol. The stone was later reused for the tomb of Gogol's admirer [[Mikhail Bulgakov]]. In 2009, in connection with the bicentennial of Gogol's birth, the bust was moved to the museum at the Novodevichy Cemetery, and the original Golgotha stone was returned, along with a copy of the original Orthodox cross.<ref>[http://www.newsru.com/cinema/29dec2009/gogole.html Могиле Гоголя вернули первозданный вид: на нее поставили "Голгофу" с могилы Булгакова и восстановили крест.]{{in lang|ru}} Retrieved 23 September 2013</ref>

The first Gogol monument in Moscow, a [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist]] statue on [[Arbatskaya Square|Arbat Square]], represented the sculptor [[Nikolay Andreyev (sculptor)|Nikolay Andreyev]]'s idea of Gogol rather than the real man.<ref>[http://www.artclassic.edu.ru/attach.asp?a_no=9444 Российское образование. Федеральный образовательный портал: учреждения, программы, стандарты, ВУЗы, тесты ЕГЭ.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904095416/http://www.artclassic.edu.ru/attach.asp?a_no=9444 |date=4 September 2011 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Unveiled in 1909, the statue received praise from [[Ilya Repin]] and from [[Leo Tolstoy]] as an outstanding projection of Gogol's tortured personality. Everything changed after the [[October Revolution]]. [[Joseph Stalin]] did not like the statue, and it was replaced by a more orthodox [[Socialist Realism|Socialist Realist]] monument in 1952.<ref>{{cite web|title=Зачем Сталин убрал памятник Гоголю в Москве|url=https://rg.ru/2017/06/01/reg-cfo/zachem-stalin-ubral-pamiatnik-gogoliu-v-moskve.html|publisher=rg.ru|date=1 June 2017|lang=ru}}</ref> It took enormous efforts to save Andreyev's original work from destruction; {{as of | 2014 | lc = on}} it stood in front of the house where Gogol died.<ref>For a full story and illustrations, see [http://artclassic.edu.ru/cross_search.asp?s1=1851&f1=1875&s2=1876&f2=1900&s3=1901&f3=1925&pg=8 Российское образование. Федеральный образовательный портал: учреждения, программы, стандарты, ВУЗы, тесты ЕГЭ.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017104818/http://artclassic.edu.ru/cross_search.asp?s1=1851&f1=1875&s2=1876&f2=1900&s3=1901&f3=1925&pg=8 |date=17 October 2007 }} {{in lang|ru}} and [http://www.m-mos.ru/10/06.htm Москва и москвичи] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213220908/http://www.m-mos.ru/10/06.htm |date=13 December 2018 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>