Literary museum named after F.M. Dostoevsky was established on January, 28th 1983. It is situated in one of Omsk’s oldest houses, built in 1799 for Omsk fortress commandants.
In July 1859 F.M. Dostoevsky visited this house, which at that time belonged to A.F. de Grave, the last fortress’ commandant. The central part of the museum’s exposition is dedicated to the writer’s life and art, giving a special emphasis to Omsk period (1850-1854). Convicted of membership in Petrashevsky democratic circle, F.M. Dostoevsky spent 4 years in Omsk ostrog. On the ground floor you can find a model of Omsky ostrog convict barrack dated mid-nineteenth century.
What was Omsk ostrog? How did convicts’ clothes look like? What were like the leg irons which Dostoevsky was wearing constantly during four years? What was Siberian Notebook like before it was published in the complete works of the writer? You may know these and many other facts if you visit our museum.
The museum exhibits include rare antemortem editions of F.M. Dostoevsky, unique original issues of journals Vremya (Time), Otechestvennye zapiski (Notes of the Fatherland), Russkii Vestnik (Russian Herald) with the writer’s works published in it. An exhibit of a big value is a Gospel published in 1823. Exactly the same book was presented to petrashevsts in Tobolsk by decembrists’ women N.D. Fonvizina and P.E. Annenkova.
Omsk impressions of the writer were reflected on the pages of novels Notes from a Dead House and Crime and Punishment. Traces of Omsk impressions can be found even in his last novel The Brothers Karamazovs.
Significant part of the museum exposition is dedicated to the history of literature in Siberia. Our city is connected to the names of the writers famous even far beyond it. This list includes Feoktist Berezovsky, Anton Sorokin, Leonid Martynov, Georgy Vyatkin, Pavel Vasiliev, Robert Rozhdestvensky, Sergey Zalygin, Timofey Belozerov, Arkadiy Kutilov and many others.
The museum organizes exhibitions, book presentations, creative evenings, meetings with writers, thematic literature salons, conferences. In recent years, along with traditional types of work, the museum developed qwest-excursions on literature, author programs and museum lessons on literary regional studies for the students of different age groups.
