Stepan Yanovsky

Stepan Dmitrievich Yanovsky (Russian: Степа́н Дми́триевич Яно́вский; 1815 – 13 July 1897, Switzerland) was a family doctor of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He watched after the writer's health from 1846 to 1849. He was also an author of memoirs about Dostoevsky ("The Russian Messenger" magazine, 1885, №176). Some features of Yanovsky and some family events from his life were reflected in the image of Dostoevsky's character Pavel Pavlovich Trusotsky ("The Eternal Husband").

Biography Stepan Yanovsky graduated from Moscow department (Russian: Московская медико-хирургическая академия) of S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy. In the beginning of his career, he served as a doctor in Preobrazhensky Regiment (enlisted in 1837) and as a doctor and a lecturer of Natural history in Saint Petersburg State Forest Technical University (Russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный лесотехнический университет). In the middle of 1840th, having received a position in the department of state-owned medical warehouses of The Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russian: Министерство внутренних дел), Yanovsky opened a private medical practice that gave him access to the world of St. Petersburg's contemporary writers. Yanovsky retired in 1871, immigrated to Switzerland 6 years after, where he died in 1897.

Dostoevsky and Yanovsky's discussions were not limited to medical matters: they discussed literature, music, and daily events. Stepan Dmitrievich knew about the family and financial problems of his patient. The doctor was one of the first people to hear about Dostoevsky's arrest, from Michail Michailovich Dostoevsky who visited him in the early morning of 23 April 1849. He informed Yanovsky that Fyodor Mikhailovich was detained in the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery. Later, in 1859, when Dostoevsky was allowed to live in Tver, Yanovsky (according to his memoirs) was one of the first friends who visited him in that town.

Family life

In 1855, Stepan Dmitrievich married an actress, Alexandra Ivanovna Shubert (Russian: Алекса́ндра Ива́новна Шу́берт-Яно́вская). Dostoevsky felt sympathy towards her: he expressed regret about the lack of worthy roles for her, and promised to write a single-act comedy exclusively for her. When the relationship between Stepan Dmitrievich and Alexandra Ivanovna began to fall apart in 1860, Dostoevsky supported Alexandra Ivanovna's decision to move from St. Petersburg to Moscow and took her side in the conflict. "Seems he (Yanovsky) is absolutely certain that we write to each other all the time, that you follow all my advice... I think he is a little bit jealous, perhaps, he thinks I'm in love with you." wrote Dostoevsky to Alexandra Ivanovna in a letter. a person whose sole capability was being a husband. After "The Eternal Husband" had been published, Apollon Maykov told Dostoevsky that he "instantly recognized Yanovsky and his character".

The next time Yanovsky wrote about Dostoevsky was an article in "The Russian Messenger" (1885, №176), which contained more details. He wrote about the writer's examinations and treatments, about their interpersonal relationships and "mutual trust", about Dostoevsky's preferences in literature. He reminisced that the writer was able to quote complete chapters from the books of Pushkin and Gogol, how he valued "A Sportsman's Sketches" of Turgenev, that he knew "Oblomov's Dream", from the novel of Goncharov, by heart. Prominent Dostoevsky researcher Ludmila Saraskina (Russian: Людми́ла Ива́новна Сара́скина) notes that Yanovsky's portrait of the doctor's friend might have been a little embellished, as Dostoevsky was pictured as a virtuous young man who didn't like wine, playing cards, or "chasing skirts".