Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol / A True Story

The action takes place in 1830, in St. Petersburg during the reign of Nicholas I. Gogol is 21 years old. Nikolai Vasilyevich is a nobleman from Little Russia, educated and fluent in French, Italian, and German, but his parents are not particularly wealthy nobles. Gogol lives in a rented apartment because he might suddenly decide to change his surroundings and move.

Gogol is a 21-year-old writer. He is a reserved and suspicious man, but with friends he is cheerful, the life of the party, an emotional and very witty young man. He can stand up for himself, but only in the most extreme and offensive situations. He tries to avoid fights and quarrels, "to be on the safe side." Nikolai believes in mysticism, having grown up on his grandmother's fairy tales. He is quite timid, but finds comfort in knitting, writing, cooking, or strolling around the city. Nikolai loves sweets, picking and smelling various flowers, and enjoys good-natured jokes with friends (for example, slipping a bread ball into a friend's soup). However, around people, especially those of higher rank and whom he doesn't know at all, he is very quiet, inconspicuous, taciturn, and nervous. He is afraid of the sight of blood and dislikes snails.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was a slight man of short stature (158 cm), with a long, thin, slightly upturned nose, straight, light brown hair cut in a bob with a neat parting, and a neat mustache; his appearance somewhat resembled that of a bird. He loved to dress up, was very careful about his appearance, and could dress flamboyantly if he chose.