Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, born 11 November 1821 in Moscow, died 09 February 1881 in Petersburg, was a Russian writer. He attended the engineering school of the Petersburg Military Academy from 1838 to 1843, where he studied engineering as well as French and Russian literature. His first novel, Poor People (1846), was an enormous success. He was arrested in 1849 for revolutionary activities and sentenced to death. However, the execution was staged as a mock execution and a pardon from the Tsar was announced shortly before the shooting. Instead, he was sent to Siberia for forced labour in fortress custody. His most important works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880).