Turgenieff

or Tourgenieff, Ivan, e-van' toor-gan'yef (1818-1883), a Russian novelist. He received his education at Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Berlin, imbibing at the latter university, no doubt, opinions of a more democratic character than were prevalent in Russia. On his return to his native land Turgenieff was appointed to a position in the ministry of the interior but he soon got into trouble through writings that displeased the authorities. The reader will not be interested in the various imprisonments and banishments to which the novelist was subjected. He died at Paris. Among the more noted titles in the list of his works we may mention A Nest of Nobles, Virgin Soil, and Father and Sons. Turgenieff was the first to use the word "nihilist" in its present sense. He was for a time a leader of the radicals, but latterly he was accused by them of falling away. In his early years he exerted a strong influence in favor of the liberation of the serfs. His service to literature consists in realistic pictures of Russian peasantry, a subject in which he showed himself at home.