Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Pseudonyms. Insertion by F. M. Dostoevsky in the Feuilleton by N. N. Strakhov

Abstract

Identification of pseudonyms is one of the key tasks of attribution of many articles in the Vremya and Epokha magazines, and the Grazhdanin weekly. I. F. Masanov's article on Dostoevsky in the authoritative Dictionary of Pseudonyms contains errors and repetitions. Fyodor Dostoevsky signed his literary works with his personal name: Fyodor Dostoevsky, F. M. Dostoevsky, or, more often, F. Dostoevsky. On the contrary, the writer preferred to work as a journalist anonymously, more rarely — under pseudonyms. The range of Fyodor Dostoevsky's pseudonyms should be clarified. It is necessary to exclude “N. N.” from the list of pseudonyms, remove repeat “—y, M.” и “M. —y”, leave Dostoevsky's personal pseudonym “Zuboskalov” and add a new pseudonym “Ch. Komitetskiy”. The insert in the “Chronicler's notes” article is not the proper basis to make N. N. Strahov's pseudonym “Letopisets” (Epokha. 1865. № 1) a collective one or assign it to Dostoevsky. Most of Dostoevsky's pseudonyms are of an occasional nature, they are isolated and random. The names and surnames of real persons (M. Dostoevsky, A. Poretsky) in the role of his pseudonyms are accidental. As a result of critical analysis, it was established that in his literary and journalistic activities Dostoevsky used both regular (“F. D.”), (“D.”), (“Ed.”) and isolated pseudonyms “Zuboskal”, “Zuboskalov”, “N. N.”, “M. —y”, “Ch. Komitetskiy”, “Drug Kuzmy Prutkova” (“Friend of Kuzma Prutkov”). At this time, their range can be limited to this list. The appendix to the article contains an insert attributed to Dostoevsky in N. N. Strakhov's feuilleton «Notes of the Chronicler» from the January issue of the «Epoch» for 1865.