Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809 - 1852) was a Russian dramatist, novelist and short story writer of Ukrainian ethnicity. Some Russian and Ukrainian scholars debate whether Gogol must be considered Russian or Ukrainian author, accusing each other of "appropriating" the writer. His early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore. His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian Empire (The Government Inspector, Dead Souls). The novel Taras Bulba (1835) and the play Marriage (1842), along with the short stories "Diary of a Madman", "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich", "The Portrait" and "The Carriage", round out the tally of his best-known works.
