Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818–1883) was a Russian novelist, poet, and playwright known to be the pioneer who paved the way for Russian literature around the world. Born to a wealthy family in the Russian Empire, he studied philosophy at his university in Berlin. His father was a landowner who died when Ivan was 15, and his mother was abusive and exploited the serfs who worked for them. This embedded in him exuded a sense and need for justice and thus became an ardent spokesperson for Russian political issues of the peasantry and ideological dichotomies. He leaned towards the western ideological elements, which were opposed by Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Nevertheless, he remains an essential nineteenth-century Russian author. The novel Fathers and Sons is a testament to his success. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862). Turgenev died by spinal cancer in France, in 1833, aged 64.
