I, the Undernamed Fedor Dostoevsky... (Oath of Service Loyalty, August 20, 1841)

Abstract

The publication introduces into scientific circulation an archival document that occupies a special place in the biography of Fedor Dostoevsky. It is a so-called “sworn list” dated August 20, 1841, that contains an Oath Declaration with twenty-one signature autographs (including Dostoevsky's signature) of students of the lower officer class of the Main Engineering School, who were recently (two weeks prior) awarded the first officer rank — field engineer-ensigns (class XIV, according to the Table of Ranks). During his studies at the Main Engineering School, Dostoevsky took the oath twice — in 1838, after being assigned to a conductor company, and in 1841, when switching to officer classes. The text of the Oath Declaration was legally approved and published in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire as “Form of the national oath of allegiance to citizenship.” Dostoevsky’s autograph under the printed text of the Oath Declaration leads researchers to construe it as a personal official document, which necessitates its inclusion in the main body of the academic Complete Works of the writer. Twenty signature autographs of Dostoevsky’s classmates under the Oath Declaration, as well as the signature of the priest who swore them in, allow us to significantly expand the understanding of the future writer's environment during his studies at the Main Engineering School.