Arrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849
On 23 April 1849 (OS dating of the round-up) Dostoyevsky was arrested with other Petrashevtsy for participation in a discussion circle that read banned socialist and political texts. In the causal graph this event weakens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
On 23 April 1849 (OS dating of the round-up) Dostoyevsky was arrested with other Petrashevtsy for participation in a discussion circle that read banned socialist and political texts. It is not the December scaffold and not Omsk. The state’s authorship is why contribution is complex; the life still carries the Fact.
Context
Association was the crime. Shared with Mikhail Petrashevsky and Speshnev’s more radical knot. Demo path: a circle broken. Mixed: some members wanted more than talk. Belinsky’s earlier letter to Gogol, read in the circle, is another person’s text.
Shared responsibility is part of Arrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849. Naming Fyodor Dostoyevsky does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1849-04-23 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
Why it matters
It is not a unique 1849 headcount of all political prisoners.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.36 · verified
Named arrestee in a Third Section case. Petrashevsky hosted; the state arrested. Complex victim-office.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactArrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849
- weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
- strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 23 April 1849 · verified
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.28 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.7)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Britannica — Fyodor DostoyevskyEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
- 2.State Museum of the History of Russian Literature (Goslitmuz)Vladimir Dahl State Literary Museum · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-Dostoyevsky (opens in a new tab) independently dates the 1849 arrest. Goslitmuz at https://www.goslitmuz.ru/ (opens in a new tab) is the literary-political archival neighbourhood. Kuznechny museum at https://eng.md.spb.ru/ (opens in a new tab) locates later biographical display, not the arrest.
Established: 23 April 1849 arrest in the Petrashevsky case. Not established: a unique interrogation transcript in this date field. Distinct from 22 December. Petrashevtsy round-up 23 April 1849 OS, Third Section, banned readings, not Semenovsky Square. Official https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-Dostoyevsky (opens in a new tab) is not independent https://www.goslitmuz.ru/ (opens in a new tab).
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Arrest is not the mock execution and not Omsk arrival. Mixed effects of Arrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849 are separate paths.
That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorFyodor Dostoyevsky
- contributed toFactArrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849
- weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Arrest in the Petrashevsky circle case, 23 April 1849. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/dost-petrashevsky-arrest
https://factrail.ai/facts/dost-petrashevsky-arrest
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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