F. M. Dostoyevsky Literary Memorial Museum

The apartment where Fyodor Dostoyevsky spent the final years of his life sits on a street corner in Saint Petersburg. The Russian author penned “The Double” and “The Brothers Karamazov” in the home before dying at 59 years old in 1881.

The F. M. Dostoyevsky Literary Memorial Museum opened on what would’ve been the author’s 150th birthday. That it took so long is a testament to the Soviet desire to repress his radical politics and religious nationalism.

His apartment was recreated based on accounts of his contemporaries and the memoirs of his wife Anna. His descendants donated books to the massive literary collection that recalls his life and work.

The museum is comprised of the writer’s memorial apartment, the literary exhibit, and the White Theater. Its collections have grown exponentially throughout the decades. The library has over 24,000 volumes and manuscripts.

The museum is often included in cultural tours (and Dostoevsky-specific ones) in Saint Petersburg. Every year on the writer’s birthday it hosts the international scholarly conference called “Dostoyevsky and World Culture,” and a journal with the same name is published with the proceedings.