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Abstract:

The article examines prototypes of Dostoevsky’s characters associated with Russian legal field, including prominent figures in the plot of Humiliated and Insulted (1861) and Crime and Punishment (1866). In the former such a role is played by private investigator Masloboev; in the latter by Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate, who is tasked with uncovering the circumstances and the culprit behind the murder of an old woman and her sister. Even an unsophisticated reader, when getting acquainted with these characters, cannot help but notice that there is a living reality behind them, characters and facts well known to the writer. Although scholarly literature has touched upon this topic, it deserves deeper study — especially since the prototypes in question are named by Dostoevsky himself: K.L. Sherstobitov (unfortunately, information about him is scarce) and I.D. Putilin, Sherstobitov’s pupil and colleague, whose biography and career, by contrast, are quite widely known, as he rose to become the head of the St. Petersburg Detective Police upon its funding in 1866 and served in that role for many years. Anatoly F. Koni wrote a small but very informative essay about him in his time. I.D. Putilin was an ambiguous but bright figure among Russian legal professionals — a man of deep, keen intellect and versatile talent. Even a brief acquaintance with such a person could not leave Dostoevsky unaffected, and this fact is reflected in the creation of Porfiry Petrovich’s image, who led the murder investigation involving the undergraduate student Rodion Raskolnikov.

Keywords: crime, psychology, evidence, investigation, Masloboev, Porfiry Petrovich, Raskolnikov, Sherstobitov, Putilin.