# Lukian Timofeyevich Lebedev — The Idiot character guide

> Lukian Timofeyevich Lebedev in The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lebedeff, Mr. Lebedeff, Lukian Timofeyovitch, Lukian, Collegiate Secretary Lebedeff

**First appearance:** 0002-part-i-iii

## Snapshot

A collegiate secretary turned landlord and busybody, forever insinuating himself into other people's business with gossip, flattery, and a well-timed tear.

## Who they are

Lebedev hovers at the edges of the novel's drawing rooms, a minor official whose real trade is information and access, offering rooms, rumors, and unsolicited commentary to anyone who will listen. He is at once servile and scheming, capable of genuine sentimentality and of pocketing whatever advantage the moment allows. As Myshkin's host in Pavlovsk and a fixture in the Ivolgin orbit, he embodies the petty opportunism against which the prince's guilelessness is measured.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-i-i)

A clerk on the train, ingratiates himself with Rogozhin.

### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-i-xvi)

Mentions Ekaterinhof as a destination for Rogojin and Nastasia.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-ii-ii)

Found in his villa in shirtsleeves, reciting a speech; he is flustered by Myshkin's arrival, then discusses Nastasya Filippovna's behavior and his apocalyptic interpretations.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-ii-vi)

Hints to the prince that Nastasya Philipovna is afraid of Aglaya, and organizes the gathering at his house.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-ii-vii)

Explains the nature of the visitors as a group more advanced than Nihilists; warns the prince.

### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iii-iv)

Lebedev delivers a long, drunken speech about medieval famines and cannibalism, concluding with a call to the banquet.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iii-v)

Provides a coin for Hippolyte's toss and adjusts candles for the reading.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iii-vii)

As master of the house, demands that Hippolyte surrender his pistol and insists on supervision; threatens to take action if refused.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iv-iii)

Visits the prince after being summoned; admits to finding the 400-rouble purse under a chair and hiding it in his coat lining.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iv-iv)

Mentioned as someone with whom the general has quarrelled, and to whom he had previously told his Napoleon stories.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iv-vi)

Confesses to being the anonymous correspondent to Lizaveta Prokofyevna and hands over Aglaya's letter to the prince.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/chapters/part-iv-x)

Discusses the prince's marriage with the doctor and later assures the prince of his loyalty.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/characters/lebedev
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_idiot_se/characters