Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian writer of Ukrainian ethnicity and birth. Often called the "father of modern Russian realism, " He was one of the first Russian authors to criticize his country's way of life. Alexander Sergeyevich Poushkin (1799-1837) was a Russian Romantic author who is considered to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi (1828-1910) was a Russian writer - novelist, essayist, dramatist and philosopher - as well as pacifist Christian anarchist and educational reformer. He was the most influential member of the aristocratic Tolstoy family. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) was a Russian novelist and playwright. His novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction. His novel Smoke was published in 1867 followed by Virgin Soil in 1877.