Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Russian satirist whose savage political fiction attacked the corruption and absurdity of the tsarist bureaucracy. The Golovlyov Family is his masterpiece, a harrowing portrait of a provincial gentry family's spiritual and material decline.
Works
- The Golovlyov FamilySatirical family chronicle depicting a noble household's moral decline and financial destruction
- The History of a TownSatirical novel depicting a Russian provincial town's chaotic history and absurd succession of mayors
- FablesCollection of fables and animal parables satirizing Russian society, power, and human folly
- Pompadours and PompadourinesSatirical novella about court favorites and aristocratic intrigue in Imperial Russia
- In the Realm of Moderate ProgressSatirical prose exploring bureaucratic incompetence and gradual societal progress and stagnation