Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881) was a renowned Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist. He is celebrated as one of the greatest novelists in world literature, with many of his works being considered highly influential masterpieces.

Dostoevsky's literary works delve into the human condition amidst the political, social, and spiritual turmoil of 19th-century Russia, engaging with various philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872), The Adolescent (1875), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). His 1864 novella Notes from Underground is considered one of the first works of existentialist literature.

Born in Moscow, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature early through fairy tales, legends, and books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died in 1837 when he was 15, coinciding with his departure from school to attend the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute. After graduation, he worked as an engineer, enjoying a brief period of lavish living, supplementing his income by translating books.

In the mid-1840s, Dostoevsky authored his first novel, Poor Folk, gaining him entry into Saint Petersburg's literary circles. However, in 1849, he was arrested for participating in the Petrashevsky Circle, a literary group that discussed banned books critical of Tsarist Russia. Initially sentenced to death, his punishment was commuted to four years in a Siberian prison camp, followed by six years of compulsory military service in exile.

Subsequently, Dostoevsky worked as a journalist, publishing and editing several magazines and later compiling A Writer's Diary, a collection of his writings. Despite developing a gambling addiction during his travels around Western Europe, which resulted in financial difficulties, he eventually emerged as one of the most widely read and acclaimed Russian writers.

His extensive body of work includes thirteen novels, three novellas, seventeen short stories, and numerous other writings, widely read both in Russia and globally. His influence extends to countless later writers, including Russians such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Anton Chekhov, philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre, and contributed to the rise of existentialism and Freudianism. Dostoevsky's works have been translated into over 170 languages, inspiring numerous films.