Character guide

Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov

major

Also known as Alexandr Petrovitch, Goryanchikov, old Alexandr Petrovitch, Alexandr, the late Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov

Sentenced to years of prison labor, Goryanchikov enters the fortress as an outsider — educated, formerly privileged, and unable to stop studying the men around him. He is drawn especially to the psychology of punishment: the physical terror that seizes even hardened convicts before a flogging, the strange fortitude of those beaten since childhood. His compulsion to understand rather than merely survive gives the early chapters their uneasy, searching intelligence.

Akim Akimitch

supporting

Also known as this Akim Akimitch, M., Tea Akim Akimitch, M. Akim Akimitch, Meanwhile M., Besides M.

A former soldier who grew up without a home, Akim Akimitch has replaced desire with rule and ritual, saving a new suit for months just to wear it on Christmas Day. He stuffs and roasts the holiday pig with anticipatory reverence, as though it were a sacred object rather than dinner. His single attempt at independent judgment landed him in prison, and he has never risked another — a quiet warning about what prison does to a man's will.

Petrov

supporting

Also known as this Petrov

Petrov belongs to the class of men who cling to life ferociously into old age, and his restless energy makes him both companionable and dangerous. He forms intense, shifting attachments — the narrator counts him among his few sincere friends by the last year, yet his moods turn without warning. His hunger for something beyond the prison routine keeps the question of escape, and of what men will risk for freedom, alive in the middle stretch of the book.

Isay Fomitch Bumshtein

supporting

Also known as Isay Bumshtein, Isay Fomitch

From his first hour in the prison, Isay Fomitch is doing business — seven kopecks on a pair of tattered trousers, three kopecks monthly interest — while the other convicts roar with laughter around him. He performs his Friday Sabbath ritual with deliberate showmanship, sobbing over Jerusalem and then bursting into prescribed joy, delighted that the whole ward watches. Teased relentlessly, he gives as good as he gets, and his naive vanity and resilience make him oddly beloved in a place that mocks him.

Aley

supporting

Also known as Aley Semyonitch

Aley arrives in the prison young, kind-hearted, and out of place among hardened criminals, yet he wins the narrator's affection almost immediately. His warmth and moral innocence stand in stark contrast to the brutality surrounding him, and the narrator takes a protective, almost paternal interest in his education and well-being. In a memoir built on suspicion and violence, Aley represents the possibility that decency can survive the dead house.

Sushilov

minor

Also known as Poor Sushilov

A meek convict who serves as a servant to other prisoners.

Baklushin

supporting

Also known as Meantime Baklushin

Baklushin is the engine of the prison's amateur theater, gossiping about casting, promising a real curtain, and assuring everyone that each actor has been chosen to fit his part. His pranks and stories delight the young and the secure, while the more guarded convicts pretend indifference. Through his enthusiasm, the Christmas performance becomes a brief, strange triumph — a moment when outcasts touch the ordinary world again through make-believe.

Gazin

minor

Also known as Gazin yonder

A powerful and feared convict who sells vodka in the prison.

Akulka

minor

A woman whose tragic story is told in the chapter 'Akulka's Husband'.

Kulikov

minor

A convict and former soldier, a skilled veterinarian.

Lutchka

minor

A young convict known for his desperate and reckless character.

Sirotkin

minor

A young and naive convict who becomes a servant to the officers.

Bulkin

minor

Also known as the mortified Bulkin

A convict who is constantly humiliated by the other prisoners.

Luise

minor

Also known as Fetch Luise

A German woman who is the object of Skuratov's affections.

Filka Morozov

minor

Also known as Filka

A young convict, a former soldier, known for his strength.

Orlov

minor

A notorious convict, a hardened criminal with immense willpower.

Mihailov

minor

Also known as The shameless Mihailov

A convict who is a skilled craftsman and a moneylender.

Shilkin

minor

A convict who works as a cook in the prison kitchen.

Varlamov

minor

A wealthy and influential Old Believer merchant in Siberia.

Kultyapka

minor

Also known as Poor Kultyapka

A convict who is a simpleton and often the butt of jokes.

The Lomovs

minor

Also known as the two Lomovs

Two brothers, convicts who are always together and feared by others.

Roman

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a friend of Petrov.

Koller

minor

A convict who is a former officer and a gambler.

Kobylin

minor

A convict who is a former gentleman and a gambler.

Ankudim Trofimitch

minor

Also known as Ankudim

A convict who is a former merchant and a moneylender.

Dutov

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a drunkard.

Luka Kuzmitch

minor

Also known as Luka, This Luka Kuzmitch

A convict who is a former soldier and a storyteller.

Filatka

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a drunkard.

Sorrel

minor

Also known as old Sorrel, the new Sorrel, Clever Sorrel

A dog that becomes a pet of the prison.

Marya Stepanovna

minor

The wife of the prison major, known for her kindness.

Old Man Antonitch

minor

Also known as Antonitch

An elderly convict who is a former soldier.

Trezorka

minor

A dog that is a pet of the prison.

Neustroev

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a drunkard.

Lieutenant Zherebyatnikov

minor

Also known as this Lieutenant Zherebyatnikov, Zherebyatnikov

A cruel prison officer who enjoys flogging prisoners.

Skuratov

minor

Also known as All Skuratov

A convict who tells the story of his love affair with a German woman.

Kedril the Glutton

minor

Also known as Kedril

A convict known for his gluttony and comic role in the theatricals.

Lieutenant Smekalov

minor

Also known as Smekalov

A prison officer known for his fairness and humanity.

Kvasov

minor

A convict who works as a bathhouse attendant.

Osip

minor

A convict who is a former servant and a clever schemer.

Akulina Kudimovna

minor

Also known as Akulina

A woman who is the wife of a soldier and a friend to the prisoners.

Netsvetaev

minor

A convict who is a former officer and a drunkard.

Ustyantsev

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a suicide risk.

Almazov

minor

A convict who is a former officer and a gambler.

Tchekunov

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a storyteller.

Fedka the Hangman

minor

Also known as Fedka

A convict who serves as the prison executioner.

Vassily Antonov

minor

Also known as Antonov

A convict who is a former soldier and a troublemaker.

Mametka

minor

A young Dagestani Tatar convict, friend of Aley.

Katya

minor

A young girl who brings food to the prisoners.

Shishkov

minor

A convict who tells the story of Akulka's murder.

Mikita Grigoritch

minor

Also known as Mikita

A convict who is a former soldier and a drunkard.

Babay

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a storyteller.

Dyatlov

minor

A convict who is a former soldier and a drunkard.

Ivan Ivanitch Gvozdikov

minor

Also known as Ivan Ivanitch

A convict who is a former officer and a gambler.