Dostoevsky House Semey

Dostoevsky's literary-memorial museum is a cultural-educational institution in the city of Semey. It was founded in 1971 on the eve of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Russian writer F.M. Dostoevsky. The museum is located in an adjoining building to the two‑storey wooden house (1857‑1859) where the writer lived, in the form of a partially opened book. At the entrance of the museum there is a bronze statue depicting the friendship of Dostoevsky and Sh. Ualikhanov. The museum displays works from the writer’s first novel “Poor Folk” (1846) to the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” (1880), as well as complete editions printed each year, works published in world languages, and scholarly research works about the writer’s creations. There are more than 2000 exhibits. Exhibitions portraying the writer’s years in Siberia (1849‑1859) are collected in a separate section. The period in Omsk is shown through a composition titled “The Dead House”. In this section illustrations by artists A.N. Korsakova and Z.A. Tolkacheva for the writer’s works “Siberian Notebook” and “Notes from the Dead House” are displayed. The museum holds the writer’s letters exchanged with Shokan Ualikhanov and many valuable related exhibits.

Architectural features of the historic house and formation of the museum complex

This building was constructed in the traditional merchant architectural style typical of old Semey and the southern part of Siberia. The walls of the house are built from thick logs laid horizontally. The external decorative ornamentation is very simple, indicating that it was primarily built for functional purposes.

The main façade facing Shajünisov Street is wider than the other façades of the building. On the second floor there are six rectangular window openings, which do not have blinds. On the first, partially underground floor there are six symmetrically placed windows, all fitted with whole shutters. A protective board is attached between the two floors. On the façade facing Amanova Street there are two window openings on each floor, and a protective board is also installed on this façade.

The total area of the building is 87.7 square meters. Previously the outer walls of the first floor were plastered and painted, but currently the plaster layer has been removed and the brickwork has been restored to its original state.

In 1974–1975 a modern two‑storey annex was built onto the historic house. Its second floor houses an exhibition hall, and the first floor contains a storage room, a scientific library, a reading room and a cinema‑lecture hall. The project of the new building was developed by the institution “Semselproject”, with chief architect V.F. Vlasov leading the design work.

In October 1977 the museum complex was fully formed. It includes the historic house built in 1838, the new building designed in the form of a “partly opened book”, and the sculptural composition “Sh. Valikhanov and F.M. Dostoevsky” installed beside it.

A hand‑crafted bas-relief of F.M. Dostoevsky was installed on the new building erected in the 1970s. Its author is the sculptor E.A. Sergebayeva. The museum’s name is written on the building’s façade in large letters in two languages.

The artistic decoration of the new building involved graduates of the V. Mukhina Art and Industry College in Leningrad: V. Odnokolkine, G. Kozlitin, V. Gukasov and S. Shirokov. They created the compositions “Creativity” and “Writer’s Office” on the exterior of the building, and “Dead House”, “Blood”, “Skin”, “Youth” and “Connection” in the interior. These artistic solutions complement the architectural appearance of the museum complex and define its literary‑historical content.