| Anna Dostoyevskaya | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina (Анна Сниткина) September 12, 1846 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | June 9, 1918 (aged 71) Yalta, Crimea |
| Resting place | Tikhvin Cemetery |
| Occupation | memoirist, stenographer |
| Spouse | Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1867–1881) [his death] |
| Children | Sofia (1868), Lyubov (1869–1926), Fyodor (1871-1922), Alexei (1875–1878) |
Anna Grigoryevna Dostoyevskaya (Russian: Анна Григорьевна Достоевская; September 12, 1846, Saint Petersburg — June 9, 1918, Yalta) was a Russian memoirist, stenographer, assistant, and the second wife of Fyodor Dostoyevsky (since 1867). She was also one of the first female philatelists in Russia. She wrote two biographical books about Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Anna Dostoyevskaya's Diary in 1867, which was published after her death in 1923, and Memoirs of Anna Dostoyevskaya (also known as Reminiscence of Anna Dostoyevskaya[1]), published in 1925.[2]
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Anna Dostoyevskaya, née Snitkina, came from a Ukrainian-Swedish family.[1] Her father, Grigory Ivanovich Snitkin, was a minor civil servant.
On October 4, 1866, Anna Snitkina started working as a stenographer on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Gambler.[3] In November Dostoyevsky proposed to her.[3]
As described in the Memoirs, Dostoyevsky shared with Anna the plot of an imaginary new novel, as if he needed her advice on female psychology.[4] In his story an old painter made a proposal to young girl whose name was Anya. Dostoyevsky asked if it was possible for a girl so young and different in personality to fall in love with the painter. Anna answered that it was quite possible. Then he told Anna: "Put yourself in her place for a moment. Imagine I am the painter, I confessed to you and asked you to be my wife. What would you answer?" Anna said: "I would answer that I love you and I will love you forever".[5][6]
On February 15, 1867, the couple were married. Two months later they went abroad, where Dostoyevsky and Anna remained for over four years (until July 1871). Shortly before their departure two of Dostoyevsky's creditors filed charges against him.[1]
During a stop in Baden, Dostoyevsky lost all of his money playing roulette, as well as his wife's clothes and belongings. At that time Anna started writing the diary.[1] For almost a year they lived in Geneva. Dostoyevsky worked very hard to regain his fortune. On February 22, 1868 their first daughter Sofia was born, but she died on May 24 at the age of three months. In 1869, in Dresden, their second daughter was born, named Lyubov Dostoyevskaya (died in 1926). Upon returning to St. Petersburg Anna gave birth to sons Fyodor (July 16, 1871 — 1922) and Alexey (August 10, 1875 — May 16, 1878). Anna took over all economical issues, including publishing business and negotiations and soon liberated her husband from debts. In 1871, Dostoyevsky gave up gambling.
In the year of Dostoyevsky's death (1881) Anna turned 35 years old. She never remarried. After the death of her husband she collected his manuscripts, letters, documents and photographs. In 1906 she created a room dedicated to Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the State Historical Museum.
Her stamp collection was established in 1867 in Dresden. It started, as explained in the Memoirs of Anna Dostoyevskaya, with a dispute between Anna and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who made some critical comments about female inconstancy. Anna was annoyed that her husband did not consider women of her generation capable of persistence or devotion to anything. She told her husband that she would prove him wrong and show him that a woman may pursue one goal for years. She decided to collect stamps and filled up her collection throughout her life. According to the Memoirs, she didn't buy a single stamp. All of them were either her own discoveries or donations from friends. The fate of this collection is unknown.[7]