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Why did Fyodor Dostoyevsky join the Petrashevsky Circle?
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, shown in 1876, was introduced to a new generation of readers in 2024–25 when “White Nights” surged in popularity thanks to TikTok and Instagram users.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky began participating in the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of intellectuals who discussed utopian socialism, in 1847.
While he eventually joined a related secret group focused on revolution and illegal propaganda, historical evidence suggests that Dostoyevsky did not share the group's sympathy for egalitarian communism or terrorism. Instead, his primary motivation for joining was his strong disapproval of serfdom in Russia.1