Nikolai Garin-Mikhailovsky


Nikolai Georgievich Mikhailovsky was a Russian writer and essayist, locating engineer and railroad constructor. As a writer, he published under the pseudonym N. Garin, and since his death has been commonly referred to as the hyphenated Garin-Mikhailovsky.

Career

As an engineer Garin-Mikhailovsky was involved in construction of the Laspi Pass highway and the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1891 he headed the surveying party that chose the place for building a railroad bridge over River Ob for the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was Garin-Mikhailovsky who rejected the option of raising a bridge in Tomsk. This decision later resulted in the foundation of Novosibirsk and played a vital role in development of the city.
He came down in the history of Russian literature as the author of the story Tyoma's Childhood and the short story Several Years in the Country. His travels in the Far East resulted in the travel notes Around Korea, Manchuria and Liaodong Peninsula and Korean Tales. One of his stories was published in the first volume of Maxim Gorky's Znanie collections in 1904.
His short story Practical Training is available in English translation in The Salt Pit, Raduga Publishers, 1988.

Legacy

The public square in front of the Novosibirsk train station is named after him.