Nikolai Leskov Semenovich born on February 16, 1831 in the village of Gorokhov, Orel province, in the family of poor judicial clerk. His training in the future writer started in the walls of the Oryol gymnasium. Not having finished the school, Leskov began his service officer in Orel criminal chamber.
In 1849 Leskov was transferred to Kiev. In Kiev, he becomes an official of the revenue Department and later assistant столоначальника.
University of Kiev, as a cultural center noticeably different from the provincial eagle.. In the house of his uncle, Professor of medicine S. p. Алферьева, Leskov communicated with almost all young professors of the University circle. In this period of his life Leskov closely acquainted with Taras Shevchenko and many other progressive people.
Memories of Kiev life reflected in many of his works such as "Improvisers", "Unbaptized pop", "Pechora Antica", "Ancient psychopaths", "the Hare remise".
Even greater experience Leskov acquired when left government service and joined the Englishman YA Шкотту, Manager graphs Перовских and the Naryshkins, the husband of his aunt. Accompanying relocated to new lands of the peasants, he traveled a lot around the country,visited a number of cities, getting into the most remote corners of Russia.
In the 60s of the XIX century on the pages of the St. Petersburg press for the first time began to appear as the name of Nikolai Leskov. The writer began with journalism, he seemed in a hurry to splash out the accumulated baggage of their observations. Many of his feuilletons, publicistic articles ,essays, and literary review were close in nature to the moods of the Democrats of the sixties.
Simultaneously developed and artistic creativity Leskov. In all his quotidian and ugliness of life appear in the early works of Leskov picture of village life, with disastrous consequences of the feudal system.
Later Leskov went abroad, first to Warsaw and Krakow, and then to Paris, France. He writes a complex on the content of the novel "Nowhere" (1864), hardly past all obstacles Petersburg censorship.
Works Leskov were surprisingly imbued with history, the inner world of an ordinary man. In the beginning of 70s there are such works as "the Sealed angel", "Соборяне", "the Enchanted wanderer", then, a little later, "Peacock", "On the edge of the world".
In 1874 Leskov appoint a member of the special Department of the Academic Committee of the Ministry of national education review published for the people of the books, however, in 1883, he left this post. Until the end of his life Leskov lives in St. Petersburg, only in 1875 and 1884, he briefly went abroad.
Died Nikolai Leskov Semenovich 5 March 1895.