"Paradoxes" biography I.A. Goncharov (on the 210th anniversary of the birthday of the writer)

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the biography of the outstanding Russian prose writer Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov. The author notes that the biography of Goncharov for the Russian classic writer of the 19th century was quite unusual, "paradoxical", in many respects not corresponding to the textbook image of the famous novelist. In this context, the following stands out: canonically perceived as one of the most striking symbols of Russian noble culture, I.A. Goncharov, unlike the overwhelming majority of the creators of Russian classical literature, did not belong to the nobility by birth; being in fact a “raznochinets”, the “singer of Oblomovism” from early youth lived exclusively at the expense of his labor; without a fortune and stable literary fees, the famous prose writer was forced to be in the public service throughout his life, which is also almost “paradoxical” for the Russian classic writer.