Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on Nov. 11, 1825. As his father was a former military surgeon, Dostoyevsky grew up in the noble class. He entered the military engineering school at St. Petersburg at age 16. Shortly after graduating, he resigned his commission and devoted all his time to writing. However, he soon became caught up in the movement for political and social reform during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. He began to participate in weekly discussions about the ideas of French utopian Socialists. This Petrashevsky Circle was arrested in April 1849. After a long investigati