Dostoevsky Meets His Wife

This clip, from 26 Days in the Life of Dostoevsky, recreates the scene in which Fyodor Mikhailovich first meets Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina (his future wife).  Faced with an impossible challenge - to write a book in thirty days - Dostoevsky is willing to try something new.  He will dictate his work to a shorthand-taking secretary.

At the time, stenography was a "new science," but Anna Grigoryevna was sure she could help.  She did - and the novel (The Gambler) was finished in time.  Along the way, the real-life author and secretary fell in love.

Credits

Clip from 26 Days in the Life of Dostoevsky (26 дней из жизни Достоевского), a 1981 Russian-language film. 

Director:
Aleksandr Zarkhi

Writers:
Pavel Finn (writer)
Vladimir Vajnshtok (writer)

Starring:
Anatoli Solonitsyn - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky
Yevgeniya Simonova - Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina