Evgenia Tur

Evgeniia Tur (; 24 August 1815 – 27 March 1892) was a Russian writer, children's writer, critic, editor, journalist, publisher, salon hostess, and translator. Evgeniia Tur was the penname for Elizaveta Vasilyevna Sukhovo-Kobylina, who became Countess Elizaveta Vasilyevna Salias De Tournemire after marrying Count Andrey Salias de Tournemire. Evgeniia Tur had several accomplished relatives: Tur's son Evgeny Salias De Tournemire was a novelist, Tur's brother Alexsandr Sukhovo-Kobylin was a playwright and dramatist, and Tur's sister Sofia Sukhovo-Kobylina was a painter.

Early years

Tur was born in Moscow into the noble family of the Sukhovo-Kobylins. Tur's father was Vasily Sukhovo-Kobylin (1782–1873), a veteran of the Napoleonic wars and Marshal of the Nobility for the Podolsk district in Moscow. Tur's mother was Maria Ivanovna Sukhovo-Kobylina, née Shepeleva (1789–1862), leader of a salon for a select group of accomplished intellectuals and literati. Tur's time spent alongside high society was viewed as the potential inspiration for her later written works.

Tur received an excellent education at home, as her and her siblings were taught by various professors from Moscow University. Tur's first novel to appear under her pseudonym was published in 1849 in Contemporary, titled Oshibka, and it was very highly received. Tur's next work, a novella called A Mistake, led to her being known as the Russian George Sand.

This formula is emulated in Tur's later novel Antonina, which explores Antonina's transition from girlhood to motherhood in great detail. However, Antonina was different from other Russian and Western European literature of the time, as Antonina was able to keep her reputation in good standing for the duration of the novel, unlike most Russian or Western European heroines who often face scrutiny from society or fall from high stations of social class throughout their transition from girlhood to motherhood. Antonina returns in Tur's short story "Two Sisters", where she is given even more depth.

Criticism of Tur While Tur's work received much praise, it was also strongly criticized. The Niece (1851) received both love and hate from critics, most notably that which came from Ivan Turgenev. Turgenev was known for being exceedingly critical of Russian women writers' work, as he concludes that "there is something not quite right, not literary, that rushes straight from the heart, something not thought through to the end," about women writers and their works. However, Turgenev was said to have greatly respected Tur and her work. Despite Turgenev's scathing assessment, Tur's written works continued to do well. Tur is thought to have avoided the plight of male writing, that is writing in grandiose structure or tedious form, as she is praised for her ability to write in plain and smooth language, like that of "old nobility", a social class Tur is a part of and greatly familiar with. Tur was later invited to join the Society of Lovers of Russian Letters as an honorary member in 1859 due to her accomplishments as an author. Gheith goes on to state that Tur's rewrite of Turgenev's Dnevnik gives women more influence and that "the definition of what constitutes "social action" needs to be broadened" in regards to women's writing. Gheith claims that Tur moves the attention away from the "superfluous man" and onto the heroine in Antonina, allowing the heroine to act for herself and maintain a sense of agency. Gheith finishes her analysis of Tur by stating that Tur's Antonina provided space for women to begin writing about "Necessary Women", or the women in the background: young girls and mothers.

Tur's Literary Criticism While Tur originally wrote essays for the Russian Herald run by Mikhail Katkov in the 1850s, she later split from the magazine due to a disagreement with Katkov. Their disagreement stemmed from Tur's scathing review of Sofia Petrovna Svechina and her views on Catholicism. Tur was initially hired as Russia wanted a spokeswoman for women's literature, as England had the Brontes and Jane Austen and France had George Sand.

Tur's critical works became increasingly popular following the success of her novels. Tur often wrote on the literary works and personal lives of prominent figures in society, both from Russia and from the West. Tur's criticism of Bronte concludes by alluding that English literature written by women in the 1850s and 1860s did affect Russian women writer's writing in this period.

Salon Life and Politics Despite being increasingly successful and busy with her journalism and literary criticism, Tur was also immensely active in the salon culture of Moscow. Her salon in Moscow housed, in the words of Turgenev, "all the brilliant world," with literary figures such as Vasilii Botkin, Timofei Granovskii, Nikolai Ogarev, and Turgenev himself. Even after relocating to France for the duration of the 1860s, Tur's salon was constantly filled with the usual literary greats as well as outstanding political figures: Prince Nikolai Orlov, Mikhail Bakunin, various members of Russian nobility and gentry, Polish politicians, and radical leader Aleksandr Sleptsov.

Later years In the Fall of 1861 Tur's life underwent considerable change. The secret police's surveillance of Tur led to her departure to France. This was directly following her support of the student demonstrations at Moscow University, where her son Evgeny attended. Tur anonymously published her thoughts and opinions in favor of the student demonstrations in the journal Bell, suggesting that she strongly agrees with their cause.

Once she relocated to France, Tur primarily focused on writing historical and children's literature, shown through her publication of A Crystal Heart (1873), The Shalonskii Family (1880), Martyrs of the Coliseum (1884), The Life of Saint Macarius the Egyptian (1885), and The Children of King Louis XVI (1885).

Tur spent her last years living in Warsaw, where she died at the age of 77 in March of 1892.

English Translations The Shalonski Family, (novel), Remington and Co, London, 1882. from Google Books Antonina, (novel), Northwestern University Press, 1996.