# Mitia Smokovnikov — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Mitia Smokovnikov in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mitia, Smokovnikov

**First appearance:** 0093-the-forged-coupon

## Snapshot

A restless schoolboy whose casual forgery of a banknote sets off a chain of consequences no one, least of all him, can foresee or control.

## Who they are

Mitia Smokovnikov belongs to the comfortable, careless world of gymnasium boys and officers' sons, where small sins are laughed off and no one expects to be held to account. His petty act of forging a coupon is born of boredom and bravado rather than real malice, yet it exposes how casually the privileged treat honesty. The story's early arc turns on that single gesture, watching how a boy's thoughtless mischief travels outward into lives he will never meet.

## In the story

### [The Wisdom of Children](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-wisdom-of-children)

A boy of ten, part of a conversation with Iliusha and Sonia about hypocrisy and name-calling.

### [The Forged Coupon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-forged-coupon)

The schoolboy son of Fedor; feels dishonored by his debt. After a bitter argument with his father, he forges a coupon with a friend, initiating the central corrupting act.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/mitya_smokovnikov
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters